Don't Believe the Hype!!

Rating: 5/10 (4 January 2016)

Not a very compelling or consistent storyline. Despite good will I just couldn't get on board with it.
The whole movie revolves around the "absence" of Luke Skywalker - the only remaining Jedi left in the galaxy - who has stormed off in a huff because one of his trainees gets turned to the dark side. Turning his back on his life's purpose, after all the sacrifices made, and lets this new order arise? What about all the other potential younglings out there that are strong with the force - are they not worth the bother? I'd never pictured him to be such a quitter.
The plot for this movie is linear and predictable from the outset - you know that at some point they're going to find Luke, it is just a matter of when. Resulting in no real intrigue, suspense or wonder about what is going to happen next. And there are so many plot holes!!!! A random goblin like character has popped up and assembled a new empire that rivals something that took Darth Sidious many years of meddling to achieve. It is not unusual that a corrupt dictator can arise after a revolution and the resulting power vacuum (ie Stalin and Napolean), but the only reason offered is that Luke Skywalker stormed off in a huff, and until he decides to come back and be useful, the galaxy is going to suffer.
For some reason - despite this only being set some 20-30 years in the future from the close of the last movie, The Force, Han Solo, the Millennium Falcon, Luke Skywalker, have all become some kind of biblical legend that nobody really believes in. This is in a galaxy with interstellar travel, artificial intelligence, and 3D communication technology. I guess the news of Darth Sidious' galactic empire, and subsequent downfall had not been documented by any contemporary historians? Perhaps the same historians that failed to explain to the giant goblin how a fundamental design flaw with the last 2 deaths stars was easily exploited by a small group of speedy star fighters.
This movie makes a mockery of the force, and any of the underlying principals of the Jedi order: Ex-stormtrooper picks up lightsaber for first time and is able to hold his own against trained Jedi that has turned to the Sith.
Young lady who is strong in force but has received no training, able to master Jedi mind tricks on the first attempt, and upon initial handling of light sabre is able to defeat a trained Sith.
Luke Skywalker was raised under the watchful eye of Jedi Master Obi Wan, and it wasn't until he'd had years of one-2-one training from Master Yoda that he was able to attempt a Jedi mind trick or safely handle a light sabre.
The whole movie plays along like a poorly written soap opera. With Han and Leia's petulant teenage son going off the rails. A string of unexplained, pointless, and silly coincidences rush the storyline forward.
Han Solo conveniently plucking the Millennium falcon out of space moments after it takes off from the planet, with the ship having laid idle for all those years whilst he had been frantically searching for it. Shortly after this, 2 groups of random traders turn up seemingly for the sole purpose of being eaten by some giant squid/sarlacc like creatures.
The movie would have been a whole lot better if they had come up with a more believable reason for Luke's absence - not made the whole film about a "where is skywalker" and more about the chaos filling in the power vacuum following Darth Sidious' demise thus providing a more believable background to the current scenario, whilst including some of the essential Jedi training, philosophy and practice.