Before I start I guess I should say that for anyone wanting to see the movie without spoilers tread carefully as this is a thread meant to discuss the movie after having seen it. I will still post story sensitive information in spoiler tags since the film is new and I strongly advise others do the same for the sake of others wanting to see the movie.
Lets get the obvious out of the way first:
Well I gotta say I was pretty amazed. Aside from solid acting I thought the filmography and how the scenes were done was great. The film doesn't overuse CGI and the practical effects coupled with on location filming is apparent in a good way here. There were only a few gripes I had with the plot but nothing that destroyed the film or my enjoyment of it one being how the light saber fight at the end was done. But hey no film can be perfect. That being said I did notice how this film seemed to mirror A New Hope quite closely. Whether you consider this a good or bad thing is up to you, but for the most part I think it was executed pretty well while making references to the old stuff that happened while still feeling new at the same time. I think whether you are a casual or big star wars fan its worth it to go see and if you're afraid of it being anything like the prequels put those fears to rest.
The rest of this will be pretty spoiler heavy so you have been warned.
Mirroring A New Hope:
Filmography
Casting/Acting
Issues/problems
Feel free to discuss but please for the sake of enjoyment be nice and use spoiler tags.