So-so at best. Feels more like a cash-grab effort

Rating: 3/10 (22 December 2015)

I watched this movie on the day it opened on the 18th. The theater was about half full. I got there early (about 1 hour earlier) thinking I would not be able to get good seat and will have to stand in line. I was surprised to see the entire empty theater upon my arrival so I choose my most favorite location for the seat. I also watched it in 3D. Although, it suffered from the typical cardboard cutouts standing next to each other type of feel for the converted 2D to 3D movies.
Back to the movie, it felt like JJ Abrams went back to the first 3 movies and created a template that gave him the formula of what made those movies favorite for the fans. Then, he used that template to design a storyboard for this movie by inserting new characters and new events. However, the overall theme is shockingly similar. For die-hard "Star Wars" fans, this might work. For someone like me who watches movies with objectivity, it looked like a rehash of the old formula.
The leading two characters had good chemistry, I must admit. Not having Yoda in the movie was definitely a surprise as I was expecting to see him in some capacity. The comic relief in the tense scenes every 2 - 3 minutes seemed funny at first, but became tiresome and the novelty wore off quickly. Even in the most tense and climactic scenes like the final fight scene between the British girl and Darth Vader's son, it looked unintentionally funny how the little girl was suddenly so overpowering compared to someone who has spent a good part of his life "with the force" and following in his father's footsteps. Hans Solo's character seemed more like a link to the first three movies, but did not further the story much. As a matter of fact, I felt the movie was heavy on action and running, but low on story content and character development. I never got to know the background of the leading two characters (the black guy and the British girl, whatever their names are).
The locations were very nicely filmed especially the final location where the British girl goes to find Mark Hamill. All in all, the movie is forgettable. I would say, I never felt bored for the 2 hours. Definitely, I watched the action closely, but nothing really was memorable in this movie. It is definitely like "Avatar". Another movie that was big on hype and a lot of focus on style and branding than substance. Lots of fluff without much content.