Fails to capture the imagination like the originals

Rating: 3/10 (24 December 2015)

In a world where there are nuances and parodies of Star Wars everywhere from Spaceballs to Family Guy I would never have thought the franchise itself would fall victim to this trend. The similarities with A New Hope are endless but that's not what I'm going to write about. Star Wars always has an honest story to tell. This was more fan fiction than film yet even fan fiction can still be great. Some people don't understand that there's more to Star Wars than lightsabers and spaceships. The originals was a story about a revolution in a pirate themed sci-fi world with heavy Taoist philosophy and samurai. The prequels were sort of a cold war/medieval war blend, freedom vs fascism, and the originals being good vs evil. This film's themes were just so bland! I love a fun movie but in the end, it's completely worthless without proper context.
How you react to this movie depends on your need for instant gratification. If you like big-effects action to happen fast and keep happening, you'll love it. Unfortunately that's about the only thing that JJ Abrams has managed to do well. Everything else-and I do mean everything else has been botched. Frankly it's offensive to have an imaginative Universe and a work of art be re-manufactured into a Disney cash-cow. This is now a franchise trapped in its own fossilized iconography.
It's strange that there was nothing I can call original or a motif but only things that were rehashes. The film fails to have an identity of it's own. It isn't genuine or adventurous enough to be considered Star Wars. Many people have a positive attitude to the notion of Star Wars being a massive Universe with limitless possibilities. When I watch a Star Wars movie I always say to myself ''wow what an engaging story'' and if you summarize the plot into one sentence it would give me chills reading it. Sadly the newest instalment offers nothing interesting, nothing that captures the imagination. There's no context and Star Wars is often about context. There's no investment hence there is no pay-off, there's no stakes hence there is nothing to give a **** about.
A lot of people have complained that Rey is too powerful to invest in and they're right. She is essentially a super-hero. The film leaves behind the old concepts of fellowship since the lead can handle everything on her own. She doesn't depend on any other character for help and she doesn't accept guidance. All the characters actions just take place in a vacuum. Whereas Luke learns to become a hero, her story boils down to ''great power comes great responsibility.'' Not sure I buy into a super-hero in the Star Wars Universe.
Kylo Ren was a good villain with a brilliant performance by Adam Driver. He's extremely underdeveloped and is only left to a few short sentences of back story. I wish it was more clear how and why he became so evil. He had no turning point, he had no pain or fear in his backstory yet he was somehow seduced to the dark side.
I couldn't buy into Finn's character, he seemed like a guy who just walked into the film, though he was entertaining. Of the thousands of Stormtroopers, suddenly one of them happens to become morally conscious without introduction and has a story ''worth'' telling. Everything just takes place in a vacuum.
Han Solo is an archetype. He's a cowboy and archetypal characters deserve a fitting end. Why does his father-son relationship become the biggest plot point leading up to the events of the film? Yet there is barely any development or build up.
The film makes me question the genuinity of it's male and female characters. We have an instantly capable and completely independent female lead followed by a myriad of male losers, even Luke Skywalker.
Star Wars should have the most sophisticated techniques for maintaining continuity, and frankly it barely keeps the film together with its subtle tricks and the hidden clues. Part of it takes away meaning from the originals. 1-6 builds up a prophecy of bringing balance to the force and finally we have a film called Return of the Jedi. Luke is so hyped up by being a summation of all the greatest Jedi teachings and life lessons he learnt along the way. His effort to bring a new generation fails dramatically despite his wisdom and persistence that was developed in the original trilogy. Even after balance was restored everything became much worse shortly after with a more evil empire and a more powerful death star.
I thought the mid scene cut at the end was more of a slap to the face than a cliffhanger. The search for Luke story arc would've been the only thing worth investing in but there was no closure. It's one thing to depend on prequels for nostalgia and it's another thing to depend on a sequel for a more complete story.
From a sci-fi aspect, Star Wars is a fresh and vivid universe and it feels bigger in each instalment with new planets, cities, and also new ideas. Again there's none of that. Nothing that captures the imagination.
Star Wars isn't shallow and it definitely is not nuance. Like I've said before, Star Wars has a soul and an honest story to tell. Star Wars is a massive Universe with limitless possibilities yet one cohesive story. Star Wars has a mythology. Star Wars has a philosophy. Star Wars has strong roots, Taoism, Japanese Samurai, Akira Kurosawa, Joseph Campbell, Stoicism, Poetry, History, Technology. Star Wars is a rich tapestry of ideas, themes, philosophies and inspirations. I'm not saying Star Wars is overly referential to historic cultures, I'm saying Star Wars is epic in the way that it tells larger than life stories through genuine inspiration and imagination.