You’ll find few other movies that have left an impact on cinema as much as the first Star Wars (1977).  It is a benchmark film; one that changed the ways we watch the movies, changed the way we make the movies, and also changed which kinds of stories could also be told on the big screen.  Up until Star Wars, science fiction and fantasy were dismissed in Hollywood as B-movie nonsense, but after director George Lucas’s grand vision took the world by storm, Hollywood started to take notice.  And since it’s release, you can see the imprint of Star Wars in just about everything in pop culture, as well as in the broader culture at large.  No other movie ever made has been as widely seen or has touched as many lives as this one.  And it’s amazing that it all came from a desire on George Lucas’ part to pay homage to the old sci-fi serials of the past.  What started as a bold exercise of for an ambitious young filmmaker making  what is essentially a fan film quickly turned into a new mythology for the 21st century; something that I’m sure even the forward thinking Lucas probably never imagined.  Of course, when one of your projects hits the world as hard as that one did, it becomes near impossible to follow it up.  Remarkably, Star Wars has maintained relevance for nearly 40 years now, and as recent developments have indicated, it will only get stronger from here.  Star Wars became more than just a standalone wonder, turning instead into a great modern saga; albeit far from a perfect one.  As the prequels have shown, even the mighty Star Wars wasn’t spared from a downfall.

But, what the hatred towards Lucas’ prequel trilogy also proved is just how much this universe means to people, and that you can’t just lean on the fans sense of nostalgia alone.  For many years, the Star Wars franchise was leaning too heavily on the past at a time when it needed to grow.  And with the acquisition of George Lucas’ company Lucasfilm into the ever growing Disney empire, it was finally became that time.  Many feared that Disney’s purchase of the Star Wars brand was just going to be a cynical venture for the media giant to cash in on what was already there.  But thankfully, Disney didn’t intend on being custodians of the past.  They were ready to set Star Wars free.  Within days of the merger, Disney announced that they were planning on building a bold cinematic universe around Star Wars, much in the same vein of the hugely successful one that they’ve built within the Marvel brand.  And to start this off, they were going to continue the main story, picking up after the end of the original trilogy in Return of the Jedi (1983).  For the first time in over 30 years, we are now seeing the story advance and Star Wars finally looking into the future, rather than the past.  And best of all, it’s with the input of those who were there at the beginning (sans Lucas).  Screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan (who wrote the brilliant Empire Strikes Back script) was brought on board to draft this continuing adventure and cast members Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford all returned to bring life back to their iconic characters.  To top it all off, directorial duties were given over to J.J. Abrams, who also successfully relaunched that other iconic sci-fi series, Star Trek (2009) only recently.  It appeared that all the pieces were in place to make something special, and now we finally have the results of their work.  Is it everything we were hoping it would be, and a great launching off point for this new era in the Star Wars legacy?  Having finally seen it now after all that waiting, I can safely say that the Force is strong with this one.

So, what’s it about?  Without spoiling too much for those who haven’t seen it (if there’s any of you left), this film picks up many years after the events of Return of the Jedi.  The empire has fallen, but a zealous branch determined to squash the rebellion by any means has risen from it’s ashes.  They call themselves the First Order, and they’re on the hunt for the leaders of the rebellion, led by the maniacal General Hux (Domnhall Gleeson) and the mysterious Sith Lord Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), all in service to their Supreme Leader Snoke (voiced by Andy Serkis).  The First Order’s main target is the master Jedi Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) who has gone into hiding after a personal tragedy forced him to retreat.  On a desert planet called Jakku, an ace Rebellion star fighter pilot named Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) manages to secure a map to Luke’s location, but is captured by Kylo Ren and his Stormtrooper army.  Before his capture, Poe entrusts the map to his droid co-pilot BB-8, who narrowly escapes.  In the barren wasteland of Jakku, BB-8 soon runs into a nomadic scavenger named Rey (Daisy Ridley) who vows to keep it safe.  Also on Jakku is a Stormtrooper named Finn (John Boyega) a name short for his Trooper designation of FN-2817 who went AWOL after he began to doubt the ethics of his mission.  He runs into Rey, and recognizes the BB-8 droid and it’s significance.  Pretending to be a rebellion spy, Finn convinces Rey that they need to leave the planet and join the Rebellion itself, led now by General Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher).  They manage to escape capture from the First Order but are intercepted by a smuggler ship, piloted by none other than Han Solo (Harrison Ford).  And, with the help of Han and his trusted friend Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew), Finn and Rey begin their adventure across the galaxies.

Attempting to bring Star Wars back to it’s basics was no small task for J.J. Abrams and crew.  But, at the same time the movie has the benefit of following in the footsteps of the prequel trilogy, which already set the bar low.  All that The Force Awakens had to do was be good enough and fans would be satisfied.  Thankfully, this movie is more than just good enough; it’s actually fantastic, though not entirely perfect.  Any other franchise and this would be considered a masterpiece, but of course this is Star Wars we’re talking about.  I do believe that for what this movie is, it is the best we could have hoped for.  It is light years better than the prequels (that’s a given) and it brings the Star Wars series up to date perfectly.  It is undoubtedly the best film in the franchise since The Empire Strikes Back, though it doesn’t quite reach that lofty, sublime level.  There were points in the story where I felt that the momentum lagged and there were holes in the plot that left a lot of questions hanging afterwards.  Though not as problematic as the story problems within the prequels, these issues still cause the movie to feel uneven at times.  Plus, The Force Awakens does have the added challenge of trying to carry the weight of everything that has come before it.  It’s a daunting challenge considering that we’re seeing the story continue for the first time in 30 years, and the movie does on occasion buckle under the weight of that pressure.  Buckle, but not break.  This movie does thankfully hold itself together overall, and many of the structural and story issues do end up being forgivable in the long run.  It’s not a series best (running a distance behind the original and Empire Strikes Back) but it absolutely tries harder to reach those heights than anything else we’ve seen from the Star Wars universe in recent years.

What ultimately makes this movie work as well as it does are the characters, both old and new.   First of all, I would like to say that it is so refreshing to see characters worth caring about again in the series.  After watching the bland characterizations in the prequel trilogy, namely the dull as rocks main couple of Anakin Skywalker and Padme Amidala, these new, interesting characters are a god send.  I especially liked the fact that the entire first act of the movie focuses entirely on the new cast, allowing the audience to grow comfortable with their story before the old guard comes along.  I loved that they don’t start off the movie as especially crucial either.  When we first meet Finn and Rey, they are outsiders, un-connected to anything that has happened before.  Finn is a lowly Stormtrooper who has never seen combat before and Rey has lived in isolation fending for herself her entire life.  Only Poe and Kylo Ren have an already established history, and thankfully the movie devotes enough time to these new characters to make them feel both essential to this world and also distinctive on their own.  At the same time, the legendary characters are also well used here.  Han Solo is given the most amount of screen time of the classic characters, along with Chewie, and their banter is one of the film’s many delights.  It’s also great to see humor in a Star Wars movie that isn’t forced, and comes naturally out of the characters’ circumstances and personalities.  I also loved the sweet moments between Han and Leia in the film, which both helps to enrich their characters and also give the movie an added sense of nostalgia.  It’s moments like those that show exactly why it was so crucial bringing Lawrence Kasdan on board to help write the script, because he knows these characters’ minds better than anyone else, other than Lucas of course.  The characters are by far the movie’s biggest strength, which has always been the case with the series during it’s best times.

And with great characterizations like these, you need performers who can pull them off perfectly, and again the casting for the movie becomes another strength.  Special credit should be given to John Boyega and Daisy Ridley who play Finn and Rey respectively because so much of the movie rests on their shoulders.  I love their ability to bring out the personalities of the characters without making them too archetypal.  Rey is fiercely independent, but still willing to open her heart when the moment is right.  And Finn is a lost boy trying to find a better way in the universe, and his journey helps to lead him towards acting in service of a good cause.  Oscar Isaac also adds great support as Poe Dameron, making him a charismatic hero worth rooting for.  And of course, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher fall back into their iconic roles like no time has passed and their chemistry is just as strong as ever.  As for Mark Hamill’s return as Luke Skywalker, well you just have to watch the movie to see what he does here.  But, I think the best performance in the movie belongs to Adam Driver as Kylo Ren.  He makes for one of the more interesting villains we’ve ever seen in this series, and that’s saying a lot.  Whether behind his imposing mask or without it, Driver delivers a performance of remarkable subtlety that really builds a lot of fascination around the character.  There are secrets revealed about him that will shock many people in the audience, but Driver handles them perfectly and makes the character one of the best in the series by the end.  I should also mention the astounding puppeteer work done on BB-8.  It’s amazing how much personality they get out of this little robot, and he stands strongly among his peers C-3PO and R2-D2, both of whom also appear briefly in the movie.  With great characterizations and endearing performances, these two elements make this a great experience overall.

Also worth praise is the work of the director J.J. Abrams.  To say that he had a lot of pressure on his back is an understatement.  Still, it’s not like J.J. hasn’t been here before.  Abrams managed to resurrect the beloved Star Trek franchise as well, mainly by borrowing a few ideas that worked so well for Star Wars in the past.  So, it seemed like a natural step for him to cross over into this universe instead.  Overall, he handled the pressure very well and managed to make something that honored the legacy of the original, but still works well enough to take the franchise into another phase.  And it has to be said, nobody does fan service better than J.J. Abrams; at least when it’s done right.  There are several references to the past in this movie, and while some ideas aren’t quite as ingenious as they should be (seriously, you think the Empire would have learned it’s lesson before they built an even bigger Death Star) there are still a lot of elements in this movie that will make fans very happy.  I especially love the way things are introduced here that are instantly recognizable to serious fans, like the great reveal of the Millennium Falcon.  Abrams also proves his skill at staging action set pieces once again, with many of the battle scenes proving to be invigorating as well as distinctively Star Wars.  In addition, Abrams insistence on doing these action scenes in real locations with real elements as opposed to CGI green screen manipulation is a welcome return to what made Star Wars so memorable in the first place.  Overall, Abrams made a movie that feels throughout like a genuine Star Wars film.  You can honestly watch this movie in succession after viewing Return of the Jedi, and it wouldn’t feel out of place.  It’s proof that the series is back to where it belongs and it will hopefully continue to build in the years ahead.  The John Williams score helps to reinforce that as well, giving the movie that extra bit of nostalgic oomph.  In the end, you’ll be grateful that J.J. Abrams crossed galaxies to make this happen.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens may not have delivered the greatest story ever told in this series to date, but it still managed to right the course of this beloved franchise for the better, and that’s it’s greatest triumph.  Finally, we now have a Star Wars film for the 21st Century that we can honestly say is worthy of the title.  What’s especially great about it is the fact that we are no longer looking at what Star Wars was in the past, but what it can be in the years ahead.  Disney plans on not just continuing the main saga of Luke Skywalker and all his comrades alone; they want to expand the universe and tell all sorts of stories in this world too.  Already, they have standalone features that they call “Star Wars Stories” in the works that will tell the adventures of other characters that exist in this universe but are only slightly connected to the main story, starting off with next year’s Rogue One, which tells the tale of the rebel spies who stole the original plans of the Death Star, before the events of the original film.  After seeing the results of The Force Awakens, I can’t wait to see all the expanded universe adventures that are coming our way.  Finally, we are seeing the world of Star Wars unleashed and no longer tied down by the weight of it’s own legacy.  Truth be told, it is sad that for this to happen, control of the franchise needed to be taken away from it’s original creator, George Lucas, but at the same time he himself has stated that he enjoyed the new film too, even if it deviated from his original intention.  A lot of praise will be justly given out to J.J. Abrams and the stellar cast for pulling this off, and I’m sure that whatever I say in this review won’t matter in the end.  Most of you are going to see it anyway, because it’s Star Wars reborn and brought back to the light side.  I’ll leave by just saying that despite some minor story flaws, this will be one of the best movie experiences that you’ll have this year at the movies and it only makes me anxious to see what comes up in the next episode.  May the Force be strong with Star Wars for many years to come.

Rating: 8.5/10