He turns around.
(that's literally all he does, he's in the movie for about 20 seconds and doesn't have a single line)
It's basically a remake of Episode IV. In no way can it be considered a reboot, though.
If I have to read a book to understand a movie then the movie is failing. Amount of people who will familiarize themselves with that book is smaller than amount of people who pre-ordered the tickets after seeing the trailer, not to mention amount of all people who will see the movie.
And didn't they say that Kylo Ren killed Luke's apprentices, and that's the reason he went into hiding, because he blamed himself?
Did you miss that cliffhanger ending? It doesn't stand on its own, just like The Empire Strikes Back doesn't. A New Hope stood on its own and if there wasn't any follow up to it, it would have still been a classic. The Force Awakens NEEDS a continuation.
All in all, it was a good movie. Very fun. My biggest gripe with it is that it didn't even try to explain what the situation in the galaxy is, and everything just became confusing because of it.
Like, if the New Republic exists, why is there still need for the Rebelion (sorry, Resistance!)? What exactly is the First Order and how did they amass their army and resources to build a Super Death Star into a planet? Why isn't the Republic bothered by it and all that's left to fight them is 10 X-Wing?
None of that makes any sense. Well, maybe it could, if someone attempted to explain it.
For comparison's sake, in A New Hope, everything was clear after first five minutes. The Empire rules the galaxy and had everything they needed, the Rebels didn't like it and couldn't really put up much of a fight.
Also Snoke is a stupid name and I laughed out loud when Kylo Ren took off his mask. Super Death Star destroying five planets at once was pretty funny, too.