The repeat strikes back..

Rating: 6/10 (21 December 2015)

For me JJ Abrams is a synonym to quality productions, not memorable or full of sentiment movies but quality, illustrious, polished end- product. And Episode VII is just that. A polished version of the previous films. And in that aspect it is very good indeed. As for the plot and the neoterisms that it brings to the franchise then I must admit it fails miserably..
It is a common knowledge that Hollywood hasn't got the ability, anymore, to produce what we used to call "Movies". Instead you get brain-dead action sequences that make anyone, who is above 8-9 years old, roll their eyes or at best laugh.. Characters are 'in the way' of a good blockbuster and story also. So why should EpVII be any different? Well it isn't.
The Director/Producer decided instead of pissing off the Fans like he did with Star-Trek and change the whole history of the saga by 'whipping out' the future to play it "safe". What is safe?? Just repeat whatever come before and worked at that time..
1. The elderly/wise character that tries to bring down evil with nothing more than his open heart and dies on the hands of the villain (always at the 1st part of each trilogy).. It remains to be seen if he also comes back as an astral projection like Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui- Gon Jinn.
2. There is a small R2D2 like robot that carries the most important info and is sought by the bad guys.
3. We have, yet again, another Death Star like EpIV & EpVI which of course is bigger but easier to destroy than the previous ones.
4. All the Heroes/Villains tend to originate from the same family tree... The force is indeed strong in them :P
5. The new Darth wears a similar outfit and helmet and has a similar voice even though it is not supported by any cause, the original Vader had health issues that supported his outfit and helmet/voice.
6. The new DS can only be destroyed by taking out a specific part that can only be attacked when the shields are down from the planet surface (rings any bells??).
7. We get the same intergalactic bar full of the whole cast of Muppet show, "for the fans".., which was cheesy even the 1st time I saw it and more so now 25 years later..
8. The Empire is destroyed but the new Empire (whatever it is called) has the same Battleships, the same StormTroopers, the same Tie Fighters and the new Vader also has the some ship......
9. Even though the "Empire was destroyed" the rebellion is still called the rebellion (who were they rebelling against.?) wear the same outfits and fly the exact same aircrafts that they used 40 years ago... I guess being the Rebellion does not produce enough revenue for some basic R&D.
10. The Wise Jedi master lives secluded on a desert planet after having failed to inspire his pupils to follow the Light side.. 1st Yoda now Luke..
The unknown protagonists are a good thing and they pull of their parts quite nice. I don't mean the new Vader who I have to agree with others that he should have never removed his helmet.. talk about anti- climax..
It is fun to watch but it fails to introduce anything new to the saga, something that would breathe some life into a 30 years old corpse.. It is a same when considering the amount of resources at their disposal and the technology factor that makes it easy for them to accomplish anything they would..