After watching all of the star wars installments in chronological order starting from the prequel trilogy to the the original Star wars films and now the sequel trilogy starting with The Force Awakens,
I just have this to say,
This is the third time they are trying to destroy a huge planet like battle station, I don't get why they couldn't think up any more creative issues to solve, it doesn't help if you watch the original series before this one because that's all they did in the original series.. Attack a death Star.
Speaking of which, from the Sith, to the Empire and now the First order?? This is the most shallow evil that has come up in the series, I don't even get their backstory, they just seem like anarchists with strong affiliations with the Force, summarily Sith knockoffs.
Kylo Ren simply is the most useless Sith-whatever In history, a pathetic Vader knockoff without a fearsome presence or a believable internal conflict within himself (which he is supposed to have)
Now Finns character, firstly a new method of recruitment for storm troopers was introduced, no longer mass clones of Jango Fett, now Finn was recruited but ever since his recruitment he has had mixed feelings towards serving the Order, how did he last so long within the ranks without getting spotted, even when Kylo Ren observed his behavior it wasn't taken up, aren't Strom troopers supposed to be docile and obey all commands without question?
Another thing I didn't understand with this Finn character was his attachment to Rey, how could it have become so intense after just meeting her a few times, so much so he was willing to sacrifice life and limb for her, his behavior towards her was just not believable enough, once again, I'd just have to use the word shallow, if you compare it to how Leia Organa warmed up to Han Solo, at least they gave them enough screen time to pretend to be important to one another,
Let's not talk about Finns acting which was decisively hard to watch, too many pointless reactions, it simply took away the intensity of the plot.
Speaking of acting, no one was as unpleasant to watch as the pilot Poe, Firstly I feel his character was completely unnecessary, and his mannerisms pointless as well, I wonder if he'll be Central to the plot in coming installments because his introduction into the series begs a lot of questions.
What was that female tin can that looked a lot like Boba Fett even doing in this movie?
The lightsaber battles were so boring, why did two novices spar with a supposed master such as Kylo Ren and hold their own for that long, Rey has the Force, what did Finn have? Someone trained as a bloody Strom trooper!
The director opened up many plots that they couldn't follow through, which is common in the Star Wars franchise but this one lacked closure and felt very open ended, especially Rey's backstory, and how she was derailed off course with relative ease, the same happened with Luke Skywalker when Obi Wan came to recruit him for his glorious destiny in the original film.
They killed off Hand Solo, that's a very painful development but at least he didn't go without an enjoyable performance,
Overall the movie was decisively shallow compared to any of the installments, and not surprisingly, it grossed over 2 billion dollars, that goes to show you, build a big enough franchise and people would pay to watch just the credits if they have to.
Star Wars is a beautiful movie franchise, but they have apparently given into the trend of "recent" movies lacking intensity and depth.