The total is much less than the sum of the parts

Rating: 5/10 (27 December 2015)

I tried to keep my expectations for the sequel in check, but I'm quite disappointed of how it turned out overall.
I'll start by saying there are good things about the movie. I liked the acting for all the new characters and that the emphasis was on them rather than the old ones. Rey was a believable, strong female character that didn't feel at all forced; Finn was very likable; Kylo Ren may be the best aspect of the movie -- we can finally see a believable transformation into a villain; my personal favorite was BB-8 whose cuteness kept my interest up the whole movie! The visuals and cinematics were very good, and I think will age much better than the prequels. The First Order stormtroopers and fighters seemed more competent than the ones Original Trilogy (OT), providing a more satisfying menace. The dialogue was better than in the OT. The first half hour of the movie was great!
BUT, in spite of having all the elements in place for a great sequel it simply does not work and quickly started falling apart. The problem lies with the directing. The story arc is chaotic. Too many cuts destroy immersion. The main thing the OT and even the prequels did very well was to feel connected to each world that's portrayed -- and this absolutely is not the case in this new episode. Everything felt like a throw-away. Not even Jakku on which most screen time was spent seemed like an interesting world that I would like to know more about. The new Death Star was such a throw-away story arc -- it happened quickly, was anti-climatic, and was overall pointless. Maybe it would have worked if it was built-up over the arc of the three episodes (in the OT, Lucas only had the Death Star blow up in the first episode because he did not know there would be more episodes -- there was no need to make the same mistake again). And seriously, the third time a Death Star is blown up in the same identical way, only this time it's bigger???
I had a strong sense of deja-vu throughout the whole movie. Overall, this was a re-make not a sequel. If it had been made and marketed as a re-make with new actors and new visuals it could have worked quite well as that -- the individual parts of the movie are quite good (except the music, which oddly, I did not find at any point as epic and engaging as the prequels or OT). However, as a sequel it's extremely thin and chaotic in the overall story arc and feels forced. Worst of all, I just don't care about the "new" worlds, and where the "new" story arc is leading.
For all their faults, the prequels at least took a chance and Naboo and Coruscant were interesting, immersive worlds and it was an interesting question to see how the Galactic Republic turned into the Empire. Maybe if the next episode is not directed by JJ Abrams it might be better? Who knows, but my feeling is that if they don't make a second installment in the "sequel" trilogy it wouldn't be a big loss.