J.J. Abrams Continues the Legacy with Class,

Rating: 9/10 (21 December 2015)

Star Wars: The Force Awakens is an outstanding movie with a very well developed plot and a stellar cast. There's no denying how big the hype for this film really was, and it made me quite nervous as my love for the series was setting the bar high, but I wasn't one bit disappointed. The magic of Star Wars is back, the magic that I have always complained was missing from the prequel trilogy. The tone is similar to A New Hope in which it sets up a new adventure, beautifully, and it will leave you wanting more.
Of course, with a film as anticipated as this, you are going to find flaws, and the Force Awakens does have a few significant ones, the one that bothered me the most was Andy Serkis's role, his character was confusing to say the least. He didn't feel like he belonged in this universe, it felt more like a Harry Potter character. Hopefully they will establish him and make some sense of it in future films, but for now I am left scratching my head at all his scenes.
R2D2's character arch in the film is very messy, I will not reveal anything, all I will say is that the writers did not spoon feed us any information on what was going on with him. Lastly, one of my biggest pieces of criticism, Kylo Ren is not a likable villain, not like Darth Vader was. He does not have the kind of traits Vader, as well as Darth Maul and Count Dooku, had that made us root for them at times, with Ren you want him to be defeated as soon as you are made aware of his motives, lots of villains are like this, but with Star Wars I have come to expect more likable bad guys.
The cast is outstanding. The new members, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Adam Driver, Domhnall Gleeson, among many others, are brilliant new additions to the franchise, their characterization in their respective roles is fantastic, they are all top notch performers. The returning members are all a delight to see in their iconic roles, I was skeptical about Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill returning as Leia and Luke, but it was as if they never left, very natural. Anthony Daniels and Peter Mayhem will also bring a smile to your face.
My favourite part of the entire movie had to be Harrison Ford. There are many brilliant characters in this series but Han Solo will always stand as my favourite, mainly because of how well Ford portrays him, and this movie is no exception. He slips back in to the role perfectly and did not seem one bit nervous, even with this being his first time playing the character in 32 years. The moment he is on screen you can feel that he is back in character, and he steals every single scene. Action packed, intense and compelling, Star Wars: The Force Awakens can not be missed by any fan of the series, and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a good action, adventure or sci-fi film.
A new threat arises thirty years after the events of Return of the Jedi, but a new group of heroes may be able to stop them, with the help of some familiar faces.
Best Performance: Harrison Ford