Well, coincidences are just fate. It's what the whole thing is. That's like saying "man, that Harry Potter guy, everything keeps happening to him, that's a lot of coincidences". That's just what the genre is.
I don't buy that the force is a free ticket for plot contrivances. Attack of the clones was a good movie that got by with a plot that made sense despite having the force.
And Harry potter doesn't have a lot of these kinds of coincidences - at least not the books. There are a few, but nothing to the degree of this movie.
Well, Attack of the Clones is actually a perfect example for how overrated plot is. Attack of the Clones has a good plot, and not much else (well, Christopher Lee). TFA has a shakier plot, but is a much better movie overall.
Okay - why is TFA a better movie, then?
I also think AOTC has more interesting characters and themes.
TFA has much, much better acting. It has stronger characters, partly as a result of that : yeah Rey isn't inherently that interesting, but she's charismatic. Anakin is theoretically a very interesting, but doesn't work in practice, especialy in AotC.
I'm a bit biased when it comes to acting, because I was unfortunate enough to see the new starwars movie in german, and I'm so used to seeing movies in their original language that almost every line in the dubbed version is usually cringe worthy, and this was no exception. I don't think the acting in AotC is particularly good, so you might be right.
I think Anakin works well. He's not likable the way the girl in the new movie is, but he's interesting, and his place in the story is interesting. I see him as a not very bright, arrogant, but also gifted guy, while everyone else is much smarter than him, and is also aware of his flaws (even his love interest), but they're all torn because of the prophecy and because he's skilled and they would like to trust him. And it really does feel like a serious problem that intelligent people try but fail to solve. I thought that was by itself a better conflict than anything in TFA.
Also,
the attack on the death star in the new one is basically, here is this GIGANTIC WEAPON THAT CAN SWALLOW SUNS AND OBLITERATE ENTIRE SOLAR SYSTEMS, and we will spontaneously launch an attack to destroy it in exactly the same way as we did the death star in episode IV... which we basically know will work, so the stakes are non-existent. At least episode IV made it feel like a big deal.You should watch the movie, then.
No.
Why not?
Because it takes time and I'm pretty certain it's not going to be worth that time.
Honestly, if you really like coincidences, I think the movie is worth watching, because it is pretty, has likable albeit uninteresting characters, and good fight scenes.