Last year, Star Wars: The Force Awakens was a box office sensation that unseated James Cameron‘s Avatar and Titanic at the domestic box office. And while Cameron has acknowledged the success of the latest Star Wars film, he doesn’t seem to be very impressed by the movie itself.

Via Entertainment Weekly, Keely Stinner‘s interview with Cameron on YouTube is drawing a lot of attention because Cameron went on the record about The Force Awakens. “I have to say that I felt that George [Lucas’] group of six films had more innovative visual imagination, and this film was more of a retrenchment to things you had seen before and characters you had seen before. And it took a few baby steps forward with new characters. So for me the jury’s out. I want to see where they go with it.”

Cameron noted that he has respect for J.J. Abrams and he’s clearly trying to be diplomatic. But the implication of his comments is that The Force Awakens lacked “innovative visual imagination.” One thing to keep in mind is that as a director, Cameron has a different perspective than the majority of moviegoers. In other words, he’s looking at things that most people wouldn’t even notice.

And should anyone think that Cameron is simply upset at having his records broken, he prefaced his comments by citing the original Star Wars movie as one of the primary reasons that he pursued a career in cinema.

Do you agree with Cameron’s assessment of The Force Awakens? Use the Force, and share your thoughts below!

Star Wars is way better than Avatar, and we have facts about the next one.

Image: Lucasfilm/20th Century Fox