A good standalone movie but a step down from the original

Rating: 7/10 (20 December 2015)

The movie would be great if it was a new IP, but it is part of starwars, a franchise of unparalleled popularity and unlimited imagination. Despite all the great actions and CGs, it fell short of expectation for having a recycled story line.
The first half was incredible. It ticked all the boxes. Actions, character developments, story. However, the story stopped expanding from the introduction of the star destroyer, which is basically a new death star. It was like the script writer had his hands all tidied up. Could the team seriously not come up with something new?
The reputation of the force has also been discounted. SPOILERS Kylo was portrayed as wimp, who was filled with self doubts. He was capable of killing no one but the powerless or unguarded. In additiona, how could an untrained stand a chance against a force welding apprentice? In the original 6 movies, Rey would at least loss a limb during the fight. Yet she was able to overpower her opponent. What? The force as the ruling force in this universe should not have been cheapened as such.
The story could have been done better. Here is an improved version of the story which could have been much different from the original: SPOILERS Before launching the final assault on the new death star, the republic called in their fleet. By fleet I mean the space battleships, not just the x wings. This would also introduce a space battle. The death star still fired but the shot was blocked by one of the battleship. The the captain of another ship decided to sacrifice itself by crashing into that energy module of the star, because conventional attack could not break first order's impeccable defense. On the other hand, Kylo Ren killed Finn and tried to manipulate Rey into his apprentice, Rey managed to escape with the help of that ace pilot as the space ship crashed onto the planet. Kylo also survived the blast by being protected by the force.
The movie was good, but a STARWARS movie deserves much better.