Here's a smattering of my thoughts:
-I was really excited about the casting of Max Von Sydow and going into it not knowing what role he was playing, but that was a seriously nothing part.
-Speaking of which, Captain Phasma was such a cool mysterious looking character. Too bad she did zero things work talking about, and ended up a punchline to yet another forced call-back.
-Jaaku is a dessert planet with moisture farming and a race of funny little scavenging creatures, but don't worry, it's totally not Tatooine.
-BB8, however, is definitely just R2. This I am fine with. He's cute and overall works just fine.
-The idea of Luke Skywalker being the macguffin of the story is actually kinda neat. Implementing it as an exact stand-in for the death star plans isn't. Somehow, despite being completely unrelated, completing their mission to deliver the plans will still lead to the third-act Death Star assault.
-And yeah, The Starkiller is just the dumbest. Not only didn't we need a third Death Star (or a second for that matter), this is a perfect example of the bigger is not better problem.
-The Force has gotten progressively stupider as the series goes on, and this movie is no exception. Kylo Ren has, intermittently at least, far greater power than Vader yet hasn't completed his training and still has an inferiority complex? And Rey becomes a skilled Jedi by touching a lightsaber (WE'LL TELL YOU HOW THAT IMPOSSIBLE ACQUISTION HAPPENED LATER, maybe) and then closing her eyes and saying "The Force".
-Han Solo as Malcolm Reynolds as Han Solo. Followed by an action scene with CG spinning tentacle monsters that is easily the dumbest thing in all of Star Wars.
-Domhnall Gleeson, maybe short of John Boyega, seems to be having more fun than anyone else. His character is ridiculous and the "First Order" fails to make any real impact, but he managed to bring a little spark of something that the movie really needed.
-Giant CG Andy Serkis might have taken a wrong turn while looking for a movie where Giant CG Andy Serkis is appropriate.
- Needed more Oscar Isaac.
I agree, I wonder if they cut a lot of his stuff? When he and Finn reunite it sure seemed like they knew each other better than the 4 minutes we saw of them together.
- Wanted more Luke. Maybe just a line? That last shot is absolutely horrible. Should have ended on the shot right before it.
You're right, it would have been a much better cut to credits without that weird helicopter shot. Luke looked pretty awesome though. Out of the three original characters he's the only one I feel like should actually have been brought back, so it's a bummer that he's not really in the movie.