"It is a time of sacrifice...Good and Bad"

Rating: 7/10 (17 December 2015)

This is the first sequel in the Star Wars franchise in 32 years. A long time ago in an era far, far away.
The First Order, the new Empire, is set up awfully fast in The Force Awakens. The last time we saw the Empire at the end of Return of the Jedi, it was defeated and destroyed. Here, somehow, it's at full strength again and even has Star Destroyers and a battle station that dwarfs the Death Star. I think the writers have missed an opportunity to show The First Order as underdog fanatics plotting to overthrow the New Republic in a patient build-up. But nope, we get one line that they have risen from the ashes of the Empire and, that's it, they're back, just like that.
The writing is shorn of George Lucas's devotion to Joseph Campbell's mythic structure. While that gave unprecedented depth to the original trilogy, it bogged the prequels down in clunky exposition dialogue. The new script loses the mythic structure but gains pace and humour again that is reminiscent of A New Hope. The pulling back from full-on CGI aids the realism too.
Lawrence Kasdan who co-wrote The Empire Strikes Back returns as co- writer here, but The Force Awakens is nowhere near as good as that masterpiece. There were so many great lines in the original trilogy "The force will be with youalways," "I am your Father" and "I've got a bad feeling about this." Some of them are repeated in The Force Awakens but there is nothing new to challenge the old lines. That is a pity. (In the age of the instantaneous internet, could the "I am your father" moment be kept secret now? I doubt it. I accidentally saw a major spoiler for The Force Awakens while typing in a hashtag on Twitter.)
Michael Arndt gives lectures on the original trilogy and wrote the first draft of The Force Awakens script. Perhaps he's great at analysing why Star Wars works but not so great at creating something new. The script is okay, nothing more (there is a nice riff on the father/son theme that runs through every Star Wars movie and Han Solo finally accepting The Force as being true is a nice payoff to his "hokey religion" dismissal in 1977).
Harrison Ford brings a much-needed weary wit and charisma to the film in reprising his old scoundrel Han Solo. He's clearly enjoying himself and the film lifts whenever he's on screen. Ford is given some better lines and more to do than in Indiana Jones & The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, but, just as in that film, the older stars are shoved aside in favour of the newcomers who aren't that interesting.
Carrie Fisher looks like she's been at the Botox. The only parts of her face she can move are her lips and even that's a struggle. It doesn't look like her and it is a shock seeing her as a shrunken old woman.
We know Daisy Ridley is miscast in the lead role. We know because J.J. Abrams told her on set that her acting was "wooden." If you've cast someone that can't act in the lead role of the biggest franchise in film history, you've hired the wrong person. Ms Ridley compensates by over- acting horribly, shouting every line with her eyes as wide as possible. She runs (a lot) and cries (a lot). Apart from that, the jury is still out on her. Then again, Star Wars has a history of not-great acting, so she's probably keeping up a great tradition.
Muhammad Ali-lookalike, John Boyega, took some criticism in early reviews, but I actually thought he had good comic timing, the audience liked him and he even struck up a buddy rapport with old grumpy pants himself, Harrison Ford. Let's hope we see more of him in the sequels and spin-offs, he's the best of the new breed.
John Williams returns to score the picture and it's okay, nothing as unforgettable as Vader's Theme from Empire. Darth Vader himself is, for me, the greatest villain in movie history and he is sorely missed. Vader choked people to death by breaking their necks if they defied him. Whereas new baddie Kylo Ren takes his frustration out by incinerating inanimate objects with his lightsaber to keep the rating kiddie- friendly. There's also some predictable PC casting. Everything that was white and male before now has to be rebooted as female, ethnic and/or LGBT (we're getting an all-female Ghostbusters reboot and possibly a black James Bond in the future.)
The Force Awakens isn't as good as I thought it was going to be and I doubt it will stand up to repeat reviewing as the original trilogy did but it is perhaps the best that can be expected now George Lucas has bailed out on his film company. It will no doubt break box office records. No film could probably live up to the hype anyway. It is good to have Star Wars back in whatever form it's in (I think I know the big plot twist in the next movie too but I won't spoil it for you, dear reader.)