A sequel or a remake? Not sure

Rating: 5/10 (6 February 2016)

I am a sort a fan of the Star wars universe, and in contrary I also liked at least two of the prequels. But Episode VII is completely different thing. I went to see it yesterday. As you can tell, I didn't keep any hurry seeing it. I wasn't that excited of it than I was in 1999 when the prequels were released. Maybe partly because they were somewhat disappointments at that time, but during years I've learned to appreciate Lucas' work in Ep II and III. In the first minutes of Ep VII I didn't feel the excitement I was hoping, and the plot seemed to be all over the place. Couldn't really tell what was going on and what had happened. I didn't do any research or hadn't read any Star Wars novels, and I shouldn't have to. It's the movie's job to explain me everything but it was hard to get in to. During first 30 minutes or so I watched the action and effects and felt moderately excited, but the movie really started going when Rey and Finn escaped together from the planet Jakku and ran into Han Solo and Chewbacca. At that point I didn't worry about the new young characters and thought they're gonna be explained in awhile, I was sure of that. Still the movie left me guessing. Okay, Kylo Ren was Han and Leia's obviously spoiled son who turned into dark side just like that. But I kept throwing the ball back and forth guessing if Rey is either Luke's or Han's daughter.
Although Rey was actually Luke's daughter and the force was strong in her, her skills still dazzled me. How in the hell she could beat Kylo Ren, who was educated by Luke himself and later by a Dark Lord, and with a lightsaber she handled the first time? And how did she use Jedi mind-tricks so easily after a one day self-taught practice? Come on. It really felt like she raised a middle finger to Yoda and all of the Jedi council of the past, because she could learn these things out of thin air. Remember how Luke and Anakin had no idea of the force until a Jedi explained it to them carefully and taught them for days or weeks, and still both usually failed in test. Here Rey just concentrated for a second and knew exactly what she was doing with the Force.
While Rey seemed like to become the most powerful Jedi ever, Kylo Ren was the opposite. He's a coward and a sad excuse for a Han's and Leia's son. If I was Han Solo, I probably would have wanted to die much sooner out of sheer embarrassment. Kylo Ren didn't have any redeeming qualities; back in the day even a Padawan toddler would have wiped the floor with him. Yes, he was that bad. A cool saber alone doesn't make you look cool. That mentioned, Finn looked comical with a light saber in his hands. The whole character felt out of place, don't know why. It annoyed me that a random person could wield such a weapon, that was so big part of a Jedi knight and a carefully protected, individual object. Remember when Anakin kept losing his saber and Obi-Wan gave him a mouthful every time?
Han Solo and Chewie were fun, but Ford's performance was too laid back. Of course the character had become old, but still it seemed like Solo had lost most of his wit. He still looked the part, but Fisher as Leia looked and sounded unfamiliar, although that didn't come as a surprise. Their relationship wasn't believable anymore and felt awkward. Considering their divorce and such it wasn't really a surprise that their son would turn into mischief either. Too bad Kylo and Rey didn't inherit their grandparents gorgeous looks (Portman, Christensen) but instead looked quite average.
Effects were great. I went to see the movie in 3D and wasn't disappointed. The clarity and overall use of 3D was terrific. Whether it was action or still scene 3D enhanced the experience. At one point during the X-Wing fight scenario, when the camera panned from inside a cockpit and gazed the ongoing battle, my stomach churned positively.
I'm not going in the Ep IV vs VII rehash debate, because it was so obvious throughout the movie. You would have to be blind to see this movie as piece of art or inspired. It was purely aimed for the next generation of kids who might not have seen the original trilogy. It was so identical in every way. Throw in the original cast and adults are happy too, right. Right? Don't think so. Han Solo's death was a surprise to me, but even bigger surprise was the way he died: in the hands of a cowardly son. It wasn't emotional like Vader's and Luke's confrontation in Ep V but instead purely tragical. A one of the greatest heroes in movies completely wasted. I hope Luke is going to whoop Kylo's ass in the next one, if he even survived from the exploding planet, don't really know. Too many plot holes and unexplained things left me puzzled.
Talk about Luke, I expected him to show up anytime during the movie and save everyone but we only saw him in the very end, which was disappointing. The same way disappointing when Yoda fled from the Emperor in Ep III, but even more so. In Ep III it was bound to happen because of continuity issues. This time it was for the sake of almighty dollar and oncoming launch of sequels, not because of the story. Too bad people (scriptwriters) don't learn anything from past events, instead history repeats itself and Star Wars franchise rehashes itself into unseeable future, dimming the greatness and meaning of original trilogy and prequels.