Wow, everyone has such strong reactions! It's so so interesting to me as I am definitely a "non-star wars nerd person" who went to see the movie with my SW loving significant other. I loved it! He liked it a lot, thought it was visually great and he basically mulled it over the whole ride home while I talked his ear off about different theories of my own that I was forming.
I'll spare you those specific details, but my history with Star Wars is a bit different. I had probably seen a few here and there, but never sat down to watch them all. In high school I convinced a boy I liked to have an overnight Star Wars marathon (after meeting him in a special study hall while playing SW themed Risk! together) and we binged watched 1-6 along with Monty Python and about 10 other people. I haven't seen TFA or Rouge One....and I loved TLJ. I looked up theories the whole way home, read articles, listened to podcasts, and read this entire thread, amongst other bits of research.
I understand why people don't like it. I understand why they're upset. I also understand that the movie served it's purpose of ushering in a new generation of fans. I heard little kids in front of me gasping and laughing, and saying "wow" in awe at the silent scene, and babbling to their parents how much they liked it on the way out. It was interesting and while it felt long to me at some parts, I also had zero back story of TFA going in to it. I ended up watching half of TFA on a flight, and have been trying to find a way to finish it without caving and buying a new DVD (only because I just bought the entire Harry Potter Discography).
Short summary is that the 90/10 of casual fans and new fans and just general movie goers liking it seems to ring true IMO and in my own experience in seeing it on opening weekend with a major fan. Heck, it's made me interested enough to watch for details of the new hotel and experience that they're creating and insider rumors about the new land at DHS
Hopefully #9 wraps things up and answers some questions, but I am most interested in Rey's lineage and how my BF and I are going to make our Rey and Finn costumes for Halloween.