The farce awakens: artificial remake of previous Episodes

Rating: 3/10 (28 January 2016)

There are two ways to watch an action movie. Either one forgets about one's critical sense and simply enjoys action, settings, visual and sound effects, etc. (I wish I could do this.) To be fair, on most of these accounts "Star Wars 7 - The Force Awakens" (SW7) delivers, notably the beginning in the desert (for instance the fighter chase among the imperial ships graveyard) and the beautiful final sequence on the island.
Either one cannot help thinking about plot, characters, themes, etc. On these accounts, SW7 fails. I might be too critical, but after a moment I thought "Wait, we've seen all of this before...", and afterwards "... done in a better way...", and finally "... so what is the point?" The movie is not really boring, it actually is quite enjoyable, but its flaws keep polluting the few qualities.
*** WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS ***
As highlighted by many critics, SW7 copies previous Episodes (notably 4): a planet of sand, the imperial army looking for a droid with secret plans, a villain with a dark mask and a dark cape, the same who turned from the bright side to the dark, a father and son on opposite sides (only reversed), good guys wandering into the villains' base, a death planet protected by a shield, ultimately destroyed by a raid of x-wing fighters, etc. Hence the movie feels more like a remake of Episode 4 with alterations than a sequel.
Incidentally SW7 also uses material from other movies: the top villain looks like an orc from "The Hobbit"; when Rey first touches the lightsaber, she has visions like Frodo using the ring in "The Lord of the Rings"; Han Solo's spaceship with captured and escaped monsters reminds of "Alien" series.
This would be acceptable if it were shot in a new way. Unfortunately, not only the movie adds nothing to previous Episodes, but it falls short by many aspects. Below are a few examples only, space lacks to list more.
1. Bigger is better. To have old stuff look new, just make it BIGGER: huge death planet, monstrous hologram of top villain, destruction of many planets instead of just one, gigantic collapses on the death planet, loads of explosions and fighting. Heavy historical references too: the stormtrooper gathering looks like a nazi meeting.
2. Forget about dramatic build-up. In Episode 4, when the death star destroys a planet, it is a tragedy: there is suspense, tension, a gigantic explosion, grief, a Jedi feels disruption in the Force. Here the planet explodes, done, next scene. Also in previous Episodes, a character would learn about the Force at great length. This is serious stuff, remember Luke with Yoda in Episodes 5 and 6. Here Rey catches up instantly, using mind control, shooting, performing telekinesis and ultimately defeating Kylo Ren in an unbelievable lightsaber fight.
3. Character depth, what is that? The main villain is supposed to be frightening, which he is until a certain point... then he just becomes ridiculous. He speaks to Darth Vador's melted helmet as if he could get an answer from it (generally, kids stop talking to objects when they are five years old). He takes his mask off for no reason in front of Rey, hence removing all mystery from the character. Just out of curiosity, why do your wear this if you don't need it to breathe like Darth Vador? Oh, because it looks and sounds cool (kids stop dressing up when they are ten). Eventually the sequence with Han Solo reaches abysses of silliness: sure I'll remove my mask (again), do I want to go home with you, I don't know, well why not, yes please help me, then maybe not, haha you're dead. Illustrating inner ambiguity and conflict requires more subtlety.
Other characters don't fare much better. It is hard to believe Finn turning against First Order in the beginning. Rey's role mainly consists of action scenes, we do not see much else of her. Her flirt with Finn looks fake. Poe does not have much of a role, which is unfortunate because Oscar Isaac is a good actor. It is a deceit we only see a few seconds of Max von Sydow. Only does Han Solo provide a bit of depth, partly scoundrel, partly wiser, partly pathetic old man who lost his wife and son.
4. Plot consistency, where? Poe and Rey both escape easily because they are just guarded by a single stormtrooper. At the end, four good guys have no issues moving around the heavily guarded starkiller base, finding the central part which is surprisingly unguarded, planting bombs there and escaping all this (if it weren't for Han Solo's grotesque attempt to talk to his son). Also, the end of this sequence, which according to the countdown is supposed to last less than two minutes, actually lasts more than ten on screen and plot-wise probably more than half an hour considering all the action going on.
5. There is nothing like good dialogues. Unfortunately these are rare in SW7. They are lacking impact, wit and humour. For memo, the only best lines are: "I talk first or you talk first?" (Poe to Kylo), "The droid stole a freighter?" (Kylo) and "Really, you're cold!" (Han to Chewie). All considered, the funniest dialogues and expressions are from the droid BB-8.
To summarise, the director was probably so impressed taking over the franchise that he wanted to deliver a safe, standard no-brainer, but precisely because of this lack of creativity he failed. He used old recipes but instead of enhancing them he reduced them to caricatures. Anyhow, the studio was happy to cash in the expensively acquired concept, regardless of quality.