Felt a little disappointed

Rating: 6/10 (20 December 2015)

This review will eventually contain spoilers but I will give fair warning before they begin.
I will admit that I was cautious entering this movie. I personally am a huge fan of the Expanded Universe but I am in no way one of those nuts that keeps harping about how "the book was better." Nevertheless, I was immediately disheartened way back when Disney announced that they were going to write off the EU as no longer canon. Still, I am willing to give anything a try and always go to movies and keep an open mind. Here is my review of Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens.
As a simple, sci-fi action flick, it's not bad. There are plenty action sequences, strange creatures, interesting worlds, etc. If you want to see a movie that uses Star Wars names and technology and has explosions and light saber fights, you will enjoy this movie. But if you are looking for the hyped-up sequel to one of the greatest sagas in movie history, you may find yourself disappointed as I have. To me, this movie did not feel like it was a complete thought. Maybe when Episodes VIII and IX come out, they will all tie together nicely and feel complete, but as a standalone movie, VII felt lacking. When the end credits ran, I felt only like the first act of a play had finished. Maybe stylistically that's what J.J. Abrams was going for, but I feel like VII only exists to set up VIII and IX. In many other trilogies, each movie usually can stand on its own as a movie with a simple plot arc while also have the larger plot arc in the background. In the original trilogy, Episode IV had its own story that was about a simple farm boy breaking out on his own and becoming a hero. In VII, while there are several new characters who all have their own (very minor) arcs, I feel as though not much was done or not much focus was put on them. Not to mention the clunky timing of some things/scenes/events/etc.
****The next section may contain MINOR spoilers:****
The two new main protagonists (Rey and Finn) feel very hollow. The movie starts essentially in the midst of Finn's inciting event. There is no lead-up and we have no feelings towards his character and we're already witnessing his life going through a major change. This makes him hard to relate to or connect to when we don't know anything about his origin besides what little we're told throughout the movie in expositional dialogue. Next, we have Rey who is presented as a strong, independent female character who has compassion. The lead-up to her inciting event is a little more drawn out and has nicer pacing. After that moment, though, everything about her character is just very sloppily thrown at the audience or revealed when it's convenient to the story. Throughout the film, she feels less like a character and more like a walking ex- machina plot point. She has a plethora of skills that while could plausibly come from her life experiences, seem a little too good/convenient to be true. And that's not to mention the big reveal about her character.
Another protagonist is BB-8, the rolling ball droid. I will admit that BB-8 is adorable and a little funny, but the comedy seems awkward in the Star Wars Universe. In the original trilogy, the only real humor came from R2-D2 and C-3PO but that was not as prominent as it was in other Star Wars films. Yes, George Lucas went full slapstick with the prequels and that was one thing that people did not like about them. In Episode VII we get the slight droid humor that you came to expect from R2 in BB- 8 but you also get a lot more of the sarcastic one-liners that used to only belong to Han Solo from the other human characters. But I guess that's a problem in the modern cinema world where writers believe characters can only be liked if they are all as witty as a Joss Whedon character.
The antagonists also fell flat. The chrome, female storm trooper did not have enough screen time to really establish herself as a threat and Kylo Ren only left me wanting to rather see his journey to the dark side than what he did once he got there. The reveal of his character's backstory (what little we got) was a bit clunky and honestly predictable. And we got NOTHING on the Captain Phasma (the chrome trooper).
****MAJOR Spoiler****
The story arc was aggravating due to it returning to the "successful" story arc that existed in episodes IV and VI; big start base, rescue mission, all blows up.
***FINAL WORD***
I was disappointed and can probably write a thesis on the problems I had with this movie from character development to how they used the force in the movie, but I'll just sum it all up saying hardcore Star Wars fans (EU fans) will be disappointed but those who have only seen the movies may enjoy this. Younger crowds will like the fast-paced story and action and I would recommend it to anyone who just wants to watch an entertaining movie for a couple hours.
Me: 6/10