A New(er) Hope(less) Mash-Up!

Rating: 5/10 (4 January 2016)

Why?
The Star Wars Universe is enormous – with endless possibilities for ideas and development – so why create such a limited small minded reboot of 'A New Hope' and think it will be acceptable?
A weak plot & characters (poorly acted), Finn & Rey are wooden, Kylo Ren is possibly the weakest 'Baddie' to come out of Star Wars (couldn't even manage a lightsaber fight with an ex- Stormtrooper or the newbie?!) and the inclusion of 'Captain Phasma' served no purpose other than to create another character to be made into an action figure.
It is impressive visually but the movie plays it so safe almost a step backwards simply recreating what we have already seen (loner on a desert world – Check, cantina band – Check, giant planet destroying weapon – Check, frustrated bad guy – Check) and throwing in a few one liners in a weak attempt to relate back to the original trilogy; which new viewers won't get and Star Wars fans won't appreciate. We want something New!
Even the animated series (by Disney) looked at expanding the universe by developing characters, planets & back stories which worked for old and new viewers – it's just a shame that (as with Star Trek) JJ Abrams believes the best way to create a 'new' movie is to hack up the original, reheat it, stick it back together with some special effects and stick the relevant label on it for guaranteed success!
Maybe having a new director for Ep.VIII will be a good thing but will probably find that Rey is Lukes child, Poe is the offspring of Wedge Antilles and Kylo Ren will lose a hand – most probably whilst in a City in the clouds where Finn finds out his dad is Lando Calrissian!
At best this is a mediocre action movie which includes familiar faces and vehicles – but a Star Wars movie this does not make.
A frustrating missed opportunity which if it continues on a path to the dark side then the series & the spin off movies haven't got a chance...