The Force is strong with this one!

Rating: 10/10 (27 December 2015)

This movie has been highly praised by critics but criticised and slated by the everyday casual movie watcher. I'm here to tell you that this movie is vastly underrated!
Firstly, the main reason behind some of the other poor reviews is the similarities between The Force Awakens and A New Hope. Many people believe that characters in this movie are based on or have strong similarities to key characters in A New Hope. For example, Rey is seen as the new Luke. Finn, the new Han Solo. Kylo Ren the new Darth Vader. BB8 the new R2-D2 and even Han Solo is seen as an Obi Wan kind of figure. Story wise you could certainly argue that each main character in Force Awakens is the Equivalent or based on a character in A New Hope. People argue that even the plot is lifted straight from A New Hope and in fact A Force Awakens is unoriginal and more of a remake than a sequel. For example, BB8 is carrying important information but is stranded on desert planet, much like R2-D2 was in A New Hope. However, in reality the overall plot is somewhat different.
Aside from the similarities between The Force Awakens and a New Hope, the main criticism is of the character Rey. Now let me start by saying Daisy Ridley is brilliant as Rey and the character is totally awesome. However, some people have criticized the character of Rey for erm....being too good. "How can Rey use the force like that, all of a sudden??" People scream. Well, the title is Force Awakens and really it's all about the force awakening inside Rey. People seem to want to hate on her and her story before they even watch it unfold. Rey's abilities and family will be explored in the next 2 movies. After all, her last name is probably Skywalker or Kenobi.
There is no doubt that J.J. Abrams' continuation of the Star Wars saga borrows a lot from the original and it's sequel in ways both subtle and obviously. We all know the starkiller base is just a bigger death star but just because it's similar in some areas does not make it bad. Almost all the negative reviews like to say this movie is unoriginal but actually it has a lot of originality. If you're one of those crazy people that thinks Kylo Ren is a cheap rip-off of Darth Vader, then you couldn't be more wrong. Kylo Ren wants to be like Darth Vader. Vader had been killing people for years in A New Hope where Kylo Ren is new. He's far more complex than Vader. He's got far more issues. Summed up beautifully when Rey says to Ren ""You're afraid that you'll never be as powerful as Darth Vader!" If Kylo Ren didn't have enough to deal with he has General Hux too. A rivalry between 2 villains is going to blossom in future movies. Could you imagine anyone in the Empire ever questioning Vader or disagreeing with him..No! This is something new and original. Also, Rey, is a completely original character. If people are saying Force Awakens is a remake of A new Hope then Rey is the Luke Skywalker of this movie. Rey is no Luke and is not like Luke in any way. Rey is more like the anti-Luke, as she is opposite to Luke in many ways. When Luke had friends, family, leisure time and and a safe life on Tattoine, Rey's life is not great. She scavenges just to stay alive and fed. The biggest difference between the two is that Rey is a reluctant protagonist throughout the film. Even given how skilled she is, Han's work offer and Maz Kanata's prophecy when Rey touches Luke's lightsaber, she still just wants to go home. Where as Luke wanted to leave his desert planet searching for adventure, Rey is quite happy to sit on Jakku, count the days and wait for whoever left her there!
In summary, The Force Awakens similarities of A New Hope is a major reason that the movie ultimately succeeds in recapturing that Star Wars magic of the original trilogy. This could quite easily have been one of the movies in the original trilogy. It is definitely of that standard. The movie has a fantastic pace and a strong story that will only get stronger has more elements of it are explored in later movies. The cinematography is incredible. Some of the scenes are truly stunning. In general the movie is entertaining from start to finish. It's full of emotion. It's fun, sad and beautiful sometimes at the same time and oh how it is funny. By far, this is the funniest Star Wars film of them all. I was surprised by how many laughs there actually are in this movie. I feel like all the negative reviews this movie gets will be forgotten after episode 8. I think episode 8 will reveal more that will make people see this movie for what it is...a classic. More importantly, the thing that get's said so much about the prequels is that they don't feel like star wars and nobody can say that about this movie because it just feels so much like Star Wars.
If anyone ever tries to tell you that The Force Awakens has no original ideas, just throw Rey at them. Everything about her is original. If that doesn't work ask them how many stormtroopers have turned good before and what there names are, and see what they say!