The Franchise Re-awakens!

Rating: 9/10 (9 June 2016)

"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" is a wonderful movie. The cinematography is amazing, the direction is great, the pacing is the right amount of fast, the visuals are beautiful, the acting is great, the fight scenes are extremely well done. The characters have great development and both the new cast and the old cast are exceptional.
The plot? Very similar to "A New Hope," I know. Here's the thing. "Phantom Menace" when it came out was very different from the original trilogy and it alienated many fans because it made it hard to settle back into the Star Wars universe with such a strange movie. "Force Awakens", however delivers a familiar story, coupled with plenty of nostalgic imagery, in order to let us ease into the universe while introducing new characters and setting up for the new stories to come. And it works, as long as you keep your close-mindedness to a minimum. I know it worked for me.
Then there's the issue of Rey being a Mary Sue. I respectfully disagree. If you watch the movie, there are many instances in which she is clearly not quite on top of things. She nearly crashes the Milennium Falcon and doesn't get the hand of it until after several attempts; she opens the wrong door and lets out the rathtars. She has difficulty with the blaster's safety. She is easily subdued and taken captive by Kylo Ren. During the lightsaber fight, Kylo clearly has the upper hand until Rey manages to scar his face and escape with her life. She may be strong, but she's not a Mary Sue, because she's still vulnerable.
I know this movie is not perfect. When I watch it, there are some lines of dialogue that I know could have been better, there are a couple of scene transitions that could have been done better, there are some things that are hard to explain, like how the First Order built Starkiller Base. But these things aren't enough to bring the movie down for me. I would give it like an 8.5 or 8.8 out of ten, but since I can't do that I'm gonna give it a 9/10.