Yeah I really didn't want to post some long essay as I knew that would just not get read and downvoted instantly, but that happened anyway.
I knew someone was going to say "I wanted to hate the movie" and all i have to say is fuck no i didn't. I wasn't hyping myself much as I knew the film could end up being bad, but i'm disappointed as the film was so close to being great. Infact I was really really enjoying the film up until Han and Chewy were introduced.
No absolutely the production was far from lazy. The film looked beautiful and I just couldn't get enough of those practical effects and puppets. I'm saying the script felt incredibly lazy.
Again I disagree that the characters are not all over the place. Fin is definitely the strongest and while could've used a more concise character arc over the film he was still pretty good. Poe wasn't in the film much so eh? Rey was little miss perfect which is a huge problem when we are meant to feel any tension in her actions. The only time she show's any weakness is when she's captured but she breaks out seconds later and isn't harmed at all. Thought Han and Leia's story line was really misplaced. They get like two scenes about them being split and it's not really mentioned again. Should've been cut out. Kylo Ren was awesome. Liked the idea behind his character and he is no where near a Vader Clone (despite him wanting to be like Vader haha).
I mean't Maz and Snoke which, your right, are side characters not mains. But you see my point.
Disagree so much on the tentacle monster scene. It's super out of place. The only scene that has litterally nothing to do with the rest of the movie and feels like a completely different movie. The rest of the action beats aren't what I'd call light hearted, there were serious weight and consequences to what was going on. Not to mention that where that scene took places was the perfect spot for some breathing room but we just get an ADD fest.
Kylo Ren was different enough from Vader to not feel lazy. Fin felt different from any character we've seen before. Poe although emulating a lot of Han still felt rather different. Snoke just felt like the emperor. Not to mention he add's nothing to the movie. Just don't put him in the movie? If they are going to surprise us with oh see how different he is from the emperor than only mention him in this film. Then let us see him when he's relevant.
This movie is a mess. The death star plot comes out of no where and barely has consequence anyway. I really feel like with and hour of rethinking it you can come up with a better plot and stronger character arcs.