A New Hope 2

Rating: 6/10 (19 January 2016)

I came in with high expectations, some good reviews. But three quarters of the way through the movie, it was the exact same story as 'A New Hope', with a few juxtaposed characters and a slightly different ending.
I'm surprised this was directed by JJ Abrams, it felt more like I was watching a Chris Columbus or Steven Spielberg dumbed-down 'blockbuster'. Like he was under too much pressure to pander to the lowest common denominator, we wouldn't want to confuse children or the shallow noob Chinese movie consumer now would we? And produce something that was deeper and more meaningful but could be watched on several levels, no, be conservative and just plough the new 'New Hope' furrow. Except that this had packed in scenes that were not properly played out, motivations and emotions seemed to be ignored to skip through the narrative, so the furrow was not ploughed very straight.
Harrison Ford, Sigorney Weaver and even the one second he was on the screen Mark Hamill looked like they REALLY didn't want to be there at all, and that they had been basically bribed and bullied by a corporation to be on screen.
The visual effects are stunning, and if you are with some kids aged 5-12, they probably enjoy it, so it's not a complete waste of time and money, but really it could have been so much more.