Really, really not so good

Rating: 3/10 (21 January 2016)

I have been waiting for years for this movie to arrive and hoped that it was as least as good as the second trilogy (Episodes I-III). So I didn't have unrealistic expectations, and yet was still so disappointed. I honestly cannot understand how this movie is currently showing an 8.4/10 rating on IMDb. Really?
Love or hate the second trilogy (Episodes I-III, which I didn't actually hate), there was at least a chance to get to know the young Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin and see their characters develop. In 'The Force Awakens', there was no character development at all. Zip. Zero. Even though we are introduced to the characters thusly:
Rey ekes out an existence by finding hardware of some value in derelict space junk. She looks pretty buff for someone living below the poverty line with barely enough to eat. And her clothes don't get dirty. Ever.
Finn is a stormtrooper who suddenly develops a conscience and can't bring himself to kill people. Doesn't the Empire (or New Order or whatever it's called) do psych profiling on new recruits? Apparently not. And when he has a light sabre in his hands he manages to display the skills of a Jedi without the usual years of Jedi training. Really?
BB-8 is the cutesy new droid that pretty much replaces R2D2. So far, the only new character that I like.
Kylo Ren, the badass who's so bad that he can freeze the energy pulse from a blaster in mid-flight is about as scary as a 6-week-old kitten. He's also big on applying 'the Force' as and when it suits him - freezing people where they stand, flinging them around, etc., although he doesn't think to do any of this in his big one-on-one battle with Han Solo. Plus, despite Ren's presumed lifelong training in the Force, Rey puts up a decent fight against him, even though she's only just discovering her ability to use the Force and hasn't had any training as a Jedi. And there's nary a hint of her being seduced by the Dark Side when she unleashes her anger while fighting.
Supreme Leader Snoke - the biggest (seriously the biggest) bad guy. No background story, nobody seems to mention him and yet he is the ultimate villain, apparently. I thought he probably just needed a pacifier and all would have been right with the world.
Princess Leia has obviously had a lot of worries and troubles over the last 30-plus years and looks like it. Emotionally stunted too, apparently, since she displays almost no reaction when the supposed love of her life is killed.
On the plus side, cinematography and CGFX are outstanding as always. Not much else to say...