TFA Feels Like Comfort Food We Love So Much We Don't Mind Eating it Again

Rating: 7/10 (20 December 2015)

I was 9 when I sat in heightened anticipation in old Cathay awaiting a movie experience like no other in the year of 1977. It was one of the greatest experiences I have ever had. I only had a limited amount of vocabulary and movie experience under my belt, but I was wise enough to know that Star Wars: A New Hope was going to be a classic mentioned under the same breath as Casablanca, Gone With the Wind and the likes. Star Wars: The Force Awakens on the other hand will never be one.
Don't get me wrong. JJ Abrams' TFA didn't suck at all. In fact it totally redeemed itself of the horrendous sins of the prequels. It is a handsomely made film that hits every nostalgic and emotional button. TFA rewards the old fans with its nods to the original trilogy so much so that I wore a smile each time I see a familiar bow to the classic and old characters who had become my 'friends'. It really felt like this creative team studied long and hard what made episodes 4 to 6 soar and what made 1 to 3 suck, and they came out with a storyline that feels too familiar. I can see plot lines borrowed liberally from the original trilogy. I shan't say what are they but if you are a true fan you will notice all of them in a fraction of a parsec. One would think after so many years the narrative could be told differently.
If you were to ask me, I think Abrams made a mistake naming this as episode 7. There are so much back stories left untold between the end of episode 6 and this new one to fuel a trilogy. But that would make this trilogy the prequel of this sequel and the real sequel to RotJ. Wooooh... Let's not even go down that road... again. Anyway if he wants to he can name them episodes 6.1 to 6.3
I be lying if I say I didn't have a great time. In fact, I had to stifle back a sniffle and tears when the wall of yellow text rolled off into infinity. Sometimes it isn't wrong to use the same formula or mashed up all the great ingredients for a film. IMHO Abrams certainly earned the right to use all the classical elements. TFA feels like a dish we love so much we don't mind eating it again. But it is never going to be a classic.