Not Bad... Certainly Not Extraordinary... Better than the Prequels

Rating: 5/10 (31 January 2016)

The movie was fun to watch, especially after 10 years since the last film. The new leads, played by Boyega, Ridley, and Driver, are much better than Christensen and company. And... Thank Goodness... NO tag-along "comic relief" aliens.
The plot is so-so, but it does appear to be leading up to something which could make for an excellent sequel and finale in this trilogy. Kylo Ren is the most interesting character so far, so I hope that he sticks around for whole trilogy. Something happened between Ren, Leia, Han, and Luke... and I think it's going to be a lot of fun watching that story unfold. Plus, Adam Driver has the character "Nailed".
The first two trilogies started off with a big "We Won!" in the first film, but that was not the case in Episode VII. I like where that is going. This seems to be a big setup for a very "Dark" Episode VIII, which would be awesome. The release date for VIII has already been pushed back, perhaps because the writers and director see an opportunity to really make it the darkest "middle" episode of the whole saga.
The acting by Driver is exceptional, and both Ridley and Boyega are above average, although Boyega was stuck in some places where the dialog didn't quite seem to meet the situation. Gleeson (General Hux) does some decent work, although he doesn't have many lines in the film. Word is that Gleeson and Isaac (Poe Dameron) will have bigger parts in VIII. I think that would be a good thing.
I saw the film in IMAX, which was definitely worth it. If you haven't seen it yet, and don't have easy access to an IMAX cinema, I'd wait for the Blu-Ray.