I didn't want this movie to be bad but,

Rating: 3/10 (6 April 2016)

It is bad. Sorry everybody. The excellent CGI is pretty much the only thing positive about The Force Awakens.
There are plenty of other reviewers that have explained why this is a bad movie already, but what I can't explain is why professional critics have either remained silent or given this a good review.
This movie has the kind of script you would expect a failing liberal arts student to submit. It makes EVERY mistake that an amateur screenwriter would make. It's so unoriginal and there's so much Deus Ex Machina I don't know where to start.
I don't want to ruin the plot, but you've already seen this movie before if you've seen episode IV so I almost can't. The writing really is that lazy.
Except episode IV was better. There are so many things in The Force Awakens that don't make sense if you pay attention. The action simply progresses without reason or purpose. The entire conflict is built on the paper-thin foundations. And there are no character motivations, good or bad, that are explained or justified in any way. Again, lazy writing.
The bad guys' main weapon is just silly, hopelessly expensive and impractical (e.g. it can't move), and poorly thought-out (just like this movie). And the good guys' response to it is equally silly, making the main conflict a joke.
The nail in the coffin is how conveniently and effortlessly.. and inexplicably.. the conflict is resolved at the end. There may as well have been text flashing across the screen about two-thirds through the movie, "then all the problems were solved. The End..."
At least that wouldn't have wasted the audience's time, because the actual ending was almost just as lazy.
Honestly, only reason I can see that the script made it past the trash can is because it had Star Wars on the cover. If this were ANY other movie no one would have even looked at it. This movie will not age well. Try re-watching this in ten years after the hype has died down and see if the good reviews hold up. I think they won't.
This is probably the most bloated, expensive, B-movie ever made. Deus Ex Machina is a classic symptom of bad screen writing, and it happens a lot in The Force Awakens. Any professional critic knows this and should pick up on it immediately. So, why was a movie with this many problems and no originality, SO well received by critics?