Nothing new under the sun...

Rating: 6/10 (18 December 2015)

Sadly, not blown away by Force Awakens.
Beautiful special fx -- an almost perfect blending of digital and practical elements.
Solid casting, throughout. Like the new characters.
The story, however, was very safe and very predictable. Too much self reference and regurgitation of previous episodes. Not a bad movie, but it never really "took off" to me.
I don't want to outright bash the movie, but it's really just "ok" - which is the inevitable result of a Disney committee forged product that strives to give fans exactly what they (think) they want, and try to satisfy every possible demographic to make it an eminently consumable product. And that's what it is. Lucas hit it on the head when he basically said "yeah, people should like it."
You SHOULD LIKE IT. And I do. But I certainly don't love it.