Rebirth

Rating: 8/10 (27 December 2015)

It's not surprising to find so many different opinions about the same movie, given not only its broad reach but also the recent changes this saga has known. Many of the first trilogy fans would just plainly refuse to see it changing hands, and would abhor further modifications.
I must confess I felt quite suspicious at the beginning, even failing to realise that the presence of Max von Sydow was a very good sign. I think it was only by the time that Rey hears a calling that I stopped resisting the film, and found my way through its magic. With Rey's calling I felt like entering an initiatic well, where I found that magic: perhaps the magic that is present at Alexander's room in Fanny and Alexander, in Pan's Labyrinth or perhaps in farther references like Sprng, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring. And this is what cinema is about, at least great cinema, if this cliché can be excused.
So, yes, The Force Awakens feels sometimes as the very first Star Wars, the IV one, but it really does not matter, for it is a rebirth. I loved Disney way to do it too, the only thing that I'd probably try was to make a less obvious Han Solo, but this is such a small detail.