Bright & exciting but ultimately too safe to be Gold-- just Gilded Metal.

Rating: 7/10 (1 January 2016)

*** S P O I L E R - F R E E - R E V I E W ***
Star Wars: The Force Awakens follows the adventure of a conflicted former Storm Trooper Finn (John Boyega) and the tough-as-she-looks desert scavenger Rey (Daisy Ridley), when their lives take an interesting turn following an energetic droid, BB-8, with important information that can change the fate of the galaxy. BB-8 is in a tug-of-war between The First Order, an army risen from the ashes of the Empire and led by the Emotional, yet powerful Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), and the Resistance, doing the same job as the Rebels in the previous movies, and led by their Ace Pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac).
Those four names are very important, because besides the simply awe- inspiring feeling of seeing Star Wars in a bottom-less pit of Disney money to offer incredible production value, the characters is what this movie is truly about. I believe that is what director JJ Abrams set out to achieve with rebooting the Star Wars franchise. Because, to put it frankly, the overall story and pacing of the movie is quite lacking. With all the throw-backs to the original trilogy and twice as many main characters, the movie feels like it moves very fast.
It would make sense then, to put the characters into a safe setting that you don't have to worry about, so you can focus on their development. That's exactly what Abrams did; the plot is egregiously sampled from Lucas' original Episode IV. I figured the addition of Lawrence Kasdan (screenwriter for Episode V/VI) and reuniting the old cast of Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, and Mark Hamill was enough to ensure fans the movie was in good hands. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough of a safe guard for Abrams, and he decided to play in the kiddie pool, and not jump into the vast sea of possibilities that is the Star Wars universe and allowed this movie to feel more like a "reboot" or "greatest hits" rather than a true sequel.
For now I will present to you my scorecard for the movie:
MOVIE SCORE 7 / 10

STORY: ( Plot / Pacing) 1

CHARACTERS: ( Acting / Character Development ) 2

VISUALS: ( Sets & Camera Work / Effects ) 1

SOUND: ( Music / Effects ) 1

ORIGINALITY: ( Creativity / Overall Significance) 2

The story ends up collapsing on itself as the film goes on, but the acting and character development was quite good on it's own before that. The sets were beautiful and were shot in the style of Lucas' original trilogy to give the movies the same feel. However, some camera shots were a bit uncomfortable.
The music, possibly because I've heard it for nearly 20 years of my life now, just didn't seem to interest me in this film. I believe the music tried to be conservative as well. Like I said, seeing all the space ships in 2015 is just breath taking and super fun to watch. The sounds were great as well, and there is one scene with the Millennium Falcon that I can't talk about but the sound just rings in my head and is the main reason why I want to see this movie again.
That same scene with the Millennium Falcon is why I scored the movie so highly with originality, it's something I've never seen in Star Wars before. As for the movies overall significance, there was a lot of potential if it didn't copy IV so much, but the new characters are great, and unfortunately I have to admit that the diversity offered in the casting was quite refreshing as well, sorry!
End of the day though, Star Wars: The Force Awakens played it too safe to truly be great, but still offers unforgettable moments that make it worth watching. It's impossible to rate this movie more poorly than I have, but the fan outrage on the Episode IV rip off is completely justified.