It's finally here! After decades of waiting for someone to make Star Wars good again, The Force Awakens is here! Yet while the cast and crew have done a solid enough job with the basics, it definitely falls down in a number of key areas despite the rapturous reviews. Yes, Harrison Ford is amazing in it and some of the new characters are absolutely terrific, but the film also has a fair amount to apologise for, from its unambitious, even lazy screenplay, to bizarre technical flourishes and the blatant misuse of certain characters. Bear in mind that major spoilers will follow, so if you've not been lucky enough to check the film out yet, you will definitely want to steer clear of this for now. Here are twelve reasons the world's biggest movie, Star Wars The Force Awakens, is a disappointment...
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.