Star Wars........Is it really back? Or has George Lucas been vindicated?

Rating: 2/10 (20 December 2015)

I love star Wars, the original trilogy just had that magic. Great characters you could get behind and a story arc that you could believe and follow. The prequel trilogy lacked wit however was still pretty grand although not as great as the originals and had its faults, and then there's the "Force Awakens".
You would think that in the hands of JJ Abrams that we would get a great retelling as he did with the the star Trek Universe. I mean he's got a pretty good track record right?
Well what can I say....its not very good at all. I really went into this movie with an big open heart, and I told myself that if it even achieved 50% of what it needed to be, I was to praise it as a good start. Yes I love the nostalgia and seeing the original cast but it was only for brief moments that my heart rate rose, in the vain hope it would get better when we see them. Let me break it down as to what the problems are.
What Went Wrong
1) Poor story: The story has really not been thought out or any original elements put in. Jurassic world was basically a retread of Jurassic park, but Jurassic world was a very well executed reboot of sorts with a great lead character you could get behind and well planned out action sequences. Harrison Ford is great as always but he didn't have much of a script to play with here. All the other actors are good actors but again were terribly miscast and you didn't really have any character that you wanted to get behind let alone care what happens to them down the line. It really doesn't go anywhere. We criticize the prequels but I'm starting to think even they are better than the Force awakens, at least they had scale and spectacle even if the dialogue wasn't that great and the acting wooden. I have to admit in a way, I think George Lucas has been vindicated due to the Force Awakens.
2)Poor acting: Im not really blaming the actors at all. They didn't have much of a polished script in the first place. The new leads John Boyega and Daisy Ridley are good actors, but didn't do well here at all, their character were well, boring and insignificant. Why? well because the script was kinda bad with dreadful dialogue, and a lot of smaller scenes that were totally unnecessary, and we hate London cockney speaking Aliens. Simply the actors lacked character and gravitas, but you can blame a large part of that on the script by Kasdan and JJ. I get the feeling maybe Kasdan hands were a little tied on the outcome of this screenplay, at least that's what I want to believe. Oh and a big reveal was literally done 10 minutes into the movie, I mean why? they could have built on this and revealed it later in a grander way it was like deflating a balloon beforehand.
3)Bad casting choices: Non of the new actors really had any gravitas, I mean zero. Oscar Issac was OK but under used and under developed. Character was a big missing element throughout the whole movie. The hero wasn't really a hero, the villain well he's OK-ish. At one point Adam driver delivers his lines so quickly that it really ruined his character, but for that I blame the director not the actor.
4)None existent nor thrilling action sequences/set pieces: The great thing about the original trilogy was the use of static shots of spaceships and such. This gave a perception of how grand a scale everything was, and allowed your eyes to absorb the magnificent images and action of the Empire in all its glory. Return of the Jedi had one of the best space battles ever seen. With today's technology you would think they could dream up something tense and spectacular. The build up was always great before the storm. Here there is nothing its all a bit of a anti climax, the camera zips around too much, and it ends up a bit of a mess. There is absolutely no build up or tension like the previous films when going into battle, and missing is the build up music that is so essential to the star Wars movies. You end up not caring what happens to the characters or the battles.
I think the Hype machine has done this movie a big favor. I came out of the theater a little confused with how i felt, then I started hearing many people as they came out of the movie saying the same thing, that this was a below average movie and they were really disappointed. Overall the Movie is quite poor, and yet I really wanted to like this movie. Proves that even with a great team of writers and directors you can sometimes miss the mark. There was such a great story to be told but it just didn't happen. With the new characters they have created for us, I think its going to be tough to improve on and get any mileage out of it in future movies unless you introduce completely new leads. Here's hoping they get it right with Episode VIII.
Overall a very poor movie. ( I really wanted to like it)