Star Wars this wasn't

Rating: 3/10 (16 January 2016)

The Force Awakens was held down by the objective of introducing new characters (many of them unnecessary) and leaving many unanswered plot elements with the seeming intention to expand the series sidewards through spin-offs. It banks on nostalgia by bringing back many of the old players and themes, but too often mishandles the talent and material on hand, respectively.
Huge, hurriedly-made and gratuitous (commercial), The Force Awakens is devoid of originality and is unabashedly formulaic. The plot, lifted wholesale from A New Hope, reboots the saga but reverses key themes and alters the look and feel of the original trilogy to come out completely unfamiliar and unrecognizable to the loyal fan base.
Produced to please newcomers to the series, it will crush the box office but have limited replay value because a classic, The Force Awakens just isn't. A revisit of the saga's voluminous legacy expanded universe may be the only way to experience authentic Star Wars from now on.