Review of Star Wars: The Force Awakens

I was interested to see how someone other than George Lucas would handle the Star Wars franchise, the results are to me a mixed bag, but overall I found it less painful and more entertaining to watch than any of the prequels

The issues I had with the film have to do with borrowing too many themes from A New Hope, and some CG characters like Maz and Snoke, which I didn't find very convincing, or just strange to look at (Maz looks like a the child of a minion and an orange, Snoke just looks completely CG) they probably would have been better realized a real actors.

I felt no real need for Starkiller base, which is painfully obvious as another Death Star, with the rise of the First Order and Vader obssesed Kylo Ren, there should have been enough of a plot for Leia and Ren to both be trying to find the missing Luke Skywalker, with Rey, Han, Finn, Poe and the First Order all getting caught up into the mix, without the need for another type of Death Star...a lazy, and unwelcome addition to the story.

Depending on who Rey is the daughter of, it will either make her a Mary Sue type character, or it could make more sense depending on explanation in 8.

All that aside I generally enjoyed the energy, new characters, adequate acting, and came out feeling more positive than negative about the film, despite how barrowed and somewhat unoriginal Kasdan and Abrams where at times with the story.