The Force is not so strong in this one

Rating: 6/10 (17 December 2015)

First off I really wanted to like this movie. After the prequel disasters I thought finally we are in line for some redemption.Unfortunately this wasn't the case.
The negatives. I get the feeling the casting director was instructed to get a younger Keira Knightley but with less chin. That is exactly what we got with Daisy Ridley who plays Rey. A carbon copy right down to the smile, accent, laugh and look. Her acting was marginal. Everything was condensed down into one look i.e.a permanent scowl. Also the last 20 years has seen the annoying trend where we have this never ending quest for equality and in the process we are turning our men into women and our women into men. I am never going to believe a 55 kg woman can kick the ass of a 100 kg man or even a 70 kg man. Why can't we embrace our differences. Women are not as strong, fast or co ordinated as men but they have their own strengths. In Star Wars episode IV Carrie Fisher played a strong woman without requiring the audience to suspend belief.I guess we have to cater to the various womens groups and feminists. Yawn.
Speaking of episode IV (the original Star Wars in 1977) did we just enter a time warp? We had the exact same story line in TFA as we did back in 1977. Talk about lazy writing. Surely JJ Abrams could have come up with something original? Disappointed.
Kylo Ren played by Adam Driver. Started off promising but then developed into this uncertain, unsure insecure weeble beaten by a woman who had never picked up a light saber in her life. He should have kept the mask on. It went downhill from there. The prequels were crap but the one redeeming feature was that bad ass Darth Maul. Now that is a kick ass dude I could relate to not. Even Darth Vader was a mean as bast..d! Speaking of never picking up a light saber. How can an ex Storm Trooper and a never used the force before woman with no sword fighting experience suddenly hold their own in a light saber duel against a Sith like Kylo Ren? As we know from Episode 1 future Jedis can only be trained from birth. In this movie we have a 23 year old woman who suddenly starts using the force and a light saber like she has been doing it all her life. In reality someone who has never used a sword before up against a master would be slaughtered within two moves. Not in this movie.
I feel like JJ Abrams is turning into the next Michael Mann . All style and no substance. Good effects but everything else is forgotten.
No real character development. No real chemistry between Rey and Finn. If you want to see chemistry between the two leads. Watch Episode IV with Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher
Now for the good points
Han Solo..great as usual. Always held his own apart from when some little girl told him how to fly his ship. Something he has been doing all his life. Hollywood stop catering to feminists and all their bullshit!
C3PO had the best line of the film.
Great special effects but this is to be expected.
I read another reviewer who said Kylo Ren's light saber sucked. I couldn't disagree more. I loved it! It was great symbolism in action. Rough, unwavering, edgy, unforgiving. Everything I would have loved to have seen from Kylo himself instead of the limp wristed character we got.Bring back Darth Maul! Overall I came away unsatisfied and empty. I hope the next episode will put things right. Come on JJ get a decent script going and make Kylo Ren the bad ass mother that he should be.
Lets hope Luke Skywalker brings something decent to the table in the next film.