It's not that I think those who dislike the film are faking it or disingenuous in their motivations. Not here, at least. But I do think that many of the things pointed out as flaws or problems or whatever are glossed over when they happen in the original films. Does one thing with the floating ball count as enough training to later "Use the force, Luke" and if it does, why does Rey's similar trajectory get scrutinized? Down to the same reminder at a vital moment. And also, why is this the thing we care about? Why is "spot the plot hole" our new national pastime? If it's a symptom of a film's underlying problems, let's talk about those instead.
That point is rather minor in comparison to my big problems with the movie, but if you do want to scrutinize it there are some differences. Luke spends time actively being trained and taught by a Jedi Master, even if it's only for a few scenes, you see that he is learning these things. Rey's evolution is played as a mystery, for some reason the lightsaber calls to her, and she touches it, and apparently receives more training than Luke did through actual training. We are also told that Luke's father was a great Jedi, so he has a familial connection to the force. Again, Rey's parentage is played as a mystery so we have to speculate on why she's so powerful.
The biggest difference, obviously, is that Luke does not take on Darth Vader in a lightsaber fight at the end of A New Hope. It's not until the end of Empire and a whole lot more training with Yoda that Luke is ready for that, but Rey gets there and holds her own in one movie with no training.
Luke's backstory. Everything that has led to The Empire dominating the galaxy. I think both films do an equally fine job of laying in the world as a setting and not something that needs to be explained.
Luke is a farm boy raised by his uncle because his Father is dead. Everything you need to know about the Empire is in the opening crawl and introductory scenes. Neither of those are mysteries and they don't withhold information for the sake of a later reveal. The sequels expand on those things, but you don't feel like you're missing anything when you watch just ANH.
The Force Awakens has the extra burden of being a sequel with 30 years of changes having taken place. Their explanation seems to be "everything is the same with a different name." Aside from being lazy and ruining the legacy of the original trilogy, the problem is this makes me actively try and make sense of the new dynamics, but they don't even try to give you enough info on that.
1. Who is the Empire and how did they come to power, particularly the Emperor and Darth Vader? Who is Darth Vader? (Parallel to the First Order, Snoke)
Already answered that the Empire is explained as much as is relevant. Darth Vader is explained to be a powerful Jedi and pupil of Obi-Wan's who turned to the dark side. What else do you need in the context of that story? The Emperor doesn't become relevant until Empire.
2. Who is Luke Skywalker, and what is his history? (Parallel to Rey)
- We may get that he lives with his Aunt and Uncle and his father died fighting with Obi-Wan, but we later learn that is not completely true, and my question would be, if his father was a Jedi Knight killed by a bad guy, why is Luke stuck on an outer-rim planet as a farmer instead of somewhere cool where he could have been more involved with the rebellion, and what about his mother, I don't remember them mentioning his mother at all, how does that not ever come up?
Because his uncle is a farmer on an outer-rim planet. Why are you trying to re-write the movie? The point of his whole hero's journey is that he starts off as a nobody.
Were there other questions that were also glaring omissions?
These come to mind. Some may be answerable, but I feel like I would have heard a definitive answer by now if people agreed on it.
Luke - Why is he in hiding? Why did he leave a map to himself in two pieces? Why did R2 have one of the pieces and why was he sleeping? Why did he wake up? How does Max Von Sydow play into this?
The First Order - If the Empire was defeated, how did The First Order seemingly become a drop-in replacement with all of the same technology and scale of forces within 10 years or so?
Finn - The questions about Rey have been well covered, but they also never explain Finn. They say the Stormtrooper conditioning has never failed before, so what's special about him? He seems completely unaffected by what should have been a insurmountable experience. Why?