The Force Awakens - but is it the same force?

Rating: 6/10 (22 December 2015)

I haven't written a review on IMDb before, but I figured for Episode VII this would be worth doing.
3/3 for excellent effects and cinematography. The movie looks visually stunning and will be a blast for all Star Wars fans. Everything you see has been very authentically recreated based on the originals and feels real. I haven't seen sci-fi effects looking so real and authentic in any movie before.
3/3 - acting. The acting is great with some good humor. John Boyega and Harrison Ford come out as the most original. It certainly doesn't deserve the criticism of the prequels where Padme and Anakin felt forced and not very natural.
SPOILERS
0/4 - storyline. You can read most of the criticism in more detail from the reviews here on IMDb. My criticism concerning the storyline would be about what you would expect from the movie based on the trailers and the title. The second teaser can give you the impression that Luke would have a real role in this one - training the new Jedi or at least introducing the force to the newcomers, because his voice sounds in the trailer. Yet in the movie, he doesn't say a word. He is presented as a Jedi in solitude, old and tired. It would have been awesome to see him in action instead of being in hiding. But I hope the next episode is for that.
In The Force Awakens we would expect to see the new characters to be taught to learn the force by example and training, yet instead we see that they seem to be able to gain these abilities instinctively. The whole Star Wars canon has had a sort of discipleship idea when it comes to becoming a Jedi - no Jedi, not on the dark side or the light side, has learned the force without example and training. We can see that evidently in all the previous movies. Yet in The Force Awakens Ray comes to know the force in the most crazy of battle sequences and automatically gains abilities to fight with a lightsaber, do a mind trick and even a force pull. She also wins a trained Jedi of the dark side in a mind contest. A very different picture from the prequels and the originals, where the Jedis on the light side most of the time lost to the ones on the dark side.
The final trailer of the movie is awesome and lifts expectations concerning Han Solo being a guiding figure for the main characters. We also hear an awesome score in the trailer. Yet in the movie, Han, while being the most enjoyable character, is given an awful ending and therefore made look stupid. Also, we don't hear the awesome trailer score in the movie itself.
I'd like to point out the criticism concerning how the force is portrayed and what one would expect from this movie - namely a continuation of the saga where new characters get to know the subtle and deep power of the force based on the examples of our old, beloved characters. The presentation of the force differs a lot from Lucas' idea. In the originals, even Darth Vader used the force only when needed and not everyone knew the force as such even existed (remember the scene where Obi-Wan explains it). Also, in the originals you see Luke and Vader recognizing each others presence with Obi-Wan having the same ability. That creates the sense of the force being something much more deeper than just special power, something more person-related. In Episode VII though, Kylo Ren uses it ruthlessly and without respect, in battle and for interrogation. The dark side doesn't seem to mean much to him, he just wants to beat Vader (whatever that would mean). The lack of background for Ray and she gaining these abilities so quickly also makes the force look like something much more easygoing than in the originals or prequels.
Finally, my point is that although the force awakens, it feels and looks different. The new characters fail to create the natural atmosphere of the dark side, the light side and the jedi, that you would expect based on previous movies. And the movie was supposed to do just that.