Great return for one of the best series

Rating: 8/10 (23 December 2015)

Star Wars has just burst back into life again, bringing with it new faces and old and a story that although familiar, is still epic. J. J. Abrams brings us back into the galaxy far far away and makes more than just a good little movie; he makes a great and massive film, filled to the brim with stuff to just simply enjoy. Now I'm not going to write this and pretend this is perfect, it has some mistakes I felt but they aren't massive really at all and in the big picture, this is very good indeed. The plot brings us new characters like Rey and Finn, Poe and BB-8 but then also those like Han Solo, Chewie and the Skywalker siblings who altogether make this a lovely experience to behold after so many years.
For me the first thing to really start to talk about properly is Abrams, the guy directs and co-writes this and really makes a very decent job of creating something we can all enjoy. I did feel maybe this could have done with a little more of a refreshing story, it hardly brings us a plot that is so original it's amazing, and yet even if it treads ground that isn't breaking at how good it is, it is still a hell of a ride in the mean time. The film of course has its good v bad element that all have become used to, obviously many films have a battle between the two but Star Wars has always made it feel different, this time being no exception.
So do the actors of old return in true legendary fashion, well pretty much yes actually, especially that of Harrison Ford as Han who yet again makes the role one to enjoy. There are plenty of scenes that hark back to the good old days of IV through to VI and mostly done in ways where in close dialogue they mention things from the past, something for the fans me thinks. You cannot miss out the new kids on the block here, Daisy Ridley and John Boyega who really lead out the procession of new people coming into the franchise and in a style where they don't feel overshadowed by the original cast. Boyega and Ridley feel right in their respective roles, they feel like they have always been characters in Star Wars, the film develops them into full blown pros by the end of it. Oh and I nearly forget to mention this guy, Kylo Ren of course played by Adam Driver who is pretty evil (sorry, lack of a better word), not going too much into the plot but although you might think before the film he won't be as good a villain as Vader, by the end credits you will see he competes with Darth Vader on quite a few levels.
I'm very happy they have brought Star Wars back, even if this is the seventh instalment it still needs this because Star Wars is just one massive thing that has countless potential stories to tell. Abrams truly starts things off for the new movies well, he doesn't start it off in a most perfect of perfect ways but I don't think anyone cares if this isn't 100% bang on; it is still a very good and great movie. Look out for the cameos in this movie, sometimes it's a case of knowing where to look or listening to the voice but quite a few familiar faces show up and it only goes to show how massive this movie and the franchise it belongs to is. Overall The Force Awakens is one film that betters the films directly before it and comes within reach of the first two of the originals which leads me to think that Star Wars films coming out in the future have a bright horizon.