Like catching up with friends after 20 years

Rating: 6/10 (20 December 2015)

There is a little part of me that was never going to be satisfied with The Force Awakens and it is the little piece of me that is still 6 years old and remembers watching A New Hope for the first time and my mind being blown as the camera pans across a planet and two battling ships come into view.
And when The Force Awakens opens in similar style I had hoped for the same experience. But after 20 minutes of the film I was checking to see that I hadn't bought tickets to a screening of A New Hope by mistake, because this isn't a new movie, its a remake. A beautiful remake that has been freshened up, modernised and respectfully restored but it is a remake none the less.
And for that reason The Force Awakens is a disappointment.There are some wonderful things in this movie and it is like visiting an old friend who you've not seen for years, you share the same jokes, you get the knowing references, and you want the times to be just as they were 20 years ago....but it doesn't quite have the same appeal.
In fact The Force Awakens could be summarised as a A New Hope without Vader who has been replaced by an awful whiny emo.