12 Reasons Star Wars: The Force Awakens Is A Disappointment

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.