I get the criticism of the movie being redundant. But considering how the prequels completely screwed up the series with their cartoon characters and CGI overkill, TFA is effectively a giant reset button back to the original magic of Episodes IV-VI.

Every time TFA "recycled" catch phrases or scenarios from the original trilogy, the audience reacted with joy and excitement. It was like opening up a box from the attic to discover all of the pictures, toys and memorabilia from your youth. TFA was one giant conduit to happy memories from 30 years ago.

The REAL challenge in Episode VIII will be taking all of this renewed excitement and turning it towards the NEW storyline. Obviously, the Yoda-Luke dynamic will be replayed with the new Luke-Rey dynamic. But what ELSE developments in the next installment will be the critical aspect for the next two movies.