3 Stars for the people who actually deserve to get acknowledged, but its not J.J.

Rating: 3/10 (2 January 2016)

I went to see this movie yesterday and actually enjoyed the visuals and cgi after it got obvious that I can switch my brain off... again... like for so many others in recent times.
The three stars may be harsh, but a movie that had all the funds it needed should perform on another level and also has to be judged accordingly. Here are my reasons for giving three stars and withholding the other seven.
First off ,the three groups of people that really deserve to be mentioned, at least in my opinion.

The people who did the concept visuals. I believe that they are the ones we have to thank for the beautiful imagery and locations that were chosen for the movie in the end. The scenery often was very good to amazing, although sometimes there should have been more background information on these places, but that is not in the domain of these people.

The people that brought the visuals to life with their impressive CGI skills

The people that did the sound effects The only negative thing I have to mention here (and one that shouldn't ever happen in a production like this), there were scenes where people that are filling the whole(!) screen, where out of focus. I'm not sure if J.J. missed out on the quality control or something similar.

Now to the sad part and let me tell all those who read this first, the movie does NOT deserve a rating above 8, it should not even be a 6 for people who are overly forgiving and here is why. (I believe the reason for this rating lies in the fan base and also the three groups of people I mentioned above. Audiences probably got entangled and enchanted by the visuals and the sound effects and were just in awe, denying all valid critique that would destroy there new love they've just gained. But really at this point, they should switch their brains back on and, in hindsight, rate the movie objectively)

Characters don't get developed at all - J.J. tells us almost nothing about Rey and Finn, he could have used story lines like that to somehow explain the ridiculous abilities of the two characters

Characters don't act according to their background and traits - REY lives in her community since she was a child but seems like a complete loner, she represents a strong character but doesn't know how to bargain or at least giving the dealer at the junkyard a hard time - FINN is a "Stormtrooper", who for sure has undergone hard training, had no parents, an still is a coward (but of course a coward with high ethic values and who knows the sanitation business). It seems the First Order does only pick the best of the best, if you know what I mean. Character development could have given us some reasons why he is acting in one scene like coward and in the next one he is the HERO.

As I already mentioned the First Order, How(!) did they evolve? The resistance fought many battles and they know nothing about this threat? Even though the son of Leia and Han is with them and despite the fact, that the First Order has (again(!) how boring) built a massive planet destroyer weapon? They just watched all these years until the thing was finished?

Luke just vanishes to become the next Yoda (another element of the older trilogy that just gets repeated!)

Jedis, nowadays, don't have to train their powers anymore

and(!) their level of power varies just as the scenes require it (Finn should have NO chance at all against Kylo Ren, but no, quite the opposite happens he even manages to injure him

J.J. also didn't manage to give non-action sequences a bit of realism or believable emotional reactions - LEIA doesn't even shed a tear when Han dies, although I remember she was quite the contrary in the older movies... strong but emotional. - KYLO REN confronts the audience out of nothing with doubts about himself

and then there is another Son-Father story, with almost identical scenes during the climax of their very short relationship, how more random can a movie become?

and so on and on and on

I wonder what the job of a movie director is? Shouldn't the director be the one putting all the pieces together, making sure the story makes sense and is not a complete rip-off but instead something unique? Shouldn't the director delve into each of the characters to imagine what their lives have been like until the moment they appear on screen the very first time, to make them plausible? I'm not even a hardcore fan of the Star Wars universe, but it is so sad what supposedly good directors are doing to it. The unique feel of the originals is just not there anymore. I looks like J.J. just didn't consult anyone or did just ignore feedback about the script. There are so many major flaws that I really wonder why so many people gave the movie such a good rating (despite the two explanations above). Hardcore fans should be rallying on the streets to protest against what Hollywood is doing to this franchise. The visuals are great but the story is less than mediocre.