Echoes and Enjoyable

Rating: 9/10 (4 January 2016)

There are a lot of reviews on IMDb that do not hold The Force Awakens in good stead. Many have to do with it being a remake of Episode IV. But how is using (many) tropes and old themes a remake? After all is not Star Wars based on Joseph Campbell's "A Hero With A Thousand Faces" who's very core concept is the idea of a shared type of story? The myth? Now, some will go into specifics of how The Force Awakens goes beyond that ("a droid on a mission..." "Desert planet...") but I see these as the tropes and the echoes of the past - not as a copy. To me my biggest worry with The Force Awakens was a remake of Episode IV. But I was pleasantly surprised that it didn't feel like that. Because while the skeletal framework of the narrative was similar, it didn't feel like the same story.
After all - you can put a lot of different features plastered onto the same frame! I don't expect my review to change anyone's mind: those that think I'm wrong about the tropes merely being nostalgic echoes will continue to think that, and those that enjoyed the film will continue to enjoy it. However, I wanted to put my drop of oil in this sea of disappointment and malcontent I see on IMDb as it does not jive with my experience...
Nor does it, thankfully outside of the reviews here, jive with the experience of the 330,800+ IMDb reviewers who gave it a simple star review currently sitting at 8.5/10 and continually pump money into this, ensure people like me get our awesome Star Wars experience continued. This is not "Phantom Menace" part deux.