Best Since the Originals

Rating: 9/10 (18 January 2016)

I would just say JJ did it! With great new leads armed with stellar performances, the original trio back, the iconic score, the visual effects a masterful blend of practical and computer effects, emotional depth, tiny bits of nostalgia present almost everywhere and fantastic villains, The Force Awakens is great way to resume the franchise. The opening, with many of the film's characters, is thrilling and establishes Kylo Ren as a villain to be feared upon.
With the introduction of Finn, Poe and especially Rey and the Millennium Falcon being revealed, the films starts building its momentum, as Rey's life on Jakku accompanied by her score, makes the audience connect with her easily.
Also, the whereabouts of Luke Skywalker is quite unknown. Expect Where's Luke to be more than just a hashtag.
The pacing is fast, if rushed, but doesn't feels so due to the constant highlights and Lawrence Kasdan's great screenplay. Also, John Williams score practically improves everything.
The Starkiller Base feels a bit underwhelming as it isn't as iconic as the Death Star but locations like Jakku respectfully pay homage to Tatooine.
The finale is fantastic, and makes up for any of the mistakes the movie had committed, with the lightsaber battle being the most stunning of its kind along with being emotional and easily capturing a spot on list of best lightsaber duels. The ending can't be described, since it would be thought as a spoiler, but I would just say it sets up the next episode perfectly.
As for the aspects, the action sequences were thrilling, visual effects were spectacular, screenplay was fantastic, the story a bit unoriginal and the performances spot-on, with Harrison Ford as awesome as ever, Carrie Fisher in the most Leia way possible, BB-8 living up to the hype, and Daisy Ridley and John Boyega performing in a fun, charming and amusing manner. The latter's verbal exchanges with Han Solo being hilarious and also one of the key highlights of the movie.
Oscar Issac was the best of the new trio, stealing every scene he's in as Poe Dameron. But the standout performance was by Adam Driver, as Kylo Ren, an already complex character who Driver portrayed with more depth, resulting in a fantastic three-dimensional character.
Almost every standout sequence in the film involves Kylo Ren.
As for the motion capture perfromances, Maz Kanata and Andy Serkis were great, with the former as a female and orange version of Yoda and the latter making Supreme Leader Snoke look like a some-what more eerie character than Palpatine. Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker can't be talked about since it would be termed as a spoiler, so I'll just leave it.
If there's anything bad, it would be the story and handling of some characters. The story seems like a re-hash of A New Hope, with a few additional elements and hyped-up characters like Captain Phasma and Poe Dameron. The latter was the best of the new trio but was given very less screen time, and Phasma too. She was supposed to be the new Boba Fett, but by the looks of it, she may not be.
Overall, The Force Awakens is fantastic film with brilliant effort from JJ Abrams and others. It captures the heart and spirit of the original trilogy to make a great final result. It's a thrilling ride and what a ride it is. It's perhaps the third best overall.
Grade-A-