Perhaps it should have been titled 'Star Wars: The Forgery Awakens' or 'SW: The Force Cloned'

Rating: 6/10 (25 December 2015)

The Force Awakens is an exciting new chapter to the SW saga. But there are problems, which it would be easy to get overly critical about. First off, what they got right about this film. New characters: on the surface they're different and compelling enough to enjoy. But at times they lack depth (and maybe even maturity). Perhaps that was by design to appeal more to kids. Next (what I like to call) environmental moments! An example of that is in #1 when Anakin is pod racing, a group of sand people are watching & take a shot at one of the pod racers, causing him to crash. Or in #4 when on Tatooine, they enter Mos Eisley in Luke's land speeder, a Jawa can be seen struggling to control a Rhonto beast. It seems like unimportant details, but it goes a long way to making SW seem real (and not just some visually impressive trip thru a fantasy universe)! While not achieving a George Lucas level, JJ Abrams did a respectable job at this, and frankly I don't know if other directors would've even grasped that. As always, the special effects & sound effects are top notch. The action and pace of the movie are done well too. If anything it could've slowed down in a few spots to help add a little more depth to some of the characters. The visual look of the film is commendable. Traditional SW but tweaked just enough to convey a newness to it (examples: storm trooper outfits, TIE fighters, etc)... And now for what's wrong with this movie!! Large holes in character background. While this seems to be a big source of complaint from fans, especially because it lends to unexplained inconsistencies in some of the major characters. Everyone should try and chill out!! Some of this will be covered in the next movie (probably). Some of it will be revealed in the commercial empire of the SW after market (in such things as toys, games, collectors cards, and possibly TV shows & cartoons). We will have to wait and see if it covers all the significant inconsistencies... Having said that, the sheer volume of it is annoying!! More than any other SW movie. Next issue: disappointing performances by the old cast. Han is Han! One of the strongpoints of the film. Leia, at times seems like she's coming down off a hangover, but at other times gives a convincing performance. Even Chewbacca gives a deadpan performance at one important point in the movie.The villain, Kylo Ren, while not being a big disappointment, is a mixed bag. The biggest flaw by far is the plot. The plot is heavily, heavily, heavily recycled!! So much so that it can't be overstated! (Hence the title of this review)! Hopefully the next SW will fix some of the character background issues. But unless they correct the totally unoriginal plot... then, just like in this movie... great visual effects, a great pace, and somewhat compelling characters will not be enough to make up for it.