What Force

Rating: 2/10 (25 December 2015)

Unimaginative parroting and reshuffling of core narratives seem to be JJ Abrams' trademark. 99% of the production value was spent on replicating that original 70's look (where even Lucas decided to go with something fresher), and signing up those 70's actors who are in their 70's now. I can't find one original spark: *SPOILER ALERT* the metal mask of the bad guy looks like General Grievous (I believe) mechanical head but really makes no sense as a mask here. Now instead of daddy, bad guy is son whose inferiority complex is not being evil enough. Let me elaborate on this for a second. 'I'm your father' is the quintessential scene of Star Wars. It was a shock moment at the climax fight of the movie. You cannot possibly stoop lower in writing creed than rehash that scene rendering it a mere cultural reference. It certainly does not make for the attempted climax. And to round off the empty progression, he had to finish with a cameo of the original 'son'. The rest of the movie is summarized quickly: sequences of boring fight scenes, gratuitous genocide without much emotional or plot impact, and absolutely terrible acting throughout by the two main protagonists. Daisy Ridley makes even John Boyega seem to possess uncanny depth in comparison, whose only emotional statements are confusion and urgency.
JJ Abrams: overrated infantile megalomaniac. It takes a lot of delusional thinking to think you're the right person for both of the two top sci-fi franchises ever. At least stick to directing, not screen writing.