Good film for newbies, mediocre for die hards

Rating: 6/10 (21 December 2015)

Don't let my 8/10 rating mistake you into thinking this is objectively a very good film. I am fairly new to the Star Wars saga, I know the basics as in the major characters and their simple relations to each other with further sparse knowledge on what the Force is/does. Other than that, I am a complete noob having only seen The Phantom Menace when I was 10.
Going into this film I wasn't excited as seemingly everyone was so my expectations were low, I was afraid I wouldn't have a clue on what was going on because the franchise/lore is so detailed and specific. However as the film progressed I began enjoying it more and more simply because I could follow the story. Everything/everyone was explained to the viewer in a way that wasn't complicated or abstractly complex. The story was basic and accessible. The dialogue was straightforward with no overlong, unrelated technical gibberish that only die hard fans would understand. Add that with decent moments of humour and cool CGI laser battles, this film exceeded my expectation and I left feeling entertained.
Now the objective part. Having said all that, I have seen numerous lifelong/die hard fans call this film an average, unoriginal clone of A New Hope (never seen it). And I can see why. If I was a hardcore fan from the original film in the 70's, I would be extremely disappointed at this re-ignition of the franchise. I am constantly sick of the mediocre, recycled garbage that Marvel puts out (I enjoy the MCU) in movies such as Ant-Man, Age of Ultron, IM3 and Thor 2. They rarely push the boundaries and reach for a teenage/child audience with a simplistic plot and cardboard soft villains. Star Wars TFA seems no different, with zero character development on a throwaway villain, a big CGI (badly done) super villain who is as interesting as a rotten tomato and the main actress who is half developed. Put that with a plot that is basically Fast and Furious 7 (another franchise I am a big follower but was very disappointed in FF7) in which a McGuffin device is being chased through different locations simply to drive the plot forward as conveniently and illogically as can be done. Put that with a few Dues Ex Machina moments that come out of nowhere to push the plot forward again at the expense of good reasoning, this film will disappoint super fans of Star wars who also admire good screenplay.
I understand now why big studios opt for simple plot lines and characters with lots of CGI and bone dry humour for most big franchise films. It's to attract new suckers like me, who enjoyed the film and will watch the new one when it comes out and to keep the real cash cows (children) happy to buy the merchandise.