12. It Feels Incredibly Rushed
On one hand, The Force Awakens’ 135-minute run-time flies by in an instant, but that doesn’t strictly mean it’s a well-paced film. In fact, if anything, Episode VII is too breathlessly paced for its own good, fleeting from one character and set-piece to the next so speedily that we’re not often allowed to soak in the individual moment or understand why a character is behaving the way they are.
Former stormtrooper Finn’s abandonment of the First Order, for instance, seem all too sudden in act one, and the development of Rey’s force powers also comes about way too quick. These character beats can’t keep up with the overall forward-momentum of the planet-hopping plot, and before you know it, we’ve arrived at the final assault on the Starkiller Base, which similarly just doesn’t feel built-up enough and a little out of nowhere.
It must’ve been absolute hell writing and editing this film, but even so, it could’ve done with a little more in terms of expansive dialogue and quiet moments where the audience can just breathe it all in.
11. The Plot Is Too Reliant On Convenience
It’s not exactly a new problem for the franchise, but the new movie is so openly propelled forward by convenience and even contrivance that it’s hard to buy that this sequence of events could convincingly link together.
One character does one fairly ridiculous thing which leads to another, and introduces them to this character, who leads them to this guy, and so on and so on. Some of the most memorably implausible and convenient moments include Rey not selling BB-8 for food portions because she vaguely humanises it, Han and Chewie meeting up with Finn and Rey, Rey’s ridiculously fast assumption of the Force, Poe Dameron returning out of nowhere at a pivotal moment, Finn surviving a lightsaber strike that would probably kill anyone else, the ground breaking away and separating Rey and Kylo Ren mid-battle and probably much more.
Sure, plenty of fantastic movies are ridiculously convoluted (The Dark Knight, The Avengers and Skyfall,), but the movie isn’t just a series of unlikely events linked together, it also verges on deus ex machina at times (especially regarding Rey’s force abilities), and reeks of lazy writing rather than Lawrence Kasdan attempting to fashion something complex.
It doesn’t sink the movie by any means, but it definitely impacts its narrative integrity.
10. Poe Dameron Feels Like A Third Wheel
Though The Force Awakens’ strongest suit is arguably its characterisation of Rey and Finn, the third protagonist, legendary pilot Poe Dameron, feels a little underserved by comparison.
He has a significant part early in the movie as he’s kidnapped and Finn helps him escape, then he disappears for a lengthy portion of the film after the TIE Fighter crashes and reappears later in an X-Wing, during which time Rey and Finn get decidedly more time to develop as characters.
Considering that Poe was marketed as the third protagonist, he feels much more like a supporting character than any of the original trilogy characters, a likeable presence no doubt, but one whose absence was very noticeable.
9. Captain Phasma Was Hyped Up For Nothing
One of the most-hyped characters ahead of Episode VII’s release was Captain Phasma, the incredible-looking, chrome-coloured stormtrooper who appeared to be evoking a Boba Fett vibe, and is played by Game Of Thrones’ bada** Gwendoline Christie.
Though Christie seems great in the role (her voice is fantastic), the character as a whole is rather underwhelming. Her screen time totals maybe 10 minutes, and she doesn’t really get to do much in terms of bada**ery throughout.
While she’s already confirmed to return for Episode VIII (meaning that she wasn’t killed when sent to the trash compactor), it’s a pretty limp start to the character, and hopefully something that will be rectified next time with some truly awesome and terrifying feats.
8. There’s Too Much Homage, Not Enough Originality
The Force Awakens was always going to lean to an extent off the original trilogy, and considering that the movie features many original cast members and locations, why wouldn’t it?
That said, the line between homage and rip-off has to be drawn somewhere, and much like J.J. Abrams’ previous film Star Trek Into Darkness, it often feels like the references to previous movies border on excessive.
Many have noted that The Force Awakens at times feels like a remake of A New Hope, and they’re not wrong: rather than branch out into new territory, the plot recycles a ton of beats from ANH (the Death Star-like fortress with one tiny weakness, the droid carrying an important document etc) and even other original trilogy movies (a bad guy being a relation to the heroes for one), which is rather disappointing.
Though the film isn’t without its surprises, for the most part it plays things too safe, even if after the controversial prequels it’s somewhat understandable.
7. Starkiller Base Is Totally Underwhelming
A New Hope had the Death Star, Return Of The Jedi had the Death Star 2.0, and The Force Awakens has the Starkiller Base. It’s an awesome name and all, but it doesn’t really live up to the iconic quality of the previous fixtures, in part because we’re not shown around much of it, and it just feels like retread: the same idea, but just bigger (because apparently nobody learned anything from the last two being destroyed).
There’s the clear desire to make it this iconic structure, but it really just seems “there” without much fanfare. While you can probably visualise the hallways and make-up of the Death Star, you probably won’t be able to do the same for this base: it just doesn’t feel like they put as much effort in to making it memorable.
With it being destroyed at the end of the movie, hopefully Episodes VIII and IX won’t just come up with yet another one.
6. Supreme Leader Snoke’s CGI Is…Not Great
Much was made pre-release of Abrams’ insistence upon using practical visual effects over computer-generated ones, except where this simply wasn’t possible. As such, the film has very few CGI-animated creatures, and though most of them are superbly handled, there’s one who sticks out like a sore thumb: Supreme Leader Snoke, as performance-captured by Andy Serkis.
His gigantic hologram creature is easily the most blatantly CGI aspect of the film, his face in particular feeling like it would fit in quite well with George Lucas’ prequels. It doesn’t mesh particularly well with everything around him, which is extra disappointing considering that Serkis completely inhabits the role and deserves a more imaginative and convincing representation on screen.
Given that Snoke is presumably the Big Bad of the new trilogy of movies, Disney really need to get to work on making him look less obviously fake for future films, or we’re gonna have a problem here.
5. Original Trilogy Characters Appear Just For The Sake Of It
In much the same vein that the movie is both rushed and leans too heavily on the original trilogy, it also seems almost obliged to include characters from those beloved movies even though the script doesn’t really call for it.
As such, we get perfunctory appearances from a ton of supporting characters such as Admiral Ackbar and Nien Nunb among others, who get barely seconds of screen time each and therefore just feel half-a**sedly thrown in at the last minute to up the already fierce nostalgia factor (not that their parts in previous movies were huge).
It’s not that these moments are bad, but it just seems a bit lazy and fan-servicey to re-introduce them without giving them much meaningful to do.
4. The Biggest Moment Is Ultimately Glossed Over
There are a number of iconic, intense moments in the movie, one in particular of which is going to be a major talking point for fans: the death of series veteran Han Solo at the hands of his son, Kylo Ren.
It’s unquestionably a brilliant moment, arguably the best in the entire film, but the followthrough just isn’t quite there: we don’t really get to see the characters react in a believable way to it, and by the time the film ends, it feels suddenly forgotten. We get to see an angry Chewbacca and a few shots of a forlorn Leia, but that’s it: it feels like this one was trimmed down massively in the editing room for time constraints.
Yes, there’s a lot to cram in, but again, this goes back to it feeling rushed: after this scene happens, we need some time to soak things in before anything else happens, but instead the film quickly races onto the next scene, and it’s immensely frustrating. Given the implications it has for the series, it deserves to eat up a little screen time, even if it meant the film wound up being 140-150 minutes.
But perhaps Abrams had a contract with Disney which forbade it being longer than a certain run-time, given how that could affect the box office and all…
3. John Williams’ Score Is Just OK
Star Wars fans were practically convulsing with glee when legendary composer John Williams was said to be returning to score Episode VII. Sadly, though he does a perfectly fine job with the music, there’s just nothing especially memorable about it while you’re watching it, and it could easily have been a hired gun simply attempting to ape Williams’ style.
Leitmotifs from previous films are used fairly frequently throughout to good effort, but in terms of original compositions, there’s nothing that’s even a patch on Duel Of The Fates from the Phantom Menace (that movie’s one true trump card). Perhaps opinion will improve when listening to the score in isolation, but as it’s incorporated into the film, it’s merely decent rather than the mind-blowingly emotional symphony we were all hoping for.
2. A Ton Of Actors Are Wasted In Nothing Roles
When you’re able to audition for a part in a Star Wars movie, you’re damn right that you do it: who could say no, no matter the size of the part? Even so, it feels like a ton of famous faces and talented actors were wasted in minuscule roles here, including Max von Sydow, Ken Leung, The Raid cast members Yayan Ruhian, Iko Uwais and Cecep Arif Rahman (alright, talented martial artists…), Greg Grunberg and, as mentioned, Gwendoline Christie.
Yes, it’s terrific for Abrams and the movie that he could get name actors to fill even the tiniest roles, but at the same time, when you cast a performer of von Sydow’s caliber in particular, you sure as hell use him for something important rather than a random village elder who says a few lines of dialogue before being murdered by Kylo Ren. Like so many others, he appears and disappears in a flash of indifference.
1. The Ending Is Extremely Frustrating
Audiences the world over have been left groaning by the manner in which the movie concludes. It’s immensely unsatisfying and only partly in the way that, say, The Empire Strikes Back was with its immense cliffhanger: it feels like Abrams was so committed to bleeding out the mystery that he has ended TFA on a fairly incomplete note. It feels like there should be at least another few minutes to make the first step in this three-act arc feel finished.
The moment sees Rey attaining the final part of the map to Luke Skywalker’s location and heading there, at which point she finds an older Luke wearing a cloak, and as she holds the lightsaber out to him, the movie just… ends.
Some will naturally love it, but even those who stand up for the film may find themselves frustrated by how it concludes. It could’ve gone a little further and still provided a perfect lead-in for Episode VIII, but instead, it just feels kinda empty and tailor-made to annoy. Couldn’t we have had a brief moment of talking between the two, even just a few lines to tease what’s ahead?
12 Reasons Star Wars: The Force Awakens Is A Disappointment
