maybe on jakku it's an 8.2, on earth it's about a 4

Rating: 4/10 (11 June 2016)

hooboy does this one leave an odor.
I saw the original star wars in a theatre with a massive screen a few months after it was released. I saw the next two as well but understandably nothing could ever match the impact of the first, in all ways it was special and will always stand alone - all unknown actors (mostly) doing a good enough job so no distractions there, exceptionally well-written and as a result rich and endearing characters, fantastic real-life special effects, engrossing story, true-to-life grubbiness and so on.
that said, my review of this new one is hardly from a biased standpoint, if #7 wasn't a "star wars" movie it might never have been made, it's pretty bad right from the start through to the end. it's a gta movie with a star wars title, mostly flash and very little substance (ironically, the opposite of what makes or had originally made star wars "star wars"). much of it made little sense - the girl's sudden/inexplicable devotion to a robot she'd never seen before, high octane action much too soon/too often without preparing the audience for why, on and on and on. all in all it looks like a star wars movie made by someone who saw the original but had the sound off.
after the last three star wars movies I was conditioned to have almost no interest in seeing another. I did want to see what they'd do with han and the rest and now that I've seen it I'm kind of sorry I did - it's like watching a 75-year-old mick jagger rocking away like nobody told him he's 40 years past his heyday. carrie fisher mostly stood there stiffly, trying to not dribble or something. it was saddening if not pathetic seeing these icons of 20th-century americana in what were basically pointless appearances.
but I guess this is a bit like the star treks where they pass the torch from the ones who made the franchise famous to a new group in order to carry on milking sequels out of it. but unless movie goers these days are like mental patients that sit spellbound by shiny objects flashing back and forth on the TV screen I don't see how this one isn't totally out of gas.