New Hope 2.0

Rating: 8/10 (30 December 2015)

The Force Awakens (TFA) returns a major element to the Star Wars franchise; fun.
Daisey Ridley and John Boyega own their characters Rey and Finn respectively. Oscar Isaac's X-Wing pilot Poe is all glorious hero. Adam Driver is absolutely pitch perfect in the role of Kylo Ren. Harrison Ford is more engaged than he has been in a decade. BB8 is the new droid star of the franchise, an absolute marvel of performance and special effects.
The story is very much A New Hope 2.0, which is not a bad thing, but it has been a source of heated debate among fans. There are character and story seeds planted that we do not get to see to fruition by the end credits, or in some cases, require repeated viewings to catch them. This is yet another source of heated debate among fans. I am not sure why it is a bad thing that a movie require you see it multiple times, isn't that the fun of watching movies? This is the first of a trilogy of films and the expectation is those seeds not bloomed will produce fruit in the other two films. It is admittedly a less individually standing film out of all the films in the franchise. However, I have confidence all will be revealed in the coming episodes. John Williams once again adds to the overall experience, though this is the first film that lacks a core musical theme which makes the score rather by the numbers which is a slight disappointment.
A lot of fans have commented there is a sense that the Rey character is a "Mary Sue" of sorts and Finn's character has a turn of conscious that is too quick and without much back-story. Personally I found there is more than enough there that you don't have to be shown every single little thread to justify a character's arc, you should be able to figure out on your own some aspects given what we do know otherwise you are looking at a 3hr bore fest of exposition just because some fans have to have everything spelled out for them. Specific to the Rey character, I find it hypocritical that this character is singled out as too equipped when the fantasy and action genre is filled with beloved MALE characters who are equipped similarly yet accepted without question.
Personally, I really have only two major complaints. The first is that the highly publicized and promoted character Captain Phasma is criminally under utilized in the film, in fact, ultimately reduced to a weak character which is a huge disappointment. My other major issue is how Solo's character arc finale was handled. Solo's arc finale should have been a huge emotional moment, but ends up being rushed through and lacks the emotional gravitas it should have had. The ball was dropped here in a big way.
So, to sum it up, TFA does rely heavily on nostalgia/familiar story elements, it plants some seeds that are yet to bloom, while it does give you enough in some areas you just have to utilize that information to form some of the information on your own. We have one highly promoted character criminally underused and another classic character's arc finale rushed. Still, the fantastic cast, performances, chemistry, action and SFX return the franchise to solid footing and I look forward to the coming episodes.