Your average Hollywood movie, not epic though

Rating: 7/10 (30 September 2016)

Spoilers ahead: To me, the star wars universe is like pizza. Even if it's done bad, it's still pretty enjoyable. This movie certainly didn't rank among the original three, but it was still enjoyable none-the-less.
Some of the acting felt forced and unnatural and the dialog very plain. Some of the scenes felt forced or too unrealistic, too. For example, right after Fin gets the lightsaber, there is a stromtrooper who magically has this baton that can block lightsabers. Nowhere else in all 7 movies have I ever seen a stormtrooper carrying such a weapon, but as soon as Fin gets the lightsaber there it is. A poor choice in my opinion. Another example is the two creatures on Han's freighter. When they are released they instantly devour all the bad guys but when it reaches our hero (Fin) it only grabs hold of him and caries him down the corridor. Where is the consistency? How about when Rey takes the falcon from Jakku without any effort at all? I know it's set in a time long long ago, but wouldn't you still expect some sort of anti-theft device or guards? It's a little too fortunate and makes the scenes feel fake / unnatural.
In this movie they changed the lightsaber look and sound significantly. Maybe I'm nostalgic for the originals, but I think I prefer the original sound. The new look was okay.
In J.J. we do not trust, sadly. His use of lens flares is very distracting and almost to the point of being outright offensive. His use of shaky cameras, while not the worst I've ever seen, is still not to my preference. I'm happy to hear he is not directing Star Wars 8.
And finally, the music was very nice and faded into the story line rather seamlessly. Thank you John.
I rank the original three movies among the best I've ever watched, solid 9's and 10's. This gets a 7 from me because I enjoy star wars so much. If it wasn't star wars it would probably be closer to a 5.