If you’ve followed this blog for any length of time, you know my feels regarding Star Wars (the 1977 film) and the phenomena that is Star Wars and its many iterations (you can read some of my thoughts here and here).

In short: I was 11 years old when the original Star Wars was released, I went to the theaters eager to see it and within the first few days (if not week) of its release, was surrounded by an army of fellow very young boys and girls who yelped and screamed and clapped and loved every second of the film…

…yet the movie left me curiously unmoved.

Understand, I didn’t hate what I saw, I just couldn’t get into it.  At all.

So unmoved was I that I didn’t see Empire Strikes Back when it was originally released and didn’t catch it until it aired on TV a few years later (I thought it, like Star Wars, was “ok”).  I did catch Return of the Jedi when it was originally released and had a more positive reaction, most likely due to the cycle race through the forest, which I thought was exciting as hell.

I caught the “prequel” films after they reached home video and, like most, didn’t think all that much about them.  Some great effects but a muddled (and, in my opinion, unnecessary) story told over too many films.

As should be obvious, I don’t go out of my way looking for Star Wars material but, being a fan of sci-fi in general, knew I’d one day see Star Wars: The Force Awakens (it was originally touted as Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens but slimmed down and, to save on typing, I’ll refer to it as SWTFA from now on) and that day came yesterday.

Reviewing the film, at this point, feels almost pointless.  Everyone (but me until yesterday) has seen the film by now and have opinions about it.  The movie is generally well-regarded, though there are those who question certain aspects of it, which I’ll get into below.

In brief, the movie was for me an enjoyable enough romp with charismatic actors in the lead and a story which…well…wasn’t all that good.

The movie features a story that is consciously “inspired” by the original Star Wars and, to many, this is the movie’s primary problem.  I can’t disagree.  While the original Star Wars was indeed a pastiche of other movies, SWTFA was obviously an echo of that original film featuring both old and new castmembers.

Of the new characters presented, I was very impressed with Daisy Ridley as Rey, the sorta-kinda Luke Skywalker-esq character whose background is hinted at but ultimately never fully revealed, though it is implied she has a familiar lineage which may go back to Luke Skywalker himself.

The movie’s first half hour or so was, to my mind, the best part of the film.  We’re introduced to all the main new characters (including John Boyega as Finn, a Stormtrooper deserter, Adam Driver as the Darth Vader-esq Kylo Ren, and Oscar Isaac as the hotshot rebel pilot Poe Dameron).

When Rey and Finn get together and are forced to run away from the First Order (the name of the remnants of the Empire), it was a genuine thrill, even to this non-Star Wars fan, to see on what they made it out of the planet.

Unfortunately, their escape, the high point of the film IMHO, was followed by a wave of coincidences/family relations that stretch the story to its breaking point.

Immediately after Rey and Finn’s escape, Han Solo (Harrison Ford returning to the famous role and not looking all that bad, though his story arc proved disappointing in the end) shows up like really quickly.  His too-quick appearance suggests a universe that is very small indeed.

Later we find Kylo Ren, the movie’s main villain/Darth Vader surrogate, is Han Solo/Princess Leia’s son.  Rey, it is strongly hinted later on, may be part of the Skywalker bloodline which makes her coincidental ties into the story hard to swallow.

I grant you some of these same coincidences worked their way into the original Star Wars films, but many of those coincidences came after the fact (I strongly suspect Darth Vader was considered Luke’s father only when Empire Strikes Back was made and, based on the original cut of Star Wars, Luke clearly had the hots for Leia and the brother/sister relationship was also a later add-on).

Anyway, getting back to SWTFA, tying the various characters together is -stop me if you heard this before- a droid with important information (a map, as it turns out) hidden within it.

Oh, and there’s another “death star” out there, this one bigger than the one in Star Wars and Return of the Jedi and our heroes have to take it out.

Yeah, not the most original of story-lines.

While the original Star Wars is considered by many a “classic” (though it remains perhaps the only high profile film out there we cannot legally see the original theatrical cut of), I suspect SWTFA will never quite reach that lofty level.

At best, the film is a pleasant diversion that works as long as you don’t take too critical an eye on its all-too familiar (and at times preposterous, given the coincidences) story.  The characters, old and new, are likeable and director J. J. Abrams does a good job emulating George Lucas’ style even as returning screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan et al decided to simply cut and paste story ideas.

In the end, I recommend the film, most especially to those who, unlike me, really really love Star Wars.  To the rest, your enjoyment will depend on how bothered you are by the story presented.

One last point: How in the world could they spend big bucks on making this film and bringing back the original cast yet couldn’t figure out a way to have at least one scene where Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Princess Leia were in the same frame?!

Incredible wasted opportunity.