The Force Has Indeed Awoken

Rating: Null/10 (17 December 2015)

We waited for years, and it's finally here. At 3 o'clock this morning I entered the cinema wide-eyed, full of hope. As was with many people's childhoods, Star Wars was a staple of mine, and to this day the original trilogy still stand as some of my favourite films. J.J. Abrams famously managed to reignite the Star Trek franchise with two fantastic films, so when tasked with doing similar to Star Wars, some people were sceptical, but nonetheless excited. The main questions is: did he deliver? Yes he damn well did!
You know that tight throat feeling you get when you have a sudden urge of adrenaline, for the last hour of the film, I had that feeling, sitting there on the edge of my seat, heart pounding fast. What I was watching was exhilarating to say the least.
Let's look more at the film (don't worry, there will be no spoilers featured). First off, the opening - the classic text followed by the panning shot to a planet (or death star) with a Star Destroyer emerging into the frame, it all features, as does the use of practical effects and puppets / robots over the extensive use of CGI that was utilised in the prequel trilogy, thus giving fans the old school style of Star Wars they wanted oh so much. The film is fast-paced, with stunning action scenes and spectacles, but not rushed, the shots linger and the camera moves gracefully, giving us a spectacular view of the situation at hand.
The prequel trilogy shunted the franchise on a downward spiral, the overuse of CGI and the introduction of some of the most annoying characters in film (a-hem Jar Jar Binks), but Abrams, the finest choice of a director to reignite the franchise, did nothing more than show pure love for the films and has created a sequel that definitely exceeded my expectations. A film that features endless nostalgia with appearances from Ford (who is beyond fantastic), Fisher, Hamill even Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca and constant references to the original trilogy.
The only partial negative aspect is its somewhat lack of originality, it acts more as an homage to 'A New Hope' than an original tale. But if you overthink points like this when viewing it, you won't enjoy it, so just empty your head of that and watch the film for what it is: a space opera that acts as nothing more than a sheer piece of movie magic!