The movie had some other solid stuff. Rey has a natural affinity for the dark side, but that she chooses the light in spite of that is what makes her the hero. Similarly, Kylo is a natural with the light but chooses the dark. The dark side also isn’t evil so much as it is playing with fire, which was a popular interpretation in the old EU. Rey and Finn are also given actual motivations instead of just pinballing through the plot. Whether the motivations actually work is a different question, but the fact they had no reason to be there in TFA really bugged me.
I do still think Rey and Kylo should have traded sides in the throne room scene, though.
Yoda to Luke - Why do you keep insisting on rebuilding the same order that never did any good to anybody?
Luke - I must rebuild the order! I must no lose any of the order’s knowledge!
Yoda - Dude, had you looked at that knowledge? Like, at all?
Luke - No! … I must rebuild the order!
But then, that’s the only good thing on the movie.
The movie had some other solid stuff. Rey has a natural affinity for the dark side, but that she chooses the light in spite of that is what makes her the hero. Similarly, Kylo is a natural with the light but chooses the dark. The dark side also isn’t evil so much as it is playing with fire, which was a popular interpretation in the old EU. Rey and Finn are also given actual motivations instead of just pinballing through the plot. Whether the motivations actually work is a different question, but the fact they had no reason to be there in TFA really bugged me.
I do still think Rey and Kylo should have traded sides in the throne room scene, though.
I would argue that there’s a lot more good than bad in that movie, but it is what it is.