Recommend, brilliant balance of nostalgia and modern techniques and characters

Rating: 9/10 (17 December 2015)

Anyone who says the film's story is bad or is a remake is living in the past. It is a good film with elements from the original trilogy that made them good, but it didn't remake them. It avoided possible easy story telling and did spring some surprises which were not expected or theorised. John Williams nailed the score (we all expected him too anyway). Harrison Ford didn't come across as old or worn out, he was Han Solo, not Harrison ford playing Han solo. Daisy Ridley nailed the character of Rey and Adam Driver did exceptional with Kylo Ren. Adam avoided completely changing character when Kylo removed his mask and never showed signs of cheesy villain acting. Two of my worries were: The Humour and How original characters were used. The Humour was great as it didn't come across like the characters were trying to be funny or didn't make us think that the director was telling us to laugh (if that makes sense). The use of original characters was outstanding because it wasn't a nostalgia fest where old characters took it turns to show up and not have any relevance. They contributed to the story as R2D2 wasn't in their as much as BB-8 but they both have a major importance to the story.
Negatives: The two things that made this film not perfect were two characters that disappointed. Captain Phasma has appeared a lot in the trailers and has become recognisable in marketing. However, she didn't really have much relevance and the only time she played some part in a scene, she was intimidated and controlled without fighting back. I would of liked to see some action, power and excitement from Phasma in sequels. The second negative is the emperor, he wasn't in any of the trailers but didn't play any role in the story. When the resistance were talking about the first order they wouldn't really mention the emperor. which kinda made the scene were Hux and Kylo visited him pretty boring.
Overall, I recommend (BUT WATCH THE ORIGINALS FIRST IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THEM). J.J. Abrams brings the nostalgia but doesn't make it a montage of old characters. Their isn't a dull performance and you never get to a point were it drags or you're checking the time to see when how long their is to go as it is non-stop entertainment throughout.