looks like a lot of people really hated it

Rating: 8/10 (14 May 2016)

Somehow, even with all the hatred, Star Wars: The Force Awakens managed to bring in 2 billion.
Obviously the box office is no indication of whether or not a movie is good. The appeal was the reuniting of the original cast - Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, and Luke Hamill, along with Chewie and 3CPO, and to introduce some new characters to carry on in the next films.
I have to admit, it looked like a big video game to me. What I enjoyed the most was Ford, particularly his repartee with Chewy. For me, it was great to see Fisher and Hamill again.
These films that take place in space are yesterday's westerns and war movies. It used to be the science fiction films, the Buck Rogers, Superman, Dick Tracy etc., were B movies. Once the computer and CGI came in, they quickly became A films, perfect for the big screen.
Someone once told me that most movies are made for 15-year-old boys in Thailand. It makes sense - I mean, what was there to grasp about this film that a 15-year-old non-English speaking person couldn't grasp?
I haven't followed this franchise much since the first three films, though I did see the Anakin Skywalker-Natalie Portman movie. I think it's fairly obvious that this film brings us back to the original Star Wars.
Harrison Ford was paid $10,000 for the first Star Wars. His salary is higher now and he has a percentage of the box office. He's old, he looks old, but you can't beat him. He's an old-fashioned movie star in an old-fashioned movie. I didn't feel that Carrie Fisher had enough to do though I enjoyed her.
So why give this an 8? Why? It was fun, it was entertaining, I loved the original stars. The new people -- Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, and Oscar Isaac are all attractive and are very good. Will I go and see the next Star Wars? Probably, because Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher are in it and somehow, so is Harrison Ford. That to me is Star Wars.