A beautiful empty shell

Rating: 5/10 (19 December 2015)

I am a big Star Wars fan. I'm however not a Star Wars nerd, I couldn't tell you what race Yoda belongs to or what Boba Fett's spaceship name is but I know enough about the Star Wars universe to understand it. To me it is an exceptional coherent and amazing setting for space adventures, and up to today always had been.
Remember how you felt in Episode I when you learned that the Force could be measured in one's blood sample? Well take this feeling and multiply it by at least 3 and this is how you will most probably feel after Episode VII.
First the good. The visuals and special effects are sumptuous. The return to the practical effects delivers the original Star Wars touch and this in undeniable. Most actors do a very good job. OK that's it.
Spoilers ahead.
Now to the bad. Where is the story? Everything seems a rehash from episodes IV and VI. Not only is the story paper thin and filled with gaps and deus ex machinas, a lot sacred star wars "facts" just get destroyed in this movie.

Han Solo and Chewie popping out of nowhere and literally "bumping" into main characters in the middle of space, cause you know, the universe is a village now. - R2D2 hibernating for decades but then waking up to a convenient time without ANY reason. - Non-jedi able to fight with a saber laser on par with a (semi?) trained Sith. - Sith able to sense the presence of Han Solo (who can't use the Force) over a great distance but not when he's standing 10 meters behind him. - Force sensitive character (Rey) able to pull of Jedi Mind tricks without ANY kind of training. Also mentally resisting a trained Sith. - Zero background on the Solo-Organa family drama, which in my opinion is the core of Episode's VII story as far as I can tell. Son got trained by Luke himself and then turned to the Dark Side. That's it. - Zero talk about the force, the balance of good and evil, cheap philosophy, in short all the things we loved about Star Wars and what embodied the first 6 episodes. - Generic dialog and lack of depth for ALL characters. - Except for the opening theme, I could hardly recognize John William's work here. Even the soundtrack felt generic.

This is what annoyed me the most, and I'm not even talking about the new deathstar-planet thingy, every second review complains about that already.
I'm not disappointed, I am angry. Visually the movie feels like an authentic Star Wars and I would give it 10/10 hands down. But why was everything that made the Star Wars universe unique and adored left behind to create a soulless space action flick.