Fairly enjoyable... but very derivative

Rating: Null/10 (30 December 2015)

With the, ahem, force of so many user comments for this movie already - and with no doubt much more to come - I wonder if anyone here will read my comments on this movie. (Please leave a vote if you did!) Anyway, I just got back from seeing this movie after waiting so long to see it, and my verdict is... mixed. There are some good things about it, for sure. There aren't any slow spots, there is a lot of action, some of it pretty exciting. The sets, props, and special effects, of course, are excellent. And it was great to see the classic characters once again.
However... I guess I was expecting something a lot more original. On a regular basis, something happened in the movie that made me think, "Gee, I've seen this before in one of the original three movies." (Mostly from A NEW HOPE, as it turns out.) The biggest of these was the prime threat the protagonists are fighting - it almost made me shout in the theater, "They are doing this AGAIN?!?!?" Another disappointment I had was with the use of one of the classic characters. I won't reveal who it is, but the use of this character turns out to be a frustrating tease.
Should you see this movie? Maybe. There are some good things - and the movie is better than the prequels - but at the same time the movie covers familiar turf too often. If you do decide to see it, I would recommend you go to a cheap matinÃ©e and have your expectation lowered.