Flawed But Still Great.

Rating: 9/10 (18 December 2015)

I've been a Star Wars fan my whole life. Loved the original trilogy and didn't hate the prequels as much as everyone else seems to. But I was really hoping we wouldn't get anything like them again. And we won't. Star Wars: The Force Awakens was great.
Was the film flawed? Absolutely. Was it still the most entertaining thing I've seen in theaters? Absolutely.
A lot of the gripes I see in the film are over the fact that "OMG it's episode 4 recycled!!!1!". Yes there are a LOT of similarities. These are some of the biggest flaws. But I think people need to realize that this isn't a bad thing- in fact I much prefer that to what we got with the prequels. I think this film did it better than A New Hope with great writing and directing, which is something new to the Star Wars universe honestly. Abrams did this film as a love letter to fans. Thereis a lot of old stuff we loved in the original and a LOT of great new stuff too.
The acting was on point as well. Everyone should be in awe about how great John Boyega and Daisy Ridley were. Especially Daisy Ridley- she stole the show. BB-8, Adam Driver and Oscar Isaac was also fantastic additions- I just wish we got to see a bit more of Isaac. I wish we got to see more of everyone. But that's why we have sequels.
The original cast didn't feel shoehorned into the plot at all and I thought that was great. Harrison Ford was specifically terrific as Han Solo, he was just Han Solo who had been through it all now. In this film I felt every emotion on the spectrum- that speaks to how well it was done. Nostalgia probably was a huge factor for the emotional side, but of course it was. Nostalgia is also a factor when it comes to people reviewing A New Hope. That film DEFINITELY has its flaws. So does this one. The similarities between the two are NOT a bad thing. I'm just glad J.J. got his hands on this universe- I don't understand people hating on him for this movie.
This film was extremely exciting and so well done that I can say with full confidence that it was great. The old, the new... Enjoy it. Star Wars is back.