Star Wars: The Force Awakens - A Soulless, Unnecessary Continuation of the Star Wars Saga

Rating: 4/10 (17 January 2018)

Critics have almost universally praised the seventh entry in the Star Wars saga. Most negative critiques of the film have been shrugged off as fanboys being fanboys, to which I respectfully disagree. The Force Awakens should be considered both on its merits as it a) stands alone, in which regard it is an average at best, by the numbers Marvel-style money churner; and b) as the seventh film in a nine-part narrative in which regard it outright fails - shamelessly copying most of its narrative points from the originals whilst simultaneously working to undo what came before and offering no logical consistency in the series as a whole.
a) As a standalone film
i) One-dimensional characterisation
The most glaring issue with the film is its lack of meaningful characterisation and character development. Take Rey, our protagonist, for example: with no prior experience and no training, Rey is able to best every other character around her - whether it's both fixing and piloting the Millennium Falcon with more skill than its owner; beating up numerous thugs on Jakku; resisting and overpowering the primary antagonist, Kylo Ren, during his interrogation of her using the Force; squaring off against and defeating said antagonist in a lightsaber duel at the film's climax; or even inexplicably being able to understand Wookie language when no one else can. There is little to no character development for our protagonist in this film, and little is left in the way of potential development for later entries. Sadly, Rey is as bland as heroes come.
The film's tendency to overpower its heroes and have them perform unrealistic feats of heroism dispels the audience's suspension of disbelief and eliminates any sense of danger. Poe is the greatest pilot in the Resistance, a fact that is rammed down the throat of the audience, particularly when we are shown Poe blasting multiple First Order TIE fighters out of the sky in the space of mere seconds. Finn (more on him below) is somehow able to hold his own with the film's antagonist, a highly trained and deadly dark Jedi, in a lightsaber duel.
Very few characters have been written with authentic traits or backgrounds. Finn's speech, mannerisms and his actions seem completely incongruous with his origins as having been raised from birth to be a soldier (or was it janitor?). Snoke and Hux are archetypal Disney villains with zero intrigue or menace, and most characters on both sides of the fence are inexplicably dumbed down, doing and saying dumb things and not behaving in the way one would expect of experienced military leaders.
The film does offer a small handful of characters with some intrigue though. Kylo Ren is a genuinely interesting character - conflicted, dark, and brimming with potential possibilities. Harrison Ford shines in his scenes as Han Solo, and Carrie Fisher does ok with her limited material. However these few are simply not enough to engage the audience in the lives of the characters and propel the story.
ii) Contrived storytelling - the 'Mystery Box' approach and the issues therefrom:
In terms of story, the film offers a swathe of narrative threads and mysteries for the audience to chew on: who are Rey's parents; who are the knights of Ren; why is Luke in hiding; who is Snoke; on it goes. In typical JJ Abrams fashion, it's likely that we are being sold mystery for the sake of mystery - do we really expect that all of these questions will be satisfactorily answered? (Having recently seen The Last Jedi the answer is unequivocally no). Ultimately, this style of mystery-manufacturing serves to detract from the overall narrative, with good story telling and the finer details, which make or break a film, being pushed aside in favour of a contrived plot device. The lack of focus on these key ingredients also opens the film up to a multitude of plot holes (many of which are evident in other sections of this discussion).
b) As a continuation of the Star Wars series
i) Plot and world-building incongruity:
The prequel trilogy chronicled the rise of the galactic empire and Anakin Skywalker's fall to the dark side. While the films were undoubtedly flawed, they existed in and built upon the universe crafted in the original trilogy. The originals chronicled the rebel alliance's subsequent desperate attempts to overthrow the Empire; continued the arc of the Skywalker family; and culminated in a thrilling, cathartic victory - the Empire is overthrown, Anakin Skywalker redeemed, and Luke's journey from farm boy to saviour of the galaxy complete.
The Force Awakens undoes all that from the opening crawl. None of the overarching plot in this latest entry makes any sense when viewed as a continuation of that story:

With the original trilogy and with what we are shown in the prequel trilogy, the impression is given that the Empire is vast and indomitable. The conflict between the Rebel Alliance and the Empire spans an entire galaxy. However, following the fall of the Empire, the First Order - apparently a remnant - have constructed their own, far more powerful Death Star and use it to swiftly obliterate the Republic. No explanation is given as to how the First Order could have risen to power unchecked by the Republic and the Resistance, nor how it is possible that the entire galaxy-spanning Republic was able to be wiped out in a single stroke by Starkiller base. Furthermore, why is there a Resistance in the first place? What is the relationship between the Resistance and the Republic? None of this is adequately explained.

Our plucky heroes from the first trilogy, Han and Luke - largely responsible for the overthrow of the Empire - have simply given up and gone into hiding following their own personal failures in the interim, jarringly out of character from what one would expect of these well-developed characters.

These issues in plotting are symptomatic of shoe-horning a new story into the Star Wars universe where perhaps there should have not been any. The new trilogy has fallen short in finding a logical jumping off point, and the film's makers seem uninterested in providing any narrative cohesiveness.
ii) Tonal mismatch:
Tonally, the movie does not gel with the original trilogy. The underlying seriousness of the originals is nowhere to be found, and instead we are given cartoonish dialogue and slapstick. The snide remarks of Han Solo and organic banter of the Han/Luke/Leia trio are here replaced by Marvel's brand of self-aware and modernised jokes which all too often undercut any dramatic tension and dispel the audience' suspension of disbelief. In one scene Rey & Finn in the Millenium Falcon are captured by a much larger vessel, drawn into its gravity well, in what should have been a tense moment. Instead what we are given are Finn & Rey scrambling for a better vantage point, with Finn literally climbing Rey in a scene reminiscent of a Benny Hill sketch. Overall, the film's tone does little to convince us that the story is set in the same narrative universe as those that came before it, feeling more a parody of the originals than a successor.
iii) Narrative repetition:
Large sections of the plot of The Force Awakens are blow by blow retellings of A New Hope. I won't go into detail - the parallels are too numerous - suffice to say that they are not so much call-backs as a copying and pasting of major plot points. Were this film a reboot, one could forgive such narrative laziness, however as episode seven of a series the repetition is jarring. This is a transparent and clumsy move to spark nostalgia in existing fans to then pass the torch to their children, the new targets of Disney's marketing.
Conclusion
The writers and producers have managed to tick enough checkboxes to ensure that it is not a "bad" film, at least in terms of production. The actors all do fine with their material, the visuals are impressive, and the action sequences are good for the most part. But The Force Awakens epitomises superficial, committee based film making of the modern era, unnecessarily continuing the series for the sake of profit and diminishing the story and character arcs of the preceding films in the process. While George Lucas' treatment of the series was certainly influenced by a focus on merchandise sales, with Disney now steering the franchise I'm afraid The Force Awakens is indicative of what we can expect of future entries in the series - a succession of films churned out for broad appeal and maximum profit, with unimaginative storytelling, bland characterisation, forced dialogue, self-aware humour, and a complete absence of heart and originality that made the originals a cultural phenomenon. Peel away the glossy, merchandise-based veneer of The Force Awakens and you won't find much.