The soap opera continues

Rating: 10/10 (3 January 2016)

There are bound to be haters, but IMHO they are mostly misguided. Star Wars is not a sci-fi series, like Trek. It's not a fantasy series, like LOTR. It's a soap opera, the story of the family of Anakin Skywalker (as was almost spelled out in episode IV). And in this respect episode VII succeeds. The family drama unfolds magnificently; Daughter has stayed the course despite losing everything to the Force. Son has killed the Father, failed in his path like him and became a recluse. A grandson rebels against his father and finds inspiration in his lost grandfather. A forgotten, yet faithful, granddaughter steps reluctantly in. And the Universe revolves around them all. Yes there are flaws, but there's also very tight story-telling, decent cinematography, good acting. It's a film that had me suspended and wondering how it all fit in those two+ hours. Brilliant film making and editing, it would have taken 30 hours of film to depict all these events unfold in a typical LOTR and a mini-series for Trek. Finally, after 30 years....Star Wars.