You can buy the Star Wars logo but you can't buy the universe.

Rating: 1/10 (9 January 2017)

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (TFA) is the worst Star Wars movie ever made. To be fair I have not yet seen Rogue One which may possibly be worse but I find it unlikely anything can be worse than episode VII. TFA fails to deliver in every category you can use to measure a film. It's story is nonsensical and trying too hard to be something it's not. It results in a rehash of episode IV. George Lucas and his team would spend months if not years planning and creating new worlds and characters to discover and explore with the audience. Disney has chosen to try and make as much money as possible, now I understand the nature of the industry and making movies with gigantic budgets like Star Wars demands a return, but if you go into the creative process with only money on your mind you have already set yourself up for failure. Because of the exaggerated and unjust criticism of the prequel trilogy, Disney has knee jerked and tried to recreate the original movie with new characters. Based on that sentence it's not an entirely bad idea. New planet, new aliens, new antagonists, sounds OK. But the success comes not from the idea but from the execution. This is where the movie was most disappointing, every aspect is executed poorly.
For myself music is one of the most important ingredients in a Star Wars film as it provokes the same emotions experienced by the protagonists on screen. It can get your blood pumping, or reduce you to tears. In the movie industry there is no one better to compose this than John Williams, he is a master of his craft and one of the main factors of Star Wars' success over the decades. He shares a close friendship with George Lucas and due to this was able to more accurately compose for specific planets, characters and scenes. You could watch the film blindfolded and still feel the same emotions as the characters on screen. In TFA it was obvious that John Williams did not feel the same love and passion for this new iteration. He would have known that George's suggestions and ideas were thrown into the trash and the executives were only looking for some quick money. It's hard to put your heart into something that you know should not even be made.
On top of this TFA completely destroyed the ending of Return of the Jedi and has tarnished the name Star Wars to all the fans. Disney own Star Wars now they can tell you this is canon but it's up to you as a fan to decide for yourself. It's a fictional universe created by George Lucas and they say that all of the EU is canon, unless contradicted by the films i.e. I-IV. Well TFA IS contradicted by IV, V, VI I know these characters would not behave as they do in the film. The galaxy would not allow the first order to rise up out of no where and they would not allow the construction of a star killer base. Han Solo would not act as he does in the film, Luke would not lose to the Knights of Ren and go into hiding, he would continue fighting until his last breath using the knowledge of Yoda and Obi Wan to defeat any dark side users who attempt to destroy the Jedi and the people of the galaxy. So Disney if you want to cast aside the man who created this universe then please do not be upset when the fans cast you aside also. You can buy the rights to use the Star Wars logo but you can never buy the Star Wars universe because it only exists in one place, inside the mind of George Lucas.