"The Force is strong with this one."

Rating: 9/10 (23 December 2015)

Original Star Wars trilogy are some of the movies I have seen maximum number of times since the VHS days. I can still see them with almost the same breath of freshness. In fact, just recently I initiated my wife into this cult. Now she too enjoys its rituals. The originals are so good that every time the creator George Lucas announces that he is going to make prequels or sequels to the originals, I say to myself, "I've got a very bad feeling about this." If George were Darth Vader, he would definitely say to me, "I find your lack of faith disturbing" and kill me. I was in fact not quite impressed with the prequel trilogy. To me it was like a CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) possessed body sans the original soul. Once bitten twice shy, hence I was not very excited about the sequel too. I was wrong and I am glad at being proved wrong. "Be mindful of your thoughts. They will betray you." J J Abrams has exorcised the excessive CGI demon from its possessed body and restored the original soul in it with a perfectly juxtaposed Yin and Yang. He has awakened the Force as Obi-Wan Kenobi predicted it, "You were the chosen one! It was said that you would destroy the Sith and not join them. You were to bring balance to the Force, not leave it in the darkness." It seems that Yoda's instructions were equally clear to Abrams, "Do or do not. There is no try." And so he did it. "The Force is strong with this one," Darth Vader acknowledged.
This movie is more like a remake as I read somewhere due to many parallels between it and the original and I agree somewhat. Whatever you call it, it is amazingly made with terrific sci-fi stunts without being turned into a vacuous video game. All new human, neo- human, quasi-human, non-human characters are as fresh, intense and endearing just like the original ones. The new rolling droid BB-8 is cuter than WALL-E. Kylo Ren is crueler than Darth Vader. The treatment of the film is more mature and actions are more violent than ever with authentic looking visuals. CGI does not feel like overly done just for the sake of it.
Above all, It was heart warming to see them all, Han Solo, Chewbacca, Princess Leia, R2-D2, C-3PO, Stormtroopers, light sabers and the Millennium Falcon and Luke Skywalker and many more back where they belong. I feel exactly like Han Solo says, "Chewie, we are home again." Chewbacca gives his nod, "Argh!"
Verdict: 9.5/10 for the movie which almost surpasses the originals. There could not have been a better gift at Xmas and a grander finale to 2015.
"May the Force be with you." Amen!