"Thank you."

Rating: 2/10 (18 December 2015)

This review contains mild spoilers, but not major ones.
You are going to see it anyway because you're addicted. But "The Force Awakens" is just a drug they're offering you -- more of the same. That's the specialty of director J. J. Abrams.
There is one original thing in the plot: a focus on a storm-trooper, for the first time. Alas, this character becomes less and less interesting as the writing loses itself.
Carrie Fisher is so bad here that I wish they'd hired Sigourney Weaver instead. It's a pity because her character, Leia, could be better explored, but with Carrie Fisher, it will never work.
Remember the character development of Han Solo in the original trilogy, which ultimately made this character grow to be worthy of marrying the princess? The writers redefine that -- the most important error in my opinion. But I've heard "Han Solo and the Princess" (I mean the love theme), so I know Episode 7 is a lie and they are actually soul mates, meant for each other.
Many viewers dislike the villain here. Nostalgia of Darth Vader is understandable, but he is dead and hard to replace -- can you invent a good alternative? So these spectators are wrong, they are just judging people by their faces or masks, and the villain is not the wimp he might appear to be, as the character ultimately proves. Even so, the character trade-off is not worth it...
"Star Wars" (the 1977 movie) will never happen again. Audiences then had never seen a star destroyer like that. They wanted Buck Rogers done right and they got the dogfight of their lives at the end (by the way, the elation created by that dogfight has never been surpassed). Everything was "created" then: light-sabers, spaceships, good versus evil, and the funny tension among heroes who seem to dislike each other but come together at the end. A fantastic religion was created with the help of Joseph Campbell, and it was an invaluable plot device that saves the hero at the end. Also the hysterical music of "The Planets", transfigured by a couple of genius musicians, brought an incredible amount of energy to the screen. "Star Wars" was the right thing at the right time. Never again will an audience be so shocked at actually seeing what they could only imagine before.
The correct way of watching the saga is finally frozen forever: watch only episodes 4, 5 and 6, then "Spaceballs".
When story repeats itself, it's first as a great adventure, then as satire, finally as forgettable slot-machine Hollywood sequels. The plot in TFA is a shameless remix of the aforementioned movies. It is VERY entertaining while you're seeing it (so yeah, it could be worse), and then when it's over you just know you lost your time, saw nothing new and learned nothing. It's a pastime: they pass your time.
Slot machines work -- as the Terminator sequels show only too well. Let's face it: TFA is to Star Wars as "Jaws: The Revenge" (1987) is to "Jaws".
I move that we make a great petition titled "Disney, reboot Star Wars 7". Let someone else attempt this with a more original script that doesn't rewrite characters of the original trilogy. I mean, Star Wars should not become Game of Thrones.
Better yet, viewers could remember what they once knew: sequels are generally not worthy of their time. The public could value originality higher.