Entertaining but impossible to ignore the faults.

Rating: 6/10 (20 January 2016)

This is the first movie review I have submitted. Why this movie? I felt compelled to unburden my mind of the disappointing elements of this film. Im not the type to over analyse a movie. I either enjoy it or i don't. I've read numerous reviews on this site of this film and the low ratings are not without justification. The higher ratings are not without some merit.
I'm a massive fan of the originals and grew up with them as a kid. Like many fans, I was pleased to learn JJ Abrams was to direct the new trilogy, given the good job he did on the recent Star Trek movies. They were not perfect by any means, but they were entertaining and visually stunning. I was also excited to learn the original characters would be making an appearance. On that note, I'll start with the positives:
Abrams has done a good job visually. It feels like a star wars film and doesn't rely solely on CGI. A vast improvement on the sequels.
The new characters Rae and Finn are engaging and Ridley and Boyega give a good performance. Kylo Ren, as a bad guy, showed great promise in the beginning that he could be a future cult movie villain. The new droid BB8 was also an enjoyable character addition to the movie.
It's an entertaining movie.
Now to the negatives of the movie.
There was the odd bit of the movie here and there that where a bit ropey, but I wasn't expecting perfection so I didn't let it ruin the occasion. It was very entertaining after all. It's the climax of the movie thats its Achilles heel. I wont give it away exactly, but it's identical to the originals. Its almost a remake. Yet it wasn't. But it was. I'm so confused!
I understand that he wanted to make the movie in the spirit of the originals and in many ways he succeeded. However, he seems to have paid the originals a bit too much attention though and has basically took the iconic moments from them and made it into the force awakens. It was a few weeks after the release of the movie that I went to see it and it opened to rave reviews. Yet none of them cared to point out the white elephant in the room. Even the inclusion of Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher seemed a bit hard to accept while I was watching. Ford, while one of my childhood hero's, was a bit too old for the role as it was written. Fisher could barely move for surgery and botox. Chewy didn't look to bad though, but he was a few hundred years old in the originals. The story of Kylo Ren and his reveal also left me disappointed and unconvinced that the script writers hadn't written the script on the bus into work. His character goes from menacing and powerful to bit pathetic. Adam driver is completely miscast.
It's a messy movie. The character links are poor. The script is plagiarized. There are plot inconsistencies aplenty. It's uncomfortable to watch in places. It lacks the spirit and emotional feel of the originals.
I enjoyed the film on the whole and could have forgiven the similarities to the originals if it were not for the climax, which then shattered any credibility the movie may have rescued and highlights in retrospect the other thefts of the original. That said, I think the future of the franchise still has potential in the new characters.