Underwhelming

Rating: 5/10 (12 January 2016)

Probably last person in the United States to see it, but finally last night I enjoyed an empty theater to myself. To keep things short and fairly simple: it was entertaining, but underwhelming. Like others have written, this was more of a reboot than a sequel. Not must originality to the story at all. Droid with secret data hidden on desert planet, young girl with mysterious Jedi-like abilities, spooky masked man with Jedi blood going rogue, a mysterious hologram-projected "supreme leader" (that resembles a giant Gollum), and another Deathstar (now called a Starkiller) that needs to be taken out. Um...A New Hope anyone? YAWN.
This move is making money solely due to the franchise. There are simply no other outstanding merits. I am hoping MORE of the gap between "Return of the Jedi" and this film's time frame are revealed later on. Nothing is learned here, other than...
* Storm Troopers are no longer clones.
* The "First Order" (really?) believes in gender equality. Odd to see female agents as belligerents. Does EVERY film today have to be PC?
* Han Solo and Leia have a son but don't his name. They simply refer to him as "our son," and comically, has pretty severe temper tantrums. He wears a spooky mask for no other reason than to look cool.
* For the first time in franchise history, it's not just the caucasian Brits that are sinister. A man with a heavy Scottish accent has a beef with Solo.
* A poor girl living in poverty that has to sell scrap metal in order to eat has the remarkable ability to pilot unfamiliar craft with expert skill, and is able to nearly defeat almost anyone with a lightsaber. Laughable. Greatly in need of character development.
* Leia must have had a career as a chain-smoking rock music disc jockey. Not knocking her appearance, but her voice is just GONE. Nina Blackwood anyone?
Despite the oddities and enormous lack of detail, I am hopeful this chapter in the saga will be far superior to episodes 1-2-3. Kudos to a much improved cast and dialog. The special effects are solid and not overbearing (battle scenes don't have 10,000,000 ships like in episodes 1-2-3). The score is as beautiful as always. The story however, needs help. Entertaining? Sure. Memorable? Eh. Worth all the hype it's been getting? No.