Love it or hate it depends on what you expect

Rating: 7/10 (19 December 2015)

Where to start? This movie is almost too much to digest. Hence why all the critical reviews in my belief. I will start that if you are a Star Wars religious fanatic that clings to every single drop of cannon it's obvious you're not gonna enjoy this movie. I have read reviews that are nothing more than people picking holes in the plot and characters for the entire 2+ hours of this film. They couldn't even enjoy it because they were too busy comparing it with some kind of Star Wars Bible concordance. Take a breath and please relax. My only major critique and recommendation for J.J. (If you are reading this) is slow down a little. You don't have to rush this story. In doing so you will make Star Wars nothing more than a action movie with awesome special effects and not the saga that Lucas intended it to be.
Having said that, the movie itself was nicely done. The acting minus Carrie Fisher (she seems a little awkward and forgot how to play Leia) was pretty good and the characters were believable. I'm still up in the air whether it was a good idea to bring original characters back into this movie. It's really not fair to them considered how much they've aged. Too hard to live up to the roles they played 32 years ago. I see the purpose of tying it back to the trilogy but I almost felt like it was to a detriment. The cinematography was great as well as special effects. So much attention to detail in that aspect. The score was good but not great. Unless you purchase the soundtrack you probably won't be humming the new theme as it wasn't predominate. As far as the plot line goes, yes it was eerily similar to E4 but that's not the part that bothered me. The fact that 30 years have passed since E6 and it seems that the movie lacked the ability to get us caught up to where this story begins. Like there should be another movie in between this one and ROTJ. Left me scratching my head wondering what have we missed here. Too much to explain and not enough time to get us caught up, develop the new characters and execute the story line of this film. Hence the reviews about holes in the story. Way too much going on in this movie.
The new cast: Finn would have been more effective if we had known his character a little better. I doubt first order Troopers(trained from birth) would pull off their helmets and start making wise cracks. So some of his humor felt a little misplaced. Rey's character was strong but a little overwhelming due to how she was already so complete with little room for growth. Almost that with just a little training she will be the most powerful Jedi ever. Seems that she is already strong enough with the force to kick both Luke and Anakin's butts in their strongest roles. I realize we live in a microwave society and we don't have the patience to watch her grow but again it left me with a feeling of what have I missed? Is there anything this girl can't do? I laugh when I read people suggesting it being some kind of feminine agenda. I attribute it more to the ready made impatient society we have become. And then there's Kylo's character. To all those criticizing his character as being weak or a wimpy Sith. You have realize Ren's character is not a Sith Lord. He is only a pupil with about the same mindset as Anakin's in E3. Let's give him a break. It's obvious he is a conflicted and tormented individual. Exactly why is still somewhat a mystery. Another case of lack of time for character development. I'd like to know how he ended up a subject of Snokes.
The rest of the characters were really good. Some only had brief roles but I'm sure we will get to see them more in the upcoming films. Hopefully the future films will explain the lead up to E7 a little better. There are a million ways to go with how open ended E7 concluded.
So did this movie live up to the hype? Yes and No. Depending on what mindset you came into the theater with. You have to ask yourself what am I hoping for E7 to accomplish. If you walk in with a checklist of criteria that the film must meet you're probably not gonna be impressed. It's definitely not a complete movie that will leave you with a feeling of closure but it's not supposed to be. It's a movie that will leave you with as many questions as answers wanting more. Sometimes that's mis interpreted as a bad thing but not in the Star Wars franchise. Brilliantly done if you want subsequent viewers for the next 2 sequels. If you came into the movie with the open mindset that you just want enter back into the Star Wars universe and go where the movie takes you, you will love this film. Love it or hate it it's part of the saga now. Destined to be a classic because it has the Star War's name attached to it.