The end of a beloved franchise.

Rating: 1/10 (29 July 2016)

The original Star Wars trilogy was such a success for a huge number of reasons. But for me it was how they made me feel when I was a kid. The magic that seemed to surround those films was truly something unique.George Lucas' imagination was brought to life through hours of painstaking work from hundreds of people who truly believed in the Star Wars project, and I think that somehow this comes across when watching those films. The characters feel like real people and because of this we are that much more immersed into the story and invested in its outcome. I can watch the originals today and they are still magical (particularly Empire). This is something that only a handful of films can do, Jaws and Alien spring immediately to mind. Anyway I will stop writing about things that you are most likely already aware of. I just wanted to let you know that I, like most of you would consider myself a real Star Wars fan. Now on to The Force Awakens.
I was apprehensive when I entered the cinema as I knew that this film could either increase the love I already have for the franchise or tarnish it in my mind forever. I have to say that unfortunately I left the cinema feeling the latter. There is so much wrong with the film that it would take me over my one thousand word limit so I will just stick to what I consider are the worst parts.
Firstly the writing and story are bordering on the comedic. It felt as if a four year old watched A New Hope and then wrote down their interpretation in crayon a year later after forgetting the best bits. It's half re- make and half new story, with so many characters thrown in it feels as though it's an advert for action figures. Which of course is exactly what it is. The entire film feels soulless and completely devoid of the magic that was abundant in the originals. When Han Solo is killed by his son I genuinely felt nothing, because by that point I was so disconnected from the story that it just didn't matter. Sections of this film are actually very dull and so unoriginal it is comical. I nearly laughed when the Empire, oh sorry i mean the First order unveil their new super weapon which is basically the Death Star. I mean come on guys, surely you have had long enough to think of something better than that? And why has Han gone back to being a smuggler? Surely this negates how he developed as a person during the originals? Even the environments are mostly things we have seen before, how hard would it have been to have Rey stranded on a planet made up mostly of water rather than a desert almost identical to Tatooine? It all feels incredibly lazy to me.
JJ Abrahms enjoys adding mysteries to his work, anyone who watched Lost will already know this. So every now and then he throws one into the story that is supposed to intrigue us. But to me they all fall flat and feel out of place, further lessening the feeling that this is a Star Wars film. Okay well i'm sure you are bored of my ramblings by now but just one more thing. Why on earth would you make a Star Wars sequel and not include Luke Skywalker!? It defies all logic and reason. The one small part that stirred some feeling inside me was right at the end where he turns round and gazes at Rey as she holds out his lightsaber. They should've got rid of the majority of the cardboard cast and exchanged them for the one character that fans wanted to see the most.
JJ Abrahms should be ashamed of how this film turned out. If as he claims he really is a Star Wars fan then he should have done the honorable thing an apologise to fans that paid to see it. How this film has achieved an 8.5 rating on IMDb seems very suspicious to me. DO NOT BELIEVE IT!