What a comeback!

Rating: 9/10 (29 February 2020)

It's not difficult to see why Star Wars was dying. The prequels were never going to capture any child's imagination in the same way as the originals - full of wooden characters, trade negotiations and uninspired cgi overload. There were features of interest, but Star Wars was on the edge of death.
Episode VII however relaunches the franchise with style, breathing new life into it. Our new lead characters are instantly engaging and likeable: Rey (Daisy Ridley), Finn (John Boyega) and Poe (Oscar Isaac) are charismatic and inspiring (in all the ways Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman weren't).
The story is fast paced and exciting, showcasing a galaxy far far away without overdoing it. It's basically the plot of a New Hope but on a bigger scale but this keeps things safe and there's enough twists on the story to keep it fresh and exciting.
The only real weakness is the villains - shouty holographic Snoke is about as far from scary as you can get, General Hux is the least threatening villain yet, and Kylo Ren.... oh dear. He had me intrigued for the first half, but once the mask was off and it was revealed we were dealing with a whiny emo teenager, it's just impossible to take him seriously. At the very least, Adam Driver makes something of it and we at least get some actual acting rather than Anakin whining about sand again.
The strength of the film is in its heroes though and our three new leads are joined by some old friends too. Seeing Leia, Chewbacca and C3P0 (if you recognise him) is great, but the real star of the film is Harrison Ford - Han Solo's swansong is a worthy one and his death is possibly the saddest scene in all of Star Wars.
In short, JJ Abrams' vision of Star Wars is just too cool and exciting to ignore, and with this film he just saved an entire franchise.