Star Wars - Recycled Plot Awakens

Rating: 7/10 (26 December 2015)

A droid containing vital information is being pursued by the bad guys on a desert planet. The droid's orphan companion meets up with a new friend, a smuggler and a wookie. Meanwhile, the bad guys have built a massive weapon capable of destroying planets. Luckily the good guys figure out they need to take out the shield then fly fighters at its core to blow it up. Also, there is an old Jedi who has exiled himself to a remote location and the main bad guy wears all black and a mask which makes his voice sound scary. There is the surprise death of a main character and "surprise" revelation about family members.
Does any of the above sound familiar? It should because it's almost a direct copy of Episode IV's plot with elements of the other movies of the original trilogy thrown in.
Let's start with the bad so we can finish on a positive note.
1) Don't they have email or something similar in this universe? Why are they still relying effectively on carrier pigeon (droid) to relay vital information. It's ridiculous.
2) The Villain: sorry, but this has to be the wimpiest Star Wars villain ever. I thought the prequel Anakin was the whiniest little sook in the galaxy until I saw Kylo Ren. Yes he's obviously powerful, but when it comes to lightsaber duels he struggles to beat a garbage man (Finn literally worked in the sanitation area of the super weapon) and a girl who found out five minutes earlier that she had special powers. What the...?
He could easily force choke or force push both of them so why didn't he? Doesn't make sense.
3) What the hell happened in the previous 30 years? Really, there's no discussion about what has happened, how First Order and the supreme leader came about, how Kylo Ren turned to the dark side etc etc. I know you need to be mindful of info dump conversations and flashbacks but I think we needed something to fill in those years.
I shouldn't have been surprised at the laziness of the writers but I was. There's so many ways they could've gone with this and they took the easiest way. Recycle recycle recycle.
The good:
1) I loved the way this movie looked. Had that gritty look that the original movie had. The thing I hated about the prequel trilogy was how intrusive the CGI was. Everything was a little too glossy for my liking. As always the creatures, aliens, ships etc looked great.
2) Humour. I know some people didn't like the humour in this movie, but humour, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.
3) The old: was great to see the old characters again.
So why 7 out of 10 rating then? Because it's Star Wars: fun, action filled, not something to be taken too seriously. Switch your brain off for a couple of hours and just enjoy it for what it is. Just don't expect anything new or even creative.