Too-Fast Pacing Almost Ruins the Magic (Minor Spoiler)

Rating: 7/10 (19 December 2015)

For those who want a sense of what a J.J Abrams version of a Star Wars film is like need to look no further than the most recent Star Trek movies. Abrams himself said he wanted to turn Star Trek into a Star Wars style show. Such as the reaction of the Star Trek films, there is good and bad with Abrams inhabiting our beloved heritage. I was 13 years old when the original Star Wars came out. I went to see at least 6 times while it played for over a year at the St. Louis Park theatre (sadly no longer exists).
There was a vivaciousness to the original version that clicked from scene to scene. Interesting enough, the key to keeping the momentum going was the pacing. Science fiction movies up until that point had a convention that all activity in space happened in slow motion. George Lucas applied the style of old Flash Gordon serials to the science fiction conventions and created a sweeping adventure. Abrams, however, has taken this fast pacing a little too far, where we miss the emotional beats that the original gave us time for. The rushing around is to the film's detriment, as we have no time to take in what is happening. Lucas told a simple but well told story, and filled the world with lots of details. The Abrams world has no interest in lingering around to actually feel like we are living in these places we the audience are visiting. Ironically, the only time a couple extra seconds are spent anywhere is to stage a callback to the original movie. Such as the chess game with the small creatures on the Millennium Falcon. That moment had no bearing whatsoever on the story being told, and did not offer anything new.
The quick pacing also didn't give me time to understand what was going on and why, but only for some minor plot points (how did the Millennium Falcon get trapped by the bigger ship?) Once the movie was over, the mind goes into a blur trying keep track of the obstacles needed to be overcome, and what the consequences were, and how the characters reacted, only to have another dilemma replace the former. In other words, the story has a bunch of distracting little actions scenes that only complicate the story. It will quickly become apparent to fans of the original that SWVII is basically a remake of A New Hope. As those beats are recognised by the audience, it shows real thought has gone behind how to present them. But again, that means little is new here. On the other hand, dark times were upon us die-hard Star Wars fans (I used to have a shoe box full of Star Wars bubble gum cards) after the miserable prequels sucked all the life out of the Star Wars franchise. So, I was happy to have that giddy feeling about 3 or 4 times as Abrams rejuvenated everything that was missing from the prequels. I truly believe over time that those prequel films will be mostly forgotten as the new set of films steer the franchise into the future.
A course correction then will hopefully occur for the next film, with the pacing slowed down just a little (this is not a Michael Bay film). Another thing that Abrams got lucky on is that all principles from the original film returned and passionately contributed with similar results. This includes John Williams, who displayed his trademark genius in bringing a movie to life. Also credit goes to ILM, the effects house that has created a multi-billion dollar global phenomena with their jaw dropping effects. ILM was born out of the original Star Wars, and has changed the movie world forever. Harrison Ford owns his role, with natural and engaging dialogue by Lawrence Kasdan. So the sum off all the parts contributor-wise makes Star Wars a greater whole film than the recent Star Trek films. So a hesitant applause is in order for the return of our beloved Star Wars franchise. Abrams proved he can fulfill our wish list of what we are looking for in a Star Wars film (fun! - duh), and direct actors well enough so we believe they really live in these other worlds.
I have GOT to tell everyone reading these reviews on IMDb to ignore the 1 star ratings all the fanboys are giving this film. They give it such a low rating not because the film isn't well made and entertaining, but because the film didn't do things exactly like they wanted. It is one thing to nitpick about little inconsistencies, it is another to declare that just everything and everyone was horrible. These same people will probably admit that this film is still better than the prequels, and these same people will still buy the blu-ray when it comes out so they can enjoy hating even more. Guys, we won't take you seriously giving this a 1 star rating. If the acting was bad, or the CGI was misused, or the pacing was dull, etc., it would deserve something that poor. But (as all the film critics agree - Rotten Tomatoes has it certified 95%) a real review with such geeky complaints would still give this film 5 stars instead of 1. I give it a 7, because it had me laughing, I got weepy once, I was drawn in by the action, and there was a feeling of that Star Wars magic that was completely vacant in the prequels.
**A Minor Spoiler**
Adam Driver as Han Solo's son looks amazingly like a young Harrison Ford, and makes an interesting troubled villain. His character will be interesting to follow in subsequent movies.