A conservative, overly familiar, empty, sanitised pastiche which contains precisely zero surprises

Rating: Null/10 (2 March 2019)

J.J. Abrams often likes to work with a single point of reference. With Super 8 it was Spielberg, Cloverfield was Godzilla, Into Darkness was The Wrath of Khan, Fringe was The X-Files. The same applies to The Force Awakens. This time it's the original Star Wars trilogy. Almost everything here is an analogue of something from those films, more often than not, Episode IV.
This tunnel vision is a total contrast to the open minded approach George Lucas taken when making Star Wars. Lucas drew inspiration from all over. Religion, WWII, westerns, spirituality, the Vietnam War, 1930s serials, Japanese cinema, motorsport and so on.
Under Lucas's leadership the Star Wars films pioneered new filmmaking techniques, fresh styles and helped advance technologies. The original trilogy featured innovative sound designs, created the used future aesthetic and developed computer controlled camera movements. The prequels advanced motion capture techniques, CGI characters, pre-visualisation, digital shooting and projection. It's the same attitude both times. Trying new things, making progress and changing the industry in lasting ways.
Abrams doesn't share this attitude. The Force Awakens is a backwards looking project. It's a retro, nostalgic throwback delivering little more than fan service and deja vu. This is evidenced by the return to 35mm and the rehiring of Alan Dean Foster for the novelisation. Not that they are bad things (Splinter of the Minds Eye is a fun read), but they are revealing of the filmmakers mindsets.
The result is a conservative, overly familiar, empty, sanitised pastiche which contains precisely zero surprises. Disney clearly aimed to recapture the feel of the 1977 classic, but under Abrams approach and direction they have only done so in a superficial way.
What we get then is more of the same. Rebels fighting the Empire, a desert orphan prodigy encountering a droid with sensitive data, a spherical super weapon destroying planets, said super weapon being easily destroyed due to a glaring design flaw, father/son confrontations on suspended platforms, a cocky but likeable pilot, trash compactors, lightsabers vibrating in snow, cantinas populated by colourful characters and alien jazz music, 'I've got a bad feeling about this', a new Yoda, a new Emperor, a new R2D2, a new Darth Vadar, 'We've got company', AT-AT walkers, Tie fighters, X-Wings, rebel being tortured by a bizarre contraption, an alien spy ratting on the good guys etc.
There's a good reason why Lucas stopped after six episodes. The story was finished. Episodes I-VI chronicle a young man's corruption, descent into tyranny and eventual redemption through the love and conviction of his estranged son.
There's nothing left anymore. And Disney will keep drip feeding us further instalments of nothing on a yearly basis for the foreseeable future. Or until the Earth gets blown up by a spherical super weapon. I've got a bad feeling about this.