Finally!

Rating: 10/10 (29 May 2016)

There are flaws and, yes, it is more of a reboot than a sequel, but after the complete trash that were Episodes I-III, this was a blast of fresh air. John Williams brought us fresh new sounds along with the familiar leitmotif. The visuals looked authentic and spectacular after the bleh of death-by-CGI of the previous three films. I can't say 'thank you' enough to J. J. Abrams and crew for finally getting this right after all these years.
It would have been nice if timing was ever taken into account in all these films - the chronologies are always a bit inconsistent with our conception of history, but since I need a few more lines in this review I figured I'd mention some of my criticisms. The rebellion became the resistance and the Empire morphed into The First Order rather abruptly when scaled against their technological progress.
At least now I have faith in the series again and have A New Hope that future sequels will be worth viewing. I had lost it completely with the last three.