Better titled as A Newer Hope

Rating: 7/10 (26 December 2019)

Oh my god, I just got done re-watching/reviewing the trilogy prequel by George Lucas and always lamented how poorly written/directed they were right from the outset but my gourd, how much better The Force Wakens started than those! Though JJ Abrams wrote/directed this one, at least there's a small army of producers and a different editor. George "I have control issues" Lucas' prequels sadly had no other input than his own. The first chase scene was weak though, Rey, with Finn, commandeers the Millenium Falcon without any biometrics or start codes, hmm, then she navigates it expertly albeit accidentally, but c'mon, she should've crashed this within the first 10-secs, then through "Hollywood magic" the two rookies best two trained TIE fighters, ugh, this again. But this was redeemed in a subsequent scene when Rey/Finn attempted to trap some raiders on a freighter but unleashed nasty monsters instead. The rest of the action/story was pretty decent except near the end as the planet 'sploded, those rescues were lazy deus ex. But just at the end when you're noticing that the old gang is all re-unioned except Luke, Rey finds him as an old Sith-lord looking hermit. Without a word, she immediately offers his lightsword, but the way JJ filmed it, it comes off as if she's offering a Coke to him, weird. And that's how he ended it, also weird and unsatisfying.