Made for the Money

Rating: 6/10 (20 December 2015)

Part of what made the original Star Wars and The Empire Strikes such good films is that they were episodes within a larger story _and_ good films in their own right.
The Force Awakens would make an excellent pilot for a 13 episode series on Netflix, but it's not a good film. Too much of The Force Awakens was merely set up for the next two films. It's one-third of a story rather than a whole which is part of something larger. It exists to create revenue for the rights holder, not to produce a good film.
I couldn't make myself care much about the new characters, although they are likable. If this weren't a Star Wars film, I'm not sure I'd want to see the next two films in the theater. I find myself saying, "meh..." when I think about the film, the characters, their struggles... The film was made for fans who type "The Feels!" on Twitter rather than for children of all ages.
This make me I wonder if we even need Star Wars anymore.
When Star Wars first came out, there was nothing like it. Imitations like Battlestar Galactica and Buck Rogers were good but not great. Empire was also great, and despite the episode with the little bears, the series was the best of its kind in the world. And the fans knew it. Yes, Star Trek had the intellect, and Doctor Who had the magic, but Star Wars was a force (pun intended) unto itself.
But while I was watching The Force Awakens, I was saying to myself, "Oh, this is like that scene in Episode I"; "Oh, this is like Firefly."; "Oh, this is like that scene in Empire."; "Oh, that actress was in Empire". It was about as special as a fan film. In fact, it was less interesting than that Boba Fett fan film from the 90's.
It was even less entertaining than Bad Lip Reading's rendition of Episode IV.
The makers of this film were not original -- they just retooled Star Wars using the existing 21st century SF milieu, wrote a screenplay with the usual Hollywood parallels, gender roles, and tricks, and waved a large paycheck in front of the original actors. Why should they care if it's not as good as Episodes IV or V? They're there to look good and say the lines.
Out of seven films in this series, two succeeded spectacularly, three are OK (including The Force Awakens), and two were awful.
The idea of Jedi Knights may still grip SF fans, but this new film series did little for me -- and I may not be the only one. Someone competent needs to write and direct Episode 8, not someone who knows how to paint-by-numbers in the most generic Hollywood style. Otherwise, we may end up with two mediocre Star Wars films in a row.
It's sad that no one wanted to make a good Star Wars film. They just wanted a new trilogy, because... money. The Force Awakens is more about Disney owning all the IP than about good film-making..
Oh well. Nothing lasts forever, not even Star Wars' exalted status in science-fiction film.