Return of the New Hope Strikes Back

Rating: 3/10 (20 December 2015)

It has been 30 years since the destruction of the Death Star and the Empire. We are introduced to two new factions: The First Order and the Resistance. Our two heroes and main characters will find themselves to be interlinked between these factions and will fulfil their promising destinies. In doing so, they are introduced to figures both new and old, figuratively and literally. Who will triumph?
Money, will triumph. Easy money.
This movie was made as a blockbuster and that is all that it will ever be. It has no charm, no originality, no story, no engaging character developments and no respect for the Star Wars lore and universe.
But most of all it is an empty-shell action regurgitation based on plagiarism of the original trilogy.
It's like watching IV, V & VI in 8x speed with 8x less depth. There's seemingly a constant need to interrupt dialogue and switch over to robotic military command manual language. It's like watching the 5th rehearsal of a war game where the only thing that differed from the last runs is the officer's insistence on protocol.
It's so boring that even looking at rocks seems like a more entertaining usage of time.
The only break from this constant rush to do meaningless action sequences we get is a few mannerisms by the new droid BB-8. It's pretty cute for a machination, but it's cheap laughs and nothing more. It doesn't have it's own independent story (much like everything else), and merely serves as a delivery tool.
Ah, but can't I at least give it a few million stars for it's keeping with the old trilogy and faithful nostalgia? No. Surely we could have seen things in the SW universe that were markedly different from before, even if it's "only" been 30 years. Instead, we are served recycled stormtroopers, recycled Tatotine, recylced Empire, recycled Rebels, and recycled 3 main fing characters. Maybe recycling isn't the right word though, as that actually carries a positive connotation in the real world.
Talking more specifically, the 3 new characters are awfully done.
Rey is supposedly a super pilot even though she hasn't ever before left her own (orphaned) planet. By doing some guesswork, we can identify a few motivations for her actions, but we barely know anything about her except that she's prone to get herself into a lot of action scenes, I guess? She instantly learns how to use the force and how to wield a lightsaber.
Finn is given less than a minute in the movie to explain his prior story. He is not given a proper motivation for his actions and at no point can you really understand why he's doing the things that he is. He also instantly learns how to wield a lightsaber.
Kylo Ren is the son of Leia and Han Solo who is apparently turned to the dark side and has a dark lord as a master. He has no depth of character - he is a Disney evil caricature personified, and he is a joke. He fights like a clumsy gorilla even though he is a super slim human and uses his force powers like he doesn't know one thing about psychology. At no point is it ever made to be felt that this character is in any way a threat to anyone who is "important" to the "story". He's a clown made to enable the happy ending. Enjoy your "villan".
Sure, I'll give it 3 stars for the visual effects, but that is all a movie this bad in every other field will get.