Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures | Release Date: December 18, 2015
6.7
USER SCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 7984 Ratings
USER RATING DISTRIBUTION
Positive:
5,073
Mixed:
1,217
Negative:
1,694
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2
houseonahillJan 1, 2016
Vulgar commercialism + recycled, predictable, and banal storytelling. The film introduces no real emotion or connection and levies a foolish amount of shallow comic relief in moments that otherwise could have benefited from taking themselvesVulgar commercialism + recycled, predictable, and banal storytelling. The film introduces no real emotion or connection and levies a foolish amount of shallow comic relief in moments that otherwise could have benefited from taking themselves more seriously to create some tension. Abrams filmmaking has no soul - its all technique and hacking. Expand
85 of 142 users found this helpful8557
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0
RoadneyDec 30, 2015
This movie was so bad that I actually wanted to leave the theatre. We've seen it all before, only better. This was Episode 4 and 5 remade, but the dumb version. If I'd have known what I was in for, I'd have stayed home. Thanks for nothingThis movie was so bad that I actually wanted to leave the theatre. We've seen it all before, only better. This was Episode 4 and 5 remade, but the dumb version. If I'd have known what I was in for, I'd have stayed home. Thanks for nothing Disney. Enjoy my money. Your film didn't earn it, but your marketing team sure did. Expand
76 of 127 users found this helpful7651
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0
Star_WorseJan 3, 2016
This movie just makes me feel sad and confused and betrayed. Disney was entrusted with something beautiful and valuable and beloved and they RUINED it!! Why?- with literally unlimited resources of money and talent at their disposal didThis movie just makes me feel sad and confused and betrayed. Disney was entrusted with something beautiful and valuable and beloved and they RUINED it!! Why?- with literally unlimited resources of money and talent at their disposal did Disney create THIS? I think George Lucas is looking pretty good right about now, for all his flaws at least he had a vision and created a work of art that millions of people fell in love with and that stands the test of time. Now all that is squandered.... I fear forever.

I predict that everyone who took part in this will regret it big time. This might even be a career killer for some. It's a shame that the actors must bear the brunt of the backlash. They did the best they could with what they were given. The blame should be placed where it belongs...on the Disney Evil Empire!! They should stick with making cartoons, it's what they do best, entertaining children under the age of 10.
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125 of 209 users found this helpful12584
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0
HucksterJan 1, 2016
What a let down.... after such great expectations and decades of waiting. No inclination to see future SW movies at all. Think I'll start enjoying episodes 1-6 in a new light.
64 of 107 users found this helpful6443
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2
BobicJan 4, 2016
It's exactly like Episode IV, except worse, because it's completely un-innovative, unimaginative, and totally lacking in the magic that made the originals so good.

It's clear that J.J. Abrams listened to the Plinkett reviews like the
It's exactly like Episode IV, except worse, because it's completely un-innovative, unimaginative, and totally lacking in the magic that made the originals so good.

It's clear that J.J. Abrams listened to the Plinkett reviews like the little slave that he is, it's clear that every facet of this movie was looked over hundreds upon hundreds of times by armies of focus groups & market research firms, it's abundantly clear that $200 million worth of special effects were poured into this movie—and yet, despite all this, despite everything, it's still lacking the only things that make Star Wars worth watching. THE STORY. THE CHARACTERS. THE CREATIVITY. THE SENSE OF SCALE. THE SENSE OF DESTINY. THE **** HEART!!!

It's all gone. Please don't watch this movie. Lucas should have sold the rights to David Lynch or someone with a single creative bone in their body.

Peace
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159 of 266 users found this helpful159107
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1
AntonvolovJan 5, 2016
No logic at all. Goddamned copy of episode 4 in favourite Disney style. Very bad continuation of great saga. J. J. Abrams ruined Lucas's property. I am going to read books from EU.
104 of 174 users found this helpful10470
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2
aconcattiJan 8, 2016
The sad decline of the force

If you want to watch how is it possible to destroy a classic and all its characters please don't miss this attempt of saga. Since Disney bid for great effects and CERO originality Star Wars The Force Awakens is
The sad decline of the force

If you want to watch how is it possible to destroy a classic and all its characters please don't miss this attempt of saga. Since Disney bid for great effects and CERO originality Star Wars The Force Awakens is not more than a bad and textual copy of its original movie. Perhaps some nostalgics can be too happy viewing their old characters again as to not realize the lack of ideas and arguments. The biggest disappointment of the year.
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52 of 87 users found this helpful5235
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0
RaducubJan 10, 2016
A massive disappointment and an insult to our intellects. There are a plethora of user reviews that cover all the negative points. What amazes me are the critic reviews, i just feel they saw a completely different movie.
Without spoiling any
A massive disappointment and an insult to our intellects. There are a plethora of user reviews that cover all the negative points. What amazes me are the critic reviews, i just feel they saw a completely different movie.
Without spoiling any of the plot (as if there is something original):
- no character development (although the idea of the new characters has a lot of potential)
- a lot of convenient coincidences to move the plot along
- the Star Wars lore is discarded completely
- stirs little emotions (several people walked out of the theater during the movie, and I was constantly looking at the time)
- predictable outcome and ridiculous events and settings
- huge plot holes and severe lack of political context (it's as if Ep VI didn't even happen)
- musical score forgettable
- marginally entertaining, but for a Star Wars movie, "fun" just doesn't cut it

Missed opportunity of the decade!
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52 of 87 users found this helpful5235
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0
JJabramsSUXJan 3, 2016
This movie is the best thing that could ever happen for George Lucas' legacy. It was so bad that Lucas looks like a prodigal genius in comparison. This movie makes the Phantom Menace look like Empire Strikes Back. It makes Jar Jar Binks lookThis movie is the best thing that could ever happen for George Lucas' legacy. It was so bad that Lucas looks like a prodigal genius in comparison. This movie makes the Phantom Menace look like Empire Strikes Back. It makes Jar Jar Binks look like Darth Vader. In short, Abrams has single-handedly destroyed Star Wars. After 40 years of Lucas brilliance, Star Wars has just been dealt the fatal death blow. I would rather watch Chewbacca and Kylo Ren tongue kiss for 120 minutes than watch this steaming pile of space doo a second time. Expand
101 of 169 users found this helpful10168
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TheorycrafterJan 4, 2016
Everyone here said all I think about the plot, but there are more things done badly. Like Finn. He represents a lot of what's wrong with this movie.

Spoilers below. Finn looks like a character from Guardians of the Galaxy, joking all
Everyone here said all I think about the plot, but there are more things done badly. Like Finn. He represents a lot of what's wrong with this movie.

Spoilers below.

Finn looks like a character from Guardians of the Galaxy, joking all the time, breaking the tension that never was there to begin with.
He doesn't bring us the point of view of a real stormtrooper. He simply doesn't carry the weight of being an ex-soldier haunted by the terrible things he said he saw.

So, what did he see? The first mission in which he participated was that from the beginning. This rookie, who worked in sanitation and couldn't even pilot a TIE fighter was participating in a mission to recover secret information about the last Jedi.
At first he seemed to care about the comrade who died in front of him... But no, he was just a coward. He had absolutely no problem with killing his former colleagues later. Being an ex-stormtrooper doesn't add anything to his development. And what a wasted opportunity of making a better rivalry with Phasma.

He was also joking too much for someone who spent his entire life under severe discipline and didn't even had a name moments before.
There were other guys trying to be funny in this movie already, Poe and Han (even Kylo Ren with his tantrums and funny face). They could have made Finn more interesting, but no. It's not enough to have BB-8 as comic relief.

What is his role in this story then? He isn't a real ex-villain. He isn't a pilot. He isn't a jedi, he wasn't fighting for what is right, nor for money or for his dreams..... just being reckless for a girl he barely knew.... Wait... That's it!

His only purpose in this movie (and maybe in the entire new trilogy) is being Rey's romantic interest and making her look better by being her useless protector.

We can't even ignore him because he is one of the main characters. We are supposed to adore him for how charismatic he is.
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89 of 149 users found this helpful8960
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0
mizthebizDec 31, 2015
The movie gets a 0 because it's a lie. I paid to see a new movie, not a shoddy remake with actor and prop cameos. It was like ordering a steak and getting raw meatloaf. I didn't want to see a remake, I wanted to see a sequel, period.The movie gets a 0 because it's a lie. I paid to see a new movie, not a shoddy remake with actor and prop cameos. It was like ordering a steak and getting raw meatloaf. I didn't want to see a remake, I wanted to see a sequel, period.

I'm a casual Star Wars fan. I didn't hate Episode 1, 2, and 3, but I didn't love them. I don't think Star Wars 4-6 were the greatest movies of all time either. I know the story line, and I like it, but I'm not emotionally invested in the franchise. I just literally wanted to see a movie with an interesting story line, and was willing to accept substandard acting and cringe worthy humor. Well, I got 2 out of the 3.

I know you can't talk about JJ Abrams without mentioning the Star Trek reboots. I liked those movies. They were over the top with action and explosions, but actually had reasonably interesting story lines. I liked the old Star Trek movies as well. They are both good story lines and told in very different styles.

Won't be watching episode 8, if they ever make it. The story line of 7 is so bad, I can't possibly imagine how the franchise will be saved without a do-over.

Even for the psychopaths that don't mind being mislead and lied to, there's no chance this movie is a perfect 10 out of 10. 10/10 means it's one of the greatest movies of all time. Give me a break.
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129 of 216 users found this helpful12987
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1
blee207Jan 3, 2016
What made this movie a joke:

1. There are so many Storm Troopers so only one dude that worked in sanitation grew a conscience? 2. Speaking of sanitation, how does a janitor know where the most vulnerable part of the planet was located?
What made this movie a joke:

1. There are so many Storm Troopers so only one dude that worked in sanitation grew a conscience?
2. Speaking of sanitation, how does a janitor know where the most vulnerable part of the planet was located?
3. It was dumb for the Death Star to have a single point of destruction and yet not be completely protected with like a million turrets. But that was made 30 years ago and I didn’t care because my expectations back then were very different than what they are today. It’s a complete failure of the story that many years have passed since the Death Star and they continue to make the same mistake! What a joke.
4. Now that I’ve barely scratched the surface of sword fighting through training, I can tell you that anyone who goes up against a trained swordsman will not last more than a few swings let alone a few minutes. The black guy and the girl should have been cut into pieces way before she discovered the force within.

Anyway, I did enjoy the movie overall because of two main factors:

1. The updated graphics and effects gave new life to a very old story.
2. Seeing the old cast in the movie brought back some very old memories and profound emotions.
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86 of 144 users found this helpful8658
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1
MikefromAngusDec 21, 2015
I preordered my tickets 2 months before the movie came out, Hoping that star wars would be awesome again!
What I got was a lazy copy and paste story from episode 4 with bad pacing. The movie was actually worst then the prequels. there was
I preordered my tickets 2 months before the movie came out, Hoping that star wars would be awesome again!
What I got was a lazy copy and paste story from episode 4 with bad pacing. The movie was actually worst then the prequels. there was nothing new about this movie, just a remake of episode 4.
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43 of 72 users found this helpful4329
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0
IcedjwDec 27, 2015
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is the first review I have ever made. I just need to balance the force and shove one to the Disney shills and paid critics, hence the 0 rating.

1. Star Killer - by 'sucking' up a sun you destroy a solar system, so why do you need to fire on planets that will die by cold, for which no reason is given anyway? As someone else pointed out; Death Star becomes Star Destroyer!

2. Ren's mask - has no function at all! So, when he removes the mask we are wondering what the hell is it for? It took 3 films to reveal Darth Vader to the world and it's function was to help keep him alive.

3. Ren's powers - Chewbacca manages to shoot Ren even though he can stop laser blasts. Massive
inconsistency here.

4. Poe - how does he survive the crash and how does he escape from the planet? For that matter how does Finn escape a Tie Fighter hurtling towards a planet at god knows what speed with a parachute? Was he using an ejector seat? Was it a strap on oarachute and if so how did he manage to counteract the G forces to get the parachute on? Also, parachutes in Star Wars? Huh?

5. R2D2 - how does R2 know when to reactivate from self imposed sleep depression?

6. Map - why is there a map when coordinates would do, especially as the plot does not center around
following the map at all to find Luke?

7. Rey - she learns the force without instruction or training. This may be plausible, but devalues everything we know about Luke et al in the previous films. Just horrible!

8. Finn - sanitation worker, sent on a battle mission?

9. CGI - just horrible for Maz, Snoke and those terrible creatures on the freighter run by Han.

10. Han - he is too old to run around. Why is he not a general rather than returning to his old haunts?

11. Snoke - why does he need a massive hologram? Every hologram in the previous films is life size or smaller. This makes no sense apart from the fact that it makes him 'big'.

12. Han death - oh boy! Advertised or what!!! How can you wait for 30 years, kill a legend, nobody blinks and the audience is left without even a tear? Shameful!!!!

13. Lightsaber - Maz manages to get hold of Luke's original - well played! How the hell is that possible? At the very least explain it!

14. Story - SW7 = SW4. If you had told me this before the film I wouldn't have believed you! 30 years to come up with a new story and this is the best that Disney can do?

15. Finn - can speak Wookie, can speak droid, fly the Falcon, fix the Falcon, defeat Jedi masters, self taught Jedi, self taught stick wielding martial artist. Not bad for an orphan with no support or back story.

16. Max von Sydow - gone in 60 seconds!

17. Leia - Han dies and she comforts a complete stranger rather than Chewbacca!

18. John Williams - I noticed the film score twice. My feeling is that he didn't have any emotion or tanguble plot to feed off of.

19. Finn - he gets hold of a lightsaber and just happens to fight the only Stormtrooper in history without a blaster.

20. Ren - forgets that he is probably the most powerful Jedi we have ever seen when fighting Rey. Why doesn't he just choke her from distance when the rupture occurs?

21. Lightspeed - apparently you can exit lightspeed a few hundred feet from a planet to bypass a shield. They forgot to mention this to Lando in ROTJ!

22. Phasma - just completely useless!

23. Scavenger - leaves the net it caught BB8 with, why?

24. Planet deaths - billions of people die and nobody gives a **** unlike Ben in SW4. 25. Ren - why does he walk across the bridge and how come he can't sense his own father who is about 50 feet away? Darh Vader senses Ben in SW4 when the Falcon is on the Death Star. 26. Resistance - the Rebellion won in SW6! Who would be left to resist against? 27. Death Star 3 - where did a newly formed dark side get the resources to build an operational death star 10x's as big as any previous build. I know it is part of a planet, but it still took 3 films to replace the original death star and that was under construction with all of the resources of the previous Emperor. 28. Nazi overtones - politics and other PC agendas have nothing to do with Star Wars! Galaxy far far away ffs! 29. Falcon - just happens to be on Jakku and then Han just happens to be flying by, what are the chances! None, that's what! 30. Falcon - the gun is put out of action when Ray and Finn are trying to outrun the Tie Fighters, which results in Ray having to pull out a stall move (2 minutes after learning to fly the falcon) But doesn't the Falcon have 2 guns? Why not just use the other gun! 31. Finn - makes friends with BB8 instantly and then has the chance to trade in BB8 for food and doesn't. Probably the best fed and healthiest looking scavenger ever. Just no depth to either of these scenes. Disney and Jar Jar Abrams ruined xmas and effectively trampled on the memories and emotional investment of anyone that truly cares about Star Wars lore. I could have pulled a better story out of my arse.
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40 of 67 users found this helpful4027
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2
DenverLatinaDec 24, 2015
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. For all the hype, this movie fell many steps short. What a disappointment. While I enjoyed seeing old characters again, there is a reason Carrie Fisher has not had much success as an actress beyond Star Wars. She was absolutely horrible. There was very little story or character development. The new Dark Lord was portrayed as a whiny brat who threw temper tantrums, destroying his own ship, any time things didn't go his way. The plot jumped from scene to scene and there never really was a sense of menace from the 1st Order---whom the audience knows virtually nothing about. Silver linings - the new, diverse cast of main characters and John Williams film score (though it fell a little short on character themes). Bottom line - I want George Lucas back! Expand
77 of 129 users found this helpful7752
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1
apagee13Dec 27, 2015
I am sorry, this is a TERRIBLE movie! First, a complete rehash of the first one. Second, plot makes NO sense. Third, writing is sloppy, pointless, weak and riddled with errors. Fourth, yes, the CGI is cool, but you just don't care about theI am sorry, this is a TERRIBLE movie! First, a complete rehash of the first one. Second, plot makes NO sense. Third, writing is sloppy, pointless, weak and riddled with errors. Fourth, yes, the CGI is cool, but you just don't care about the characters to matter. Fifth, a SCOTTISH accent from one of the bad guys! The FIrst Order?! It's just SAD that they had all this talent, money and made such a poor movie. I was very disappointed. Expand
37 of 62 users found this helpful3725
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0
MojoronomousJan 8, 2016
HILARIOUS! My friends and I laughed our way through it with Episode IV muted on a different screen. It's a masterful comedy... the moments that synced up perfectly were just amazing! Both masked bad guys throw a Force tantrum on theirHILARIOUS! My friends and I laughed our way through it with Episode IV muted on a different screen. It's a masterful comedy... the moments that synced up perfectly were just amazing! Both masked bad guys throw a Force tantrum on their subordinates at the same time, both X-Wing trench runs start at the same time, Han and Leia meet at the same time, the Millennium Falcon jumps to hyperspace at the same time... the list goes on!

It's almost a shot-for-shot gender-swap parody, and I highly recommend that everyone watches it this way!

/sarcasm
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37 of 62 users found this helpful3725
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1
MeldiDec 25, 2015
So. Let it be known that I was Princess Leia for 6 Halloweens in a row as a child. I played the scene where Leia and Luke swing to safety on my Tarzan swing with my neighbor Kevin 100's of times. When it snowed, we were on Hoth. When it wasSo. Let it be known that I was Princess Leia for 6 Halloweens in a row as a child. I played the scene where Leia and Luke swing to safety on my Tarzan swing with my neighbor Kevin 100's of times. When it snowed, we were on Hoth. When it was summer, we were in Yoda's swamp.

Last night, I was so excited. I thought, 'This is gonna be GREAT!!' So thrilled, what a fun way to spend Christmas Eve.

Now, all I want for Christmas is my memories back. This reboot (redo? Rework?) was god, I don't know. It wasn't funny. It wasn't awesome. It wasn't new. It wasn't a continuation of the story. It wasn't fresh. It wasn't great. Worse yet, it wasn't Star Wars. It. Was. Lame.

And I am sad.
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108 of 181 users found this helpful10873
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RodTheAccusserDec 29, 2015
Yes, I know that many out there will never give Lucas a break after Attack of the Clones, but after this debacle, let me just say it: "Man I wish George Lucas was here!" No, he wasn't the movie maker he was back in the 70s and 80s, but atYes, I know that many out there will never give Lucas a break after Attack of the Clones, but after this debacle, let me just say it: "Man I wish George Lucas was here!" No, he wasn't the movie maker he was back in the 70s and 80s, but at least he had a vision. George was a story-teller with a vast understanding of mythology and politics. Abrams is just a mere movie-maker. He's no visionary. In fact, the only vision that anyone at Disney had with this film was dollar signs. The classic films are actually about something big, the struggle between good and evil both out there in the world and within our own souls. This film is just a smattering of random scenes from previous films thrown together to make a buck. There is nothing big going on. It's just a shallow money grab. Yeah, episodes I and II were really bad movies, but, man, I would give anything to have a visionary like Lucas back at the helm now. Expand
68 of 114 users found this helpful6846
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1
MD5774Jul 24, 2016
It's sad all these movie reviews came back to this move and gave it 8,7,and 10's. Money talks I guess, this movie was Terrible. From start to finish , this Star Wars movie was a carbon copy of the Star Wars A New Hope movie , with just a fewIt's sad all these movie reviews came back to this move and gave it 8,7,and 10's. Money talks I guess, this movie was Terrible. From start to finish , this Star Wars movie was a carbon copy of the Star Wars A New Hope movie , with just a few characters switched around . Rey became Wonder Woman within the last 30 minutes of this movie , while a beloved character of the Star Wars franchise was offed by a villain wearing mask and didn't need one at all. This movie was a insult to the Star Wars fanbase. I guess in the next Star Wars movie - The World Order Strikes Back, Fin will be frozen in carbonite and Rey will train Luke Skywalker on using the force . Expand
65 of 109 users found this helpful6544
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1
drDirt2200Jan 2, 2016
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. My wife and I viewed the movie separately, and both came home really disappointed. Looking at the reviews, it is interesting that although most reviews were positive and the movie has a 4.5 star rating, the "most helpful" list contains almost exclusively bad reviews - a demonstration of the hype associated with this movie. Rehashed Episode 4 indeed, and I am an avid Star Wars fan. My complaints are basically in two areas:

1. Totally uncompelling characters. I had trouble even remembering the names of the people, Finn being the only one that stuck. The Darth Vader-wannabe was a truly pathetic villain, indeed he looks like a kid that would be beat up in high school, and whines like one that would have his head stuffed in a toilet. Even Han and Leia just came across as old and tired. Remember Grand Moff Tarkin from 30 years ago - tall, gaunt figure with skull-like face and excellent villain voice? Remember any of the Imperial commanders in this movie from 30 minutes ago?

2. Lack of continuity with Return of the Jedi, forget the EU. ROTJ ended with the Rebellion victorious, Han and Leia ready to be married, Luke Skywalker in his prime as a Jedi. Now TFA comes along, Han has lost the Falcon for some time (he'd rather die first), he and Leia have had a force-powerful child (Leia I suppose) and have broken up, the Republic pretty much defeated by an Imperial remnant, and Luke Skywalker wandered off due to disappointment. Killing off a major character (Solo) in a series is also generally considered a continuity problem in literature.

In a way it's a good thing that the villain was such a dweeb - it would be hard to explain Darth Vader being defeated by a couple of total noobs. There are numerous other problems, like that planet weapon would never have fired again anyway because there was no sun left to draw on, and people crossing large distances in a short time on foot.

On the plus side, X-Wings are still cool. Star Destroyers are still cool. TIE fighters are still cool, although with all the complex systems shown at the beginning, I think they lost the original idea of TIE fighters being quick and cheap to produce.

I dreaded what Disney would do to this movie from the day I heard they were doing it, and was horrified that the Extended Universe was going to be dropped. Every real Star Wars fan know the name of the real Episode 7 - "Heir to the Empire". The only good thing about Thrawn being left out of this movie is that Abrams didn't screw up Thrawn the way he screwed up Khan.
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65 of 109 users found this helpful6544
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2
wooDec 26, 2015
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. As an affectionate tribute to the first released Star Wars this is adequate. The storyline has been tweaked here there but with all the same characters and a couple of new tributes who are based on the old char. As a new movie though it is depressingly lacking in new ideas. Just like JJ Abrams did with Star Trek he has plundered the old films and remade them. Bit of a let down really. Expand
31 of 52 users found this helpful3121
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3
tr-8rrJan 10, 2016
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I entered the theater excited and nervous, and left confused and a little disappointed. Some quick points:
The first act was very entertaining. Kylo Ren had a menacing introduction. Rey's introduction was fine, but she didn't have any inner conflict, just a vague story about her family returning for her. Finn had a lot of charm, but the character seemed inconsistent in motivation-- a peaceful protester when the 1st Order needed him (why did a janitor get sent down for that mission?). And after his escape, he's all to happy to gun down his old buddy stormtroopers.

Phasma was cool. I don't have a problem with her being like Boba Fett, just standing around. But how quickly she broke down and took the shields offline was ridiculous. I read somewhere the script originally had Chewie trying to tear her arm out of that metal armor, which would have at least given her some motivation to betray the 1st Order.

The part where the movie really had problems was after Rey and Finn stumble upon and steal the Falcon. And then, they get tractor beamed by a larger ship carrying, what a surprise, Han and Chewie. At this point, it's Coincidence City. The next part is such a mess, with a Scottish death crew versus the asian Kanjiklub. It felt so forced, and the animation with the raptors was TV quality. I suspect there were some problems with the script re-writing. That part feels of a lower quality than the rest of the film, enough that it brought me out of the paper-thin story.

I actually didn't mind any of Kylo Ren's scenes, though he looked a lot less imposing once his helmet came off. The conflicted nature of his character was something I really enjoyed in the film. Yes, he's no Vader, more like Episode II Anakin. Maybe if they took some of his inner conflict and spread it around to the other characters, especially Rey, things would have been more balanced.

The scene with Kylo and Han was telegraphed from 12 parsecs away. It felt like Leia just nagged Han about their son, but the relationship between Kylo and his parents wasn't really developed enough for me to care.

The Deathstar 3.0 was a complete mess. It sucked power from it's own sun? Or did it cruise around and eat different suns? How did the ice planet stay cold enough while eating a solar slurpee? And what happened to the scale of Star Wars universe that anyone could see the weapon firing and hitting the targets from a single location?

As soon as I got home from the theater I watched the last act of ANH, and the trench run from 1977 is far more intense than TFA's version. It seems it's the directing style of Abrams, maybe the editing.

I'm ecstatic that this movie has made me appreciate what makes star wars tick, which is simple, documentary-styled direction, awesome world-building, and creativity. I can't believe they made a Star Wars movie that contains none of the Joseph Campbell investigating of myth.

I tried second-guessing myself as I read the other reviews here. But one thing keeps standing out--the "negative" reviews contain a lot more detail about how the reviewer felt. The positive ones, at least many, are pretty generic.

I refused to give a Star Wars movie less than a 3/10, but JJ Abrams, consider yourself lucky. Rian Johnson, you are my only hope.
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31 of 52 users found this helpful3121
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FlyingSoloDec 30, 2015
To paraphrase Padme from Revenge of the Sith: So this is how Star Wars dies...with thunderous applause. Also, Rey seems to be in the wrong movie. With all her new found powers seems like she belongs in an X-men film. BTW....why doesTo paraphrase Padme from Revenge of the Sith: So this is how Star Wars dies...with thunderous applause. Also, Rey seems to be in the wrong movie. With all her new found powers seems like she belongs in an X-men film. BTW....why does everyone think that Ren is a teen? Adam Driver is 32, and besides aren't Han and Leia like a hundred years old, a little too old to be parents to a teenager I think.

I'm really enjoying all the reviews....I though I was crazy not to like this movie. Nice to know that I'm not alone.
RIP Star Wars.
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90 of 151 users found this helpful9061
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3
ragtopman69Dec 28, 2015
Its obvious that the professional critics get paid to like the big blockbuster movies because this was just the same old Star Wars. The battle scenes are the same. The storm troopers wear the same uniforms as they did 30 years earlier.Its obvious that the professional critics get paid to like the big blockbuster movies because this was just the same old Star Wars. The battle scenes are the same. The storm troopers wear the same uniforms as they did 30 years earlier. Same old light saber, space craft and blasters. Same aliens. Same tavern scene. Darth Vadar was replaced with a slimmed down gayer version named Ren who of course is Han Solo/Leia's son who went over to the dark side. DUH Rey and Finn are the new characters who are essentially clones of Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker from the original Star Wars. Rey is one of the few bright spots of the movie. Finn is just plain stupid and irritating that you hope will be a minor character while the guy you think will be a major character (Poe) ends up being the minor characters. Androids are the same. Nothing new except for the 3D. Same plot from beginning to end as the original Star Wars. Even the battles could have been taken directly out of the original and spliced into this mess as there was nothing new. Heck, the entire movie is summed up in the scrolling prelude before the movie begins. I thought surely there is more to this movie than Luke Skywalker's whereabouts. NOPE. That is exactly what the movie is about. nothing more. And in the end he is on the top of a mountain herding goats or something. And I though the ending of LOST was biggest pile of crap laid by JJ Abrams. This tops that steaming pile by a mile. I give it 3 stars only because of Harrison Ford, Chewy and Rey. Oh, and my wife who was so fired up to see this fell asleep after about 45 minutes. If you are 12 years old this would be great movie. If you are over 20+ and like this then you got big problems. At least LOST didn't cost me $30.. Expand
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neoclonJan 4, 2016
Es una porquería.
Dialogos aburridos y muchas incoherencias.
Cómo es posible que Rey le gane sin entrenamiento al malo que si ha sido entrenado? Cómo es posible que el soldado no hubiera acabado muerto luego de pelear con el sable con el
Es una porquería.
Dialogos aburridos y muchas incoherencias.
Cómo es posible que Rey le gane sin entrenamiento al malo que si ha sido entrenado?
Cómo es posible que el soldado no hubiera acabado muerto luego de pelear con el sable con el sid?
Rey se vuelve jedi sola, sin ningún entrenamiento previo.
Han Solo muere de forma estúpida, luego de ser un heroe o famoso traficante.
El sid, que hace de malo, en ves de dar miedo da riza, con su cara de pendejo, la verdad es que este personaje es un marica llorón.
La pelea es horriblemente mala.
Muchas lagunas en la historia de la nueva estrella de la muerte, que al parecer no aprenden de viejas experiencias, ya que se destruye igual que la anterior, solo hay que apuntar al centro y ya. ¿Cómo es posible que la república y los rebeldes no se hallan dado cuenta de la construcción de semejante arma? no tiene sentido.
Y por eso y muchas otras cosas le doy la calificación de malícima.
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hewhocavesDec 23, 2015
This was a movie clearly written by committee.. and by written I mean "random bits stolen from all across existing Star Wars lore and haphazardly shoved together with no regard for plot, pacing or character development". This, combined withThis was a movie clearly written by committee.. and by written I mean "random bits stolen from all across existing Star Wars lore and haphazardly shoved together with no regard for plot, pacing or character development". This, combined with Into Darkness, has pretty much solidified JJs reputation as a terrible movie maker.

It is, however, a godsend to Rifftrax, second only to a Star Wars Holiday Special.
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Trent2012Jan 2, 2016
Feels more like a remake or remix than a continuation of the Star Wars saga. I felt almost like I was watching a fan made film that took the best parts of the original trilogy and combined them together. There are also too many plot holes andFeels more like a remake or remix than a continuation of the Star Wars saga. I felt almost like I was watching a fan made film that took the best parts of the original trilogy and combined them together. There are also too many plot holes and not enough creativity. I can understand leaving a few plot holes to be answered in the next movie, but so many things are left unexplained that it's hard to believe that they will all be answered in the next film. Expand
87 of 146 users found this helpful8759
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1
ch77Jan 2, 2016
I watched this the other day in the cinema and to begin with was carried away on a glorious wave of nostalgia. The film went downhill quickly though, after a promising opening; derivative in the most lazy way imaginable, little to noI watched this the other day in the cinema and to begin with was carried away on a glorious wave of nostalgia. The film went downhill quickly though, after a promising opening; derivative in the most lazy way imaginable, little to no discernible plot, terrible pacing, zero creativity, huge plot holes, and a complete disregard for the OT. This film tries hard to recapture the magic and innocence of New Hope but comes across as a very well made advert for Disney. Expand
87 of 146 users found this helpful8759
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3
SammifxJan 3, 2016
Shocker. Essentially a mashup of various parts of the 6 movies preceding it. As a standalone sci film, I'd give it a 6 for a Guardians knockoff ; as a continuation of the Star Wars saga i'd give it a 3. As my mum who watched it with me said,Shocker. Essentially a mashup of various parts of the 6 movies preceding it. As a standalone sci film, I'd give it a 6 for a Guardians knockoff ; as a continuation of the Star Wars saga i'd give it a 3. As my mum who watched it with me said, ' i have no idea why they were fighting but the effects were nice in 3d' .
Plagued by woeful dialogue and characters appearing out of nowhere for pure Deus Ex convenience.
-Bad guys are absolutely tame and the one truly horrible event in the movie is ignored immediately after. -
-Everyone becomes best friends within a few minutes of meeting each other.
-The force and fighting is can be learned within a few hours after you heard of its existence.
-droids can power up and down based on the timing of the plot for .. reasons. (see it to understand)
-the score was largely generic and unmemorable apart from a few john willams cues. nothing original again.

the plus side is rey and finn (actors) are good.. theyre just forced with a terrible script that regresses the series and wastes a glorious opportunity of expanding the SW universe and plot.
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84 of 141 users found this helpful8457
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3
ToThePointDec 26, 2015
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I've seen it once and the more I think about it the more I dislike it.

I am a big SW fan of the originals, including ROTJ. Came in with an open mind, thought the beginning was strong but that was it. The special effects and cinematography are excellent with the story and characters being the weakest part. They had years to create a strong plot, they had seemingly endless possibilities (and budget).

This movie lacks menace and tension. There is no depth within any of the characters. I really didn't understand what was going on the universe. Another death star? Bumping into Solo? CGI emperor? CGI old woman? Evil person being outclassed by a newbie Jedi. The list goes on.

A criticism people are not discussing. Are we to believe LUKE SKYWALKER, a character with 3 movies worth of integrity runs away from his problems and evil after a set back. He stays hidden while evil amasses and ultimately destroys billions of lives. The scene is completely different from "Old Bens Kenobi" retirement to Tatooine, where he watched over the last hope of the Jedi (Luke) rather than hid.

Such a disappointment and now they've ruined it. They have to continue the films with these characters and this "new" universe. I don't believe they can turn it around. It did not feel like Star Wars. I'm not looking forward to the spin offs either with the director of Jurassic World (another over hyped empty piece of plastic) signed on. Hollywood is in shambles. J J Abraham's is a poor director. He has made millions but his legacy is that of a B class director.
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56 of 94 users found this helpful5638
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3
realrutzDec 23, 2015
There's so much true Star Wars fans have to be upset about with this movie. The most lacking factor was wow, wonderment and awe. Plus the fact that this film had no suspense and not one great action set piece. (a first for a Star Wars filmThere's so much true Star Wars fans have to be upset about with this movie. The most lacking factor was wow, wonderment and awe. Plus the fact that this film had no suspense and not one great action set piece. (a first for a Star Wars film and sad) TFA feels like Star Wars The TV Movie. And if it was a TV Movie on ABC, I would have been a little more impressed but this is the first Star Wars movie in theaters that is not an EPIC. I never felt transported to other worlds, I saw a desert and a forest with minimal production design. The Prequels are looking really good right now in that aspect (actually in every aspect). I give it two stars because of the actors and the "funny moments" but besides that it has no build up, at times its silly, and pandering. (I feel that John Williams had no idea how to score TFA because every action scene has no buildup thus no need for his amazing talent to give rise and build to scenes, not his fault) Rey has an unusual knowledge of the force, even though she has no real idea what it is. Things that took Luke 2 movie's to do, Rey did in 1 movie. I was reminded of this while watching The Empire Strikes Back when Luke is hanging upside down and is reaching for his Lightsaber, he is struggling to reach it and its very close by. Rey was able to do it with ease with no training from Yoda and from a much further distance. Its ugly women empowerment pandering "Anything you can do, I can do better" in a film series that is more about Father and Sons than anything else. They destroyed a bit of the gravity of the series with that nonsense throughout the film. And I am not a Women Empowerment hater, Mad Max: Fury Road and Jupiter Ascending proved that that sort of Propaganda if you will can be done right and us guys have to shut up because it was done with thoughtfulness and heart. TFA is not that, the whole film feels rushed especially the characters development.

My final negative point is something I read in another review which summed up my worst fears of what this film could have been which is:

"Which brings me to what I hated the most about the movie, and the main reason I'm giving it such a low score: it erases anything good and fulfilling we had at the end of Return of the Jedi. Every single one of the original heroes failed miserably in every aspects of their lives. Where is the reward for being good, just and do heroic deeds?
So... Han failed as a husband, as a father, as a member of the resistance and overall as a man (a bitter one it seems)... same goes for Leia (oh, she is a general of a sidekick cell that's supported by the republic... great). Luke is the worse of them all: failed as a jedi master, failed as a protector of the galaxy, as uncle, as friend, as brother, as the owner of R2D2"

TFA broods with so much negativity and abandons everything that our heroes fought so hard to protect. Its a huge slap in the face. It undermines the power of GOOD. Han Solo, Princess Leia, and Luke Skywalker all deserve a grace period after what they've been though and this film denied us that forever. We are right back in the same loop, and I get it most people come from broken homes, or fatherless childs, (I'm one of them) etc. But that doesn't mean films have to pander to society in such a manner. It could have been a great example to show that the GOOD in the world has to be protected and that its a torch of hope that we pass down to our children. TFA in my opinion has destroyed much history and has set us up for a very negative Trilogy, I guess one about the loop of destruction. And maybe that would have been acceptable if the movie was great via amazing set pieces, visual spectacle, wonderment, better pacing, a memorable score, and inspired production design but it didn't even do that. All things that are Star Wars Traditions. There's more of course, Plot holes all over the place and the misuse of Captain Phasma, is she dead?
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1
kintarooeDec 24, 2015
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I created a metacritic account just for this movie. It sucks, seriously. Like it's been said in previous reviews the story is horrible, the relationships between characted terrible, the character developpement non existent, the villain ridiculous, humor is misplaced (this is not the avengers.) And what the **** is Voldemort doing here ?

I'll add that WE ARE IN 2015 : pretty SFX are standard now. It was amazing back in 70's/80's and was sufficient to make a great movie. But it's not anymore.

Did you watch Starship troopers ? And then did you watch Starship Troopers 2 ? That's it, same sensation. But imagine there was all that big hype around starship troopers 2 and everyone said it was the greatest movie of all time. And you're here like : wait...what ??
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BenthereJan 6, 2016
Horrible. It was basically episode 4 but the stupid version. As bad as episode I and 2 were, this was even worse. Those ones disappointed me, but this was so bad I'm not even coming back for the next one. A ridiculous adolescent farce.Horrible. It was basically episode 4 but the stupid version. As bad as episode I and 2 were, this was even worse. Those ones disappointed me, but this was so bad I'm not even coming back for the next one. A ridiculous adolescent farce. Less than zero / 10. Expand
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TyekanikDec 27, 2015
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Mediocre at best. 2hr long cameo. Predictable and primitive plot. All those "spoilers" are laughable. Main villain is a wannabe villain, which makes him a disappointment. Same applies to the whole movie - wannabe Star Wars, which makes it a total disappointment.
This is the last Episode I went to watch in a theatre.
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28 of 47 users found this helpful2819
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SKELETOR420Dec 22, 2015
This film is going to have the same effect as The Phantom Menace - beloved for 5 minutes before reality sinks in. It's amazing that with such strong imagery it still manages to be the least SW feeling film of all. This is film making byThis film is going to have the same effect as The Phantom Menace - beloved for 5 minutes before reality sinks in. It's amazing that with such strong imagery it still manages to be the least SW feeling film of all. This is film making by committee with the end result coming across as poor fan fiction. JJ Abrams' take on Star Trek as a light-hearted action flick was wrong, but worked because it didn't have legacy storyline to carry and it was already predefined to a degree. The same trick has not worked here, with no regard for the impact of prior events. Essentially, this is just a soft reboot which does not seem to hold the galaxy in the balance. I never gave Lucas any credit for the prequels - and as little as possible for the originals - but TFA proves he understood the scale of the universe and how to convey it. Expand
81 of 136 users found this helpful8155
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bansalJan 2, 2016
SO disappointed in this movie. Finally Star Wars has been wrested away from Lucas' control, and Disney had a clean slate to work with. What did they do? The basically gave us Episode VII - A New Hope 2015 Girl Power Edition. Basically takeSO disappointed in this movie. Finally Star Wars has been wrested away from Lucas' control, and Disney had a clean slate to work with. What did they do? The basically gave us Episode VII - A New Hope 2015 Girl Power Edition. Basically take Episode IV, change the protagonist to a female and have her effortlessly become a master jedi by the end of the movie. Unfortunately it looks like Empire Strikes Back will be the last good Star Wars movie ever made. Expand
81 of 136 users found this helpful8155
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TtmDec 24, 2015
Unbelievable rehash. Did someone pay the critics to give it 5 stars? Are we Americans that thick that we can't recognize a re-run when we see it? Did we all watch the same movie?

I was really looking forward to seeing this--I have all
Unbelievable rehash. Did someone pay the critics to give it 5 stars? Are we Americans that thick that we can't recognize a re-run when we see it? Did we all watch the same movie?

I was really looking forward to seeing this--I have all of the series at home and have watched them several times.

But... For the first time ever, I fell asleep watching a movie in a theater. No wonder Ford had to be paid so much to do this project; who would want to act in a movie that he's already done before? Both Ford and Fisher looked extremely bored, and rightly so.

All JJ Adams did was take out an old Star Wars script, change some of the names and scene locations and make the boom booms bigger, and that's it. Oh, and he also cut out *all* of the character and plot development (why bother if its the same story over again?) and sped the movie up for the Attention Deficit folks.
I cared *nothing* for the characters, and I now care nothing for the Star Wars franchise which was created, obviously, to make lots of money off of people who don't understand that they're being taken for a $$$ ride.
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81 of 136 users found this helpful8155
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1
GiveitbacktoGLDec 30, 2015
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. As a LIFELONG Star Wars fan, I cant accept this tripe. Ive read thousands of pages of expanded universe material, played thousands of hours of the video games, am absolutely enamored with this setting, and its characters. If anyone could give it a pass, it should be me.

It wasnt just a bad Star wars movie...it was a bad FILM.

The main features of the movie are: a rehashed story, flat dialogue, uninteresting characters, More action than acting, Doesnt follow pre established lore, Deus ex machina all throughout, sad silly forced feeling comedy, Suspension of disbelief impossible.

The movie literally brought me to tears, not because of the emotional weight of the scenes or story, but in the fact that Disney has proven they have no respect for this venerated series.

Did the rebellion defeat the empire? Did the characters we love and missed evolve in any meaningful way? Does this movie feel like a legitimate sequel to episode 6? Nope, Nope, Nope.

It felt like the people behind this movie didnt even watch the original films or the prequels, how much would it have cost Disney to hire someone who actually knew anything about Star Wars?

Disney retconned the EU for THIS garbage?

The Lightsaber that Luke lost on Bespin is in the service room(that also serves as a force cave)in some random bar, in the box from Obi Wans house on Tattooine.

Han doesnt know what a bowcaster is, and is generally an incompetent boob, Fin is unbelievable, Poe is flat.

Rey is a mary Sue, Kylo comes off as a complete weakling that no one would follow into anything.

Luke going into hiding makes no sense, the map he left makes no sense, The first Order going after an apparently non issue in Luke whos hanging out in Ireland for some reason makes no sense, R2D2 makes no sense, The Falcon on Jakku makes no sense, the garbage man Fin not cutting off his own head with the lightsaber, makes no sense. Reys unexplained piloting expertise, force using expertise, The list goes on and on and on.

The death of Han Solo scene was so emotionally weightless, I didn't flinch.

It should be Illegal to do this to classic Americana, its like peeing on the Alamo. I hope the mockery of our mental capacities as fans bankrupts the monstrosity called Disney and everyone involved in writing, directing, and overseeing the creation of this movie lives in poverty and shame for the rest of their days.

Shame on you Disney, Shame on you Abrams

You've broken my heart.
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IzakMeeyanDec 29, 2015
Man they're turning Star wars into a joke. The villain's meant to be son of Princess Leila, which makes him the nephew of Luke Skywalker and the grandson of Darth Vader, gets beaten up by some girl who's character build up doesn't justifyMan they're turning Star wars into a joke. The villain's meant to be son of Princess Leila, which makes him the nephew of Luke Skywalker and the grandson of Darth Vader, gets beaten up by some girl who's character build up doesn't justify why or how she's a match for the villain. Just make the whole plot very trivial. On top of that apparently Lightsabers are now some kind of magical weapon that is able to call people. "youve heard the calling of Luke's lightsaber... " WTF Expand
53 of 89 users found this helpful5336
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alffffffieJan 6, 2016
TFA is a complete rehash of A New Hope, but it's done really badly. I can't even remember any of the music. My biggest gripe with this movie is that it never feels like it's going anywhere. Stuff blows up but there's no resolution. TheTFA is a complete rehash of A New Hope, but it's done really badly. I can't even remember any of the music. My biggest gripe with this movie is that it never feels like it's going anywhere. Stuff blows up but there's no resolution. The characters encounters thieves but they immediately die, they fight against the new order but there's no real resistance. The new Vader guy was okay, his mask is cool, but when he took his mask I couldn't stop laughing. And what's up with the ending shot? Seriously? In the end it didn't feel like Star Wars at all. Expand
53 of 89 users found this helpful5336
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1
LucasMoltoJan 1, 2016
Worst of them all. Shame on Disney and the director you have ruin this world. Really bad script and editing. Score was awful and the acting from tv movie.
78 of 131 users found this helpful7853
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ZellySmadaDec 29, 2015
I just love the fact that more and more fans are coming out and rating this movie for what it is: pure trash! It is shameful that the critics can be so byass. It leads me to believe they have been bought by the Disney corporation to giveI just love the fact that more and more fans are coming out and rating this movie for what it is: pure trash! It is shameful that the critics can be so byass. It leads me to believe they have been bought by the Disney corporation to give this movie a good review.

I cannot give this movie even a one point rating, it is embarrasing to sea that supposed professionals can be so lazy and slopy to produce this kind of embarrasing movie.
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78 of 131 users found this helpful7853
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ksanfranfanDec 30, 2015
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is the worst Star Wars movie of all. Sure there's action but it lacks any substance. The plot is horrible and all over the place. Fifteen minutes into the movie and you forget after what the mission of the story is all about. I was really hoping to see new ideas and things never seen before in a Star Wars movie but this was even worse.
Sure, many people condemned the prequels but at least you got to see new spacecraft, water craft, planets, new worlds, broadened horizons, great fight scenes, characters that drew you in, the development of characters as they grew throughout each movie and the compelling subject matter. This movie was just too big for Disney and even more J.J> Abrams to fill. Worlds are travelled to in the snap of a finger. Same old fighter air craft, less of them to defeat an already developed super death star?!? WTF? Destroying entire planets with no explanation as to why. The resistance not understanding how to take out the death star planet , remember the ventilation shaft? A scavenger girl that learns the force instantly almost and defeats a trained jedi villain twice with no understanding of what the force even is. Kylo Ren is one of the weakest villains of just about any movie I've ever seen, not just Star Wars. he comes off as plain childish and spoiled rather than frightening.
Everything about this movie just seems small. A call to the First Order and poof! They are there instantly. Then another call to the resistance and poof! they are there to take on the First Order. It doesn't seem hard to find anyone on these planets at all. The whole scale of things are just too small. Fighter aircraft seemed like a fraction of what it used to be. Time travel is less than light years. Worlds seem like just small cities. Even the most sacred jedi weapon is a common tool. Who the hell would want to take something like a lightsaber and turn it into that piece of crap Kylo Ren had? Really? Is this the creativity that we can expect from Disney? I had a fealing that Disney was going to blow it, but I was hoping to give the benefit of a doubt. This whole introduction to The Force Awakens was nothing more than hype and marketing to redeem the 4 billion dollars that they've paid to George Lucas for his biggest selling movies.
People criticize George Lucas for becoming stale and lacking new ideas and story telling but as I've already mentioned, look at all of the new things that he brought to the prequels. Comparing the prequels to this poorly written screen of crap is far and in between. I'll watch the next 2 Star Wars movies on blue ray before I pay for this mess again at a theater. As far as I'm concerned the first 6 Star Wars movies are a trilogy of their own. Starting with 7 and up is going to be a whole different thing.
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tripitDec 31, 2015
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Drink the koolade Luke, the Force does not awaken, it merely rehashes itself in heap of poorly written dialog, a tantrum throwing baby Vader for the millennium set, a Jedi girl, who instantly picks up in a few hours what it took everyone else ages to master, a new and not so improved Death Star, a guest roll by smegal as the evil overlord and a painfully "to the letter" rehash. It's not a wonder that Harrison Ford begged to kill off Solo and Lucas himself does not approve of the film. This film is nothing more than the bean counters at Disney capitalizing on 40 years of Star Wars in the most simplistic and uninspiring way possible, to prepare the koolade drinkers for more worthless garbage under the Star Wars banner and new expanded theme park rides. Expand
78 of 131 users found this helpful7853
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3
NoxosDec 19, 2015
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. ******MAJOR PLOT SPOILERS BELOW*******

I'm posting this mainly to see if there is anyone else out there who feels the way I do about TFA, I haven't read/watched any reviews yet but the 95% on RT kind of surprised me. I'm not trying to rain on the parade at all here -- I really wanted to like this movie -- but to me it was bitterly disappointing.

Cons: I did not buy any of the major relationships at all, to me this was by far the biggest failing of the movie. Finn/Rey, Finn/Poe, shockingly even Leia/Han. They all felt extremely forced and came across as trying REALLY hard to recapture the chemistry of the Big 3 in the OT. When Poe and Finn rush to embrace after Finn sees him for the first time alive, I was kind of taken aback because to me they just hadn't "gotten there" yet, so it just came off as weird. I don't know what the problem was, the acting, the script, or some elusive, hard-to-quantify, movie magic thing. The main problem is that throughout the movie there is basically zero character development, and as a result it's difficult to care about anything that happens.

The whole movie felt like a point-for-point rehash of A New Hope -- a few nods here and there are cool and would be expected, but TFA went way beyond that. I'm honestly pretty surprised that this script was OK-ed because it is so blatant in parts. Just a few examples:

-The fact that once again a critical bit of info is given to a droid who is left to his (its?) own devices -- said droid is then taken hostage by desert scavengers before being "rescued" by the protagonist.

-All of the ball turret scenes on the Falcon.

-A "scoundrel" type character that makes snarky remarks and likes to use his ship's undercarriage gun to blast baddies while trying to escape.

-Death Star 3 (I'm REALLY surprised they went with this as I thought it was a common problem that people have with ROTJ)

-Cantina scene

Due to the above (and more) I frequently had the feeling that I was watching a straight up second rate remake. Last major problem I had with the movie was that it was just not subtle AT ALL. The worst example being the scenes setting up Finn to leave the First Order. I could practically hear JJ yelling into my ear "HE'S CONFLICTED ABOUT WHAT IS GOING ON RIGHT NOW! LOOK AT HIS FACIAL EXPRESSIONS! -- CAN YOU TELL HE IS CONFLICTED? IN CASE YOU COULDN'T -- LET ME SPELL IT OUT FOR YOU -- THIS CHARACTER IS VERY CONFLICTED!!!"

There were also a few really bad exposition scenes where it felt like characters were just vomiting up important plot points because the script couldn't think of a more clever way to explain the story.

Ok so that's the bad, there were some parts of this movie that I did actually enjoy:

-Every scene with Snoke was great. What an awesome character design. When he first came up on screen I was just blown away -- the holograph-making-him-seem-huge trick was a stroke of genius, though part of me wishes he really was that big.

-Lightsaber duels following more after the style that Luke and Vader have at the end of ROTJ (i.e. passionate hacking that looks like they are really trying to kill each other). The only problem was I couldn't get emotionally wrapped up in them in the same way because again, I just did not buy the character relationships and didn't care who lived or who died.

-Some very cool landscapes: my three favorites being the backdrop as Rey "sandboards" down a dune, the Snoke "throne room", and the bridge where Han bites it.

-The vision sequences when Rey picks up Luke's lightsaber were great. It's a shame they didn't go anywhere with it.

So to conclude, for me this movie failed, though in a different way from the prequels. Say what you want about the prequels (and I am not at all a fan -- not trying to stir the pot here -- just want to give some context to my views), but George did not "play it safe" and rehash the OT at all. This movie takes zero risks. And as much as the prequels suffer from general "woodenness", I found TFA's character relationships even less convincing (excluding maybe Anakin/Padme).
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125 of 210 users found this helpful12585
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Fuzi0nDec 26, 2015
Mickey Mouse asked Jar Jar Binks' dimwitted twin brother Jar Jar Abrams to make a Star Wars movie. "Meesa good directa!", Jar Jar Abrams said to Mickey, "I maksa bestest Star Wars movie evars!"

And the result was a pile of badly directed
Mickey Mouse asked Jar Jar Binks' dimwitted twin brother Jar Jar Abrams to make a Star Wars movie. "Meesa good directa!", Jar Jar Abrams said to Mickey, "I maksa bestest Star Wars movie evars!"

And the result was a pile of badly directed steaming bantha poop with horrid writing. But Mickey Mouse was more than happy, because he hyped it so much that it made a lot of money anyway.
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50 of 84 users found this helpful5034
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MaXiMuS_54Dec 24, 2015
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Movie is just a rewrite of the originals. Its basically a feminist remake with a bunch of plot holes. There's hardly any introduction, to sum it up its says "Luke isn't in this movie, and now an edgy cult order rules the galaxy." The new girl literally does whatever she wants with no training. She even tells Han Solo how to fly his freaking ship. Which she even stole it as well with 0 effort because there's no security at all on it (no wonder why Han Solo lost his ship in the first place to random bandits) How an insult like this to Han Solo is even allowed to exist is beyond me. So the girl is the "chosen one" except apparently with no flaws. Kylo Ren is just another conflicted Vader who is at the whim of the top dog. They couldn't even do a big dramatic reveal that hes the son of Solo. Its told in a freaking mission briefing, wow how dramatic. No other movie in existence has messed even that up. So they're all brought together and forced into action over an important message a droid has which is held by discount R2-D2. The character names aren't even good, Finn, Rey and Snoke? I mean you use a name that is close to Snooki for the discount emperor? By this point you already know where everything is going, no need to comment further. The movie is an offensive feminist plagiarizing remake of the originals. 0/10 Expand
50 of 84 users found this helpful5034
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TapTwoDec 24, 2015
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Why bother with this Movie.
Good
1.Started amazing villain looks badass
2.Good Effects
Bad
1. Pacing sucks and does not give time for character development. I know nothing about the characters because there was no character development in this movie.
2. Logic in this movie does not exist. Somehow a garbage salvager is more brave than someone trained from birth to be a soldier. Somehow that garbage salvager can repair the Millennium Falcon better than someone whom has several decades of experience with the ship. Ill tell you what next time I have car troubles Ill go to the salvage yard rather than a mechanic, because that makes perfect sense. Somehow it takes 3 movies for Anakin to control the force as good as he does as Darth Vader. 1.5 movies for Luke Skywalker to be able to lift a rock and five freaking minutes for the main character to do a JEDI MIND TRICK. The reason not everyone is a Jedi is because very few are able to use the force and among those that can in order to control the force it takes years of training it is earned. Rey does not earn her skills its as though she magically has the ability to control the force. Being strong and the force and controlling the force are two different things entirely.
3. Somehow a Sith Apprentice trained by Luke and a Dark Lord cant seem to win against a 5 min beginner force wielder that pulls Jedi Mind tricks out of her ass and a storm trooper.
4. Kylo Ren started strong in the beginning and became a whiny crying **** with daddy issues midway through the movie.
5. Story had no depth they recycled Episode 4 and couldnt think of a better plot than to increase the size of a death star to the size of a planet with the same **** WEAKNESS. This borderlines on retardation.
6. Phasma was nowhere to be seen and is so inept that when she is asked as to how someone went AWOL her excuse was he was supposed to show up at this location at this time.
7. The writers do not know a thing about suspense. Everything was obvious. The way they revealed the identity of Kylo Ren was a joke. The fact that Han Solo was going to die was obvious from the start of the scene.
8. The Sith Lord looks like Gollum. I kept waiting for him to utter my precious every scene they show him.

This movie was **** and the writers and direct should feel like **** They scrapped George Lucas script in favor of this trash and while George Lucas is not a good writer he could still be more imaginative than the retards that wrote this pile of fecal matter.
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50 of 84 users found this helpful5034
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3
icaci90Dec 24, 2015
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. this movie is way better than any of the prequels but it's just "a new hope" with different characters( of course related to the old ones). what's really upsetting me is the fact that all the critic reviews are way too positive. I mean are you really praising JJ abrams for directing a movie that has no new ideas(first order=empire, star killer=death star,Rey=luke,Leia is still the rebels commander etc.)? and what about the villain? he's just like a teenage boy who's got issues with his parents. i know that this movie was made for the fan-dom but that doesn't justify the lack of originality. Expand
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Adi_DorsetJan 9, 2016
Signed up here today just to make my feelings known and to warn others who love the Star Wars universe of my experience with this truly terrible piece of story telling.

I have thought for days about why The Force Awakens left me feeling
Signed up here today just to make my feelings known and to warn others who love the Star Wars universe of my experience with this truly terrible piece of story telling.

I have thought for days about why The Force Awakens left me feeling unmoved and numb at it's conclusion. I have finally worked it out. JJ Abrams has killed the franchise for me, and many others.

The plot and the lead character simultaneously 'jumps the shark' within the first 20 minutes, my brain was screaming what the f**k are you taking the pi*s. From this point on all I saw on screen were actors going through the motions, none of it seemed real, nothing moved me, even events that should have saddenned me to my core. Maybe I could forgive one such event but the movie is littered with them. I suspect people who parked thier brains at the door didn't notice but anyone who's seen the original trilogy will react with disbelief and then anger.

The only thing that will get me to watch episode 8 is if I find out that in the yellow scrolling message at its start that Luke had gone psychotic on his lonely island hideout and when Rey hands him his lightsaber, he neatly cleaves her in two with it. Then the story could begin again with something more original and hopefully credible. I suspect this will not be the case, so Star Wars in my eyes is dead and the numbness I felt was actually grief for the death of a friend I've known and loved for 38 years.
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3
armchaircritic9Dec 26, 2015
Like many other review will tell you, this film is literally a rehash of A New Hope. It becomes laughable how much material they took from the OT after you see them blow up ANOTHER death star. I wanted to see a continuation of the story, notLike many other review will tell you, this film is literally a rehash of A New Hope. It becomes laughable how much material they took from the OT after you see them blow up ANOTHER death star. I wanted to see a continuation of the story, not a recycled version of the existing one. JJ has failed this franchise and the millions of fans who follow it. There is no excuse for this lack of creativity. If episode 8 continues this trend I will not be watching the finale of the new trilogy. Expand
97 of 163 users found this helpful9766
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Ladiesman727Dec 23, 2015
Very boring movie. Can't believe this is rated as high as it is. Say what you want about the prequels at least they have a plot. So much of the plot felt forced. Oh this place happens to have a lightsaber, oh R2D2 wakes up and has the map, ohVery boring movie. Can't believe this is rated as high as it is. Say what you want about the prequels at least they have a plot. So much of the plot felt forced. Oh this place happens to have a lightsaber, oh R2D2 wakes up and has the map, oh Han Solo just happened to be in the system, and the main characters happen to be in the millenium falcon.
And the death planet blows up an entire star system and no one gives a ****
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72 of 121 users found this helpful7249
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3
BBC1Dec 23, 2015
God, I was so dissapointed with this movie. It was honestly the worst film of the entire franchise. I never felt immersed in the movie and there were just to many awful moments for me to really enjoy. There were a few good action scenes, butGod, I was so dissapointed with this movie. It was honestly the worst film of the entire franchise. I never felt immersed in the movie and there were just to many awful moments for me to really enjoy. There were a few good action scenes, but there were too many awkward scenes. I am a huge star wars fan and i was majorly dissapointed. Expand
72 of 121 users found this helpful7249
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2
Dude77Dec 24, 2015
This was nothing but a high-budget fan fiction.

I had a completely open mind, and during the first half-hour I actually really enjoyed it. And then in true J.J. Abrams fashion, it became apparent that there really was no point, and that
This was nothing but a high-budget fan fiction.

I had a completely open mind, and during the first half-hour I actually really enjoyed it. And then in true J.J. Abrams fashion, it became apparent that there really was no point, and that it was being made up as they went. The prequels had a long list of flaws, but they at least had heart, whereas this one is a soulless counterfeit.

The viewers who are rating this 10/10 will say that critical reviewers are just looking for something to be upset about. Not true. It’s completely reasonable to be disappointed by such a slap-dash, string of stitched-together nonsense presented as a coherent story.

I guess for some fans, no dramatic tension or pacing is needed – just neat ships and fun action – like when playing action figures or video games. And all this talk of “nostalgia…” The original Star Wars wasn’t good because of “nostalgia.” So while some viewers enjoyed the jokes and the self-parodying, force-fed references to other Star Wars movies, what makes a movie work is and always will be competent storytelling.

The problem is that Disney has heard loud and clear that playing to the lowest common denominator sells tickets, so they have no reason not to continue to do so.
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163 of 274 users found this helpful163111
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MrCommonSenseDec 31, 2015
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Let me start by saying that JJ Abrams is quite possibly the biggest hack on the planet with the release of this movie.

70% in this movie was taken from the original trilogy. One of the main characters, A force sensitive girl. Is stuck on a desert planet in the middle of nowhere and her family is killed by the empire. Leaving her with no reason to stay on the planet.

The empire has somehow turned a planet into a rip off of a death star, and the rebel forces attack and of course destroy it. (But not before they fly through a trench of course).

The main bad guy is a cheap rip off of darth vader, mask and all. And he fails in every possible way to be an interesting or even remotely worthwhile character. It is revealed early on that he is an anorexic snow white emo pretty boy with the depth and complexity of a mud puddle and maturity of a five year old with the temper tantrums to match.

This utter loser literally does nothing the entire movie but throw temper tantrums and whine about being a useless piece of crap. Oh, And they made him han and leia's son and he ends up killing han in a truly **** way. You know, Just to give him a reason to exist. Because who cares about being original?

Is this **** starting to sound familiar? A masked villain dressed in black? A large round object capable of destroying an entire solar system? A force sensitive child left alone on a desert planet? Seriously? You get tasked with bringing the most beloved film franchise in history back and you do a garbage unoriginal half assed re imagining of the original? JJ Abrams, You freaking SUCK.

Now onto a list of OTHER reasons why this movie is lame.

1. Light saber combat is slow and painfully awkward. These fools act like they are swinging 20 pound sledgehammers instead of beams of pure energy.

2. They bring in main characters and pretty much just have them stand there for the duration of their screen time. It's like the idiots forgot to actually write them into the script. princess leia just stands there and only moves like three times the entire time she's on screen.

3. We all know that the force takes a lifetime to truly master, Right? Well the main jedi chick pretty much masters the force in a day despite never before being exposed to jedi teachings or anything. Even managing to pull the jedi mind trick out of her ass and reading the mind of han's worthless coward of a son at one point. Skills that are supposed to take years to learn. Luke spent three movies learning how to use the force and this little girl does it in 30 minutes. Right.

4. I hope you don't like serious movies because this movie tries to make a joke like every ten minutes it seems. Star wars isn't a comedy you idiots!

This movie is nothing but special effects and recycled characters and plots made exclusively to take your money and leave no lasting impression. This trilogy is already shaping up to be the death of star wars as a series. No depth. No complexity. Not even worthwhile characters or even an ounce of character development. Abrams is the M Night Shyamalan of scifi without a doubt. A complete and total hack with no real skill who gets work because his name is famous.
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94 of 158 users found this helpful9464
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theaznfishyJan 17, 2016
***SPOILERS***
Some disappointments and points of confusion:
1) So much miscasting: Ex. Kylo Ren made me think of Maryln Manson... CRIPES! They never should have had him take off that mask. T_T 2) Finn's character makes no sense.
***SPOILERS***
Some disappointments and points of confusion:
1) So much miscasting: Ex. Kylo Ren made me think of Maryln Manson... CRIPES! They never should have had him take off that mask. T_T

2) Finn's character makes no sense. Traumatized by the First Order's massacre of a city after one of his fellow troopers gets killed > proceeds to massacre an entire planet's worth of fellow troopers he essentially grew up with. WHAT??? And remember: these storm troopers [according to Finn] are NOT volunteers, they're stolen and raised from birth to fight for the First Order. I guess he just didn't have sympathy for any of those other guys who went through the same traumatizing experiences as him I suppose. And I guess there's no reason for them to explain why Finn would suddenly feel this sense of guilt or emotion while the thousands of other troopers raised like him had none at all.

3) Kylo-Ren's character's force powers are dwarfed and overemphasized to the point where you're left wondering how weak/strong is KR at all. a) Freezes a laser in midair, able to force push and interrogate the Ace pilot >>> b) proceeds to get whipped first by Finn [who showed no actual force potential but can somehow turn on a light saber] then by Rey in several ways [cannot interrogate, is beaten in a light saber battle when Rey had NO prior experience to even holding one] > cannot even withdraw a lightsaber that's stuck in snow... [like Luke was able to withdraw his saber when it was stuck in frozen ice... and he was still being trained]

4) Rey's character knows how to do too much to the point it's unrealistic: Mechanic [fine], somehow knows how to pilot the Millenum Falcon though never having had piloting experience outside of a landspeeder [what?], is able to master several jedi techniques w/o ever having exposure to any of them [Mind tricks, light saber battling, resisting the Force interrogation by KR] (are you serious???), btw, she's never been off Jakku [hence the "Ive never seen so much Green" comment]

5) Phasma is such a let down character- only scene she's seen as "badass" is the beginning massacre scene-> after she only appears when Han/Chewie get her to lower the shields whilst mocking her and proceed to throw her down a trash compactor [So I guess she's dead now?]~ yeah... girl power to the MAX!

6) Writing kinda doesn't make any sense:
a) The destruction of that one system that had the Republic made no sense. Why is the Resistance and the Republic 2 separate entities? It's been 30 years, but last I recall [in Movies: 3 and 4- the Senate/Republic was liquidated with the rise of the Empire where the Emperor had essentially an iron grip on the galaxy. There was no mention of a formation of a New [or old] Republic post-Empire until right before they blew away those 5 planets. Does that mean there's no more Senate? Why wasn't it on Coruscant? (huh? what???)

b) And why are people so forgetful of the destruction of a PLANET KILLER [aka: Death Star- from the Return of the Jedi] only after 30 years? We all remember the Titanic and that was in the early 1900s. Something that big that happened TWICE can't become a myth/legend only after 30 years...

c) How did the building of a SOLAR SySTEM destroyer the size multiple times that of the old death stars go unnoticed by the entire galaxy when it's SO BIG? The original trilogy made such a big deal of these planet sized super weapons but now that the First Order has built one hundreds of times the size with the capacity to knock out several planets in one blow--- no one bats an eye? It was "find Luke Skywalker" plans, not "here's the weakness to that one super solar system destroyer" plans. What kind of priorities is that? But whateves, it only wiped out billions of people from 4-5 different planets including [supposedly] the Republic Fleet.

d) How did Finn [being a sanitation Storm Trooper (
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LogenNineJan 19, 2016
The movie was absolutely gutting and soul destroying. I am really shocked and appalled that Star Wars is now just soulless commercial product, with no heart, no wit and no intelligence evident in the mess that was presented on screen. Very,The movie was absolutely gutting and soul destroying. I am really shocked and appalled that Star Wars is now just soulless commercial product, with no heart, no wit and no intelligence evident in the mess that was presented on screen. Very, very sad and disappointed that a much loved and cherished saga has now been destroyed in a such a callous fashion. Expand
47 of 79 users found this helpful4732
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3
Joeycs74Jan 5, 2016
Very disappointed with this star wars. Same story of the IV episode with a new look. Recycling of an original storyline to a younger generation. Lack of creativity and originality in the script. The saga came into loop. Luke is Obi-wan, theVery disappointed with this star wars. Same story of the IV episode with a new look. Recycling of an original storyline to a younger generation. Lack of creativity and originality in the script. The saga came into loop. Luke is Obi-wan, the girl is the new Luke, the stormtrooper is the new Han Solo and so on ... only Chewie does not need to be renewed. There's also a new death star, of course. All within the politically right, now with women and black people as protagonists. Expand
69 of 116 users found this helpful6947
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3
KoreUptdDec 23, 2015
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. No character development, predictable plot with many holes, forced chemistry between actors, weak and laughable villain, unoriginal story.
It is ridiculous that the "critics" give this film such high praise. I think it's hype and nostalgia that is masking the critical reviews so far. In time the mediocrity of this movie will sink in and the consensus of the SW community will be that it is pretty much just a less-than-worthy reboot of the original trilogy.

A few specific things that really bothered me:

1. Rey is an orphan, scavenging for parts to get by, but magically somehow when she is told that she has the Force, she suddenly knows out of nowhere to use the Jedi mind trick, can beat the bad guy in a lightsaber duel, and fly the Falcon like an ace pilot. No training needed - I guess Luke is a dunce for having to train under Yoda, huh? Sorry, not buying ANY of it.
2. CGI for the supreme leader, it's the same actor who did Gollum, and it shows. How original. And the cantina owner, unnecessarily CGI too.
3. Another Death Star, only bigger. Destroys a solar system, minutes later everyone acts as if this were just a mere inconvenience. Oh, and it has a weakness...sound familiar?
4. Kylo Ren is the lamest villian yet in Star Wars. I'll let you figure out why for yourself.
5. The Han Solo and Kylo face off was so predictable I saw it coming from a mile away, and afterward it just made me feel empty and sad. Also, when Ren and Chewy return to Leia, she totally ignores her long time friend Chewy and instead goes to Ren (whom she hardly even knows!), and shares in their grief. I guess Chewy's grief is irrelevant to Leia because why; he's a wookie? I am just shocked.

Yeah, there were some good moments, but after it's all said and done, I'm just feeling let down and depressed.
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69 of 116 users found this helpful6947
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3
JMLedDec 26, 2015
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Thanks to the angry nerds who chased George Lucas away from Star Wars, we ended up with this garbage JJ Abrams nonsense because of you people.

How this movie ended up with an overall positive response from the media is baffling.

The gaping plot holes, cheese-ridden dialogue, and shameless recycling of OT scenes was painful to endure.
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69 of 116 users found this helpful6947
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3
Kevdog33Dec 26, 2015
I thought about walking out twice which would of been the first time I have wanted to walk out of a movie since the Phantom Menace. Han Solo and Chewbacca were at least enjoyable. Sadly Jar Jar Abrams has likely ruined 2 movies. This one andI thought about walking out twice which would of been the first time I have wanted to walk out of a movie since the Phantom Menace. Han Solo and Chewbacca were at least enjoyable. Sadly Jar Jar Abrams has likely ruined 2 movies. This one and the next Star Trek which he really seemed to be very adept at directing. To think he was to be the new hope. However, it is too derivative to be anything but what it came from. Crap Expand
69 of 116 users found this helpful6947
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3
BarzDec 30, 2015
Disappointed. I'm giving it 3 stars for special effects only although with all today techs available to it compare to original Star Wars movies it may not deserve it either. Bad screen play, bad editing, bad directing, bad acting, clichéDisappointed. I'm giving it 3 stars for special effects only although with all today techs available to it compare to original Star Wars movies it may not deserve it either. Bad screen play, bad editing, bad directing, bad acting, cliché action scenes... It seems all high ratings by critics is either nostalgic -meaning blind minded- or a giving favor to Disney if was not paid! Expand
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NlamDec 31, 2015
I started getting nervous when I kept hearing from all of these people who knew little to nothing about Star Wars how great it was, people who had no idea what made Star Wars great. And it turns out my fears were justified. This movie isI started getting nervous when I kept hearing from all of these people who knew little to nothing about Star Wars how great it was, people who had no idea what made Star Wars great. And it turns out my fears were justified. This movie is awful. There is nothing original in the entire two hours, and it is NOT made for people who love the franchise. This is for young people who have never seen it before and don't realize how derivative it is from the other films, especially episode 4. No risks are taken and no imagination shown. The result: a truly useless final product. I will not be back for more. Expand
69 of 116 users found this helpful6947
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3
tsumeoneDec 24, 2015
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is probably my least favorite Star Wars movie for the following reasons:

-No Pacing. After the anticlimactic lightsaber fight between Rey and Ben where they obviously were setting the stage for the sequel, the movie was rushed. There was no pacing whatsoever. The scene transitions from that to their base to the completed map to Luke in what seemed like a blink of the eye.

-Little character development. They did not put nearly as much effort into developing Finn as they should have. His defection seemed forced by the writers, and only later in the movie does he very briefly and vaguely touch on why he defected. Rey fared off a bit better but the movie doesn't explain her attachment to Jakku and pretty much has her instantly mastering the force, easily defeating Ben who had way more experience than she.

-Everyone seemed to get over Han Solo's death way too quickly. Also, the foreshadowing was almost insultingly obvious. Having the light shining on him and Ben go dark just before he is killed? Come on.

-All of the combat was bland and uninspired. This movie could have redeemed itself if the action scenes were worth it, but they were not. The movie did nothing to get the viewer invested in the combat. It was nothing but the same tired movies in both the fighter combat and the lightsaber combat. Many of the scenes and maneuvers where they are attacking the "big deathstar" seemed to be near identical clones of the original deathstar fight.

I did not expect the movie to live up to the hype, but it was a much bigger let down than expected. I had high hopes for Disney and am disappointed.
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110 of 185 users found this helpful11075
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2
masamunerikuJan 4, 2016
There are so many plot holes in this movie that prevents it to be even slightly enjoyable. To enjoy this movie one would need to throw out any logical sense and focus only on the decent action and characters. Most negative reviews would pointThere are so many plot holes in this movie that prevents it to be even slightly enjoyable. To enjoy this movie one would need to throw out any logical sense and focus only on the decent action and characters. Most negative reviews would point out the major flaws in the plot.

Watching this movie is like watching little kids play fantasy/sci-fi make believe where illogical things will happen and the plot armor is invincible. Treat this movie as such and things will start to make sense.
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88 of 148 users found this helpful8860
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scorp18Dec 27, 2015
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Congratulations Disney. You turned an Epic Saga into a poor franchise...
Rip-off... First I want to make clear that I'm a fan of the Star Wars Saga, movies and Expanded Universe alike. Have seen the Original Trilogy and the Prequels countless times and read more than 50 EU books (like many others have done as well of course). This "review" is not against anyone who like the movie but against the movie.
The first letdown was when Disney announced that the Expanded Universe is not Canon anymore and the Sequel Trilogy will be based on an "original" plot. No matter how much I disliked this fact I hopped that they could have still made up an interesting and original plot.
Unfortunately this is not the case... They have messed up the Expanded Universe and tried to make it fit in the plot of Episode IV. In the EU, Han and Leia have a son (Jacen Solo) whose Master is Luke (who else could it be?) and finally Jacen falls to the Dark Side and becomes something like Darth Vader. Luke Skywalker leaves everything behind and searches the Galaxy to answer what made Jacen become a Sith (Second Galactic Civil War, "Legacy of the Force" and "Fate of the Jedi" series).
So they kept this as a base, tried to make it fit in the plot of Episode IV and then named it "The Force Awakens".
- A droid has important information and is lost on a desert planet (they just renamed the droid from R2-D2 to BB-8 and the planet from Tatooine to Jakku)
- A person with Jedi powers with no knowledge of it gets the droid (Luke became Rey)
- The Imperials err.... sorry, the First Order has created a Super-weapon they call Starkiller base which is just a bigger Death Star!
- The bad guys take the good girl to the planet-sized space/battle station and the good guys go for the rescue
- As we all know from Episodes IV and VI the Death Stars had a weak point, so the new Imps were loyal to this and created the Starkiller base with a weak point as well! =)
- The weak point can be hit only if someone lowers the shields from the inside!
- On the Death Star, damn... I mean the Starkiller base the father figure is killed by the son figure, just like Obi-Wan was killed by Darth Vader...
On top of that there are many plot holes. Only Disney could make Rey, who just learned to use the force, overpower Kylo Ren who's supposed to have been an apprentice to Luke Skywalker and now of Snoke (seriously, Jar Jar Bings is a more serious name than Snoke...)
Episode I and II were far from perfect but AT LEAST had an original plot. The Prequels took the Saga another step forward. On the other hand, The Force Awakens (I refuse to call it Episode VII and they did well to omit it from the title) is a bad copy of Episode IV, a re-imagination of the original without a soul. It's a disrespectful spit on the face of the Star Wars Saga. A blasphemy.

I dare to say that Luke will die on Episode IX just like Yoda on VI and that Rey is Kylo Ren's sister and will kill him and redeem him on Episode IX too.

Congratulations Disney. You turned an Epic Saga into a poor franchise...
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66 of 111 users found this helpful6645
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3
necromsisDec 23, 2015
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This movie is a rehash of episode 4 a new hope with parts of previous movies. The little new the did was ok at best and generic at worst. It's the same empire versus rebels, shoot the weak point in the death star, lowly main character on desert planet wishes to be on an adventure.this movie literally doesn't advance the story of star wars at all. The story is a string of coincidences. The characters and their relationships are developed in an instant.

The actions scenes are from previous movies. The plot is from previous movies. The characters that are worth while are from previous movies. The locations are designed to look like ones from previous movies. I knew the ending just by watching a new hope. It's obvious that this wasn't intended to be a good movie but a good cash grab. Designed for nostalgia. Don't fall for it. It has good CGI and a star wars soundtrack, that's it.
The people I know who love this are bandwagon fans who quickly saw each trilogy only once without retaining anything and would cry for hours because a squirrel tripped.
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j1261922Dec 28, 2015
This is the worst Start Wars ever.
The story is mostly from episode 4 with additional stupid stuff and plot holes.
Not much new and especially nothing uniques in this film. Even Episode 1 was better and more creative as this one. For me
This is the worst Start Wars ever.
The story is mostly from episode 4 with additional stupid stuff and plot holes.
Not much new and especially nothing uniques in this film.
Even Episode 1 was better and more creative as this one.
For me Start Wars is unfortunately dead. Or was killed by Disney!?
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66 of 111 users found this helpful6645
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j1331418Dec 29, 2015
It is really disappointing.
I was always a Start Wars fan but I can only hate this episode.
This movie is a proof that Hollywood do not need to create great movies, but only rehash old popular movies in a bad way and hype it as much as
It is really disappointing.
I was always a Start Wars fan but I can only hate this episode.

This movie is a proof that Hollywood do not need to create great movies, but only rehash old popular movies in a bad way and hype it as much as possible to generate profit.
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66 of 111 users found this helpful6645
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3
TicklefistJan 7, 2016
The movie does little more than take the same formula Disney uses for its Marvel movies and apply Star Wars iconography to it. Stars Wars deserved better.
44 of 74 users found this helpful4430
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Nate3nateDec 29, 2015
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. How this movie is getting so much praise is beyond me. Oh it's got Han and Leia and Chewie and Luke? Oooo must be 10/10 woo!

It's basically a parody of Star Wars a New Hope, at one point I thought "Am I watching an Austin Powers reboot?" the "First Order" Empire was so inept it was bordering on three stooges stupidity with them not giving two **** about anything.

Oh something crash landed on your planet base THOUGH YOUR SHIELDS no less and no one cares or investigates or even makes a remark about it.

Oh somehow out planet base shields are down and NO ONE MENTIONS IT OR EVEN TRIES TO TURN THE DAMN SHIELDS BACK ON!!!

Oh there is a force user loose in the base, shesh better not alert anyone or put anyone on guard or even how about sending out some storm troopers with those light saber blocking electro weapons... nope nothing.

Hey how about locking a door so Han, Chewie and Finn at least have to blast it open or even hack it open or even fight to get into the base!!! NOPE! Nothing, no cameras, no security, no nothing.

And that's all just the last scene, I could go on and on and on about everything in this movie like how the Xwing pilots have no problem sniping storm troopers to free Han, Chewie, Finn (the three amigos as it were) but miss the giant imperial shuttle that's parked right out back.

Or how Finn, who was a storm trooper janitor, knows important information about the imperial base. Or how the imperials have THE REST OF THE DAMN MAP TO WHERE LUKE IS!!!! But can't be bothered to send even 1 damn probe droid! I mean seriously?!

Ugh... I could go on for another 10000000 words on why this movie is awful and not worth money to see or your time, but I would basically just be pointing out more of the same.

OH OH OH!!! Don't get me started on a magical 2 seater tie fighter with back lasers and missiles!!! TIE FIGHTERS ARE A SINGLE SEATER SPACE CRAFT WITH FORWARD FIRING LASERS ONLY! Holy **** I still can't believe they couldn't come up with anything better than, hey lets just pretend Tie Fighters have this stuff cause we need them to be able to escape. Hey JJ, how about they just take idk, a Tie Bomber... oh pry cause you didn't actually read up on any Star Wars lore... oh...

0/10 for the love of all that is good with the Force do not pay to see this movie!
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abresslerDec 28, 2015
Abrams did a dis-service to Star Wars. It was Disney, yep you got disney. I expect Jedi princess Rae dolls in stores from now to forever...Movie was enjoyable but could have been told as episode X. There's 25 years missing between episode 6Abrams did a dis-service to Star Wars. It was Disney, yep you got disney. I expect Jedi princess Rae dolls in stores from now to forever...Movie was enjoyable but could have been told as episode X. There's 25 years missing between episode 6 and episode 7 .. It was a copy cat film re-playing episode 4. Should have taken on the EXPANDED UNIVERSE for the trilogy. HEIR TO THE EMPIRE would have made a better Episode VII then this... I want GRAND ADMIRAL THRAWN and Mara Jade. Dont get me wrong It enjoyable but overall writing was weak. Great screen play. I hope to see how the new Republic actually rises on screen some day..... Expand
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ThePhatNinjaDec 28, 2015
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This movie, had so much potential, but like Anakin, it was cut short. Kylo Ren in the beginning was seen as a strong force user who was seen to have strong mastery of the force as he not only stop a blaster bolt in mid air, but kept it there for several minutes and then release it at will. He also built his own lightsaber which suggest that he has training with it. However as the movie progress Kylo Ren turns out to be a b*tch. Not a badass b*tch, just a **** He got destroyed by the two main characters, and both were non-jedi. Rey also somehow becomes super good at the force FOR NO REASON AT ALL. That's not how the force works, yes it can guide people, but mastery of the damn force takes years. J.J. Abrams just gave a big f*ck you the legacy universe (what used to be cannon). Kylo Ren should have easily killed both Rey and Finn, but no, turned out he sucks at not only using the lightsaber but incapable to use simple force pushes or pulls against his opponents. Overall, Kylo Ren is a little b*tch, Rey somehow gets force powers that should take years to master, and Finn somehow managed to hurt Kylo Ren in a lightsaber duel. If you haven't watched ANY Star Wars movies before, its ok. But those who are true fans will be disappointed. Expand
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Dutchmaster1Dec 27, 2015
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. 0 for the plot

Without a plot there is not point in making a film. Therefore a higher score cannot be justified.

BB8 does not have to deliver the map. It is not integral to the unit. R2D2 had to be delivered safely, everyone was looking for the droid, being associated with the droid lead to the deaths of Luke's uncle. When one can simply remove the map from the droid where does the tension lie with being associated with the machine?

Why would someone in such deep hiding leave a map. This plot line is beyond moronic. A map is there to find treasure or inanimate objects not a human.

Max von Sydow dies after 1 whole minute of meaningless dialogue. I don't know who he is. Therefore his death is meaningless, the bad guy in the film is not elevated to evil, just a senseless killing.

A Stormtrooper, janitor, sent with a death squad to wherever, suddenly develops a conscience. Later in the film Budha trooper has no hesitation in killing his once fellow comrades, or picking up a sabre to strike out. He is not a Jedi the first to wield a light sabre without training, or believing in the force. Saving his once enemy Poe they become best of friends straight away. Upon crashing, with a handy parachute which seems to be located beside the downed craft, Poe is nowhere to be seen. He doesn't reappear for most of the film. No Tie Fighters chase the fighter to the planet to check it has been destroyed?

Rey, the healthiest scavenger in the galaxy, soon to become insta Jedi, mechanic, pilot, just takes BB8 without any fuss from a fellow scavenger. Then decides to keep it instead of trading for food, really! You are starving to death and find a top of the range television, you can complete the rest. It is out of character. Straight away you question her and her motives.

Rey knows the Falcon, inside and out, this heap of junk which by all accounts would have been a part of the "legends" which both Finn and Rey are aware, yet there it lies melting under the baking sun on the sandy dust hole all along in her back yard and no one thinks to scavenge it? When she does expertly fly it and later on partners Han she knows the ship better than Han or Chewie. Doesn't that make them the worst pilot and copilot in Star Wars lore, no wonder the Falcon never flew properly, all they needed was Super Rey the whole time. Undermines two vital characters, I didn't even trust Han to fly the Falcon for the rest of the movie.

Ren, stops a laser blast mid air, gets hit by a wookie blasting him from farther away?

3P0 has a red arm, this furthers the plot, how? Apparently no spares even though Chewie meticulously reconstructs him in Empire?

A third Death Star, that can be easily defeated after a quick briefing and no detailed plan on how to defeat it, just some off the cuff remarks as to here we go again folks. The purpose of the ship is to remove the sun from the solar system therefore meaning any or all life is not possible unless a droid populated planet were possible. Therefore removing the sun removes all life. What was the need to destroy the planets, just to have mega explosions to show children in the theatre that the big metal plant is bad and resistance is good. But what are they resisting against, wasn't the Empire defeated?

Ren removes a mask upon which we find he doesn't need life support? So the mask is a toy, Disney sales for the mask cannot have been in the minds of the executives?

The often scant use of the force, fast food Jedi mind tricks, insta powers, even Vader reminded us "do not underestimate the power of the force". It seems as if it's power has been diluted, somewhat. Jedi on tap.

Hux a pre pubescent general, shouting and tantrum minded like Ren, exhibits immature and leaderless qualities, responsible to lead a force called the failed order?

No new ships in either the Empire or Resistance fleets? Upgrades with new paint but no new craft, I remember wanting to buy Y wing, B wing etc... Disney missed a trick there with the lack of craft. Again lazy.

But back to the film, R2 is depressed, Luke was by his side for three films even in Degoba, dumps him, his loyal friend, saved by him in many occasions, but dumped so he switches himself to standby mode. Suddenly at just the right time in the movie he switches on and reveals the rest of the map. Phew!

Han locates the Falcon, fifteen seconds after it leaves Jakuu. Cue Ray Harryhausen inspired calamari to inspire him to take back his ship, even while watching this I thought please god no!

But it got worse, cue triads from big trouble in little China and an extra from trainspotting. Bobba Fett would have been my choice, the worst scene in any of the franchise. Take a bow Disney.

I paid to watch a 200 million pound B movie. I cannot fathom how this film made it past the cutting room floor. Don't even get me started with the lack of music score.

Episode 8 the title can only be FROZEN the carbonite years! Han is dead and so is the franchise.

It's crap all of i
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satyr1349Jan 2, 2016
Awful.. Disneys, Lawrence Kasdans and Abrams retro-movie ist totally missing the magic of star wars. Just memories and ghosts. The Force Awakens is just another shallow blockbuster. Poor writing, directing, acting etc. Even the score byAwful.. Disneys, Lawrence Kasdans and Abrams retro-movie ist totally missing the magic of star wars. Just memories and ghosts. The Force Awakens is just another shallow blockbuster. Poor writing, directing, acting etc. Even the score by Williams is dull and uninspired. After screwing Star Trek, the next franchise is blown into pieces. Expand
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RunePlJan 3, 2016
TFA had almost no plot and childish enemies. It was not a true sequel to ROTJ because it had no backstory or setting whatsoever to tie the movies together, much less provide much of a setting with explanations for this movie itself. It reallyTFA had almost no plot and childish enemies. It was not a true sequel to ROTJ because it had no backstory or setting whatsoever to tie the movies together, much less provide much of a setting with explanations for this movie itself. It really seemed like an implausible Marvel snoozefest with no internal consistency or logic. The camera worked sometimes but other times was very unflattering with strange soap opera angles and unbelievably awkward closeups.

FWIW, I didnt mind Rey, Finn, or even Kylo Ren, but the movie can't break a "1". Waited 20 years for this, shouldnt be too hard to write even a generic plot with some minimal backstory.

One good thing: I finally was able to appreciate and enjoy the prequels.
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BarefootedjediDec 22, 2015
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. After five days of thought, my judgement: a travesty

The prequels explained too much, this sequel explains too little. The most prominent example of this is Rey. Having barely been aware of the existence of the force at the beginning, without any instruction – such as Luke (son of Darth Vader, hence strong in the force) needed from Obi Wan, later Yoda – she (magically?) becomes aware of it, competent in its use, and powerful enough to defeat Kylo Ren, despite the fact he is Vader’s grandson and Leia’s son (hence strong in the force) and has been the padawan of Luke before being turned to the dark side by Supreme Leader Snoke. Apparently women, unlike men, can use skills without first learning them.

Then there is the political correctness (o.k. I suspect that last was motivated by PC too). J.J has to have Finn stupidly hold Rey’s hand too long after getting her to run, just so she can say “I know how to run. Let go of my hand.” J.J. also has to have her say “I can handle myself” when Han hands her a blaster. In general there is too much of the telling of strength rather than just showing it. Leia never had to say she was a strong capable woman, she just showed it through her actions, like grabbing the nearest available blaster to make an escape passage into a garbage compacter. Add to the hand holding silliness the fact that Finn, despite being trained as a soldier from childhood, always looks out of his depth in any fight, and it becomes apparent that the only way this “genius” can think of making a female character strong is to make a male character next to her look stupid or weak. I have nothing against intelligent feminism, but this is not that. Actually, I think feminists should be insulted by this too. It’s certainly insulting to the female fans of the original Star Wars, who saw in Leia a strong, intelligent, witty, and, most importantly, well-motivated character. Here instead we see lip service (or [eye] lid service?) to feminism accompanied by contempt for the underlying mythology of the Star Wars universe. You have to be a padawan before becoming a jedi J.J.; you have to be a student before becoming Sensei. What Rey does here is equivalent to someone with a white belt picking a fight with the master and kicking his arse around the dojo. I’ve chosen the masculine pronoun there, not because I think a female martial arts master is impossible – I don’t – but because the kind of feminist who would think this sort of thing is good film making would have no problem with a woman being bested by a woman but, no matter how great the skills of a man, no matter how mediocre those of the woman, they would be offended by her being beaten in such a fight. The kind of feminists who admire this sort of rubbish are, unfortunately, more common than their more intelligent namesakes in our anti-intellectual culture. All that said, if you like your feminism brain dead, of the warrior without wit variety, you’ll love the character of Rey. To be fair the fault isn’t Daisy Ridley's. It's entirely that of the writers and director. If I ignore this stupidity I can quite like the character of Rey, presumably because Daisy has plenty of her own charisma.

Kylo’s helmet looks like a silly beak. He has no good reason to wear it either, other than perhaps trying to imitate grandpa Vader. Or is it worn to disguise the fact that without it he looks a bit wet? Then there are his tantrums, which look ridiculous, although they do provide opportunities for comedy.

General Hux when ranting like Hitler to the assembled storm troopers sounds nasally and weaselish rather than threatening. In his conflict with Kylo Ren he looks more the smug schoolboy than the imposing general.

Supreme Leader Snoopy – the big baddie, literally – is impressively threatening, but it turns out his giant stature is hologrammatic. This has comic potential. Is he a Wizard of Oz type fake? Could he possibly be only 2 inches tall?

Poe Dameron. I like his sense of humour when taken captive. He would make a good replacement for the now dead Han.

Oh, that’s right, Han Solo dies, but we all expected that to happen anyway, so no great surprise there. I was a bit disappointed in the manner of his death though. I was hoping he would go out in a hail of blaster fire or chopped down by multiple assailants, thereby allowing his companions, in a desperate situation, to escape. Instead, on top of yet another Freudian conflict between father and son we have a soppy attempt at reconciliation resulting in a too predictable death by Kylo’s lightsaber being turned on. Kylo doesn’t even look threatening when he does it. The only good thing about that scene is the rage of Chewbacca that follows. Good ol Chewy! Friend for a lifetime. I felt more for him than for Han.

How will he cope without Han? Will he turn to drink or drugs to cope with his loss? Will he cruise all the brothels in the galaxy in a futile attempt to replace that male to male bond with "romantic" companionship.
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63 of 106 users found this helpful6343
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3
Simple1DEADec 24, 2015
In a world where there are nuances and parodies of Star Wars everywhere from Spaceballs to Family Guy I would never have thought the franchise itself would fall victim to this trend. The similarities with A New Hope are endless but that's notIn a world where there are nuances and parodies of Star Wars everywhere from Spaceballs to Family Guy I would never have thought the franchise itself would fall victim to this trend. The similarities with A New Hope are endless but that's not what I'm going to write about. Star Wars always has an honest story to tell. This was more fan fiction than film yet even fan fiction can still be great. Some people don't understand that there's more to Star Wars than lightsabers and spaceships. The originals was a story about a revolution in a pirate themed sci-fi world with heavy Taoist philosophy and samurai. The prequels were sort of a cold war/medieval war blend, freedom vs fascism, and the originals being good vs evil. This film's themes were just so bland! I love a fun movie but in the end, it's completely worthless without proper context.

It's strange that there was nothing I can call original or a motif but only things that were rehashes. The film fails to have an identity of it's own. It isn't genuine or adventurous enough to be considered Star Wars. Many people have a positive attitude to the notion of Star Wars being a massive Universe with limitless possibilities. When I watch a Star Wars movie I always say to myself ''wow what an engaging story'' and if you summarize the plot into one sentence it would give me chills reading it. Sadly the newest instalment offers nothing interesting, nothing that captures the imagination. There's no context and Star Wars is often about context. There's no investment hence there is no pay-off, there's no stakes hence there is nothing to give a **** about.
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besstDec 28, 2015
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. STAR WARS a review from a fan. Spoilers!!!

Banal story, poorly told. Uninspired, silly, forced dialogue. Unqualified actors with zero chemistry with the script or other actors. Under developed characters. Sluggish pacing. Ridiculous, absurd, nonthreatening, lightweight, villain. (Worst bad guy in history) Princess Leia is his mother? Luke is his uncle? Darth Vader is his grandfather and he's an inept Jedi, beaten up by a silly, underwritten, girl????? The villain alone gives this movie an F, and everyone who has seen it over 17 knows it. Attempt at humor a complete failure. Old characters tired looking with nothing to say, yet the only redeeming factor of the whole movie.
Stupid. Poorly cast. Poorly written. Better CGI in the prequels. Terrible fight scenes. Special effects sucked.
Boorish mess that should have been left on the cutting room floor.
I almost walked out.
Like J J Abrams Trek films, it was nonsensical, loud, and instantly forgettable.
My grade: D+
Now all the star wars nuts will flip out, when they know in their little hearts that this was not a good movie.
And this is how hey kill off Han Solo? By some wimpy, whiney, temper tantrum throwing show girl???
Your kidding, right?
I am stuned by the reviews.
I think this was the worst of the series.
Come on! You thought that villain was worthy???? You thought that RN was a good character? Or a good actor for that matter? All that panting and sweating for the first 10 minutes of the movie. Zero chemistry between the 2 main leads????
Please.
This movie is a disgrace.
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Alastor00Dec 31, 2015
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. You know what? Special effects are cool. That's why so much people gives 10 (10!!!!).
Han Solo is not the same anymore. The whole story is copy-paste. The final scene is totally nonsense. Kylo Ren is lame and Rey is overpowered. Chewbacca is the only true character of this movie.
And stopping laser midair... c'mon.
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LobsterDec 23, 2015
What is Force Awakens? Does it feel like Star Wars? No it doesn't. It took me maybe 1/3rd into the film to get a smidgen of a Star Wars vibe. Ever wonder what Star Wars would look like fast paced & gritty with hard color grading, editing, &What is Force Awakens? Does it feel like Star Wars? No it doesn't. It took me maybe 1/3rd into the film to get a smidgen of a Star Wars vibe. Ever wonder what Star Wars would look like fast paced & gritty with hard color grading, editing, & angle shots? You know, like Star Wars fan-films you see online? Force Awakens is filmed in JJ Abrams style. Lucas would use mostly flat & face shots. Yes that is a very static way of filming, but it is also a very classic way. It lets you focus on the richness of the scene. Everything was so stream in Force Awakens that it felt like a cheap 3D amusement park ride.

But how were the characters? Rey? Daisy Ridley is wonderful, but sadly she's written as a Mary Sue. Literally every action she does is: showing up the boys. & I mean every. single. action. There are at least 28 moments..... in the film where they directly show this to you, then do a camera wink nod - she can take care of herself. But I love her charisma and my "only hope" is to see her in other things besides Disney Star Wars.

Ohh Finn. The new Jar Jar Binks. Ohh wait, Jar Jar actually had a strong character arch & came from a creative well designed species with incredible indigenous technology. What was Finn? A former Storm Trooper who gets sad one of his unit dies, then has no problem murdering his poor fellow troopers to go AWOL. What's more? They remove Boyega's beautiful Chav accent & make him talk like....a "typical" American. Yes they go out. Even giving him cringe lines like "Droid Plz" "H3ll No", & everything trope you can imagine. He was a clown buffoon & was literally saved by Rey every scene they are together. What's more, his fake US accent is horrible and sounds HORSE while yelling (which he does a lot). If you thought Anakin and Padme were awkward in the prequels, baby you ain't seen nothing yet. I had to look away, close my eyes, etc many times during this. It was that cringe worthy. Wow. Do Boyega and Daisy have good chemistry irl? Absolutely! But it's lost when you change accents. Typical Hollywood fare, changing accent for zero reason. It doesn't work. It's not convincing to native speakers of the accent. Stop.

Onto design The new Stormtroopers look horrendous, okay. We have to see so much of them, and it's these goofy gigantic duckfaces. They also seem to be composed of pure eggshell white non-reflective bristol board.

....George Lucas exercised a level of Quality Control over Lucasfilm that is now gone. JJ was given Kasdan, Williams, & Struzan. Keys to the kingdom. But what does he do? He does what he SAYS he did. Sat there like a giddy fan-boy, letting them "do their magic". Lucas certainly did not. He micromanaged them. The results are obvious.

TFA John Williams score: mediocre

TFA Drew Struzan poster: mediocre

TFA Lawrence Kasdan script: rehash

Experiment made! And the results are...guess what! It really was Lucas' genius that pulled together his 6 films. Lucas even added all of the good elements to Empire Strikes Back. Yes, George Lucas.

In Conclusion...Star Wars Episode 7 The Force Awakens is THE worst SW film by far. I rank it below every prequel & guess what. Lucas said it is "not his story". meaning Not Canon. The closest thing we can get to his treatments are the EU material that yes, still did go across his desk to get approval.

So please. Don't insult me this fan service JJ fest. Blips. Tiny references. Blowing up Coruscant. Death Star 3 (destroyed in the most passionless way imaginable) With Lucas there exploration, freshness, richness. Now we know why he left the project. Those people didn't understand. It's about Imagination. Wonder. Pushing Boundaries.

Never again will we have wild NEW RISKS like a muppet kungfu master..giant gangster worm who chains up women in bikinis..forest kingdom of man eating bears..pod-racing..arena fight..kamino..courosaunt Any of that. It's just ripoff the originals time. Even Geonosis, also a desert planet, was completely fresh under Lucas' s supervision.

Tarkin > Hux

Emperor > Snoke

Boba Fett > Phasma

Vader > Kylo Ren

Darth Maul, General Grievous, Count Dooku too all of these prequel villains far surpassed those two bit unoriginal variations in TFA.

Sadly with Kathleen Kennedy ... quality control lack extends to everything. SW Battlefront, Novels, Comics, everything. She's not an artist & doesn't have Lucas' mind for approving design. and remember, this is Disney, so NO SPACE BATTLES.

*sigh* it looks like Star Wars is over. I did not enjoy this film one bit. I was bored by the nothing because there was nothing. I followed this film for an entire year. What we're given is an MCU level film. A film that is not re-watchable or even cohesive. I have no desire to own the Blu-ray or watch it again. Why would I? For what? It's a forgettable movie with nothing creative or interesting. Nothing to feed the imagination. It's Hollywood.

You made me appreciate George Lucas that much more.
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dwillDec 23, 2015
I am a long time star wars fan. I've watched all of the movies multiple times. I like both the clone wars and rebels cartoons and I've read about 12 of the books. With that being said, I did laugh a handful of times and enjoy the specialI am a long time star wars fan. I've watched all of the movies multiple times. I like both the clone wars and rebels cartoons and I've read about 12 of the books. With that being said, I did laugh a handful of times and enjoy the special effects but I was looking for something new and creative. I clapped and cheered in the beginning of the movie and by the end I was slow clapping to JJ Abrams. I was so disappointed by the copy cat scenarios and the utter disrespect for the force as I suspect any invested fan will be. The greater betrayal is ultimately these are not the droids I was looking for and probably will never again be. Expand
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richie5150Dec 26, 2015
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. One big dreadful cliff hanger.

Question: Why does Poe decide to leave Jakku after Finn and him crash the tie fighter on their way back to Jakku?

I thought the whole point of going back to Jakku was to find BB8? He would have had no idea that Finn would complete his mission for him.

This is just one example among dozens.

One of the criteria for choosing a new director should have been that they were actually a star wars fan...

DREADFUL!
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boppyJan 12, 2016
When I first saw the trailer, it gave me goosebumps. It hit all the right buttons with fans, and was intriguing enough to draw in new fans as well. Mission accomplished in that respect.

The movie itself sucked balls. Superficial, Disney
When I first saw the trailer, it gave me goosebumps. It hit all the right buttons with fans, and was intriguing enough to draw in new fans as well. Mission accomplished in that respect.

The movie itself sucked balls.

Superficial, Disney cartoon nonsense.

No depth or mystique.
No compelling epic/saga vibe which all the other Star Wars movies had.

It just sucked, and I'm not any kind of butt-hurt fanboy either.

More than anything, I'm irked that I was duped by the awesome trailer into seeing this ridiculous Disney formula rubbish...
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mindclearerDec 28, 2015
THERAPY FOR STAR WARS FANS. Long-time Star Wars fans out there, I feel your pain. I am your pain. I've loved this franchise since 1977, and after 38 years, it is over for us. JJ played it safe by making a movie that was sure to appeal toTHERAPY FOR STAR WARS FANS. Long-time Star Wars fans out there, I feel your pain. I am your pain. I've loved this franchise since 1977, and after 38 years, it is over for us. JJ played it safe by making a movie that was sure to appeal to younger viewers who never cared much for Star Wars but would crush the hearts of long-time fans, a stunning new experience for newbies, a problem-ridden remake to the rest of us. Why did he do it? Because younger viewers are where the money is. Ignorant of the fact that this is just a sad cobbling together of scenes from the classic films, younger viewers are gobbling it up as if it’s a stunning new breakthrough film. They just don't know any better, and that's the whole idea. Blind to what they are actually seeing, they are paying hand over fist for this movie while those of us in the know sit in slack-jawed amazement at the travesty that we are witnessing. There is just no gentle way to put it. JJ Abrams has sold us out.

But here is how we have to deal with this. Yes, we were all looking forward to another chapter in the Star Wars saga, and yes we are all disappointed that we didn't get it. But there is no changing that now. What's done is done. That being the case, what we must now realize is this. There is only one way that we could have possibly enjoyed this film and the future installments as well. We would have to watch them in the same condition of ignorance that these younger fans are in. In other words, we would have to have never seen and loved the classic films that captivated us so. We would have to erase from our past the amazement and the wonder that Star Wars has given us for all of these decades. Yes, it would have been great to have enjoyed this movie, but such enjoyment could only have been purchased at the price of the original epics. No one who has ever been truly moved by this Franchise would ever accept such a tradeoff. Let the younger viewers have this film and those to come. Let them enjoy this shadow of the original under the delusion that they are witnessing an innovative new marvel. Let them do all of this while we rest firm in the knowledge that what we ourselves experienced was the true masterpiece, an irreplaceable treasure that these merely derivative new episodes simply will never be.
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AzlesikJan 4, 2016
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Kylo Ren, a whining fanboy, who dresses up as a pathetic wannabe-Vader, and doesn't know or understand anything about the legacy of the past, throws tantrums and thrashes around his own ship when he doesn't get what he wants. And then kills his own father, who, unlike him, was a true iconic hero.
A deeply symbolic film.
Every hero from the past is made a total failure. The Republic is blown to pieces. Morals, logic, coherence, originality, imagination are eliminated, as is the established visual and storytelling style.
For the "fans", that's not Star Wars.
Replace it all with explosions, zig-zagging camerawork and mindless editing (today called "quality filmmaking"), poorly choreographed dogfights, dumb, tonally misplaced jokes, over-the-top space nazis, totally out-of place Scottish gangsters and yakuzas, and cheesy, Highlander-style, circling helicopter shots. To hell with everything else! Especially with that mumbo-jumbo about the Force! Let everyone wield a lightsaber and have their instant Force-powers! (You may keep the old costume and starship designs. And the plot, because we don't need a new one. Don't worry, we'll call it an "hommage".)
There you are. Rejoice.

For me, Star Wars was a luminous thing, not this crude matter.
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CounterpunchDec 26, 2015
After doing his two Star Trek movies, JJ was stuck in rehash mode with this one. The difference is that Star Trek was announced as a relaunch, but this film is called 'Episode 7,' in other words, a continuation of the existing franchise.After doing his two Star Trek movies, JJ was stuck in rehash mode with this one. The difference is that Star Trek was announced as a relaunch, but this film is called 'Episode 7,' in other words, a continuation of the existing franchise. Talk about a disappointment. I breathed a huge sign a relief when I saw all of the critic reviews (which I now find inexplicable), only to be astounded by what a God-awful film this was. To quote Luke upon first seeing the Millennium Falcon, 'what a piece of junk!' Expand
76 of 128 users found this helpful7652
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JustinsbDec 31, 2015
Daisy Ridley ("Rey") was brilliant and may save the franchise - overall though this is the most overhyped movie of the decade. The performances were mostly weak, the script was mediocre, other than Rey the new characters are uninteresting (orDaisy Ridley ("Rey") was brilliant and may save the franchise - overall though this is the most overhyped movie of the decade. The performances were mostly weak, the script was mediocre, other than Rey the new characters are uninteresting (or annoying) and most of the film is borrowed from the original trilogy or other franchises. Expand
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G-YoDec 24, 2015
Have you seen a Star Wars A New Hope ? Then you've seen the Force Awakens.

If you think that's bad, unfortunately that's not all. Actually, it gets worse. This movie not only borrows HEAVILY from its predecessors, it is INCONSISTENT
Have you seen a Star Wars A New Hope ? Then you've seen the Force Awakens.

If you think that's bad, unfortunately that's not all.

Actually, it gets worse. This movie not only borrows HEAVILY from its predecessors, it is INCONSISTENT with what has already been established in the Star Wars Universe. Unoriginal, uninspired and undoing what we have come to accept as constants in the Star Wars Universe.

Actually, it gets even worse. This movie is not only inconsistent with the Star Wars Universe, it lacks character development, and relies far too heavily on nostalgia. Others have stated it amounts to poorly done fan fiction. I would have to agree. I couldn't help but thinking to myself damn Mr. XXXX looks soooo old... Believe it or not, it actually killed the nostalgia for me and made me wish I hadn't seen the character/actor like that. I would have preferred to remember him/her in her prime, 30 years ago.

To be honest, it gets even worse, the plot twists are obvious and there is an abundance of coincidence used to move the story along.

This was not a good movie.
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0
Ldeighton2Dec 28, 2015
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I have no idea how this film is getting such rave reviews.... I actually don't mind that it has plot similarities with a new hope, my problem is with the use of Deus Ex Machina as the sole means of plot advancement. For example, why is there a map to Luke's location if he disappeared? How did Finn manage to crash land on a planet in a location that just happened to be near Rey's village? Why was the millennium falcon on her planet and how lucky that Chewy and Han found it just after Rey and Finn? That's the first half hour of the movie alone and it continues for the duration. Really lazy screenwriting.... Expand
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1
WylyQuimbyDec 30, 2015
A lazy con-job by the best con-artists in the business.

The Force Awakens is a poor copy of the original with none of the vision, scope, or artistry. Most of the plot elements, sets, and props are poorly recycled from A New Hope. The
A lazy con-job by the best con-artists in the business.

The Force Awakens is a poor copy of the original with none of the vision, scope, or artistry. Most of the plot elements, sets, and props are poorly recycled from A New Hope. The established rules of the galaxy's lore, technology, politics, and economy tossed out the window. The treatment of the original characters is baffling. Somehow, JJ Abrams has made the galaxy seem small.

If you must watch this train wreck, watch it at second-run theater that serves beer and pizza. Afterwards, I recommend watching the original again.
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3
Shion16Dec 24, 2015
It's a fun movie, but really REALLY uninspired.
It's just episode 4 with different characters.
Also there's some out of nowhere moments that really kills the tension, mostly about our resident mary sue main character.
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1
BlackVoidDec 29, 2015
Reused content from the old films. Yet again, there is a Death Star to be destroyed. Yet another force field needs to be downed by Han Solo and team. The Emperor is back, the same old bald man. Darth Vader also has a reincarnate, anotherReused content from the old films. Yet again, there is a Death Star to be destroyed. Yet another force field needs to be downed by Han Solo and team. The Emperor is back, the same old bald man. Darth Vader also has a reincarnate, another masked villain, but he fails to scare. Another bar filled with aliens. Another fight on a bridge over an abyss. The only novelties are a heroine and a hero of african descent (?). I missed the revelation by Chewbakka that he is gay.

And the film manages to be worse than episode 4. The last SW movie I will see in this life, a waste of time and money.

Oh, I forgot to mention: it is incredibly predictable and also boring.
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3
everytimeyoudieDec 21, 2015
This genuinely fails to deliver on almost everything but nostalgia. To be perfectly honest it barely even felt like star wars. the plot is insanely dumb and the villains are terrible. This is everything I feared & worse.
38 of 64 users found this helpful3826
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0
farrarjrDec 27, 2015
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I literally don;t know if poeple watched a different movie than I did. This movie was visually apealing. Beyond that it was, as everyone else has said, a complete rehash of the original trilogy. Except it was poorly done.

The part I hated the most was the Rey. She at everything - instantly. She is better at the force than a trained ex-Jedi. She is better at flying and repairing the Millenium Falcon instantly than Han Solo himself. She is perfect with the force. She beats up people trying to steal BB-8. The list goes on and on and on. I love moives with strong female leads. This was different. THis was just sloppy writing without a character arc.

I hope the beginning of Episode VIII is Luke finally talking and telling her to keep his old lightsaber because there is absolutely nothing he can teach her. She is already more powerful than he ever was - instantly.

I saw the movie twice just to make sure that I wasn't crazy. The second time I saw it I realized that I hated it even more than I had at first. Then I watched the original trilogy just to make sure that I was remembering the originals better than they were. Then I watched the prequels and realized that they were at least original storylines wiht cool ideas - even if poorly executed.

I would have given this movie a 7 out of 10 if it stood alone. As movie VII in the Star Wars universe it is a complete copy of other movies. This was a poor reboot. Nothing more.

See other 0 or 1 reviews for the rest of my views. I've wasted enough of my time and money on this dumb movie.
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0
CharactersSuckDec 27, 2015
I had high anticipations for this movie before I watched it. I left the movie theater feeling sorely disappointed. I found myself not liking any of the characters. None of them. They all suck and make a mockery of how easy it is to learn theI had high anticipations for this movie before I watched it. I left the movie theater feeling sorely disappointed. I found myself not liking any of the characters. None of them. They all suck and make a mockery of how easy it is to learn the ways of the force. Apparently nobody needs to be taught anything to learn how to use jedi mind tricks and force push. It was all **** It made the original star wars characters look like jedi retards for taking so long to become incredibly strong and knowledgeable in using the force. Expand
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0
MasywsDec 29, 2015
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Being totally honest, this movie is a joke. Not a joke that deserves a 0 but I can't, for any reasonable reason, see it at 8 or 7. This movie is better than I and II but it stops there. You simply can't get a major character killed by the worst SW villain ever created. Even him killed by Jabba or Greedo would have made more sense. Also the plot is 90% rehashed material / nostalgia tricks.
JJ failed big time and this movie put in clear light how much "real critics" are being paid by majors to sponsorize box office movies.
I've seen the movie 2 times (just to be sure) and the only likeable character in the whole movie was Ray. Villain could have been more believable if he didn't remove his mask (half the cinema laughted at his unmenacing teenage face) or if he didn't fail against not 1 but 2 lightsaber noobs.
Sorry but No. I expected much much more than:
Star Wars IV Remix: The Whiny Teenager
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1
DrunkenJedi92Dec 22, 2015
Nostalgia Porn Episode XXX: Not The Prequels

Were it not for the fan service and the progressive/feminists pandering, people would realize its just a shallow remake of A New Hope that lacks any real emotional impact with the most
Nostalgia Porn Episode XXX: Not The Prequels

Were it not for the fan service and the progressive/feminists pandering, people would realize its just a shallow remake of A New Hope that lacks any real emotional impact with the most interesting elements of the movie happening in exposition stories.

The more I think about the motivation and creative drive behind this movie, the ugglier it looks. Jedi and Disney are manipulating the fans with X-Wing porn and fan service, and puppets wile adding nothing of substance to Star Wars that we didn't already have.

We have female Jedi. We have black characters. In the Clone Wars cartoon we had an intersperses couple that had hybrid children (something that's far more interesting than a forced interracial romance) Is anyone even against that anymore in our society??! I wouldn't even bring it up if it weren't for the fact that JJ clearly cast these characters to look like a progressive champion among his Hollywood buddies. Expect Episode X to feature an African Luke if Finn doesn't end up with Poe in another progressive twist in the last movie. It would not surprise me at all if that happened since they already ripped off enough of a New Hope. I know if I was going to make a lazy progressive rip off Empire Strikes Back to follow up this, I would have Finn and Poe for the sake of forced equally straight out of a gay star wars fanfic. They already made a third Death Star, had Ray successfully performing and Jedi Mind + beating (but not killing) the bad guy, shipping Ray and Finn together is the only logical step forward in this pattern of nostalgia/progressive pandering. And that does happen, anyone who does question the cinematic or literary of Episode VIII will be condemned for homophobia.

Story telling is dead, and Hollywood thinks you are all idiots who will eat anything they serve you if it has a nice coat of paint. Say what you want about Lucas, but I would rather watch a three hour Jar Jar Binks stand alone film than be re-fed my childhood and calling it better than Revenge of The Sith (One of my all time favorite movies second only New Hope which they just ruined.)
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3
hubickDec 22, 2015
Here I was all worried about spoilers, not realizing I'd already seen them all 30 years ago :-(

The effects, and particularly the new cast were great, but screen time that could have been spent better introducing the new characters was
Here I was all worried about spoilers, not realizing I'd already seen them all 30 years ago :-(

The effects, and particularly the new cast were great, but screen time that could have been spent better introducing the new characters was wasted fawning over the previous cast in ways which barely served the plot. And, a THIRD Death Star, really?
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19 of 32 users found this helpful1913
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