The beginning.

Rating: 10/10 (10 November 2019)

Pretty much flawless, in my little journey watching all the 6 star wars movie in a row as an adult this one as of writing this review is almost flawless. A perfect introduction into the Star Wars universe, with so much universe exploration, droids, all the different types of creatures and races, characters, the design of the world and most not to be forgotten the music. From the addicting music in the Cantina to the epicness of the destruction of the death star.
That said the movies has a few shortcomings. Namely the very underwhelming saber duel and combat between Kenobi and Darth Vader, it is especially underwhelming when you've seen the prequels and their story. Aside from that Darth Vader's escape was a bit odd, it happens so fast if you blinked you might've missed him ''bouncing'' off the death star. Old Ben's sneaking through the death star also went on for a little longer than needed, it didn't really manage to build up the confrontation at all with his old apprentice. Also Luke's response to seeing his step-parents burned to a crisp should've evoked a much more visceral response in my opinion, it's almost as he's more letdown than sad.
But really, besides the positives mentioned above, the movie just works so well because the acting is grounded, its so well done, and the characters have such a great synergy with each other, something that was completely missing in the prequels besides a few isolated moments. It made it so much more enjoyable to watch, the snarky responses, the banter. Whereas in the prequels this comes over as cheesy, it comes over as quirky and fun here. And this is me saying as someone who is in his twenties, not having been at the original release. I grew up with the prequels and I still like them to this day.
In addition I found the directing and cinematography much, much better than any of the 3 prequels. ANH has some gorgeous shots. The CGI as well, how does ANH manage to have better CGI the 20+ year older prequels. There's obviously a lot more practical use in the OT, but the CGI that there was wasn't offputting. The only one that pushed it a bit too much was where Han was talking with Jabba. Because you get the sense of him just talking to nothing.
The droids were fantastic in this as well, I never remember them having this much focus in the movie, especially the start. And I forget how mean C-3PO was to R2 all the time heh, loved the snarky responses.
All in all I was a bit afraid the hype and influence of this film would kill this movie for me, I only saw snippets of it as a kid and never really fully watched it until now. I grew up with the prequels and those were just amazing for a young viewer. But I can't wait to continue the OT and finish it. This was a fantastic start.