'Help me finish, what you started'

Rating: 8/10 (28 February 2017)

I don't think I've ever cried out of sheer happiness. It's an incredible feeling, and one I had figured I would never feel because of my relatively pessimistic attitude on most things. The Force Awakens achieved this, not through emotional manipulation or cinematic perfection, but by simply inducing a powerful sense of nostalgia inside me.
It's not a perfect film by any means. I was disappointed they did not stray from the whole idea of a planet destroyer once again. The callbacks to the originals, while welcome, were perhaps a bit too frequent and intrusive to the flow of dialogue. The humor was a key player, for better or for worse, and while being hilarious may have limited some of the tension in the narrative. Captain Phasma is under-utilized, I'm skeptical of a certain CGI-rendered villain and the Millennium Falcon takes far too much damage.
But flaws have never been easier to overlook. By far the most exciting aspect of this new trilogy is the incredible characters Abrams and those portraying them managed to create. Rey is remarkable, brought to life by the incredible Daisy Ridley and instantly my number two movie crush. She's so deceivingly independent and capable that it's easy to miss that she is one of the finest female characters in a major film in years. John Boyega's Finn is hilarious and unique, instantly accessible and delightfully enthusiastic to just be in a Star Wars film. Po is suave, BB-8 adorable and the old cast fits right back into there roles from decades ago.
Kylo Ren, Star Wars' latest villain, is a great contradiction to the Sith of the past. He's unhinged and untrained, sort of akin to Anakin Skywalker but without the forces of light to sway him. He's not in control of himself, he doesn't recognize the extent or limitations of his power, and Domnhall Gleeson's political leader is a rival power to him. He's fallible and vulnerable, mysterious in some respects but menacing in his instability. Much like Vader, he takes on a different persona when unmasked, adding a really compelling layer to the previously unsympathetic evil in Star Wars films.
What peaks here, and really shines, is Harrison Ford. From the first few minutes we're exposed to Han Solo, we can tell that Ford has taken great care into the role. This isn't Harrison snoozing for a paycheck like in his last 30 movies, no, instead this is a Han Solo who has aged 30 years since the last time we saw him and has truly seen some horrible stuff go down. He's gruff, he's lovable, he makes quips and remarks; he truly is Han Solo. Perhaps that's why he and Carrie Fisher almost share the best scene in the movie. Both times I have seen this, I teared up. John Williams gently brings back the love theme from Empire Strikes Back and instead of a grand romance we get a gentle nod from one character to another, understanding that they weren't meant to be together forever, but they still care for each other, and you can almost feel Han wanting to say "I love you" again. They hug, we cry, and also prior we get an amazing sequence with Poe and Finn which is so visually dynamic that if you watch it in 3D you get a bit nauseous in a good way.
From the second Han steps out onto that bridge, we know Han is going to die. I began to tear up as he screamed at his son, "BEN!". The scene is emotionally perfect, as everything goes silent but the footsteps of Han and the voice of Kylo. The light of the dying sun reflects the state of Kylo's mind, as Han pleads with his son to come home. For a brief moment, and the hope of a fool (me), it looks like all might be well. But then there's that flash of red and the gentle touch of a face, and in one brief moment a hero from my childhood is gone. I cried, of course, but the real icing on the cake is the anger you feel and the satisfaction you get when Chewbacca blasts one into Kylo's side and tears that place apart.
I can't sing the praises of JJ Abrams enough. While his vision is certainly unique to Lucas', it retains the mythical approach to storytelling and world-building that made his works great. Like A New Hope he recognizes the idea that we all appreciate a story that recalls our childhoods, told through unassuming nobodies evolving into figures of heroism. Modern effects are utilized to inject life into the franchise, but he manages to recall the glory of Lucas' boundless imagination in the best way.
I'll remember that Thursday night as some of the best hours I've ever had in the cinema. It was an out-of-body experience, an ethereal and overwhelming barrage of emotion and happiness unlike anything I have felt before. This is the simple joy of being a film fan. The ability to become so engrossed, so involved and so in love with something you know is not real, and to allow it to become fundamental to who you have become. It's a world fully of mystery, wonder, adventure, action and humor, rife with heroism and a wonderfully inadvertent celebration of life itself. Star Wars is surely one of the most important players in my life, and I look forward to being able to grow up once again in the universe I have loved for so long.