Abrams More At Home Here Than With Star Trek, Still Little More Than Fan Fic

Rating: 6/10 (31 December 2015)

After a wait that, regarding the timespan from the early eighties onwards, seemed both a like lifetime and the shortest wait ever for a Star Wars movie, I took off early and snuck into the first afternoon showing on the day it opened here in Holland. No doubt a lot of newbies and loyal fans will like it. Warts and all, that is, 'cause it certainly does have its share of problems.
I didn't so much like BB-8, like I hear many people do, as I liked Chewbacca, most of Han and the duels in this one. If it isn't the best Star Wars movie (which it clearly isn't) it certainly is the best Chewbacca movie. The duels were reminiscent of the original trilogy. No-nonsense, even a bit clumsy. Like you're watching some old King Arthur movie... with light sabers.
Strictly taken, it's no classic by any stretch of the imagination, but there were definitely a few nuggets.
A few words that come into mind: hyper, fast-paced, trying too hard, JJ, old school, popcorn, emotional. Yes, you read it right.. emotional. More so than I would've given the mediocre story I read beforehand credit for. I also had the weird experience that I was watching a real-life anime, possibly due to all the influences anime has taken from Star Wars over the years.
It's meant for a newer generation, with a lot of shortcomings that go along with it. Scenes are too fast-cut, action messy and there's some goofiness going on. But the goofy stuff, thankfully, mirrors more the goings on inside the '77 Death Star than it does the pee-and-poo of the prequels.
Ridley and Driver felt fresh and I liked everything with Finn in the beginning, when he was still a storm-trooper. They should've done more of that. It felt original. This movie needed that. I hear complaints about the old crew and my initial fear was that they were going to be fan service and fan service only. Well, they were, but at least they're an integral part of the story, even though there's a lot of in-character mumbo jumbo and wisecracking jokes that would be typical of JJ to put in there. Stuff like the relationship between Han and Leia is skimmed through. I'd say Ford is about 10 years too old and Carrie Fisher ('only' 59) hasn't aged well, but other than that I commend her that she chose to return. She's recently commented on the matter and she has a valid point, but I wish her luck in her quest to change public opinion on female attractiveness that has lasted for millennia.
Anyway, I would've liked to have seen more Han & Leia. Just as I would've like to have seen a bit more lingering shots of the 3D- scenery on Jakku and the oscillator shaft set piece that reminded me of the one of the Cloud City duel, but that's what you get when you're watching what has got to be JJ's most ADHD movie to date. I was reminded that actual set pieces are of major importance in Star Wars. I guess that's partly what they meant when they said they were going for less CGI, because the dogfights are lacking. In almost every way.
As far as actors go the question remains why they put excellent actors like Gwendoline and Max Von Sydow in completely throwaway roles.
I'm no fan of JJ Abrams. Never was, especially after his botching of the Star Trek franchise. JJ is force-feeding us modernized crap ! His Lord of the Rings-like sweeping camera shots distracted heavily from the viewing experience. He once again delivered nothing more than a galvanized fan film in Force Awakens. In that regard JJ is the ultimate fan boy. Certainly not the most original of minds, because this Star Wars by the numbers, lacking tension and inventiveness as it goes. It's surprising that Lawrence Kasdan didn't hold JJ's blind as a bat horses. Or perhaps he is part of the problem by not capitalizing on new elements and not showing too much flexibility. The destruction of the first two Death Stars came at great cost. Here it just happens. I remember no one of any importance kicking the bucket or anything resembling a classic OT scene during the dogfights. This while they had a great opportunity to do something unique with Dameron and the 3D.
John Williams: most energetic score in a long time. It's a busy, lively score for a rushed movie. Especially compared to the, in my opinion, drab prequel OST's. A New Hope's soundtrack has been called the most important soundtrack in history, so it'd be tough to top that one, especially since JW seems to have moved away from creating the more catchy themes in recent years, perhaps deliberately. There's a moment where Rey picks up the light saber to confront Kylo and The Force theme is played extremely loudly. It stuck out like a sore thumb to me. I can only imagine JJ wanted to hear that at that specific moment.
All in all there's no way that this tops the OT... perhaps even Sith. Young Lucas, Kirschner and Marquand seemed like masters of cinema compared to JJ. However, by its own merits the film delivers a brains-at-the-door, popcorn entertainment experience that one could argue was A New Hope's main hallmark in the late seventies. Not much else.
Questions that need answering:
Why is it called The Force Awakens?
Why does Kylo wear a mask that distorts his voice?