Soulless Counterfeit

Rating: 2/10 (24 December 2015)

This was nothing but a high-budget fan fiction.
I had a completely open mind, and during the first half-hour I actually really enjoyed it. And then in true J.J. Abrams fashion, it became apparent that there really was no point, and that it was being made up as they went. The prequels had a long list of flaws, but they at least had heart, whereas this one is a soulless counterfeit.
The viewers who are rating this 10/10 will say that critical reviewers are just looking for something to be upset about. Not true. It's completely reasonable to be disappointed by such a slap-dash, string of stitched-together nonsense presented as a coherent story.
I guess for some fans, no dramatic tension or pacing is needed – just neat ships and fun action – like when playing action figures or video games. And all this talk of "nostalgia" The original Star Wars wasn't good because of "nostalgia." So while some viewers enjoyed the jokes and the self-parodying, force-fed references to other Star Wars movies, what makes a movie work is and always will be competent storytelling.
The problem is that Disney has heard loud and clear that playing to the lowest common denominator sells tickets, so they have no reason not to continue to do so.