It is what it is...and it's not very good.

Rating: 5/10 (14 January 2016)

Let me start off by saying that this movie technically doesn't need to exist. In fact, there's not a single Star Wars movie outside of the original trilogy that needs to exist. The original unaltered Star Wars movies are timeless, stand-alone classics and no amount of prequels, television shows, or further sequels can ever take away from the awe inspiring glory and wonder that those three films brought to the world. That being said, Lucas seems to have a problem with leaving well-enough alone and Disney seems to have a problem with not owning everything in existence and so, here we are with the infamous prequel series and now this latest installment in the franchise which to me, serves as the most forgettable Star Wars movie to date. Complete with an unoriginal storyline that many have pointed out is LITERALLY a re-telling of Episode IV but with a female lead (and a black guy because...you know...social justice and whatnot). Without giving away any spoilers I will stand by this claim based on the fact that anyone who's seen Episode IV can literally pick out the similarities plot point by plot point throughout the entirety of this film. Whether this was an attempt to breath new life into and re-introduce a dying franchise back into mainstream acceptance by presenting a new take on the original storyline that can be better processed by the short attention span of the millennial generation, or a way to try and show that despite the amount of criticism and damage that has been done to the franchise by the almost unanimous hatred for the prequels and various animated TV shows that this series still has a fighting chance at becoming great again, one thing is certain; it's not interesting at all. In fact, say what you want about the prequels, but at least they tried to introduce a hint of originality and freshness into the franchise...albeit a tad unsuccessful to some, but at least they TRIED. On top of that, these new main characters who we've been presented with (with the exception of Fin who is by far the most fun and interesting person to watch in this movie) are completely bland, soulless, and devoid of any kind of the vigor or energy that should inspire the viewing audience to identify with them. It certainly doesn't help that the actors and actresses behind most of these characters are sub-par at best, and even Daisy Ridley's performance is pretty much interchangeable with that of Jennifer Lawrence in The Hunger Games. Combine this with slow paced storytelling, effortless dialogue, and high levels of predictability and what we have here is an incredibly boring film. It's not all bad though, as with most of Abram's movies the action scenes are spectacular to watch and there's enough charming humor throughout the movie to keep one from completely losing interest. On top of that it certainly was a treat to see Harrison Ford back again and his performance is without a doubt the high point of this film, and there's plenty of other familiarity with the original series that if anything should satisfy those who considered the prequels to be far too foreign. Personally though, I just wish a little more effort was put into reviving the passion and wonder of the first three movies while ALSO introducing a new take on the story that could serve as a vantage point for an entirely new and refreshed anthology in the star wars series. Bottom line, I'm sure your eight year old will love this movie.