Watch it twice and then decide

Rating: 8/10 (15 January 2016)

OK, I think EVERYTHING that could be said about this film has already been said, and much of the criticism is valid, I am not going to go through all that again.
I just want to say that I had all the same concerns the first time I watched it but went to see it again anyway and you know what, it grew on me.
No, I am not going to go and give it a 10, but it certainly doesn't deserve a reactionary 1, either. Evidently after the first viewing my mind had time to paper over some of the plot holes and lack of depth and I went in with an open mind ready to just enjoy it. And I did. It did pull me a little more into its world, some of the characters did start to make a little more sense, even/especially Kylo Ren and at the end of the day I wondered if our rose-tinted spectacles hadn't set the standard impossibly high for this film. I watched the original films again recently, and no, you can't become a child again and appreciate them in the same way, they do look dated, there ARE many plot holes and ropey characters. I also wondered whether some heavy editing had been inevitable in the Force Awakens to keep the film under 2 hours, at the expense of some depth.
So this film IS as much a remake as a sequel, but it has also, I feel, earned its place as a member of the Star Wars family. Much depends on where they take the plot in future sequels, and whether they knew where they were taking it with this one. But for now - come on, just suspend your scepticism and go and see it (again) and enjoy it for what it is, you are never going to be nine years old again anyway.