Saw this yesterday, probably at the least crowded screening in the country (the place was packed, but I was able to get tickets, and most of everyone filled the theater 15 minutes before the showing). It was fan-FREAKIN'-Tastic! J J Abrahms pulled it off. I was a might skeptical, but heard such good word of mouth. I tried to go in without it being upsold on it, but I'm glad I was. If for the very least, Abrahms was able to get solid performances out of all involved. No Prequel wooden-ness here. Absolutely wonderful on every level. The old characters aren't just there for smiles and waves. They did something with them, and something interesting. And BB-8 was adorable.
There is one detail I really liked about the villain...
I liked how Kylo Ren was just a butthurt little emo Darth Vader fanboy who was brainwashed and being used by a bigger force, all the while thinking he's a bigger bad&^% than he really is. And there's three reasons for that. First off, well... certain recent events and a certain group. Secondly, I take it as a delightful backhanded reference to what the prequel trilogy did with Anakin. And thirdly, of course that's what would go down in the case of the movie. Vader was such a big presence of evil that he'd be used as a martyr for the First Order cause, obviously to contrast with Luke's legend of hope. And of course, one would be that much of a snotty little creep to actually try and emulate him. Rey's line of "You'll never be as strong as Vader" says it all. Kylo was never meant to be a dark specter of evil like Vader was, and he's supposed to come off as a little pathetic. Much stronger than a Vader knockoff they could have gone with.
Still, the real challenge is trying to keep episodes 8 and 9, not to mention the spinoffs with consistent quality. The ending of this movie made me very excited for episode 8.