Read User Reviews and Submit your own for Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens - Page 8

2

ghoti666Dec 21, 2015

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Contains Spoilers (actually, the whole movie is a spoiler)

Empty spectacle

No originality. So boring – I could have genuinely left before the end without any concern.

An uncomfortable clash of tired old characters & re-hashed storylines against new and feisty characters. Unfortunately, these new characters were mired in a treacly re-telling of Episode IV.

I’m not a big Star Wars fan anyway – the prequels were dreadful, even Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi are stodgy and over-regarded – yet I expected better of this. I liked Abrams’ reboot of Star Trek. I was sure he would make a better job of it than Lucas.
BUT now I’m really not so sure. Whereas, Lucas populated his prequels with irritating cartoon characters, at least the plots were original. Poor, but original. The Force Awakens did not have a single original element.
And whilst Anakin’s journey into the darkside was woefully unconvincing – at least, we saw the process. With the latest villain, we just have to accept he used to be a good boy & now he’s bad – for no apparent reason.

I remained un-moved throughout :- Han & Chewie: so what ; Leia – so what; ooh, a big death – so painfully setup, there was no surprise. Like the most of the movie, it just felt inevitable.

It was just a lazy re-creation of the original movies :- another deathstar; another attack by x-wings; another illogical weak-spot; the Empire has fallen, but there is another indistinguishable First Order in its place; the Emperor is dead, but there is another “Supreme Leader”; another beeping droid; another cantina; another Tattooine home planet; the resistance still hiding in secret bases; another sword fight ; another orphan, who will no doubt turn out to be related to one of the old cast ….

The only divergence from the originals was the villain – albeit unintentionally. He was different from Vader, but only in that he was crap. Once he removed his mask to reveal a long-haired fop, all menace was lost.

And the relentless “big reveals” – it worked the first time with the Millennium Falcon, but then it was “oh, it’s Han!” ; “Chewie” ; “Leia”; “C3-PO” ; “R2-D2” – then “gee, who’s that guy at the top of that hill? Oh, it’s Luke. What a surprise.” - each time with a little swell of the music. Long lingering looks. Like Downton Abbey in Space.
The thing is, none of it was about surprise – it was all about providing comforting familiarity to the fans. How insipid.

Abrams really should have made a new story with the new characters – and left the old crusty’s and all the tedious sickly self-referencing alone.

Ah well, at least I can save a few quid by not bothering with the rest of the franchise.… Expand

21 of 38 users found this helpful2117

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4

nutcrackrDec 26, 2015

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Going into this movie, my expectations were modest. Having just watched the entire series, anything equal or above the third episode would have been a winner.
So here I am, declaring my disappointment for this overwrought nostalgia trip that suffers in just about every area. Obviously direct comparisons can be made to A New Hope, and it is a blatant copy in many respects. But the changes, or the vapid fillers in between, are considerably less entertaining or substantial. There is no character to these characters. The General of the New Order expresses his evilness through a series of stroke-induced facial expressions. The new baddie, Kylo Ren, decides to paint the walls with his lightsaber when he gets upset, poor thing. The Silver Surfer, eer Silver Stormtrooper captain, has the approximate threat of a penguin in a cape. And the big bad is a completely CGI-rendered evil that we know nothing about (he fairs the best).
So the bad guys are bad, what about the goodies? They’re bad too. Finn chooses to express his exuberance at strange times, to force the audience into a stupor, and decides to leave and return within seconds. Rey is the slave-scavenger that manages to see her future in an older scavenger and still wants to remain a scavenger even though she can pilot the Millennium Falcon instantly and is able to best an ex-Jedi trained in lightsaber combat seconds after touching one. We could write essays about Rey’s perfection. The old heroes, though, what have they done to them? Han Solo, the man who changed the most in the original series, is back doing his smuggling thing. Leia is fortunately given just a few lines, because you can never be quite be sure if she’s about to laugh or cry. I don’t blame Carrie Fisher though, what they’ve done to these old heroes is a travesty. Luke gets just 5 seconds of screen time and a swirling helicopter shot because “ that would look cool.” Even Chewie’s lines are worn out. R2D2 remains in hibernation for much of the film because he couldn’t stand what has happened to the universe.
Not only does it manage to setup poor new characters, it actually harms the original series in the process. Our victory is wrenched from our hearts and dumped into a modernized take on a nazi party that lives on a planet-turned-deathstar. Starkiller is a terrible name, by the way. And the science behind it is so ludicrous that it hurts to even talk about it. The pain doesn’t stop there. We also get unfunny lines, either from bad timing, poor writing or bad acting. Side characters have less charm than a dead Jawa, special mention going to the yellow-skinned goggle lady that could be entirely removed from the plot and it wouldn’t matter. The only good character in the entire movie is the voiceless droid, BB8, who manages to gain some appreciation due to its perseverance.
The movie also commits many other sins, chief of which is using death as a spectacle for the audience rather than a turning point for characters or story. Many of the story turns are predictable, not just those that copy A New Hope. It even manages to have a poor lightsaber fight with Rey doing a limp-wristed palpatine stab. The fight is poorly cut and lit so you cannot see anything. The movie falls back on nostalgia in lazy and tiresome ways. There are dozens of cringe-worthy moments either from clichés or insulting lines that just make you shake your head. This is not a passionate project, its one that’s been designed by committee and it shows in every aspect. The story is not thought out nearly well enough for a franchise that demands precision. It would have been better to start anew so they could head in new directions. Falling back on older characters requires the utmost case and that has not happened here. The Force Awakens is a mammoth project that will earn billions and produce millions of new fans. Size matters not.… Expand

37 of 67 users found this helpful3730

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6

zurnzurnDec 20, 2015

"That's not how the Force works!"

Frikkin' HILARIOUS!! Seriously that line was legitimately funny, well built up and delivered. I laughed *at* the Ren temper tantrums, but *with* Han and Fin on that line. It's what I'm taking from the"That's not how the Force works!"

Frikkin' HILARIOUS!!

Seriously that line was legitimately funny, well built up and delivered. I laughed *at* the Ren temper tantrums, but *with* Han and Fin on that line. It's what I'm taking from the movie.

JJ nailed it with Star Trek but the rest has been fan-service retreads that betray a lack of storytelling prowess. It's all for effect, with no depth, nothing to pull you in. I'm just glad I didn't see the trailer, because the promised emotional weight would have gotten me too pumped to not walk out of the theatre supremely annoyed.… Expand

16 of 29 users found this helpful1613

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7

StevieGJDJan 22, 2016

While The Force Awakens is certainly derivative of the first Star Wars movie, now known as Episode 4: A New Hope, there are many things to love about it. The effects are amazing. It is wonderful that the main protagonist is a young woman.While The Force Awakens is certainly derivative of the first Star Wars movie, now known as Episode 4: A New Hope, there are many things to love about it. The effects are amazing. It is wonderful that the main protagonist is a young woman. It was a joy to see the original characters again. It ended leaving me anxious about the next film. But the main villain is weak, There are a too many Nazi overtones of the bad guys for my taste. One of the best new characters (who clearly is the Yoda of this film) is not given enough screen time or enough to do. So it is at least an inconsistent movie. The first movie came out when I was a kid and I loved it. There had never been anything like it before, ever. The Force Awakens is not that film. But it is entertaining and fun, albeit not particularly original.… Expand

27 of 49 users found this helpful2722

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1

SesshomuraiDec 18, 2015

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I don't even know where to begin. A lot of the negative reviews here are spot on. You will read the common view that this movie "plays it safe". Well, guess what, it takes what SHOULD be a safe repeat jumble of plot points from E4 and manages to make it completely boring and lifeless. It is paced wrong. Every scene feels rushed, just waiting for the next scene where something improbable happens because the plot or director requires it. Characters seem to acquire skills for complex tasks instantly. Oh, you jump aboard the falcon, get in the cockpit and moments later you are pulling complex aerial maneuvers and shooting down tie fighters? Really? One moment you're digging junk out of the sand, the next you're an ace pilot?

Nearly every scene is a copy from some other movie. Yet another death star clone base. I think its called something silly like 'super destroyer base' or something. Literally. In the first 30 minutes, stuff just happens without explanation. Han just "shows up" on the falcon in space. Gee that was easy. Just appear.
Somehow the resistance, lead by Lea, had no clue about this nearby death star pointed at them. No problem. We'll just send the rusty old falcon and about 5 or 6 X wings to take care of it. Oh, can't forget about lowering the shields first. Got to do that. And of course, there's a "bullseye" shaped cooling system or some other made-up thing that, if destroyed, would cause a chain reaction. This target is right there in the open for all to see.

In between the actual plot related events (and there weren't many), the filler scenes were pointless and distracting.

The relationship between Finn and Rey is even more awkward and unnatural than E2-3, which I didn't think was even possible. And the empire apparently has become an equal opportunity employer and ditched its fascist ways.

The stormtroopers are no longer clones, but actual humans presumably abducted. So its ok to kill them now? No one cared about killing clone stormtroopers but now they're real people, more like slaves of the empire, so we just kill them along the way. That's messed up.

I could go on, but to mad. Or maybe sad. Can't decide which. I give it a 1 for the few chewbacca lines that made me laugh. The rest was a complete waste.… Expand

89 of 162 users found this helpful8973

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0

jackreacherDec 19, 2015

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Please tell me how this fiasco of a great movie saga was destroyed and obliterated so heavily by a tiny little man by the name of J J Abrams. A Mich mach of Episodes 4 and 6 repeatedly used over and over again... Death Star as a Death Planet ! Planet Jakku as a poor substitute for Tatooine !!! And let us not forget BB8 as a shallow replacement for the now Legendary R2-D2...Oh come on !!! As someone who saw all the previous Star War movies, and enjoyed some of them, my impression of Force Awakens is mostly negative. This is by far the least original movie in the Star Wars series. There are zero surprises or suspense in The Force Awakens. Every plot twist (if it can be even called that) is telegraphed with an unusual lack of subtlety. The Force Awakens simply has none of that. Instead it has the feeling of a made-for-TV Star Wars reunion special. A big problem for The Force Awakens are its villains. Kylo-Ren could not scare a 5-year old, the store-brand Voldemort (pardon me Supreme Leader Snoke) reminded me mostly of an elderly Ent, General Hux is is a drama queen in a 1950's flight-attendant hat, and Captain Phasma mostly has the role of an obedient and disciplined hostage. Darth Vader would **** each on one of those with his little finger while drinking his morning tea gazing in the distance. If you are looking for something scary in this movie, Carrie Fisher's acting is it. Anticipating whether she will be able to keep it together in her scenes provides some nervous suspense. The battle scenes are surprisingly short and taking place mostly on earth as far as I can tell. Space is simply not a big part of this movie. I could go on and, on but you get the gist. I watched each on the previous Star Wars movies at least 100 times and they remain one of my guilty-pleasures. I am thinking if I want to continue to watch the newly made Star Wars movies, but probably each one of them just once.… Expand

62 of 113 users found this helpful6251

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0

emeraldstormDec 22, 2015

Terrible writing.. plot twists and developments that are entirely implausible and inconsistent with common sense or what was previously established. Corny, and just not a very good movie by any means. Now.. for the fun part. Ready?

StarTerrible writing.. plot twists and developments that are entirely implausible and inconsistent with common sense or what was previously established. Corny, and just not a very good movie by any means. Now.. for the fun part. Ready?

Star Wars: The Force Awakens? More like Star Bores: I Fall Asleep. Dumb movie.… Expand

34 of 62 users found this helpful3428

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1

barbariancloneDec 18, 2015

What a disappointment!
The whole movie feels like a cheap ripoff of episode 4.Fans waited over thirty years for this...and we got a remake disguised as a sequel.

34 of 62 users found this helpful3428

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2

Strelok_VSOPDec 20, 2015

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. SPOILERS!!!

Worst movie. He simply disgusting.

Why? Why did you do this story again, again ?! /
Why rebels again incredibly "lucky" ?!

Why did you choose this actor for the role of Kilo-Ren? He's a good actor, but it is not suitable for this role ..

As people who took first in the hands of a lightsaber could fight with the hero who taught the skill and power of the sword? What kind of nonsense is all !!!

You killed the saga. Just buried her. You've done the usual Disney movie about the "Beauty and the Beast."

I truly regret that I saw this movie.
2/10

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Наихудший фильм. Он просто отвратителен.
Почему Вы опять сделали этот сюжет еще раз?! /
Почему повстанцам опять несказанно "повезло"?!

ЗАЧЕМ Вы выбрали этого актера на роль Кило-Ren? Он хороший актер, но он не подходит для этой роли..

КАК люди впервые взявшие в руки световой меч смогли сражаться с героем, которого УЧИЛИ мастерству владения мечом и силой? Что это вообще за бред!!!

Вы убили сагу. Просто похоронили ее. Вы сделали обычный диснеевский фильм про "Красавицу и чудовище".

Я искренне жалею, что увидел этот фильм.
2/10… Expand

17 of 31 users found this helpful1714

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0

mnasuelliMay 18, 2016

Worst Episode Ever!!
Even Worst of the phantom menace!
This movie is a collection of pieces taken from the old episodes, linked in a terrible way. The main characters are taken directly from Disney Channel. And with all respect to the oldWorst Episode Ever!!
Even Worst of the phantom menace!
This movie is a collection of pieces taken from the old episodes, linked in a terrible way.
The main characters are taken directly from Disney Channel.
And with all respect to the old characters, it would have been better if they were killed in an untold battle!
This is an example how to destroy a multimillionaire brand… Expand

17 of 31 users found this helpful1714

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2

MadinhoDec 20, 2015

Just a digital remastered version of episode 4-6. No new story. What a shame!
Never seen a villian who is so ridiculous.
Only Rey and BB8 are positive.

23 of 42 users found this helpful2319

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2

IuppiterDec 21, 2015

Seems like an imitation of the first movie 40 years ago. It doesn't add anything to the fantasy in my opinion. To make a good movie I feel like you have to take risks and give your own vision, not repeat the same thing and perhaps filter itSeems like an imitation of the first movie 40 years ago. It doesn't add anything to the fantasy in my opinion. To make a good movie I feel like you have to take risks and give your own vision, not repeat the same thing and perhaps filter it through more modern contexts. No one did anything worth doing in his/her life by playing it 100% safe. To sum it up in a sentence: not a memorable movie.… Expand

23 of 42 users found this helpful2319

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0

MarkT2014Dec 22, 2015

It looks as if the movie producers spent more money on critics than on movie itself.
Too much humor, as if they were making a parody. Characters like Kylor Ren look totally ridiculous. Even storm troopers laughed at him lol :) I mean, I'veIt looks as if the movie producers spent more money on critics than on movie itself.
Too much humor, as if they were making a parody. Characters like Kylor Ren look totally ridiculous. Even storm troopers laughed at him lol :) I mean, I've expected this movie to be a serious heavy star wars episode. Instead it's just a fun popcorn movie. Nothing special really.

Just the fact that users gave a lower score on this than the critics should tell you something. With great movies, it's usually the opposite. I expected user score to be 9.5 - 10. There's hardly anyone who dislikes Star Wars as a franchise. But this movie was really nothing compared to the hype and pretty awesome trailer I must say.

Disappointed.

Giving this 0 to balance the overall score. Else I'd give it 6.… Expand

35 of 64 users found this helpful3529

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0

Young-JediDec 22, 2015

Talk about Lost! JJ had no clue where to go with this franchise. His solution: Go nowhere! Rehashing previous episodes is NOT creating a new episode. Honestly, what was the point of even calling this episode 7? It should have beenTalk about Lost! JJ had no clue where to go with this franchise. His solution: Go nowhere! Rehashing previous episodes is NOT creating a new episode. Honestly, what was the point of even calling this episode 7? It should have been called episode 4.5.… Expand

41 of 75 users found this helpful4134

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2

idecarvalhofilhDec 19, 2015

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Boring movie, no imagination, hard to watch till the end, so bad it makes Jar-Jar Binks look good. In the end, you have the most predictable surprise. Guess what, Jedis also get old.… Expand

66 of 121 users found this helpful6655

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1

Htaed1239Dec 19, 2015

Let me say a few things here that other reviews haven't mentioned! Apparently an old Han Solo could "time when to break out of light speed/warp" - in order to perfectly land just past the defenses of the First Order but also not crash intoLet me say a few things here that other reviews haven't mentioned! Apparently an old Han Solo could "time when to break out of light speed/warp" - in order to perfectly land just past the defenses of the First Order but also not crash into the planet. Come on now, this is fantasy, but its called "science-fiction" for a reason - its suppose to be at least logical.

How is it Kylo Ren has such a powerful wielding of the force that he can indefinitely pause blaster beams in mid air(the very beginning of the movie).... but then when he locks arms with young girl he is overpowered by her? I mean, I know he had a grievous wound - how the hell was he able to run in front of them so quickly then? Force walk?

You come to find that the "force" is now just a convenient excuse used by this movie to string the plot together and explain unbalanced character powers to get them out of situations they shouldn't be able to.

WHY is there a "map to find Luke Skywalker"... does he never leave this planet? And then when he is finally found, why is it so absolutely uninteresting? No great jedi temple, no ancient ruins - no encampment, absolutely no signs of "hiding here for decades".

How is it that the Milennium Falcon happens to be junk on the same planet as all these events - and right when they power it up and fly it after "possibly years and years" - it is found by Han Solo within "hours"? Of it's launch? Was there a homing beacon inside it which alerted him when it was turned on - why wasn't this explained in the movie?

WHY DO NONE OF THEM EVER CHANGE THEIR CLOTHES? THEY ARE ALL WEARING THE SAME CLOTHES THROUGH-OUT THE ENTIRE MOVIE. And this is what confuses me the most - how long "fiction time" does the movie actually take place over? I can't tell how many days it was - there never seems to be any "rest" - except when maybe travelling to the rebel planet on the millennium falcon - and then maybe rescuing Rey. I think its because none of them change their clothes, or ever seem to find a "point of rest", I don't understand how fast everything in the movie is occurring in movie-time.

Also - like someone said before - THIRD DEATHSTAR WITH SAME EXACT VULNERABILITY? I MEAN - you have enough construction capital to build massive planet-sized weapons but they can be destroyed by 1 common fighter ship - not once - but three times?

What the hell happened to the republic after the fall of the emperor? Did I miss this in the prologue? Why are the "rebels" still "rebels" or the "resistance" if the empire fell? Who are they resisting? The First Order? How did that reconstitute itself so quickly - and why hasn't it been challenged by anything else?

WHY did they make the bad guys so explicitly Nazi - even with the Heil Hitler thing. Its just bad taste - especially because it superficializes fascism - it takes the "ostentatious staging" - but not of the underlying passions for that in the first place. AND WHY were all the highest officers younger than 25 years old? General Hux is how old? Kyle Ren is how old? And the people that report to them are also college age?

The last thing I say - the holographic supreme leader Snoke - so they built an enormous hanger inside a star destroyer(or I'm assuming Star killer) - with all those strange ruins - just for a projector of him?

I have to say there were some really cool/creative action scenes, some really funny and cute moments - but the whole thing was soulless.… Expand

61 of 112 users found this helpful6151

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2

Legion121Dec 20, 2015

Not a single new idea, nostalgia baiting, recycles "A New Hope"'s story, and feels like it was written by a fan who misinterpreted what made the originals so good (sorry, light sabers, force powers,
x-wings, death stars, AT-AT walkers wereNot a single new idea, nostalgia baiting, recycles "A New Hope"'s story, and feels like it was written by a fan who misinterpreted what made the originals so good (sorry, light sabers, force powers,
x-wings, death stars, AT-AT walkers were not why IV-VI were good...the story and depth/growth of the characters were).

1) Spends too much time patting itself on the back for bringing back all the old cast
2) Writing for the story was so poor that they had to TELL US HOW TO FEEL during scenes.
3) Excessive use of flashy star wars stuff (light sabers, X-wings, blaster fights,...). They should watch the plinkett reviews for episodes I through III because they made all the same mistakes.
4) Felt like it was written by a fan who didn't really understand what made the originals so good… Expand

31 of 57 users found this helpful3126

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1

kmdcanadaDec 19, 2015

Unbelievable. Total copy of the old ones and no where near as good. Looked like a tv made for movie! No plot at all. Nothing made any sense.

The only good parts were anything that was not an exact copy of the first one. Should have beenUnbelievable. Total copy of the old ones and no where near as good. Looked like a tv made for movie! No plot at all. Nothing made any sense.

The only good parts were anything that was not an exact copy of the first one. Should have been called Star Wars Directors cut… Expand

56 of 103 users found this helpful5647

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0

XarxanDec 20, 2015

Plot points and general story structure re-used from past films, Rey and Kilo were both badly written and acted ( Kilo especially felt like a star wars cosplayer without the mask ) and the pace of the film seemed to been made for new viewersPlot points and general story structure re-used from past films, Rey and Kilo were both badly written and acted ( Kilo especially felt like a star wars cosplayer without the mask ) and the pace of the film seemed to been made for new viewers especially since besides the vague notion that the republic came back to power there was nothing really said about the passage of time between this and VI.

Was better than II and III though.… Expand

25 of 46 users found this helpful2521

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6

Mojodog360Jan 4, 2016

I remember having a "bad feeling about this" when Disney purchased Lucasfilm, and it turns out my fears were warranted. What they delivered is a passable popcorn flick populated by Star Wars costumes. So many things went wrong with thisI remember having a "bad feeling about this" when Disney purchased Lucasfilm, and it turns out my fears were warranted. What they delivered is a passable popcorn flick populated by Star Wars costumes. So many things went wrong with this film. But mostly it feels both forced (pun intended) and rushed. It's not hard to feel the "film production by committee" vibe going on. Character stories were shoehorned in, breaking the holy grail of writing rules: Show, don't tell. I'm sure they want to establish a lot of foundation for later movies, and maybe those will be better. But I doubt it.… Expand

25 of 46 users found this helpful2521

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3

OsixuanJan 20, 2016

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I'm going to give it a 3. There were parts that I liked, some of the cinematography was good, some dialogue, the effects. Not an out and out bomb...but...still lacking. I was really hoping for a NEW Star Wars film, not Episode IV again. And the characters, they don't all make sense to me. The new characters seem pathetically unfulfilled because so much screen time was given over to familiar faces, telling the same story as IV again. Like Finn, who decides he can't kill for the First Order. He says it in his own words, he can't kill FOR THEM. He's fine with killing. Somehow, he finds it in him to blow away hordes of his colleagues, who he has apparently been training and working with since childhood. Somehow that's okay with him, but shooting the villagers who were already shooting at him, and killed his friend right in front of him was out of the question. He's also the biggest blabbermouth in the galaxy, constantly telling everyone within earshot that he's on a super-secret important mission. Ren is a completely unredeemable nemesis, too annoying to be taken seriously. It feels like there is no real archenemy at all really. This "Snokes" is bad I guess, but who really knows what's up with that? The Storm Trooper lady in the silver armor...she's somebody, I don't know who but she exists, or existed anyway, she probably blew up and now I'll never know why she was important anyway. And how is it the rebels couldn't figure out where Skywalker was after having the map fragment that looked like an eighth of the entire galaxy "uncharted". Don't you have any astronomers? Has anyone ever looked at that huge segment of the galaxy before? Why do you need the rest of the map to figure this out, and why is your only copy of a galactic map being stored in a comatose droid? I could go on and on...3 is what I'm giving it.… Expand

19 of 35 users found this helpful1916

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0

bubba5Dec 22, 2015

I'm not sure why the early viewers were sworn to secrecy. If anyone did leak the script, nobody would have believed this nonsensical and ridiculous ripoff of a storyline would be authentic.

Good Things BB8, Chewie, Falcon Bad ThingsI'm not sure why the early viewers were sworn to secrecy. If anyone did leak the script, nobody would have believed this nonsensical and ridiculous ripoff of a storyline would be authentic.

Good Things

BB8, Chewie, Falcon

Bad Things

Everything Else

especially Kylo Ren. A three year old girl doesn't cry as much as that whiny emo dumbo eared imitation Darth Vader.

Numerous characters seemed to be added for toy sales, because they served nothing to the movie. Captain Phasma was supposedly a main character, but she only had a handful of lines in a 2.5hr movie.

Better off to watch Spaceballs, because it has more in common with Star Wars than this movie.… Expand

27 of 50 users found this helpful2723

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1

TowelzzDec 20, 2015

Damn that was a disappointment. This felt more like mediocre fan fiction rather than a continuation of the Star Wars saga. The plot and story are identical to that of A New Hope and the whole film was basically just one replacement movie inDamn that was a disappointment. This felt more like mediocre fan fiction rather than a continuation of the Star Wars saga. The plot and story are identical to that of A New Hope and the whole film was basically just one replacement movie in terms of characters. All of the old characters and their roles were replaced by the new characters in this. There was really nothing that separated this film from the others. It just felt like one giant remake of the original trilogy!… Expand

36 of 67 users found this helpful3631

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9

nahtan1244Jan 22, 2016

Star wars the force awakens was an nostalgic action packed awakening to my childhood hence the name. First off the new comers to the franchise were amazing. Daisy ridley as Rey was fantastic John boyega was excellent as finn and Oscar IssacStar wars the force awakens was an nostalgic action packed awakening to my childhood hence the name. First off the new comers to the franchise were amazing. Daisy ridley as Rey was fantastic John boyega was excellent as finn and Oscar Issac was great as Poe dameron. Adam driver was fantastic as the villain. Many people complain he was a taper throwing sith lord who could never kkeep his cool like Darth Vader could. What do I have to say to that? well yes your right but honestly who can live up to one of the most infamous movie villains of all time. I liked Kylo ren's struggle between the dark and the light side. To me It felt compelling and real and never came across as cheesy. However i do have but one gripe and that is i feel Carrie fisher did not get enough to do unlike her counter part that is the one and only Han Solo also excellently played by Harrison Ford. This movie excellently bend the old cast and new cast to make one of the best star wars movies movies sense the empire strikes back. Mr.J.J. abrhams you never fail to amaze me.… Expand

29 of 54 users found this helpful2925

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0

MadeonDec 23, 2015

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. "So this is what happens when Disney buys a franchise - Cut out the best parts of the previous parts, clue them together somehow, put a lot of state of the art CGI on top of it, then sell it as a "rejuvenation / fresh start". In fact, its just all the same stuff all over again. " Agree.

Plus I feel like it's a Star Wars for teenager. What a **** bad script..… Expand

30 of 56 users found this helpful3026

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1

mc_tarikDec 19, 2015

Bland and boring. Perhaps fitting giving our generation of formulaic super hero movies - and not the space opera star wars is at its heart. Dialogue is poor, little understanding is conveyed, characters are unconvincing and the cinematographyBland and boring. Perhaps fitting giving our generation of formulaic super hero movies - and not the space opera star wars is at its heart. Dialogue is poor, little understanding is conveyed, characters are unconvincing and the cinematography is as basic as can be. This movie also has a curious relationship with the past - references are shoehorned in with reckless abandon, but expect any aspect of deeper star wars knowledge into how things 'worked' to be violated. It frankly felt dumb.

I expect that the critical reviews will start to fade once the sheen of nostalgia wears thin - like they did for Phantom. I also expect this movie to go largely the way of Abrams' Star Trek remake. Decent for the casual fan, destined to fade to irrelevance.… Expand

38 of 71 users found this helpful3833

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3

SKDDec 18, 2015

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I was excited about this movie, but it's really disappointing.

1. The plot is a copy and paste of Episode IV. Droid is abandoned on desert planet with important plans, finds protagonist, leaves planet in Millennium Falcon. Another planet destroying "Death Star" is on the loose and must be stopped. Except in this movie, the plans aren't the weakness to this weapon. It's the location of missing Luke Skywalker. Because he's just hanging out near a cliff somewhere and can't be bothered by any of this. It's like he's a location now, because you need a map to find him and he can't move on his own. Nobody ever explains why it's a priority that both sides find Luke. As if bringing him back or killing him would do anything to influence the planet killing plot.

2. Zero character development. The two new characters have a development arc that is a flat line. I didn't feel connected to either of them. They didn't mature or flesh out their reason for fighting. With Luke, you had him go to Obi-won's hut where he was intrigued by the story of his father being a legendary Jedi. Here, the characters continue onto the next phase of the story because...reasons. The plot just demands it. Nothing else. The drama is all forced.

Finn's defection isn't very believable. Maybe if it had built up over time and he had been a part of a few more massacres, I could see that, but otherwise this feels like a spur of the moment thing. And the Sith don't have a very compelling reason for fighting either. None of the differences between the protaganists and antagonists are ever explored. For all we know, this war was over which color everyone's lightsaber should be.

3. I know this is science fiction, but this is now at the point where it is a parody of itself. Want to take off a ship at lightspeed? Sure, go for it. Why not? Want to land it at lightspeed too? Go for it. We're not even trying to add a sense of realism here. And let's suck up an entire star into our superweapon while we're at it.

4. Boring combat. The Resistance fleet consisted of 12 X-wings. That's it! And there were no Star Destroyers guarding 'Death Star III'. They show up once or twice, but have no role in any battles beyond Finn's escape. Say what you will about the prequels, but Episode III had a real space battle worthy of Star Wars history.

So to sum up

Cons:
-weak, copied story from Episode IV
-forced drama and flat character arcs
-zero political context or motivation for why anyone is doing anything
-scaled down spaceship battles to dogfights only

Pros:
-nice special effects

The unfortunate march of Hollywood to prize eye candy over substantive plots continues. There is nothing in this movie that wasn't already done in the previous movies better.… Expand

69 of 129 users found this helpful6960

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5

AdahmanDec 18, 2015

The Force Awakens is a lot like A New Hope. I mean A LOT. Imagine ANH with a female Luke, and a black Han...add in (yet another Death Star) and sprinkle it with a Darth Vader wannabe. I couldn't help thinking that I'd seen all this before.The Force Awakens is a lot like A New Hope. I mean A LOT. Imagine ANH with a female Luke, and a black Han...add in (yet another Death Star) and sprinkle it with a Darth Vader wannabe. I couldn't help thinking that I'd seen all this before.

Then you'll have The Force Awakens.

5/10… Expand

31 of 58 users found this helpful3127

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2

xxajt1Dec 19, 2015

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Alright so the simalarities between this movie and episode IV (and a little of V) goes WAY beyond good vs evil trying to blow up a big space station. Lets start from the beginning. We see secret data being handed to a droid who will henceforth be called R2D8. Storm Troopers come in looking for the plans killing many people. We get our first look at the bad guy who will now be called Darth Ren. The bad guys posse who will now be called the Fempire...ok... the Emporder take the original owner of the data hostage for questioning. R2D8 now has to trek through the desert (on a planet that is basically Tatooine) before eventually being found by our protagonist who will now be called Reuk (although Ray also has some of the role that Leia had). R2D8 asks Reuk to bring it back to its original owner who will bring the data to the Resistance (who we will call the resistance because its basically the same thing as rebellion). We have a scene where we see someone being interrogated for the data, an escape from a military ship, a chase scene where a star destroyer shoots at a smaller ship and a crash landing in the desert (yes, all of that happens in both movies just in slightly different orders). Instead of the Data being brought back to its original owner we have the Millennium Falcon being brought back to Han who in this movie takes the place of Obi Wan as the mentor who gets killed at the end by Darth Ren who he has a history with, so we will just call him Obi Han because I think that is funny. There are issues with the hyper drive and we eventually warp to a verdant planet. The giant space weapon which I'm not going to rename from Death Star because Star Killer Base or whatever is **** stupid as hell (even more so than Death Star somehow) gets its first use and destroys an important planet. We see a dangerous bar where the Emporder is alerted to the presence of the protagonist. (I think the owner of the bar is supposed to be Han, but I don't know). We have a fight with the Emporder and we see Darth Ren again. The location of the Resistance base is found out and female character is taken to the death star (out of order a little but still). At the rebel base the plans are analyzed. Friends meet (luke had a fighter piolet friend in episode IV who no one remembers that he greets at the base on Yavin) and the Death Star prepares to destroy the base. Darth Ren interrogates female main character and she resists him. Rescue operation begins for female. Assault on the Death Star begins. The assault is literally identical with the trench scene and an identically shaped weak spot that (just like everything else) has to be bigger than in IV because then its cooler. We have an encounter between Darth Ren and Obi Han where Obi Han basically willingly walks to his death. The Death Star explodes and Darth Ren (as well as Grand Moff Ginger which is different) escape. Then they go on to set up Reuk to be trained by a hidden Jedi Master Luda. Darth Ren is obviously going to be redeemed and kill mega emperor (again bigger is cooler) in the future. Some of the ordering is out of place with the Death Star rescue sequence split in two in TFA but pretty much everything else is there. There is a lot of other smaller imagery things and scenes that I'm sure I'm missing because i've only seen it once, but its there. Its the same damn movie and that REALLY makes me mad. Its not just a bate and switch for the fans, its not just a money making sham, but its lazy and safe. I would so much prefer an original script even if it wasn't exactly "star wars" that did the one thing this movie failed to do that episode IV did: Be envelope pushing and memorable.… Expand

31 of 58 users found this helpful3127

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4

PerezDCDec 19, 2015

The Force Awakens is a dumb, lazy revival of the Star Wars franchise. The film wishes to draw your attention away from its unforgivingly weak plot and characters by bashing your head in with iconic Star Wars imagery.

Throughout the ForceThe Force Awakens is a dumb, lazy revival of the Star Wars franchise. The film wishes to draw your attention away from its unforgivingly weak plot and characters by bashing your head in with iconic Star Wars imagery.

Throughout the Force Awakens, you'll find an absurd amount of plot conveniences that solely exist to integrate beloved characters from the franchise's past into the new story. New characters like Rey and Finn are interesting in concept: A self-sufficient scavenger in search of her family and a soldier with nothing to fight for. The problem with these new characters is the lack of time they're given to be properly developed. The film wastes no time in thrusting these new characters into the Star Wars universe by way of forced conveniences. How else could the film fit in the rest of its seemingly mandatory cameos within its two-hour runtime?

Compare this to Episode IV: A New Hope. The characters in Episode IV are gradually rolled out in a way that feels natural and seamless. We're given time to get to know them. We don't actually leave Tatooine until about 40 minutes into the film. Episode IV bothers to create a great foundation and atmosphere for the rest of its story. It takes its time. And so, we BELIEVE in the story. Episode VII, on the other hand, expects you to believe this story before you even enter the theater.

The Force Awakens is essentially in a rush to check off all of the boxes. "Well, we need Han Solo in the film. And the Millennium Falcon. And Chewbacca. And Princess Leia. And C3P0. And R2D2. And Luke Skywalker. And Darth Vader's charred helmet. Because that's what people want, right?"

The real problem is that this IS what people want. In that sense, The Force Awakens exceeds with flying colors. Audiences have embraced these tricks that have been conjured by Hollywood's brilliant corporate minds. It is now the norm to sacrifice originality for nostalgic pandering.

The Force Awakens is a well-made film in the physical sense. Its cinematography and direction is thrilling. The set design is as top-notch as ever. But, films should strive to touch us emotionally, and this is where Force Awakens fails. The film seems to trust that the bulk of the audience's emotions will come from the re-introduction of classic characters. To the objective, unbiased viewer, however, there is little in this film that will stir up one's emotions.

If names like Han Solo and Chewbacca don't mean to much to you, then it is likely that The Force Awakens will also mean little to you.… Expand

39 of 73 users found this helpful3934

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0

BobboDec 22, 2015

Rehashed story, plot holes, unrelatable actors, JJ Abrams; wouldn't see again. The constant barrage of flashy lights and loud noises attempts to distract from faults.

24 of 45 users found this helpful2421

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0

KTLeanderDec 23, 2015

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I dont know was it the acting or plot that was bad, but Im leaning on the plot. Plot was just horrible and the moments that the characters had just didnt fit in because the plot didnt do the ground-work for the actors. Also the bad guys are just big wussies. I tought that Anakin was bad, but Kylo Ren was not the charismatic evil I was expecting from Star Wars. Also what the heck is Voldemort doing in Star Wars?… Expand

24 of 45 users found this helpful2421

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4

marc5477Dec 26, 2015

Slightly below average overall. Not in the same league as episodes 4-6 but better than episode 1 and about the same as episodes 2 and 3.

It does not follow any written Star Wars lore but has similarities to the comic books. Instead ofSlightly below average overall. Not in the same league as episodes 4-6 but better than episode 1 and about the same as episodes 2 and 3.

It does not follow any written Star Wars lore but has similarities to the comic books. Instead of following the stories, they went on a tangent and basically created an unoriginal and weak reboot of episode 4. The problem is that the character felt shallow. The charm of the old movies is that the actors brought the characters to life, whereas in this movie it felt like they were forced to follow a rigid script. The new characters are not bad, but they just don't illicit any emotion and the relationship between the trooper and the jedi just seems forced even though it started well enough. It just moved too fast and was not believable given each characters history and the situation.

The next problem is the story is weaker than episode 4. The antagonist is not intimidating in any way and the Hitler-like character and Nazi-like angles were not as good (nor as believable) as the struggle between the empire and rebels. The sith replacements (the 1st order) are just dumb... dumb dumb dumb and their lead was supposed to be very powerful and killed off all the jedi that Luke was teaching (which is why he went to exile) yet he cant even beat a non-jedi in hand-to-hand combat sometimes. The good jedi is equally ridiculous. She basically learns everything Anakin and Luke learned over decades, on her own, in a few days and was equal in lightsaber combat to a trained jedi killer. She makes Anakin & Luke look like chumps but whatever.

Then you have really dumb stuff... A mega-Death Star... really? Is this Dragon Ball Z? They should have just followed the comic books.

The special effects were modern, though not ground breaking, and there is no Jar Jar Binks so that was good. Lea and Han needed more screen time and deeper story but they chose to focus more on action scenes (a la Abrams movies).

This was clearly a money grab. It was not horrible but it was uninspired.… Expand

24 of 45 users found this helpful2421

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1

Grubes2001Dec 18, 2015

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. SPOILERS INSIDE
Another disappointed french fan here !
Scenario is incredibly messy and exclude any form of subtelty (the fact that Kylo Ren is Han solo son is announced straight away, and he is close to call Darth Vador grandaddy at some point). Same scenario as episode IV with 0 suspense concerning the battle (no problem to walk in the bad guys station, 1 fighter can make the whole planet explode, useless captain phasma, Finn moral problems only during first 5 minutes etc.)
Rey can defeat a sith without any training, both in term of lightsaber and force mastery, which is just ridiculous knowing it took Luke 3 episodes to achieve same results.
New characters lack any form of charism and the old ones are linked in a stupid way to the plot (though Han solo/ Chewbacca save the day) or completely useless (Hello Princ.. General Leia).
Finally, production is messy, with all the usual boring JJ abrams visual effects, and even the soundtrack is **** up (new musics adds nothing, bad use of classic themes)
So guys go watch the movie and make your own opinion, for my part I will wait for the dvd to give it another shot… Expand

33 of 62 users found this helpful3329

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2

GreatMartinDec 18, 2015

We had a choice between seeing “Sisters” and “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”. I didn’t want to see the former because I know though being sold as a comedy I would cringe as Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, talented writers, directors, actresses andWe had a choice between seeing “Sisters” and “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”. I didn’t want to see the former because I know though being sold as a comedy I would cringe as Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, talented writers, directors, actresses and comediennes would tell penis, fart, vagina, crass, crude and rude jokes showing they could get as low as men which seems to be the fad among woman comediennes in movies today.
I did a bunch of calls regarding availability of seats at the many theatres showing “Star Wars” and I was surprised to find out that quite a few said ‘no problem’ so off we went.
I do believe in Santa—that should count for something with sci-fi fans—so I don’t want to get any bad marks with only a week to go. “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” is a movie 2 hour and 25 minutes long and I can honestly say I wasn’t bored for a total of 5 minutes! Seeing it in 3D didn’t help.
It was fun seeing Harrison Ford in his Han Solo/Indiana Jones mode though more of the latter than the former and having a few funny lines. I was impressed with John Boyega as a storm trooper and Daisy Ridley as a desert scavenger but there was a big misstep when it came to showing their growing relationship and they will, obviously, be in future sequels. Does the director realize it isn’t shocking for a Black man and a White woman to kiss? (That’s not a spoiler—if you don’t see that story line coming you will probably enjoy the episode of “Star Wars”.)
Oscar Iassac as a hot shot pilot, Adam Driver as a Darth Vadar junior, Max von Sydow in a cameo and Carrie Fisher in not much more than a cameo all offered something but I don’t know what! Domhnall Gleeson as a fiery General Hux acted with more facial expressions than Chewbacca (Peter Mayhem), R2-D2 (Henry Baker) or C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) but after doing some research I can’t say who ‘voiced’ BB8.
One stunner in the movie was that I had no idea what role Lupita Nyong’o played until I got home and googled the cast to find out she played Maz Kanata and that’s all I’ll tell you!
It was great hearing John Williams score but it seems the director J. J. Abrams and writers Lawrence Kasdan, Michael Arndt were following the original Star Wars films, including ‘the best of…’ from the complete series but they did forget Yoda though not the bar.
I don’t want to think I would have enjoyed “Sisters” more but maybe?????… Expand

76 of 143 users found this helpful7667

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5

PsychicGamer240Sep 4, 2016

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Despite the story being copy and pasted from Episode 4, The bad acting and the bad character development, this film was okay. I liked the action scenes, the idea of looking for Luke and theThis review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Despite the story being copy and pasted from Episode 4, The bad acting and the bad character development, this film was okay. I liked the action scenes, the idea of looking for Luke and the special effects looked amazing, but that's it.

A lot of this film didn't make sense, like we have a Pilot called Po Damron and the main villain is a giant alien called Snooke that we don't know anything about . Most of the characters are just there and you don't know anything at all.

Kylo Ren is not a good villain he has temper tantrums like a 3 year old, he starts chopping up his space ship with his lightsaber. A lot of the jokes from Finn weren't funny, as he was using them in a life or death situation.

The death of Han Solo also wasn't that good, he just got stabbed and fell for miles and looked like a piece of paper while falling, it also had no emotional impact. Even Qui- Gon Jinn and Mace Windu had better deaths.

There's no memorable theme songs, I don't even remember there being any music and that's not a good thing, because it means the music is forgettable.

I did not like the way that Mark Hamill's name was 2nd on the list and he was only in it for 30 seconds and now that Han Solo's dead they're not going to reunite there's something else gone out of the window.

Overall, the acting was not good, the character development was bad, the story line was copy and pasted from Episode 4, but however the action scenes were enjoyable, it looked amazing and I liked the plot of looking for Luke.… Expand

17 of 32 users found this helpful1715

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2

NibeloskyDec 20, 2015

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. With all the hype and buzz surrounding this film, I was a little too excited about rekindling the joys I found in the original trilogy. My expectations were not to match the original films in terms of old characters or nostalgia, but in terms of a good solid story and new characters development. After the opening sequence had finished, you are met with the usual camera panning observation of a capital ship. Things looked good - straight into the action - storm troopers and the main villain land searching for a missing map leading to the elusive Luke Skywalker. This is where we are introduced to the first of our characters, Kylo Ren and Finn. After the battle is over, we find ourselves in the grips of yet another action sequence aboard the ship after Poe is captured. Having eluded the new "First Order" and returned to the planet to retrieve the BB droid, we find ourselves yet again 2 minutes later in another action sequence almost identical to the first.

This is where this review takes a sharp turn to the dark side. The reason the Star Wars films were so successful is because the story took time to develop, and we were slowly introduced to the characters; Luke, Obi Wan, Princess Leia and Han Solo. Each one given the limelight for a certain amount of time over the first hour of A New Hope. The Force Awakens decides that character development can be made in the first 15 mins for all the main characters of this new franchise. It feels rushed and poorly delivered. In addition to the characters feeling fairly hollow was the need to jump in action sequences every 4-5 minutes without fail. Although this film is not unique in it's approach, I can't help but feel I had action sequences rammed down my throat at every opportunity.

With all the hype, it's easy to overlook massive oversights with characters and plot too. The chrome storm trooper who asserts Finn must put his helmet on is all but forgotten 2 minutes afterwards, only to reappear half way through to quickly disable the shields for the mega-death-star-planet. Are we meant to despise this character or care she is there? When the crew arrive on the leafy forest planet, we are introduced to yet another character. The small yellow goblin character felt like a Yoda stand-in, which is quickly brushed over and given little to no explanation - which is (you guessed it) interrupted by another action sequence. Why bother introducing half of these characters and putting any emphasis on them if they are gone within 3 minutes of meeting them?

I could gloss over the smaller characters irrelevance if the villain had been stronger. This is where the whole movie falls apart. The original villain (Darth Vadar) burst out to our screen in a New Hope with mystery surrounding him. Within minutes he had broken the neck of a rebellion soldier and made his presence known. With our new villain, he begins as an all powerful Sith lord whos abilities allow him to stop blaster shots and read minds. Half way through he is revealed to be the whiney teenager of Han and Leia - corrupted by the Dark Side. At this point, any mystery has gone, along with the intimidation factor (which is fairly evident in the closing fight of the movie - in which Rey manages to win, despite no training or knowledge of the force). In addition, the main First Order officer was also a weak performance in comparison to the original officers aboard the Star Destroyers. He felt more of an angry Oxford graduate rather than an intimidating Imperial officer. Furthermore, the new emperor looks like something from Lord of the Rings rather than the Star Wars franchise. I understand Andy had to do something, but this character felt shoe-horned in like the rest.

The death of a major character was brushed over within seconds, the music was average throughout (perhaps I feel bias with this opinion - I wanted more of the original soundtrack), the characters we're fairly hollow, many of the scenes had little to no bearing on the overall plot and the plot itself was based around one that has existed since the 70's. The ending was utterly terrible - staring blankly into the eyes of Luke with no dialogue whatsoever.

I am devastated writing this review, as my hopes were very high. I was lead to believe this would be a story like the originals, and a fresh start to the franchise. I feel the reasons this movie has been so highly rated is because it surpasses the huge disappointment of Episode One. However, I hope that in time, others will take one step back and realise what an average movie The Force Awakens is.… Expand

17 of 32 users found this helpful1715

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0

Lobo1973Dec 21, 2015

Zero is the score for a clone of Star Wars. No ideas, bad acting, ridiculous story development, worst characters ever. The only positive aspect is that, after this movie, also the prequel trilogy will look better. I will not pay to see theZero is the score for a clone of Star Wars. No ideas, bad acting, ridiculous story development, worst characters ever. The only positive aspect is that, after this movie, also the prequel trilogy will look better. I will not pay to see the end of this.… Expand

35 of 66 users found this helpful3531

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0

tomasithDec 23, 2015

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is my first review of any movie. But presumably the Force awakened in me, and drove me to create an account on metacritic and share my view on the latest SW movie. I grew up in the communist block, where life was grey and dull- somewhat like Tatooine. And then one day, end of the 80-s, when I was probably 2-3 years old, I entered the room where my brother watched TV. And I saw these two droids walking through the desert. And I fell under a spell. After a few years I rented the VHS each weekend, and knew the roles by heart. The love for SW was implemented into my hard, "Inception"-style, that day when I was a little kid. And then came the dark times... Of the prequels. Although Ep. III somehow made up for the previous two, like the prodigal son.And after years of waiting in anticipation for a new beginning, after a series of trailers sheding a ray of hope the force will again awaken in my heart... came this smoking pile of bull**** by Disney Inc. The first 20 mins. of the movie I was like "wow". The bad-ass Sith who can freeze a laser beam in flight?! Can obviously read ones heart (like the FN-something trooper) just looking at him?! Nice! Then it's Rey. Living on a planet like Tatooine. Just with 1 sun. And the humidity-collecting-thingos are still there (maybe they saved $ as they were left in Tunisia? and they shot that place again?). But OK- let's wait and see what happens. A droid escapes the Empire with some plan. OK- also seen this somewhere before. Two guys escape a Star Destroyer... Again- been there, done that already (just they were 2 droids). Just why do they escape in a 1-person ship (TIE)? Without any suits (there is no atmosphere in there)? OK- maybe some new design- let's wait... But there is nothing original to wait for! Half of the movie I looked at my watch, because I already seen it all! Never ever done such a blasphemy on a SW movie premiere (even if it were Attack of the Clones)! A big-*** panet-size space station (Death Star v 3.0 by Disney) built by a bunch of teenagers who are the whatever remains of the old EMPIRE (capitals, as it was grand- the entire galaxy under their reign)? The EMPIRE had problems with building a 5x smaller station. It took them years. And tons of slave work. Which the New Order clearly does not have (stormtroopers built it and know all about its build details- all weak pints- even those from "sanitation"). Entering hyper-speed in a hangar-bay with some monster on your windshield? Exiting light-speed 100m from a planet?! WTF- you serious? This is not how it was explained before! This is again some bull**** out of the canon of SW! There was a tear in my eye when Han stepped onto the screen. But when Leia came out of that ship... I though they took her straight out of an old-people's home! She could barely walk straight. Thought she will have a heart-attack in a moment! Her mimics (or the lack of any) resembled ones of a person who had a stroke. That was aheartbreaking (in a bad way) scene- Han and Leia's reunion... And the bad-*** Sith I liked at the beginning of the movie? Also a character spoiled. Why did he take that mask off like ever? After he took it off, I was sad for him. I would have given him a spanking if I were Han and Chewie, with that Indiana Jones whip or whatever artifact he had aboard the Falcon. What little sissy he turned out to be. But the movie's all "politically-correct/up-to-date with today's leftist views" so no spanking of shildren could be shown (could have been PG-18 or whatever stupid the rating is in the US- so would make less $$$). In terms of spanking: I though this was what a pupil got in the good-ol-days, when caught doing "bad things". Like plagiarism. That is "baaad"- especially in the US. And the entire story-line is a big plagiarism by JJ. He should get a spanking from Darth V. But hey- Disney (who in some way owns JJ- paid him a heap of money) owns the rights to the movie! So there is no plagiarism per se... We just f***** the fans by emptying their pockets. That what the movie is for. I would like to say I am waiting for E VIII to set it all right and restore balance to the force. But when I read an article recently in which Disney say "they're going to make a new SW move each year until the fans are willing to pay for the tickets". So i know where this is going. You give us money=we make a sh** of a movie=you have to pay to see it=we make another... A vicious circle. Why a 0? After leaving the cinema I though the personell played a trick on me and projected some amateur SW flick. So I went to see once more. I wanted to leave half way! I would rate the movie a 3/10. But I got a strange feeling Disney is paying people to give 10s on the Internet so others are lured to go to the cinema. So I give a 0 to make up for that fact. Mr Lucas: please make a fund so fans can donate to purchase the SW franchise back and make it right. You were the Master-creator! Please!… Expand

27 of 51 users found this helpful2724

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6

MooseSpoonDec 18, 2015

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This film had a lot of hype. Sadly it could nkt live up to the hype. The problem is this time the hype wasn't purely fan made. A solid addition to the star wars franchise but not without serious issues. This is essentially A New Hope with a different cast and setting

THE GOOD:
The nostalgia brought on by the original cast gives people who have seen the other movies a warm feeling. Things get wrapped up quite well and an aged cast seems to pick up where they left off

Poe and Finn had amazing chemistry. From the moment they met it was clear they would be a good pair. Even when they were apart, they were commanding of the screen. Hopefully they show up more.

Beautiful landscapes, great technology, some good battles.

BB-8. Love that droid. Figuratively.

THE BAD:

For all the nostalgia, we never see the old cast together.

Rey. A girl out of nowhere magically starts understanding jedi powers and using a lightsaber in combat against a trained opponent. While she is acted well, she is poorly written and ends up being a "mary sue" character. All her successes come off as oddly convenient rather than actual skill.

Poe and Damaron need more time on screen together.

Kylo Ren. A sith with daddy and grand daddy issues that for all his bravado cant seem to beat a girl untrained in the force or combat. While pride makes a good downfall, his roguish nature often goes against the empire he serves and inconveniences his master.

Starkiller base. A death star with multiple beams but the same relative weakness? Really? Humorous but just really convenient and overused. The problem with the old deathstar was a small port, so why not make a big port?

The resistance must be full of genius pilots. Somehow a handful of pilots can handle an imperial fleet. If that is the case, then why not just destroy the empire entirely?

Captain Phasma. I expect her to come back with a vengeance, but her character was comical and underwhelming. The leader of a military force so easily compromised seems poor choice.

The ease of killing imperial officers makes them like red shirts in star trek.

Han solo's death. I expected a better death for such an interesting character. A rogue smuggler letting his guard down for his son in a moment of family weakness. Care to explain how a guy who left his family behind all of the suddenly became a family man?… Expand

37 of 70 users found this helpful3733

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5

MrDeacon74Dec 18, 2015

I have waited years for this saga to continue ,sadly I must report that I'm very disappointed. The plot needed more work to truly grab ahold of the most die hard "Star Wars" fan. This movie is just a set up, I hope. To something much greater.I have waited years for this saga to continue ,sadly I must report that I'm very disappointed. The plot needed more work to truly grab ahold of the most die hard "Star Wars" fan. This movie is just a set up, I hope. To something much greater. JJ Abrams dropped the ball on this one.… Expand

37 of 70 users found this helpful3733

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0

RosynightingaleDec 22, 2015

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Disney has ruined another beautiful epic story by turning it into pile of tacky, unoriginal slop with a poorly written plot. It is hilarious that the newspapers who gave it a positive review, only did so because they were paid...shame on you guys. The original characters' integrity is ruined by being represented as old, and mentally rusty. The new characters represent the political garbage being shoved down our throats by popular culture. ( only the girl makes sense!) I know a lot of companies think we are blind dependable sheep now, but there are still independent thinkers out there who realize a good work of art when they see it. Star wars is a classic that should NEVER be touched. With all of the money Disney makes with its shallow tv shows and movies sexualizing our youth and shorting their attention spans, one would think they could hire a decent writer to carry on the magical vision that Lucas wrote...but our education is so poor in this country, it is hard to find someone who can speak and write proper English. For this reason, it affected the acting, it wasn't very good. As a fellow performer, if the story stinks, then the cast and the show will suffer too.The only highlights I enjoyed were the effects, the family lineage continuing with the dark and the light forces, the appropriate use of The Falcon coming back as well as some of the original characters. The huge shocker in the movie which was spilled by some jack-hole online, completely ruined the story. Anyone who values the depth that Lucus created, will see right away what utter crap this movie is. Disney must think the fans are retarded because they claimed this movie was "for the fans". This movie is to marketed to a less intelligent audience... We all know who...sigh...Right after viewing the movie, my boyfriend turned to me and said, " My childhood has been ruined". Thanks disney for **** all over this masterpiece!… Expand

28 of 53 users found this helpful2825

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4

starkitecktDec 18, 2015

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Poor writing, acting, and a lousy story ruin this otherwise fun jaunt through this Episode 4 remake. Yes, it is a REMAKE. There's a death star (I DON"T CARE WHAT THEY CALL IT NOW, ITS ROUND AND IT SHOOTS LAZORS!), there's a droid with info on it, and there's people that have to rescue other people. Its comically unoriginal and boring... except for the nostalgic throwbacks and one-liners.… Expand

38 of 72 users found this helpful3834

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3

stu471Dec 20, 2015

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Let me start out by saying I love Star Wars, I love what JJ Abrams did with the new Star Trek. I had very high hopes for this film. I also would have forgiven pretty much anything if it was just a decent movie (logical script, decent acting). But JJ you broke my heart.
The prequels were better, and I hated the prequels. Phantom Menace was yes (cringe, I really hate saying this) better than this film.
Here is why the prequels were better
1. Prequels had more respect for what a Jedi is, to a be Jedi you had to be gifted in the force and most importantly train for years to be one. In Star Wars the Force Awakens this is thrown out the window, if you all of a sudden find out you have the force you can a) resist a Sith Lords interrogation b) you know and can use Jedi mind tricks on storm troopers c) defeat a Sith who was previously a Jedi trained by Luke Skywalker.
2. As much as it pains me to say this, the prequels had better plots and better acting. The prequels had original plots that were not completely obvious. Liam Neeson had a presence that nobody in this new film had. Christopher Lee and Ian McDiarmid were much better villains and even worse Hayden Christensen was better than Adam Driver (I think I am going to cry now, I didn't think there could be a worse performance in a Star Wars film and I like Adam Driver). Adam Drivers Kylo Ren started out really good, that first scene was good, but then he proceeds to have temper tantrums where he slashes computers. As bad as Adam Drivers Kylo Ren was the worst was Domhall Gleeson, who I also have loved in other films (ex machina), his General Hux was so bad it was hard to watch. When he screemed out as the Starkiller sent out the killer beams it was reminiscent of a highschool senior giving a graduation speech. He was really poorly cast, the general of the first order should have been cast with someone with more gravitas. Just think if they had used someone like Ian McKellen, or Ian McShane or anyone older than 50. That part really needed an older actor.
3. The prequels had much better lightsaber battles. As much as I loved the new red lightsaber that Kylo Ren had and my god the lightsabers looked so cool, but no one knew how to use them. The lightsaber battles were reminiscent of watching the fake battles at a medieval fair. The last lightsaber battle scene had such potential, a lightsaber battle in the snow, think of the possibilities (snow flakes sizzling off of a lightsaber). What is worse is that they could have been better, sooo much better (Genndy Tartakovsky's "The Clone Wars" but live action).

A couple other final points
A new deathstar call a starkiller, really? How did the first order manage to hide this from the rebels and the republic for so long? Why didn't the rebels take it out earlier?
You are really going to kill Han Solo in the first movie? I know every one is following the game of thrones theme of anyone can die, but this was a terrible choice. This really didn't work, if I was supposed to hate Kylo Ren for this I didn't, I hated Kylo Ren because he was a terrible character.

Words cant describe how disappointed I am with the new film. I'm done with you Star Wars, I thought there was a new hope but my hope has been destroyed.… Expand