Are claims that its story is derivative of previous films in the franchise unfounded?
Nope. There's definitely some very obvious repetition of the events of the previous films.
Is the story, as presented, overly simplistic?
Yeah, it kinda is. There's obviously good guys and obviously bad guys and the former have to give the latter a damn good thumping before the latter commit some unspeakable atrocity that will cement their power forever. Doesn't get much simpler than that.
Does the film have other problems?
Yes. Rey is a generally likeable character but she strays dangerously close to Mary Sue territory at times. There's another character whose name I can't remember (which shows what kind of impact he had on the plot!) who is set up to be the Han Solo-esque Ace Pilot who basically vanishes from the story late in the first act and is absent until near the end of the film. The post-Empire political situation we're prevented with makes literally no sense (There's a republic that's considered to be the legitimate government, but the New Order dominates, aforementioned government can't or won't do anything to oppose them and a new rebel alliance is needed to offer any kind of meaningful resistance? What?). The villain is from the school of super-gifted whiny teens that's worked so well for the series in the past, and Han Solo's death could and should have been handled a hell of a lot better than it was. You could see it coming a mile off and it did not have the impact it should have.
And now the big one. Did any of that prevent me from having a huge grin on my face for the majority of the movie?
Hell, no!
This movie needed to repair a lot of damage caused to the once mighty Star Wars franchise by the almost universally unloved prequel films. It therefore did its best to avoid the pitfalls those efforts made and for the most part it succeeds. The political situation is never allowed to make much sense because honestly, you don't really need it to. It's backdrop at most, and who wants more endless senate scenes where cow-headed aliens debate the finer points of intergalactic law? The movie is morally black and white because the attempt to add grey areas in the prequels fell horribly flat. Our new Chosen One isn't sickeningly sweet, she's a fairly typical human being with an optimistic outlook but also a fair share of flaws that make her feel relatable, aforementioned Mary Sue tendencies aside.
For Star Wars to survive, this film needed to make people excited about it again and to love it again. It does exactly that. If you've had your heart broken by Jar Jar Binks, then this might just be the salve you need.
Delivers what it needs to
Is this the best movie of all time?
No.
Is this the best Star Wars movie of all time?
Again, no. That's probably always going to be The Empire Strikes Back
Are claims that its story is derivative of previous films in the franchise unfounded?
Nope. There's definitely some very obvious repetition of the events of the previous films.
Is the story, as presented, overly simplistic?
Yeah, it kinda is. There's obviously good guys and obviously bad guys and the former have to give the latter a damn good thumping before the latter commit some unspeakable atrocity that will cement their power forever. Doesn't get much simpler than that.
Does the film have other problems?
Yes. Rey is a generally likeable character but she strays dangerously close to Mary Sue territory at times. There's another character whose name I can't remember (which shows what kind of impact he had on the plot!) who is set up to be the Han Solo-esque Ace Pilot who basically vanishes from the story late in the first act and is absent until near the end of the film. The post-Empire political situation we're prevented with makes literally no sense (There's a republic that's considered to be the legitimate government, but the New Order dominates, aforementioned government can't or won't do anything to oppose them and a new rebel alliance is needed to offer any kind of meaningful resistance? What?). The villain is from the school of super-gifted whiny teens that's worked so well for the series in the past, and Han Solo's death could and should have been handled a hell of a lot better than it was. You could see it coming a mile off and it did not have the impact it should have.
And now the big one. Did any of that prevent me from having a huge grin on my face for the majority of the movie?
Hell, no!
This movie needed to repair a lot of damage caused to the once mighty Star Wars franchise by the almost universally unloved prequel films. It therefore did its best to avoid the pitfalls those efforts made and for the most part it succeeds. The political situation is never allowed to make much sense because honestly, you don't really need it to. It's backdrop at most, and who wants more endless senate scenes where cow-headed aliens debate the finer points of intergalactic law? The movie is morally black and white because the attempt to add grey areas in the prequels fell horribly flat. Our new Chosen One isn't sickeningly sweet, she's a fairly typical human being with an optimistic outlook but also a fair share of flaws that make her feel relatable, aforementioned Mary Sue tendencies aside.
For Star Wars to survive, this film needed to make people excited about it again and to love it again. It does exactly that. If you've had your heart broken by Jar Jar Binks, then this might just be the salve you need.