Promising relaunch of the franchise

Rating: Null/10 (4 January 2016)

It's good. Everyone just relax, take a deep breath. It's good. Borderline great even. J. J. Abrams has managed to bring back Star Wars like it was in the original trilogy, though naturally updated to the new century and with a spin of his own.
The two things I like the most in this film are the characters and the continuation of the story. This film feels like a logical continuation of the story we left behind in Episode VI. Sure, at the end of the film there are still questions unanswered and we still don't know everything about how the New Order came to be, what Han, Luke and Leia have been doing in the meantime, et cetera, but it just means that there's material for the sequels. The writers had a lot of options for them to choose from, and while the version we end up getting is not the most imaginative possible, neither does it completely ignore the previous films like so many lesser franchises are fond of doing.
The returning characters are also at the top of their game. Harrison Ford has the most screen time and his performance is about as perfect as it could be. You instantly see old Han Solo in front of you when he appears. And luckily the new characters are just as good. Rey and Finn, played by Daisy Ridley and John Boyega respectively, are both great, nuanced and instantly identifiable characters that both explore new territories in the Star Wars universe, allowing us to see slightly different sides of things. Like the point of view of a stormtrooper.
The visuals are also stunning. Abrams's team has pulled off some really impressive stuff here, and I especially like the use of practical effects. Cinema at its finest and certainly one of those films that almost have to be seen on the big screen for them to really shine. The score by John Williams does not contain quite as memorable new segments as all the previous films did, but it's still very solid overall.
The film is not perfect however. Adam Driver's Kylo Ren is something of a hit and miss with me. He starts out very well, being absolutely terrifying as the new iron fist of the new emperor - or supreme leader as he is called this time. But then the film tries something different with him, something we didn't really see with Darth Vader or Darth Maul, and quite honestly I don't think it works that well. You know what I'm talking about when you see the scene. Still, it leaves us with some exciting possibilities for the sequels so perhaps they going somewhere with this. We will see.
And yes, then the biggest problem. The plot is almost identical to Episode IV. We have a droid carrying secret information, we have a desert planet orphan being taught by an aging mentor who's a veteran of the previous war, we have the orphan joining the resistance against a galactic empire, and so on, and so on. Now, they claim that this is because Abrams and his team had to prove that they get Star Wars and to make up for the prequel trilogy. But come on, this is just ridiculous. We would have believed you with less. Much less.
Still, it is a good film, very good in fact. The technical aspects are flawless, the characters are great and it just feels like Star Wars through and through. If only the story had been a bit more original, this could have stood on par with the original trilogy. Or at least very close.