A promising yet inherently flawed start to a trilogy

Rating: 7/10 (6 March 2018)

I have to admit when I saw this for the first time I was absolutely spellbound, I thought 'finally another Star Wars movie with charismatic characters and practical filmmaking, this is a massive step up from the prequel trilogy'. However, I was skimming over an important factor into why this movie was loathed by hardcore Star Wars fans, the 'playing it safe' derivativeness used to sucker in fans.
In fairness there is lots to like about The Force Awakens, the cinematography and look of the film is astounding and you can tell they aren't just filming in front of green screens. Harrison Ford excellently reprises his role as the always likeable Han Solo. There are a plethora of engaging and exciting action sequences reminiscent of the original trilogy. Kylo Ren is a nuanced villain who gets constantly called to the light and values Vader as some hero he must imitate.
Here's where the flaws kick in that fans giving this movie '1/10' have already highlighted. While Rey is a charismatic heroine she isn't all that interesting. Even by the next instalment we still know nothing about her and she almost always does everything right, a Mary Sue to be more blunt. Finn has an interesting backstory but apart from that he is trying to do his best Will Smith impression, attempting to create the same likeable persona.
There are some original spins that doesn't make the movie a 'shot for shot' remake of the original Star Wars, but to say it isn't derivative is an under statement. It's cool they create a Death Star out of a planet which gets its power from the sun. Instead of Death Star plans the rebellion is trying to obtain a map of Luke Skywalker's whereabouts. Apart from that, yes it's a soft remake.
Overall I'd say it was a promising yet inherently flawed start to a trilogy.