In a word: Overrated

Rating: 6/10 (29 December 2015)

If I had to describe Star Wars: The Force Awakens in a single word, it would be overrated. Or, perhaps, plagiarism. Or maybe nostalgia. All three apply pretty well.
In the end, SWTFA borrows way too much from the original movie and cuts no new ground at all, including technically. This cannot be said of the original movies, where the first three minutes, consisting of a Star Destroyer chasing down Princess Leia's diplomatic shuttle, set the gold standard for science fiction movies for two decades and still is considered one of the most amazing openings in movie history.
I have a lot to say about this movie, but my time is precious and I've decided to limit my critique to bullet points as wasting more time on SWTFA is not something I'm happy to do.
* J.J. Abrams is VASTLY overrated as a director. Not as bad as M. Bay or that ilk, but really lacks vision and took no risks what-so-ever with this movie. One upside is that he is a marginally better story teller than Lucas is and does not sacrifice story telling for visuals as much as Lucas does.
* Acting is largely wooden and stilted, even from the old veterans. Han is not the Han of old for instance. It is always a mistake to have too many old characters and settings appear in a spin off series such as this.
* Way too much borrowed from the original A New Hope. New death star, new rebel alliance, new empire, yadda yadda yadda. Really, there are no new ideas at all in this movie and no risks are taken to advance the story or expand the universe.
* Poor casting and poor use of the acting talent. The new Vader, Kylo Ren aka Adam Driver is about as intimidating as a kitten with a ball of yarn. He is supposed to be easily unhinged and loose control, but he comes off as silly. Every scene he was in reminded me of Severus Snape (from the Potter series) or Alan Rickman's Sheriff of Nottingham (from Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves). Captain Phasma is hardly used at all.
* Was there background music in this movie? I don't remember any and one of the great things about the originals was the incredible score by John Williams that set the scene transitions and really added dramatic emphasis.
* Nothing really special in the special effects. None of the battles are all that spectacular or special. Many of the X-wings and tie-fighters seem to be physics free even in the atmosphere of a planet.
* Poor pacing, especially in the middle of the movie. The most compelling story in the movie occurs when Rey is having flashbacks about the past and the Jedi. Expanding on this would have made a far far better movie. They should have also supplied some exposition or, better yet, actually shown the Battle of Jakku. Again, would have been much more compelling.
* Splurged for 3D. Really not worth it. There was only one scene where 3D was impressive, and that was simply a stationary Star Destroyer.
I'm glad Star Wars is seeing a rebirth, but this movie was a rough start. I'd say worse than the hated prequels. They did leave a direct lead in to the next movie and I hope that the mistakes made in The Force Awakens are examined and learned from to make better movies, but I doubt that will happen.