I’m not saying Star Wars isn’t good. It’s fun, it’s colorful, and it’s humorous. It has adventure, character and action.

But it does supposedly outright steal ideas from Flash Gordon and such; the Force is only barely fleshed out; neither of the two major antagonists (Tarkin and Vader) are given much backstory, besides Vader having killed Anakin; and the Empire is oppressive, fear-mongering and violent, as a means unto itself.

It’s an adventure. It’s fun. It’s cool. And I’ve watched it dozens of times. But on its own, it’s not particularly deep. Now that I think about it, most of the depth belonging to the film is brought about through the character of Ben Kenobi–this old wise, inconspicuously powerful sage.

That’s why people like Empire Strikes Back so much–because it adds so much depth to the characters and the world around them. Then Return of the Jedi turns right around and is another classic adventure flick with a predictably happy ending.

The Force Awakens certainly has more depth than A New Hope. Rey’s backstory is more of a mystery than Luke’s; Kylo Ren’s unstable volatility makes him a deeper, more layered character than Vader; and there is a wider array of major and minor protagonists, given that the original ones reappear.