The magic is back yes ... maybe too much of it?

Rating: 9/10 (17 December 2015)

There's been much secrecy about the storyline and I applaud Disney and the filmmakers for being able to keep this such a strong secret. But maybe there was a bigger reason for the secrecy than just the plot?
I'm a StarWars child ... I went to see the original trilogy with my father and big brother and I loved it - still do, own them all of course. Episodes 1-3 were visually great and the story behind Darth Vader ... well, it was explained and the connection to the original trilogy was great as well - a little bit hurried. But still those films disappointed me a little bit, mostly acting wise ;-)
Seeing Star Wars : The Force Awakens is something almost sacred to me and so many others - and I think J.J. Abrams is a fantastic director. Kasdan is also a great writer - together they cannot fail. But even though I loved this movie a lot ... it felt a bit too familiar. Many of the scenes were like remakes from episodes 4 and 6 (important message hidden .... bb8 vs R2D2 ... Luke/Rey ... Death Star blasting a planet ... yes it's bigger but we can blow it up can't we? ... apparently almost in an identical way ... etc.)
But in many ways I forgive Abrams / Kasdan for doing this because this is obviously a film made by a fan. While that can be dangerous .. it is also a guarantee of respect for the original trilogy and the whole storyline.
Acting is so so so so so so so much better here than in any of the other films ... the humour is rich and I love the connection between for example Finn and Rey. Talking about Rey .... she is amazing - total bad-ass and so believable.
The fate of the characters will not be discussed here - the plot is explained rather early in the film and at that moment I think I knew what would happen. I'll be excited to see where Slone comes from, who he is etc. - the exact end of SW7 offers speculations about the fate of those individuals which I'm really excited to see.
Despite feeling a bit too much of "deja vu" at times here I believe this is one of the better films, only because I feel J.J. Abrams is amazing in bringing the best out in his actors/actresses and the respect he has for the material is well apparent ...
Brilliant music, effects and the look is Star Wars through and through ... everything is done extremely well. I love this movie - but the reason it doesn't get full marks from me here is simple: "deja vu" too much.