Disney not off to a great start

Rating: 4/10 (20 December 2015)

My intention was to go see this film with no expectations. I was doing okay until that text started rolling across the screen and the theme song kicked in, I started hoping.
An hour and a half into the film I was just hoping for it to end so I could go do something else. To me this sums up the Force Awakens - it's not terrible, but there's absolutely nothing there to keep you in your seat, unless you want to watch some beautiful scenery.
(Spoilers incoming) There's no point going into any in-depth analysis of the story, or the plot, cause it is bare bones. I'm surprised they decided to go with a plot that is almost identical to IV: A New Hope (another death star, really???) - they could have made it all much more interesting with some proper back story, but instead everything leading up to the current circumstance is told to us in the opening text and rushed bits of dialogue - I found this particularly annoying when it came to the new fallen jedi, his story is basically explained in a short and stiff dialogue between Leia and Han Solo, they could have done so much more there.
Granted, IV: A New Hope was much the same - the audience was thrown into the midst of a galactic civil war without much explanation. But in new hope the circumstances of the war and the factions unfold at a good pace as we follow Luke Skywalker's budding steps into becoming a jedi and a hero of the resistance: In The Force Awakens they've decided to throw two hours of roller-coaster action into our faces instead of giving us a proper story or a proper character - They provide us with the superficial trappings of a coming of age story but rush through it in order to get more screen time for showcasing visuals and action - unfortunately this is common practice these days and it simply does not make good film.
A lot of people have heaped praise over Harrison Ford in this film. Ford is not bad, but his one-liners start feeling increasingly forced the further the film goes on. Fischer on the other hand is wooden throughout the film and the heartfelt moments between Han Solo and Leia are so stiff they are almost embarrassing to watch.
On a positive note - I think the two new leads do a decent job. The Force Awakens is also visually stunning - they definitely did a better balancing act in that respect than the three previous Star Wars films.
Let's see what the next films bring - The Force Awakens is by no means a disaster and I'm enthusiastic about the new generation Star Wars saga, I really hope we get some old republic films at some point.