A bridge to the next generation

Rating: 9/10 (27 December 2015)

First of all, I made the perfect decision to not see any spoilers or reviews before watching Star Wars: the Force Awakes. I watched it without any prejudice nor being bothered by rumors or negative reviews. I only knew Han Solo and Chewbacca would be appeared in this episode, and that the time has passed to thirty years in the story after the defeat of Darth Vader and the Empire. I was a little worried it could be a bad film, since Disney bought the right to the Star Wars production, and George Lucas was not involved with the creation of this film. When I had a first look at the trailer, it looked good although I had somewhat of a bad feeling about the casting in which Disney tired so hard in choosing the characters not to be racist with the story.
I'd say while this episode introduced new characters from anew generation, hopefully in order to gather new audiences, it also tried so hard not to ruin the original images of the film and to keep entertaining old fans. The story gets more straightforward and has fewer political scenes; the relation between the dark side being evil and jedi being heros is clearly depicted. It feels like the structure of the characters have been rotated to new generations. Han Solo is being replaced by Finn, Rey will be placed in Luke position, BB-8 is like R2D2, and Poe Dameron can be like Lando Calrissian. And a new Darth Vader is shown.
I definitely like and was moved by the first appearance of Han Solo and Chewbacca. Han looks old but his wild-eyed fighting spirit still remains very much alive with his furball assistant. And Princess Leia is still beautiful! The lovely scene of the two meeting speaks their long-term trustworthy relationship with love. Other old characters including Luke, C3PO, and Admiral Ackbar (who is famous for saying "It's a trap"), are shown to us like old friends. I couldn't be happier to see those old characters who are still acting in the same way that we remember, and new characters are, to me, naturally blended into the Star Wars universe. Especially, Rey as a new hero (or heroine) of the Jedi encounters difficulties and overcomes them by awaking her new skills, which will be the new hope for the Jedi in the next episode.
Overall, I enjoyed the new film and want to watch further episodes. I highly recommend you to watch this film without reading any reviews or rumors about the story.