This movie surpassed my expectations by far. Rather than copy the story of Empire strikes back like TFA did with A New Hope it paid homage to certain scenes but had much original content too.

There were many stunning visuals and great scene composition, Luke's final fight and Snoke's throne room come to mind. I absolutely loved the X-wing fights as well. All the fights had great choreography.

In my opinion the detour to casino planet was questionable and could have been left out as was Leia's certain death and survival through her force capabilities, though i was glad it wasn't a huge part of the movie. Certain scenes, characters and animals were clearly meant to appeal to younger audiences and sell toys but i wasn't bothered much as it was nowhere near as stupid as the prequels.

Snoke surprised me by being outsmarted and dying like a bitch, really thought he was gonna stay the big bad guy and seem unbeatable till episode 9. Also surprised Rey's bloodline isn't special considering her power and natural talent though Kylo may have lied to her. The love story between Rose and Finn seemed unnecessary but maybe it's just me not liking her character.

I was amazed when they brought back Leia's hologram message as well as Yoda's force ghost proving they also wanted to appeal to older fans of the franchise. The nerd in me was happy. Luke first showing off his huge power and then going the path of Obi-Wan, facing his physically superior fallen student to buy time for the new hero carrying hope was excellent and him becoming one with the force as he was looking at the two suns as the binary sunset theme plays was a great way to end his arc. Another big plus was Luke explaining the force similar to Obi-Wan in the original trilogy rather than some midichlorian bullshit.

I wonder if Luke is gonna continue to guide Rey as a force ghost and if other force ghosts will make an appearence again (maybe redeemed Anakin to Kylo?). Also I'm curious what they will do with Leia in 9.

For me this movie ranks top 3 in the franchise, right after V and IV. Looking forward to 9 now!