4. Too Much Is Left Unexplained
What is The First Order? Why are they fighting a group called The Resistance? Why is the Republic not fighting The First Order directly? These are all questions raised by The Force Awakens and none of them are answered in the movie itself. Head-scratchers like these have caused some fans to cry foul on the movies lack of backstory. They needed more explanation about what was going on. This isnt necessarily a flaw. The Force Awakens was the first building block in a series that will span at least two more episodes and a number of spin-offs. Abrams needed to lay the foundation for other films to build upon. Besides, don't forget that the prequels explained too much. The Force Awakens didnt suffer for not including a bunch of scenes of senate debates. Abrams wanted to put butts in seats and the best way to do that was to up the action and drop the talking. Besides, for those so inclined the answers are out there in all the tie-in material.