Decent Acting, Bad Script

Rating: 4/10 (25 December 2015)

This now tops Episode I as the worst Star Wars movie ever. Yes, it's that bad.
It's not bad enough that they rip off elements of other SW movies (other reviews give details, so I won't repeat them here), they add in a lot of things that just "happen" to be in the right place at the right time, and give people abilities that just don't make sense in the SW universe.
Example: the droid that everyone is depending on to get the stolen plans to the Rebellion (sound familiar?) just HAPPENS to stumble across the path of the one woman on the whole planet who is force sensitive. On, right...there's no coincidences with the Force. In episode 4, there was a good reason for Luke finding the droids - they were trying to get to Obi Wan, who we find out later is watching over Luke. But in this movie there's absolutely no explanation except it just happened that way.
Example 2: a guy who has no previous experience with the Force using a lightsaber to defend against a trained Sith. It should have looked more like the scene between the two friends in "The Count of Monte Cristo" and lasted about 3 seconds, not 3 minutes or so.
Example 3: A woman who has no experience with the force suddenly learning that she can move objects with her mind, or use the force to thwart attempts from a trained Sith to infiltrate her mind.
Example 3 (huge spoiler alert): Same woman who has no training whatsoever is able to kill a Sith Lord.
Also, the Sith Lord acts more like a spoiled rebellious teenager than a true Sith. The whole thing just seems finagled together in such a haphazard way as to just be sad. The story is not original, the plot line is sub-par when it's not being a direct rip-off, and the acting is mediocre. If it didn't have the Star Wars title, this movie wouldn't last in the theaters more than three weeks.
I can only pray that the sequel (episode VIII) is better.