My mostly no spoilers Star Wars The Force Awakens Review:

Rating: 5/10 (26 December 2015)

I saw the new Star Wars today. I'm probably going to be the odd ball here, but I'm not sure I liked it. The special effects and cinematography were bad ass, and the combat scenes were stellar (pun intended). But the plot was mostly rehashed, albeit with some new additions, like a turn coat imperial. There was also a tragic twist that I saw coming a mile away (and hoped I was going to be wrong but wasn't), that robs the story and saga of the lions share of it's personality. It reminds me of the new Star Trek 2, with the rehashing of the Wrath of Khan plot. I guess I would have liked to have seen some more originality in the new story rather than the same old plot, just done bigger.
As much as the poor acting in them annoyed me, at least the prequels had original story ideas and didn't just rehash the same plot as episodes 4 & 6. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't a bad movie, but not really good either. It wasn't new and fresh by any stretch, and definitely not epic like I had hoped. Very much more of a remake than a sequel, and without the story telling of the original to boot. The force was barely mentioned and there wasn't a whole lot of character development. It followed the modern, all action and very little story mantra. Heck, at the end of the movie, we still don't know who the heck Rey is, and she's the main character!
Ultimately I think what bothers me more about this one than the prequels, is that this go around they didn't make a mess with new characters, they messed things up with childhood favorites.
Bottom line is it feels very unoriginal and uninspired and very much like a remake, sort of like the umpteen other rehashed remakes that Hollywood is releasing. I'm frankly shocked that an avowed fan of the Star Wars series (J.J. Abrams), would release this thinking it was really a worthy continuation of the Star Wars saga. Maybe I missed the appeal. Maybe I'll have to watch it again. Maybe it will grow on me, but right now I'm left feeling disappointed.