Good introduction for newcomers, nostalgia trip for the huge fans, just meh for others

Rating: 3/10 (19 December 2015)

Because of the overwhelmingly positive reviews this film gets I'll concentrate on the main issues with this film- note that I gave it a 6 so I don't think it's bad, it's generally well directed, with beautiful production design and of course memorable soundtrack. While the film is generally well directed, and the effects as well as the production design are well made this film is a complete Disney "safe-zone" film. Instead of trying to take it anywhere interesting, we get a complete rehash of the original Star Wars and while the direction was quite good, with nearly no parts which "took me out of the film". No, the main problem with this film is with it's plot, and to a lesser extent it's characters. The plot is nearly identical to the original, and it shows that this film is marketed towards 2 audiences: The absolute fans who scream at the sight of Han Solo, Chewbacca and everyone else, for them everything this film does is the following: "Nostalgia, nostalgia, nostalgia, nostalgia..." it nearly seemed to me like this film literally shoves it down my throut: "Feel the nostalgia! Hey look isn't it nostalgic", "You remember that from the original film right?", but isn't the point of a new film to take it somewhere else but that? Would remaking the first film really be a better choice? Well, the very least it's the SAFE choice- nothing truly new occurs. For the newcomers who haven't seen any of the previous films I admit they would actually most likely enjoyed it as it is not badly executed.
But the problem is there are plot holes, one of the main characters is a soldier from the clone army but for some reason he "got out of conformity", how did that happen? Because he has seen death? ALL OF THEM DID, THEY ARE SOLDIERS. But on top of that the fact that the plot is so similar basically indicates that the empi- I mean "First Order" does the exact same mistakes as the ones that brought down the Empire, that's just sad.
But here lies another problem- what is going on?? I mean, in the original trilogy it was quite obvious- there was an empire controlling the galaxy and a group of rebels, simple enough. But in here there's the "First Order" (Empire 2)- so, are they controlling any territory? Do they control the galaxy now? But no- there's also a Republic, do they control it? Do they control different parts fighting for dominance? And if there's a Republic- who are the rebels? Are they part of the Republic? But if so why are they called rebels? Do they rebel against both of them? WHAT IS GOING ON?? And that's a shame, because the expanded and detailed universe is what caught many people's imaginations when it comes to Star Wars- it was one of the defining factors- the universe was interesting to explore, but now we don't know ANYTHING about what happens.
Another thing to note is the badly directed fights- when there's a fight it's not a good idea to have an "over-the-shoulder" shot, but a shot showcasing the area and both fighters at the same time at a singular shot.