This isn't the film you're looking for..

Rating: 7/10 (25 December 2015)

HERE THERE BE SPOILERS! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED
I wanted to love this movie. I really did. But...it left me underwhelmed.
Have you ever had a friend that tried to tell you a story but wasn't particularly imaginative nor good at it? " Yeah so in this story,since the last story, it has been 30 years and in between times things happened. I don't know what so I will just skip that and get to this girl. Yeah there is a girl and she is poor. One day she meets up with a droid, and oh yeah-I forgot there is also this guy who used to be a storm trooper but he feels bad about that, and he meets up with this pilot who sent the droid with important stuff for someone else into the desert and that is how she meets it.You think the pilot dies, but that isn't important.." I don't know about you but I don't enjoy storytelling that isn't imaginative and doesn't have a voice. There is so much lost in translation. Step away from the hype that we have a new Star Wars film and that is how you feel.That is problem number one.
As a fan of the original three, I was certainly served plenty of nostalgia, because it sure felt like I was watching a combination of the first two films all over again, but with more action and less explanation.Nothing wrong with action and there can be too much explanation, but the balance was not achieved here. Too many new characters thrown in and seen for a couple of minutes, only to not be seen again-wasted opportunities.That is problem number two.
Han/Leia/Kylo Ren explanation? Well there really isn't one. Kylo Ren was once good and is now bad. No explanation why he killed Luke's other students and ruined Luke for teaching others. Han and Leia were together and aren't now. No explanation why. Sure they briefly tell us what happened but not the WHY. Why was Kylo seduced by the dark side? What was he lacking? We know that Darth Vader, at the end of 'Jedi' sided with the good side of the force- so why would Kylo hero worship Darth when he was pre-change of heart? Bad childhood? Entitlement issues? What?? Why did Han run away from Leia? There is no explanation whatsoever and makes the story of these three feel like cardboard. That's problem number three.
Kylo Ren. Umm, huh? He is not scary-more like a spoiled brat who has tantrums. His mask isn't particularly scary because he doesn't need it. So why does he wear it? Is it the hot fashion for the Sith that year? Does he have a Comic-con to go to later? He whines, he throws fits, and he is supposed to be a Sith? When he kills his father, if done right it would have been a punch in the stomach to the audience. It was just unnecessary except to ensure that Harrison Ford will not be back for the sequels. Very badly done character. That's problem number four.
Rey learning how to use the force: rushed, rushed, rushed and flat out unbelievable. In the end she is going up against a Sith Lord. Yet, she just fights him with no issues. Uses the Jedi mind trick without knowing about it. Summons the light saber with more strength than-again- a trained Sith? What?? These teachings according to Yoda, take years to develop. We are left with the impression that she must be a savant of some kind, she didn't earn use of the knowledge nor did she work for it. That's problem number five.
There are other issues, but to go into them all would be nitpicking, I already feel like I am bordering on entering that country anyway with this review. I did watch with some enjoyment due to the nostalgia factor. I think that it could be great for the second and third of this series IF they correct the issues from this one.It is getting a 7 only because of the nods to the nostalgia that all Star Wars fans crave, and isn't a *bad* movie, by any means. It just, well to paraphrase Ben in the first film, isn't the film I was looking for...