A real blast at the movies, but not without faults

Rating: Null/10 (20 December 2015)

I've been waiting since 1983 to know what this gang gets up to after Return of the Jedi. The prequels are stone cold awful... Ep III being the least poorly done. I sat down at the theater with my 2 kids, with a full 12 months of hype and product placement in my mind.
The Force Awakens was a blast to watch. I'm no pushover when it comes to being a critic of films, but this movie flew by and kept me delighted the whole way. Is it a rehash of the 1977 original? Yep. Another Death Star. One that makes even less as a realistic machine. But, I really liked Ridley and Boyega as the new leads. Great new direction and real humanity in them. The humor was spot on in a few parts, and the battles were realistic and gritty with much more at stake than Jar Jar jumping over purple energy balls. Kylo Ren is a modern, conflicted villain. He's no Darth Vader, but he has gravitas, even without the mask on. I liked the twist at the end where he kills his own father. Seems like his conflict is resolved... he's 100% evil.
I liked BB8 and many of the new ship, set and creature designs. And the plot raced along with almost no boring parts. I liked the cliffhanger although it was also frustrating to wait for resolution.
My gripes are these: 1. Didn't like the plot conveniences of Han stumbling across the Falcon, and didn't really like the smuggled monster sequence. 2. I didn't buy into Boyega having such a swagger to him when he's been trained to be a drone stormtrooper since childhood. How is he so witty? 3. Like many others, I didn't like how Finn and Rey can hold their own against the main bad guy 4. Snoke is simply a huge Gollum who acts like the Emperor. 5. Carrie Fisher - wasn't impressed with her return. 6. No sense of the vastness of space. Every destination seemed like a 5 minute flight. And blasts from Death Star 3 (light years from its target) slowly drift overhead and arrive on target within 30 seconds. 7. Rehash of settings... Hoth, Tattooine, Endor 8. If there's a new Republic, and the Empire's remains are called the "New Order" why is the military fighting Gen Hux called the Resistance? Isn't it the military of the reigning galactic government? 9. Why would space travel need a "map" to Luke with a dozen waypoints? You fly point to point. Space is empty. 10. And why would a simple map have one copy that has to be hand carried? Don't Star Wars inhabitants have email?