Forced is how this felt

Rating: 5/10 (17 December 2015)

So after waiting a decade and enduring 2 years of hype, this is the 3rd worst Star Wars film IMO after II and III. To be honest I don't know what could have lived up to the expectations set by all that, but this sure didn't come close. First the good. This was much more reminiscent of Episode IV. Gone are the excruciating C3PO puns and corny lines that sounded like they were written by and for a 5 year old (from the last 2 films.) The dialogue rang a lot more true in this script and the comedy actually worked. The CG was good until the planet started self destructing (ALA Star Trek) and it was just too much, obviously CG fake crap. I think Abrams got the point that fans wanted a return to the authentic feel of the original 3 films. It felt a little like those parameters were adhered to so strictly, this was almost deja-vu. I mean every element is virtually repeated right down to a cantina-style bar and destroying a death star. I won't fault him for that, but I can do without a death-star in the next one. The bad. Wow here we go. My hopes of seeing Hamill, Fisher and Ford in this movie (basically cinema history being made here) were dashed watching this. First of all, the years have not been kind to Carrie Fisher and she is almost unrecognizable. There is zero emotional connection between her and Ford even with the entire London Symphony Orchestra trying to play it into existence. There is zero emotional connection between Ford and the antagonist (his and Fisher's son) and while we're on the topic of the antagonist - who the hell casts these actors? Is it the same casting agent who cast Hayden Christiansen? This antagonist looks like an effeminate vampire more suited to the cast of Twilight. Not scary. Not intimidating. When he kills his father it just doesn't work. While we're on effeminate pansy characters, the leader of the stormtroopers is also a pansy. IDK if its a female or what, but I thought stormtroopers were clones. Guess not, cause one is black. And he is the protagonist. Well he and his female counterpart who saves his ass and inexplicably beats the antagonists ass when he says the word "force." Sarah Connor / Ellen Ripley move over, now Rey joins the magic club of girl bad asses. Except her transformation to bad ass occurs in a second with no setup or explanation. Bad. But the absolute worst, most unforgivable sin of this film, is Fisher, Ford and Hamill NEVER APPEAR IN A SINGLE SCENE ALL TOGETHER. Hamill is in the film for about 8 seconds at the end and doesn't even have a line in the movie. But to kill Han Solo off without getting him in a scene with Luke Skywalker is a colossal blunder that will forever haunt this film maker and franchise. Don't believe the hype.