Absolutely average

Rating: 5/10 (29 December 2015)

The Force Awakens started out as 'a new hope' for the Star Wars franchise.
The holy trilogy is what it is - movie watching at its grandest. Then came the prequels and in my case, they were all poor and get worse with each passing year whenever I stumble across them on TV.
The trailers were outstanding for this film, practical effects, locations and sets - it FELT like Star Wars again and of course the famous 'Chewy, we're home' made me very excited.
I'll start with some good things - I liked all the new characters and the acting was superior to the prequels. You know what I even liked Kylo Ren who I understand people have a lot of hate for - i think there's more to come from him.
Unfortunately thats where it goes downhill. The reality is that this is not in the same league as the original films, but disappointingly for the same reason most modern action films suffer. Character/story development are replaced with more and more action set pieces.
For example there was one strange scene where Han, Chewy, Rey and Fin are in a ship running away from these large squid like monsters, a Scottish bloke and the blokes from The Raid (took me out of the film) and it seemed to go on forever.
For me it was an unnecessary 10 minutes that could have been dropped for some more explanation as to what the hell had gone on between Return of the Jedi and now.
A few things that really bothered me:
1. Rey - loved the character and Daisy Ridley did a great job. The characters development from scavenger to Jedi happens too quickly though.
2. Han Solo - Came across as a little pathetic. Still a smuggler at his age? When I first heard Harrison Ford was back I immediately thought he would be killed off. However I thought he would go out with a bang, not a whimper. I love Harrison Fords early work, but he clearly has no love for Star Wars and probably couldn't care less how Solo went out. I understand he is bringing back Indiana Jones again - so if he wants to depress us some more by showing how a previous heroic character ends up a bit pathetic why not call it Indiana Jones and the Lonely Heart attack in the Care Home?
3. Starkiller Base - looked like a butt hole. The empire has been done before. And better.
4. The x-wing/tie fighter action was quite dull
5. Music - John Williams is a legend, however there were no moments I got goosebumps through his music like I have done before. He set the bar pretty high with previous movies to be honest!
All in all I find myself strangely shrugging my shoulders about it. It was OK, nothing special - I feel like I have seen it all before and if I am being honest I never believed there was any story to tell after Jedi and this film hasn't really changed my mind.