Good but not great

Rating: 8/10 (24 December 2015)

The main issue with Force Awakens is the storyline. It's a reboot of Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. It doesn't continue the storyline but instead reverts it back to bring Harrison Ford's dream of Han's death to fruition. Ford so desperate for Han Solo to die lacks the vision to see how it destroys the franchise and characters established in the originals.
I consider this a clear reboot attempt, though I'm curious as to why. Almost everyone enjoyed the original 3 films and the story elements involved. The idea of re-structuring it makes no sense as it just creates more work.
The sad fact is Han, Luke and Leia are far to out of character to relate with so we're left wondering what happened to cause such absurd rifts in their relationships. Luke would never have become a mind-numbing hermit fleeing to the outer reaches of space, he'd already met the greatest challenge ever by facing Vader. Han's son though special is not more important than his own father was, so betrayal by him wouldn't have been so devastating. We also should expect Luke was prepared by then for any of his students turning to the darkside of the force, there is no logic involved with Luke's actions.
Han would not be so stupid as to approach his son and fall for a trap such as we see here. Yes it's his kid but also a murdering psychopath which Han knows full well if it drove Luke to flee. Also killing him off was done SOLELY because Ford asked (again) or from some nostalgia JJ Abrams had in wanting to follow his previous wishes.
Leia would not have been so stand offish with Han, no way. She acted like a complete wall of stone, no love or passion. Far from the original character we came to know.
Over-all this film is entertaining, worthy of an 8/10 but absolutely not a sequel or improvement on any of the films before it, including the prequels. I am 100% confident anyone that's a true fan could've written a more compelling story than what this turned out to be, maybe Disney should've had an online submission process for fresh ideas.