After Many Years of Waiting, This is the Star Wars Film you are Looking For...

Rating: 8/10 (25 March 2017)

Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens is directed by former Star Trek director J.J. Abrams and focuses around a scavenger (Daisy Ridley), a runaway stormtrooper (John Boyega) and the former war hero Han Solo (Harrison Ford) as they search for the key to destroying the newly-formed First Order, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill). Overall, I am a huge Star Wars fan who knows quite a thing or two about the franchise (not to brag). When I first found out about this film being under production, I was very excited, yet nervous as Star Wars films have had their bad days. Now, after two years of reflecting on the film, I think I am finally ready to get my opinion out there.
Pros: When watching this movie for the first time, I noticed that the cinematography in this was very different from the Prequel Trilogy. It gave you this feeling that every second screamed adventure and did not feel so contained and dull like the Prequel Trilogy. For example, this movie contains a lot of quick pan overs that were frequently used during the more exciting scenes. Yet, this movie knows when to stop using those when, for example, there is character development going on, which is another huge plus in this movie. The chemistry between all of these characters is great and, as a viewer, I did not dislike any character in the movie and enjoyed everyone in it. I especially enjoyed the main villain in this movie, Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), whomst I feel is very underrated as a villain in this universe. The character himself is not your tipical Star Wars villain like Darth Vader or Darth Revan, but is torn between doing good or being a servant to Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis). Otherwise, I enjoyed every single character, whether it be Rey, Finn, Poe Dameron, Max Kanata or Kylo Ren, who is a fresh breath of air for Star Wars antagonists themselves.
Cons: This film, although an enjoyable one, does suffer from a few plot flaws. Many people have been bashing the movie's plot for being a total rehash of the original Star Wars. Although the plot was somewhat of a rehash, it wasn't a bust for me at all, although I felt that it did take it to far at points. The prime example of this is Starkiller Base. This is probably one of the laziest things I have seen in a Star Wars film as it feels like a plot point that doesn't quite fit into the story itself, which focuses around finding Luke Skywalker. In other words, it does not have that feeling of importance that the Death Star had in the original Star Wars as that was a huge focus for that plot. Overall, Starkiller Base is just another lazy attempt at making yet another super weapon and is of little significance to the story. Although people may have found other cons to this movie, I personally did not find anything really worth pointing out in this review that is terrible. I think everything else was well done in this movie, whether it be the CGI or the battles, and it surely did entertain me as a whole.
Final Verdict: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens definitely brought audiences back to a galaxy far, far away in a safe, yet great way that was very much faithful to the original Star Wars trilogy. I have to say that J.J Abrams did a great job with this movie and, although making some mistakes like Starkiller Base, was solid overall and I do suggest seeing it before Star Wars Episod VIII: The Last Jedi comes out later this year.