I think people wanted so badly to wash the taste of the prequels that they to want cling to something somewhat better, but not by much.

Personally I felt a lot of the movie was jarring. The only scenes I truly reacted to were those that were products of the original trilogy. I didn't hate the characters, I really want to like them; but the movie never gives me a chance to feel anything for them with one small exception, but that kind of goes the window. I just feel the new characters should have been fleshed out a bit more without having to wait for the next movie or read some book coming out. Needless to say, it'll be interesting to see where general consensus of the movie goes after the hype dies. Regardless the movie will make more money. It's Star Wars, it's too big to fail.

Don't forget that this is the start of the next trilogy (not counting the rest of the spinoffs).
I think a big part of it is getting the ducks in a row for the next films as well as linking from the old generation.

It definitely has flaws but I'd still give it a 5/5 . There's no flawless film out there but in terms of how much enjoyment I got from watching it ( which is the whole point really ) I have to say I was fully satisfied :) Obviously I'd hope the next one doesn't have so many parallels with the older movies but yeah as I say there is no perfect film.