Haven't I seen this before?

Rating: 4/10 (10 April 2016)

I was eager to watch this movie as I had heard so much about it but at the same time I was sorely disappointed with the work JJ Abrams had done with "Star Trek" so going into it I knew this might not be the best Star Wars movie made.
I didn't realize just how right I was.
The movie is basically a rehash of "A New Hope", the original Star Wars. It starts off with a battle between rebel forces and the Empire, with storm troopers winning the battle and the villain, dressed in a black armored looking suit, arrives at the end of the battle. A droid is equipped with a message and sent on his way, barely escaping capture.
This is exactly how "A New Hope" started.
The movie is basically about the rebels fighting off the evil empire with a young hero coming into power with the Force. All of the elements of the original movie are there: a young hero captured by the empire, Han and Chewie attempting a rescue, running among the artificial planet which is actually a weapon and the rebels, on the brink of defeat, shooting into the weapon planet, blowing it up to pieces.
There's even a bar scene with Han and Chewie.
The main villain is almost a clone of Darth Vadar who is draped in a black outfit that conceals his appearance and has a voice that would make James Earl Jones sound high pitched. The voice over quality is god awful, it sounds like someone recorded it on an old cassette deck. It makes me wonder, with all of the money spent on this movie, they couldn't make his voice sound better.
What really baffles me is how the empire has the technology to build not one but two death stars but don't seem to have the ability to prevent someone from dropping a bomb down a vent shaft. And then, 30 years later with improved technology, they build an even better death star, one that can harness ALL of the power from a nearby sun, yet can't seem to prevent someone from dropping bombs inside of it.
At least this time it's not down a vent shaft.
If you're looking for a Star Wars movie with battle scenes involving lasers and lightsabers, weird looking aliens and most of the original characters, you'll be happy.
But if you're looking for an original, interesting story, you won't be happy.
I wasn't happy. There is very little about this movie that was original. I have no idea why this has such high ratings, perhaps people don't care about quality writing and original story telling, both of which this movie does not have.