Terrible Reboot Puts the Final Nail in the Star Wars Coffin

Rating: 3/10 (21 December 2015)

What a wasted opportunity.
After the god-awful prequels I thought the only direction left to go was up. But unfortunately Jar-Jar Abrams takes it down another half-notch with the most uninspiring Star Wars film in the canon. At least the prequels, as awful as they were, made a feeble attempt to show us some new planetscapes and interesting design motifs. The Farce Awakens is content to merely retread everything that has come before. Sand planet. Ice planet. Forest planet. Villain with breathing mask. Cantina scene. X- Wings. Tie Fighters. Death Star...you know the drill.
But the cardinal sin of this movie is its lack of credible heroic characters. We have an annoying ex-stormtrooper guy, who doesn't do much but run, trip and look constipated. Then we have a teenage girl who can of course easily kick the crap out of sand people twice her size, repair any spaceship in the universe, learn to fly the Millennium Falcon in less than 30 seconds, oh and fight and kill a Sith Lord with NO TRAINING WHATSOEVER.
Even Luke Skywalker had to be trained by Yoda on Dagobah for weeks - and he still lost and got his hand chopped off when he faced Vader. But a 100- pound teenage girl? No problem! Instant Jedi! I know the movie is fantasy but come on. At the very least a fantasy universe should stay consistent with its internal rules. And that means an apprentice requires intense training and effort to become a Jedi, even for one gifted with the force (Luke, Anakin). If a lithe teenager could just wake up one morning and be able to kill a Sith Lord later that afternoon, with no training and no prior experience - then that just makes a Farce out of the Force.
Main villain was weak and lacked motivation.
Leia - Han relationship was flat and wooden.
Han's big dramatic moment was predictable and anti-climactic.
Final x-wing battle was boring and uninvolving because - who cares?
Every scene of this movie was simply rebooted from the original trilogy but without any spark of emotional truth or creativity. Pure fan-service pandering and nothing more.
And I actually liked Jar-Jar Abrams' Star Trek reboot in 2009. Sure, it wasn't really Trek but it was at least a rollicking and entertaining space adventure. The Farce Awakens, on the other hand, is just a pure misfire on every level (except visual effects). Never thought it would get this bad - where the prequels, or at least Revenge of the Sith, was a better movie. And I *hated* revenge of the Sith!
Sad to say but, after almost 40 years, I'm done with this movie franchise.