JJ Abrams hates nerds.

Rating: 3/10 (22 December 2015)

But he's not happy to be the laughing jock, tormenting you in the changing rooms and pushing you down stairs. He pretends he's your friend, one of the misfits. He quickly positions himself as the leader of the group, and then destroys all the things you have a love for. (see: Star Trek)
You see, in this fine example of "be careful what you wish for" logic (although not many did, we were just interested to see what Disney would do to it), all he has done is take as many elements from an iconic Hollywood classic, rehash them, and sh**y them up. (see: Star Trek Into Darkness)
The new villain. The main threat. The locations. The plot. The narrative. Relationships of characters. The unforgivable death of one of the "good guys". All just horrible, cheap imitations of the first movie. I can't express how cheated I felt leaving the cinema, at least with Lucas' savaged prequel trilogy, it was all still creative and original storytelling.
And if the idea is to hand the baton onto the new leads, only John Boyega has an ounce of true charisma. Daisy Ridley is basically Keira Knightley without the pay scale and acting ability. And Andrew Driver manages to out-Hayden-Christensen Hayden Christensen as the weakly conceived Kylo Ren.
Positives please you ask? As ever with the Star Wars franchise, it's all about the design. And The hour or so we get in the presence of the real Han and Chewie is one for the true fans to savor.
Although advice to you as a true fan, don't put yourself through this. What am I saying, of course you will. But don't say I didn't warn you.
"I've got a bad feeling about this..."