Re-Hash of the Jedi

Rating: 5/10 (25 December 2015)

I guess I'm in the minority here and yes I enjoyed it for the most part (though probably mainly for nostalgic reasons) but it was tough to really lose myself in the film as I felt I'd been there before.
The hardcore fans are celebrating the fact that J.J. ticked all the boxes but for me that was part of the problem, too many boxes were ticked making it little more than a remake with old actors thrown in.
On top of that there were some serious plot holes and inconsistencies as well, things I didn't expect J.J. to let slip though. I can't go into them without giving away spoilers but if you've seen the film you should know what I mean.
I guess it was always going to be a tough ask to continue the saga and do it justice (though it seems most people think that's what has been done) but I feel that the problem is that the Star Wars story really ended with EP6:ROTJ, sure there's always the chance that the Empire rebuilds and a new Sith Lord shows up but so what? That's a remake or reboot right? Anything after that is hitting the reset button (which ironically is what J.J. did with Star Trek allowing him to essentially remake Wrath of Khan but do it fresh). That'll work great for the new fans but for those of us that were there at the start it feels like just another reboot of something we loved as a kid.
EP7:TFA has a lot of good stuff in there as well, it's not a 'bad' movie and it's certainly far better than EP1:TPM (what isn't) but over all I felt EP 7 really didn't continue the story it was just J.J. remaking his childhood memories which to me was disappointing. To be honest I'd love to know what George Lucas had in mind for episodes 7 - 9.
I'll give it 6/10 but mostly for nostalgia.