I was pretty disappointed with the film overall. My biggest issues with the film were
1. Rey's force googling powers.
2. Finn's forgettable role.
3. Lack of progress for Han after 30s.
4. R2D2's role.
5. Few space battles.
6. Galaxy felt smaller than it ever did.
7. Han's artificial death.
I thought about some changes to the characters and script that would clearly make a superior film in my opinion. My changes to the characters and the role would attempt to address all of the issues.
1. Finn is the sole surviving apprentice of Luke after the massacre. Before Luke disappeared, he was given the mission of finding and protecting Rey until his return. Since he is the last active Jedi and the only one who knows where Luke is, he is always on the run from First Order Assassins and Knights of Rey, and has a lot of wounds and scars to show for it. He has a prothetic arm due to his injury suffered at the massacre. He is at first reluctant to train Rey, but later does so out of necessity. He was a Jedi in training and an average pupil at best, and also lacks confidence in his own abilities. This would create tension and suspense whenever he is in combat. BB8 is Finn's personal robot. He has Luke's lightsaber, which he was told to return to Luke after his finishes his mission.
2. Rey gets trained by Finn, which would address the issue of her force googling powers. The audience would also get a better sense of how special she is when she masters basic training and overtakes Finn really quickly. Chemistry between the two characters would also be better than in the original script due to the teacher / student dynamic.
3. Han is a captain of a New Republic Navy cruiser that went rogue shortly after Ben Solo deflected. Fed up with the corruption and bureaucracy of the New Republic that allows the First Order to rampage freely, he and his crew becomes privateer and forms the Resistance group to fight against the First Order. New Republic renounces his group in an order to keep peace with the Empire. Chewie is the first Mate. The Millenium Falcon is used as the ship's transport.
4. Leia is a Senator that is trying to challenge the bureaucracy and the corruption. She visits world that have being devastated by First Order attacks. We get to see the larger galaxy and the effects of the first order through her eyes. She has to deal with assassins and corrupt politicians. She was later attacked on a diplomatic mission and was wounded and captured, but later rescued by Han.
5. Han dies when his cruiser sacrificed in the final attack on Starkiller base. A more cliched ending but it would be nicer, if done right, than the sensationalistic one in the current movie.
6. Because the protagonist have a capital ship. We'll actually get to see some capital ship combat instead of a fighter skirmish.
7. Finn is defeated by Kylo Ren in the final fight (2 v 1 instead of the 1 v 1), but not before wounding Ren. The rest of the fight plays out similarly to the movie. Rey bests Ren not because she can force google, but because she was trained adequately by Finn.
8. The last scene in the movie actually makes more sense now. Rey returns Luke's saber in place of Finn. Their silent moment together would in honor of Finn's journey and dedication to his mission.
I have not yet figured out what to do with Poe Dameron. He might just be a low key hot-shot X-wing pilot onboard Han's ship, or Leia's personal bodyguard.
