Wait... Have I seen this before?

Rating: 8/10 (23 December 2015)

I thought this was supposed to be a sequel? The Force Awakens was really similar to previous Star Wars movies and it really took away from what could have been a great movie. The original stars were back, there was a fresh director with new ideas, and some new characters that the younger generation can relate with. This seems like a recipe for success, but the similarities were just to much to overlook. Here are just a few examples:
1) There is a conflict between a father and son
2) The female lead is captured by the dark side
3) A droid is carrying important information
4) The droid hides on a desert planet, and the storm troopers attack this planet
5) The dark side has a deadly weapon (in this movie it was pretty much a larger Death Star)
6) The villain strongly resembles Darth Vader, even with how he talks
7) This villain tries to convert a hero to the dark side
These are just a few obvious examples. Honestly, this was a remake of the original Star Wars but with a worse Vader and a larger death star. Besides these similarities, there were other issues. The villain was the worst in any Star Wars movie. He was not threatening, looked like he was 16, and was easily pushed around by everyone he was involved with. He was just such a weak character. This was obvious in my next complaint; the final fight seen between Kylo Ren and Rey was the weakest light saber battle in the series. It was honestly uncomfortable to watch, and the great Kylo Ren struggled with a character who had never even held a light saber before.
Besides all that, the overall movie was not bad. It was great to see the Star Wars universe back! There were great special effects, there was some comedy sprinkled in (especially with Han Solo and Chewbacca), had some pretty good acting, and had an ENORMOUS twist (I won't spoil anything that big here). There will always be at least some entertainment with this series; I just was expecting more originality. This felt more like a remake, not a sequel. They introduced all the old and new characters, and seem to be trying to set up a big finish to the series. Lets all hope the filmmakers can improve on The Force Awakens.