How THE FORCE AWAKENS works and succeeds

Rating: 9/10 (12 April 2016)

Here's a couple of reasons why and how THE FORCE AWAKENS works and succeeds.
It's fair to say TFA revisits the O.T. to a large extent. The basic set-up and the structure follow various acts (as in film-acts) in the O.T. to a tee. Abandoned youth, trying to survive on an isolated planet gets pulled into a conflict of galactic proportions, and accompanied by a few unlikely wanderers joins rebellious forces fighting a huge evil force.
Remake, rehash? Sure. But with a few interesting twists allowing it to work as full fledged sequel to the O.T.
1. The happy end that wasn't. One of the most controversial developments is Luke, Han and Leia not getting the happily ever after life implied by the end of RotJ. Quite the contrary, something went terribly wrong, and the three heroes are now dealing with the consequences. This makes them an integral part of the narrative and storyline of the new trilogy. And it adds (heartbreaking) drama.
2. The balance that wasn't. By wiping out the Emperor many figured evil was eliminated from the Galaxy, maybe some conflicts here and there, to be resolved by a New Jedi Order. That turned out to be quite the mistake. As we know from our own history evil has the tendency to get back up at any opportunity. And yes, while maybe wearing different insignia, it is often the exact same type of evil rising again. And also, using the same weapons, only bigger and louder. TFA in a way shows how history does repeat itself along a remarkable pattern. And that is a depressing thought.
But what is true for evil is also true for good.
I'd say the message of TFA - if you want to go that deep - is that good and light is not the natural state of the galaxy, and you can not take it for granted, but it is something that is vulnerable and needs protecting and fighting for. And the good thing is, there are always sources of hope, people ready to stand up, no matter the hardship, no matter the price, no matter the sacrifice. Do not give in to the Dark Side.
3. Reversed roles. In the O.T. Han, Leia and Luke were the young generation rebelling against the establishment. Luke actually fought his own father. In TFA they are now the parents. Han is now the father of a young revolutionary who suffers a similar fate like Vader in the O.T. Kylo is now the son fighting his father, but this time from the Dark Side's perspective. Now, what will this mean for Leia? Will she protect her son, or go after the killer of her husband? What's the morality there?
4. The new batch. Granted, we didn't get any tangible information about who they are and where they are from. Rey has abilities that point in the direction of her having a special heritage and history. We don't know, and she doesn't know/remember either. She is probably the 'Luke' of the new Trilogy. But one fascinating difference is Luke wanting to join and find out, while Rey certainly has no interest at all. A subtle but fundamental difference in positioning a protagonist. Kylo Ren is by far the most interesting new character. Where Vader was the established bad-ass evil guy from the very first moment we saw him in the O.T. , Kylo is not quite there yet. He has the swag, the outfit and a damn big light saber, but he is unstable, to say the least. And that makes him vulnerable and above all, unpredictable. And therefore interesting. And don't tell me you're not curious to see how the confrontation between Leia and Kylo would play out.
5. And this one is iffy, I know, but TFA feels like Star Wars as it was originally introduced to the world. We have built up close to 40 years of ideas, theories, opinions related to the O.T. Star Wars has become bigger than the films themselves, but somehow TFA manages not to collapse under this weight and show us a an exciting, adventurous, space fantasy with fantastic imagery, relatable characters, geeky droids, and the utter desire to own a light saber and go 'swoosh'.
5.a Cinematography. Just one example. Remember the opening shot of STAR WARS (a.k.a. ANH), Tatooine, shining bright, with this massive grey/white star destroyer moving in overhead from the top of the screen. When I saw this in 1977 - in a theater on a big screen, mind you - I was literally gob smacked. This is visual story telling.
The opening of TFA is a beautiful play on this. Jakku, shining bright, and now a massive black destroyer coming in from the bottom of the screen - the dark force rising from the grave - until it almost entirely obscures and clouds Jakku. Also notice the top of the cruiser, a long antenna of sorts with sidebars, shaped like the light saber used by Kylo, piercing the planet. This is visual story telling.
Anyway, these reasons may not work for other people, and that's fine, but for me TFA has worked out just fine.