I wanted to like this movie so much.

Rating: 5/10 (20 December 2015)

I wanted to like this movie so much but I just couldn't credit it as a "good" movie. I waited in anticipation to see Starwars debut on the silver screen again but I was disappointed very much. The original Star Wars had such a significant cultural impact (having one of the most quoted lines ever) as well as a significant impact on the film industry with its unprecedented sound and visual effects. This one, however fell flat with no originality and average acting at best.
My biggest critique is the entire plot of the film was ripped off from previous Star Wars film; especially Episode IV. For example, the opening scene is the bad people attacking the good people; the bad guy wears a mask and has a cool voice; the good guys hide secret information in a droid; the droid begins to wander on a desert planet; the droid gets captured; the droid is rescued by an "orphaned" ( I use this term lightly) young person who so happens to be strong in the force but doesn't know it yet; the Millennium Falcon is used to escape the desert planet while being attacked by the Empire/First Order. This is not even the end of it. This film ripped off episode IV and some parts of V scene for scene.
The next critique is the "tone" of the movie. I enjoy movies that might be able to mix comic and serious matters within a film as well as I enjoy movies that are just overall quite bleak or overall happy-go-lucky. The Force Awakens managed to do neither. i was so confused the whole movie of what I was suppose to be feeling: am I suppose to fear for Poe's life and well being since he was captured by the First Order in the opening scene? Or should i laugh because he cracks a joke about not knowing who should speak first when he is captured and brought to Kylo Ren? The jokes in this movie fell flat and did not fit many of the situations. I couldn't find an overall theme that they were shooting for because of this. Should this be a tense and stressful movie or should I be laughing at every one liner the characters dish out. Let's not even mention the dialogue between Poe and Fin as they escape from the First Order in the Tie Fighter.
My last large complaint were some significant plot holes and stupid writing. When Solo is introduced into the film he hides Fin and Rey while some smugglers board his craft wanting payment but he keeps the BB8 droid with him. Why? Who knows? He just thought it was a good idea apparently...but it wasn't. The smugglers identify the droid as one that the First Order is looking for along with two fugitives which leads to the awful monster/alien sequence inside the freighter. Anyhow, immediately after that they go to bar on some other planet and bring BB8 with them into the bar where there are tons of people and spies! Whether they were expecting spies or not, which they obviously weren't, they should've kept BB8 out of sight given he was immediately identified just moments ago by smugglers. So what happens when they take BB8 into the bar? He is immediately recognized by like three spies....stupid.
Another plot hole is Rey's uncanny ability to use the Force without any training....at all. The closest thing to Force training she has is Ren trying to read all of her thoughts and she is able to reverse the effect onto him. From here on out she can do the 'ole jedi mind trick on a storm trooper, out do a trained Sith in using the force to retrieve a lightsaber in the snow, and out do a Sith in a lightsaber battle the first time she ever used a lightsaber. What? I get it...the force is strong with this one but she has no training! As a matter of fact, she wasn't even confident there was a "Force" until Solo told her. All these pieces just do not add up.
I am hoping that whoever ends up directing and writing the next two can do a better job than this. Maybe introduce an original screenplay? Just a thought.