One last semi-poetic point on this movie. Not a criticism, as is said I enjoyed it. Apologies if it is overly sentimental or nerdy, just a final thought on the 42 years of it all.
One of my favorites moments watching the original trilogy as a kid countless times is the very end, the semi triumphant music that crescendos and then goes into the rousing score right as the screen wipes and "Written and Directed by George Lucas" comes up.
I was looking forward to that for the final time here, which of course we had. But as the screen wiped and the music started it was Abrams' name, which took me by surprise, even though it shouldn't ever have. Probably because I had watched the ending of ANH earlier in the day.
And on the one hand it kind of saddened me, because it was the final reminder that these weren't the movies from my childhood, but at the same time, it also means that those original movies can still stay there as that unique childhood experience that stand alone in their own special way. Doesn't matter much what happened in 1-3 or 7-9, 4-6 will always be what they were then, which for so many of us from that age group, Magic.
So thanks George for creating that world that so many of us fell into for so long.