Uninspired, paint-by-numbers film-making

Rating: 6/10 (19 December 2015)

The whole film was just dull and adopted too many elements of modern Hollywood. Far too many key events and plot complications were disappointingly familiar. Important characters have little motivation to carry out key plot progress and I kept asking myself "why does this person even care?"
Storm troopers were more incompetent than ever and felt even more disposable than zombies. The off-screen characters were disposable on the same scale as what's typical of a superhero or apocalypse film. As is typical of those genres, viewers of The Force Awakens are led to believe that for some reason, the protagonists are the only ones who can save the day, even though there could in fact be other groups that could get involved if they so desired.
There was more humour than in previous films, but much of it was low-brow and equivalent to slapstick, with the punchline being based on various people being stupid. Curiously, I found myself sometimes laughing a sentence before the rest of the theatre patrons, all Americans.
I found the new black male protagonist to be about as likable as the brat from Spirited Away. I didn't especially like the new white female protagonist either.