Great first half then downhill. Recycled Star Wars.

Rating: 4/10 (14 February 2016)

The Force Awakens did something quite unique. It made me feel excitement, confusion, sadness, boredom and then ultimately disappointment, probably in that order. It started off great, a new cast who were all top notch (apart from shouting Nazi officer guy), a story filled with adventure and so many possibilities, all set in the Star Wars universe. What's not to like? And I must admit. The initial First Order attack, while it did feel like something from a TV show, was pretty good. Kylo Ren was shaping up to be a menacing villain and Poe and Finn were great new introductions. Rey too was pretty great and seeing the Falcon with Han and Chewie was a lot of fun.
That's pretty much where I checked out. The rest was the most unoriginal uninspired bunch of Star Wars I have ever come across. I've watched all of the Clone Wars series and read the majority of the Expanded Universe books and comics and I've never felt so meh about a Star Wars story.
The breaks in logic took me right out of the movie as did the uninspired earth locales. They seemed so afraid of upsetting people who didn't like the prequels that the imagination that goes into the aliens and worlds that is usually present in a Star Wars movie was lacking. I was waiting during the bit on Jakku to see how they would introduce Han Solo and the Falcon but the lazy way that first the Falcon and then Han and Chewie were just there when the plot needed them to be was just lame. Next up was Maz and her castle, nothing about that felt like Star Wars, it felt more like a Lord of the Rings movie and was way too derivative of a New Hope.
Spoilers ahoy ########################
Rey just happens to find the Falcon, then Han Solo, then Lukes' Lightsabre. It's no fun when the film is constantly reminding you that there's a script behind the scenes telling everyone what to do.
We get a new death star, we get X-Wings, Tie Fighters, a Star Destroyer, a trench run, some X- Wings flying inside a big battle station, parental difficulties and lots of 'hey remember these things?' from earlier movies.
I was really confused when I left the cinema. Everything seemed pretty decent. Good cast, fun battles, decent characters and a fairly entertaining adventure. But then as I thought about it I realised the problem. I'd seen all of it before. JJ Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan just took what people loved and said, play it all again. Without seemingly any original ideas of their own.
Kasdan wanted Han to die and for Luke to walk off into the sunset back in Return of the Jedi. So guess what happens in this one. The extended universe of books and comics written over 30 years was done away with, only for one huge element of that to be ripped off. (Ben Solo, Jacen Solo) If Rey turns out to be Rens sister which I suspect will be the case it shows how bereft of original ideas they truly are.
It's a homage to Star Wars so it didn't feel like real Star Wars. Lucas thought thought it was too retro. George Lucas was right.