The Return of Star Wars

Rating: 8/10 (20 December 2015)

It's over 30 years since the defeat of the empire. The Republic is threatened by the First Order led by Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) under the control of Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis). The resistance led by General Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) is fighting the Dark Side. Finn (John Boyega) is a conflicted stormtrooper. Rey (Daisy Ridley) is a scavenger on the planet Jakku. Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) is the Resistance ace pilot.
It has been over 30 years since the last truly good Star Wars movie. It is a great reboot and a solid repair job to the damage from the prequels. The biggest complaint seems to be that this is a repeat of A New Hope. If anything, this is pulling out scenes and references from all three originals. I have no problems with that. In fact, it's good to go back and take pages out of the original trilogy. Even the force is explained more in the traditional way. However, this is not a simple repeat. The new characters are tremendous. John Boyega and Daisy Ridley are amazing additions. He's an interesting character and I love their initial meeting. I love him keep grabbing her hand. There are some minor problems but they're too minor to mention especially considering the spoilers. I rank 'The Empire Strikes Back' (1980) the best, 'A New Hope' (1977) second, and I may squeeze 'The Force Awakens' slightly ahead of 'Return of the Jedi' (1983). Forget the prequels.
P.S. In this one, nobody loses a lightsaber fight because of elevation.