It's no phantom menace!

Rating: 7/10 (22 December 2015)

Managed to avoid all reviews and discussion about The Force Awakens before seeing it which was quite an achievement. Can still remember the anticipation before seeing the Phantom Menace for the first time. The trailers to the Phantom Menace were amazing, but the film was not. The trailers for The Force Awakens were far from amazing, but thankfully the movie delivers.
In addition to the familiar faces we also have a new group of characters to get to know. The empire has morphed into the First Order and the rebellion is now the resistance. Much of the film follows a deserter from the First Order Finn(John Boyega) and Rey(Daisy Ridley). We don't get to know too much about Rey's past, but sure that will be expanded on in future episodes. Unlike a lot of blockbusters there's real chemistry between the 2 leads.
The movie is action packed and fun and very much in the style of A New Hope. The only real criticism I have is that it may be a little too much like A New Hope. Anyway lets forget that and just enjoy the ride. It's fun!!