Trying to find a map to find the Jedi Grand Master, a droid encounters a young woman who takes if off planet to encounter the Resistance movement with the heros of the Rebellion.

The first half of this movie is really good, and I liked Rey. But Fin and Poe were mostly forgettable, and once the planet-killer is revealed, things started to go downhill, in common sense and plausibility. The biggest problem is that I don't buy the backstory, even knowing given what we learn about Luke in the next two movies. So much of the later dialog makes no sense, like when Huxley says the government is secretly supporting the Resistance -why wouldn't they, when the First Order is attacking their citizens?

This is not a bad movie, and the first half is actually really good. Strangely, knowing that happens in the second movie, as well as Kylo Ren’s motivations, didn’t add anything to this one, which is a shame. I am under the impression that the three movies had no common overall arc, because the first two appear to come out of a vacuum. On the other hand, all of Han Solo’s scenes were great, especially when we get onto his cargo ship.

I think the movie better lends itself to the small screen, oddly enough. Or maybe I'm just getting used to it. I liked Han's scenes the best, though Rey's growth made the film worthwhile, too.

Now knowing where this movie was going, which is basically nowhere, I sat down to just enjoy it. And I did, I really did, at least for the first half. Then the A New Hope Lite plot began in earnest, and I found my mind wandering. I just couldn't find a way to like the second half of the movie, as even if the plot was recycled, it was poorly recycled. Maybe if it had been better recycled, it would have held my interest more.

I'm torn about this movie. I was disappointed, that is certain. I thought I went in with no expectations, but it turns out that I was expecting an original story, with smart storytelling and convincing conflict resolution. Unfortunately, that did not turn out to be the case.

There were way too many elements stolen directly from the original Star Wars, and that’s disappointing in itself. That alone doesn’t ruin the movie. But combine that with the lazy storytelling, overused movie clichés, and incomprehensible coincidences, as well as all the unexplained backstory, and it makes for a difficult viewing. I don’t remember exactly when I was pulled out of the movie, as I was quite enjoying the first half.

As it is easy to nitpick and grumble, here are some things that pulled me out of my movie-fantasy mode. Why did Luke leave a map to his whereabouts, with a piece missing? And why did he give the missing piece to somebody else? Meanwhile, R2D2 wakes from standby mode as soon as the threat to the place where he is being stored is gone. The map had already been near him earlier. It's stupid that nobody knew they had to wave the thing in front of R2 to get him to wake up. He's good at keeping secrets, so why have him in standby mode? It's a good thing their planet wasn't destroyed, as nobody would be able to find Luke, then.

There are too many movie cliches. For example, the worst are that the effect of the explosion stopped exactly where Ren and Rey were fighting, so they didn’t get pulled off the cliff, and after Rey defeats Ren, they are suddenly separated by a fissure, so she doesn’t have to wonder if she needs to kill him or not, and worst of all, that the planet starts to crumble as soon as everybody is off, and not sooner. Chewbacca of course is the only one who has sensors that can detect Rey and Finn’s location. Rey is a whiz at everything, except once, when the plot needs her to be stupid, when she opens the cages on Han’s freighter instead of closing the bulkheads. Poe’s destroyed TIE fighter is sitting in the sand for hours, but only sinks once Finn gets there. Finn is not sucked into the hole. Rey had said that BB-8 would have sunk into the sand in the badlands, so it’s not a matter of weight.

The First Order hasn't learned anything from the Empire. Stormtroopers are still bad shots! Why is there no CCTV in the Star Wars universe? Even Han’s freighter had more cameras than Starkiller base.

Not that Leia is any better... Why does nobody try to evacuate the base that’s about to be destroyed? I asked the same question in A New Hope.

Regarding the weapon, there are too many stupid movie choices. How does the Resistance know that the weapon is being charged, how long it will take, and that its shields are down? I still think a weapon of that size would have multiple redundancies, so that the destruction of one part (even an important part like a regulator (or whatever they called it)) wouldn’t have a catastrophic impact. It's also pretty coincidental that the planet where Han went to meet his contact is in a location where they can look up and see the energy beam passing by, even though it is in hyperspace. (JJ Abrams has poor spatial awareness; he did something similar in Star Trek, where Spock could see Vulcan implode from the surface of a planet that was not even in the same solar system. From Earth, we could not see Mars implode if it ever happened, let alone from another system.).

However, there were a lot of good moments as well. I was really enjoying the first half of the movie. There was a lot to like, such as all the new characters, though Han Solo steals the movie, as it was intended, I think. It would have killed a sequel, but I really think Han should have grabbed hold of Kylo Ren as he was falling, in a final hug that took them both to their doom. It is yet to be seen if the sacrifice was worth it. I think I need to see it again to absorb more. Ren was fun to watch, especially as a strong female character, and like everyone else, I wonder at her heritage. Kylo Ren was worthless; I didn't like the character at all. But Fin was also fun, and my favorite was Poe, for the short time we got to see him. The visual effects were terrific, as expected, and the planetary scenes were amazing (I especially liked Ren's typical reaction to seeing all that water).

Incidentally, the novels tell a different story of how the last thirty years played out, but there are a lot of similarities. Luke starts a Jedi Academy and at different times, some of his students turn to the Dark Side. One of them goes to find Darth Vader’s burned body and retrieves his mask (Kyp Duron in Dark Apprentice). The remnants of the Empire build another Death Star-like device (Darksaber, though it is so poorly constructed that it blows itself up the first time they try to use it). They even build a weapon that can blow up a sun (the Sun Crusher in Jedi Search). At one point, Coruscant is taken over by a powerful alien race and transformed, essentially destroying the capital (Star By Star). Luke’s son is named Ben (Vector Prime), for obvious reasons (Kylo Ren’s name is Ben). Han and Leia were of course married. They had three children (Jacen, Jaina and Anakin). In Vector Prime, Chewbacca dies, and Han leaves Leia to go deal with his emotions for several months. Eventually they reconcile. Han and Leia’s oldest son Jacen turns to the Dark Side (Tempest), and tries to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather, Darth Vader. He takes over control of the government and starts imposing a New Order. Eventually, his sister defeats him, killing him (Invincible).

In the books, the remnants of the Empire develop a weapon that can travel through hyperspace (Dark Empire II). The government restored after the fall of the Empire is called the New Republic (Heir to the Empire). After a major event, Luke turns his back on the Jedi order and the New Republic for several years (Outcast). In the books, he goes away with his son Ben. The Millennium Falcon can crash several times (see the cover to Jedi Search) and still keep on going. What a ship!

I wonder how much of this is actually intentional, and how much just makes enough sense that different people can come up with the same ideas. Regardless, I hope the next Star Wars movies correct what I think is the mistake of copying too much of the original movie, and that they actually produce something original.