Surprisingly Bad, but Fun

Rating: 5/10 (29 December 2015)

SPOILERS The bad: 1. Formulaic: Abrams took familiar characters/plots/and scenes and repurposed them into a new Star Wars TM product. (and another Death Star, really?) 2. Feminist Vapidism: The new female lead is perplexingly better than every male in the film, whether it's teaching herself the force (Luke took 2 movies worth of training), beating a Sith Lord in a light saber battle on her first day as a Jedi, being a better star pilot than Han Solo, or more knowledgeable engineer than Chewbacca; all skills that she somehow acquired as a scavenger on the desert planet Tatooine? Huh? 3. Civilization is Blown Up, No One Cares: the new "First Order" starkiller blows up no less than 5 planets representing the Republic (apparently they learned nothing from Alderan), and the characters barely care. Meanwhile, the Republic doesn't have an army? 4. Nothing says originality like the Nazis: the "First Order" is based on the Nazis. Yawn.
5. We could have had acting: but instead Han and Leia get to talk mostly about their idiot son and the dumb plot.
The Good: 1. The backgrounds/visuals/landscapes: are beautiful. One department did its job.
2. The formula: Lots of lasers, lightsabers, explosions, aliens. If that's all you want in a Star Wars movie, than it's a success.
3. It's fast-paced: Lots of action: better than the soap-opera of the Prequels. That said, Abrams probably can't do dialogue.