The Force put me to sleep

Rating: 6/10 (2 January 2016)

Director J.J. Abrams ("Lost," "Star Trek Into Darkness," "Mission: Impossible III") steps into the future (again) to bring the latest of the Star Wars trilogy to the big screen. Not seeing any of the prior movies, I was poised and ready for an exciting film experience. Unfortunately, I feel asleep twice due to boredom. Sure, the spaceships are cool, the futuristic characters are interesting, and traveling through the galaxy looks like fun, but I've seen this all done before in any number of other space travel films/TV series. With something new to look for out of the question, I turned my attention to just enjoying the film for what it was and getting to know the characters. Unfortunately, the dialogue was so basic, I found it hard to stay interested. I was, however, amused to see Harrison Fords' character filled with so much dry-humor, and I now finally understand the attraction of the light-saber. Maybe if some new film technology had been introduced, the overall film would have meant more to this first timer. But, since that didn't happen, "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" just bored me with its familiarity. One of the highlights of the film was to see Adam Driver ("GIRLS") step into such an iconic role within the film. Driver continues to be an interesting actor, and it's great to see him successful jump genres here. May the force be with those who love this trilogy!