Ignore the naysayers - this movie is excellent

Rating: 8/10 (18 December 2015)

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS
The Force Awakens is a fast paced, family movie that delivers in every way you want a fantasy movie to deliver - you forget the world you live in for 2 hours and enter into another less realistic but altogether more enjoyable one. It lacks originality but makes up for it with big enthusiasm, great casting and wonderful execution.
If you are reading the poor reviews of this film, those who are VERY down on this film have missed the mark on The Force Awakens in several ways.
1. Many people are criticising some of the moments in the force awakens that are not 'realistic' IE Rey picking up the force so quickly and defeating Kylo Ren. If you find this the most difficult thing to believe about a world with AI Robots, light speed vessels and elite trained soldiers that miss every target, perhaps The Force Awakens is the least of your problems. Star Wars requires you to suspend belief, so suspend belief and enjoy yourself. There are no hard and fast rules about anything when everything is impossible anyway.
2. Kylo Ren is not a weak villain, he is a deliberately weak villain. He will rise from the flames to become ruthless and terrifying. This is the start of his story arc and will give him more texture for the future. Removing his helmet shows us the weak and vulnerable boy he currently is. Once his training is complete I doubt the mask will be removed to show either his vulnerability or face again.
3. The Force Awakens is a new hope revisited. Yes it is. And this provides the perfect opportunity to introduce new characters to the Star Wars universe. I believe the story will now take new and interesting paths that The Force Awakens has opened the door to. They needed to mount the new beginning within a familiar framework to help us associate the new with Star Wars. I understand exactly where they are coming from with this. As a grown man taking his own children I appreciated the nostalgia and throwbacks, and although they may have been overdone they were well executed.
The new casting was exceptional, John Boyega and Daisy Ridley both excelled whilst Adam Driver was perfect in the role of angst ridden bad guy. Oscar Isaacs played a throwback hero and was a personal favourite.
Harrison Ford nailed an older Han Solo. Perhaps the only slight let down for me was Carrie Fisher, who didn't feel like the same person.
Effects, scenery and music all excellent. I give this film 8 stars with hope that the next films in this sequence will bring more originality.