Great film, but... (read only when you've seen the movie!)

Rating: 8/10 (16 December 2015)

The greatest thing The Force Awakens did for me was that it made me feel like that little kid again. I was transported back to 1977 when I sat with my older sister in a movie theater in Amsterdam and was watching the first Star Wars film. What an amazing experience!
Overall I think JJ Abrams did a great job with The Force Awakens. Being able to please the old fans as well as the potential new ones must have been a difficult task. He cast great actors, used some excellent SFX and made a great mix of new elements and Star Wars nostalgia. The first part of The Force Awakens is great fun. In a brilliant way we see how the lives of Poe, Finn and Rey get intertwined and how they're forced into a war between the First Order and the Alliance.
Strangely, the pace of the story gets interrupted a little bit when we meet the old cast. Han Solo is the first one. Although his scenes are magical they also divert us a little from the story. Luckily things fall into place very quickly when they join forces and go meet Maz Kanata, a great CGI character played by Lupita Nyong'o. Solo plays a major role in this Star Wars outing. He gets a lot of screen time and when the movie is finished you know why. Carrie Fisher looks great as General Leia.
The bad things then. Daisy Ridley is not always convincing in her role as Rey. But she's charming as hell and at the moments she really must perform she really delivers. Well done! The new bad guy, the Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis) is a different story. He looks like a low budget Voldemort and therefor isn't quite as menacing as Darth Sidious. Why does he look so fake? Kylo Ren: he is introduced as this ruthless killer who is very skilled in The Force. He can even freeze a blaster fire in the air! Wow, he makes Darth Vader look like a pussy. But later on in the story he must fight Finn who - as a non-Jedi - has a lightsaber in his hand for the very first time. Why doesn't Ren demolish this boy? He doesn't even have The Force!
I was impressed by how Han Solo died. His fall into the fog is both epic and impressive. Although you know it will happen it still comes as a shock. But at that point you know that Kylo Ren can't be turned to the Light side: it's too soon for that. Thanks to Han's death we know that Kylo Rey will go berserk in Episode VIII.
Although the scenes between Kylo Ren and Rey are great to watch, it is strange that the girl knows how to use her Force powers so soon. 24 Hours earlier she didn't even know what The Force was. "Yes, the stories are true. All of them!" That development was not convincing at all.
With the prequels we knew how the story would end: Anakin would become Darth Vader and Luke and Leia would be separated. But now with the new trilogy it's a whole different matter. In the next chapter we'll probably witness Rey being trained by Luke Skywalker and Kylo Ren by the Supreme Leader Snoke. But what else? In this new story anything goes. Luke can be killed. Rey can be seduced by the Dark Side. BB-8 can marry R2D2 if he/she wants. And that makes this new trilogy so exciting.
In the end Star Wars The Force Awakens is the story of an extraordinary family and the one of a great spaceship. Because the way the Millennium Falcon is shown in this movie is pure magic!
Looking forward to seeing the next chapter!
8,5 out of 10