Average, yet fun and solid...

Rating: 7/10 (21 December 2015)

I remember watching New Hope as a 10yo child. Seeing Darth Vader for the first time when he entered the narrow corridor of Corelian Corvete was very memorable experience for me. I remember I had to turn of the VHS for a while because I was so scared :). In my opinion it is one of the most intimidating villain characters ever created in a movie. With that being said we can say that the bar was set up pretty damn high.
Abrams did not even tried to make, even an attempt to create someone more bad-ass. That's simply not possible because of the legend that raised around old star wars series. Instead he went for the drama oriented character. Still evil person, still intimidating but in a different way - less of cold calculation but more of a hot responsive type of violence. There is a good deal of potential to be exploited in next part perhaps.
Is it a remake? The answer is: Yes and No. Its more of a baton (light saber) passing to the new generation. We have old cast interacting with new young characters and those interactions are quite well done. The known story from New Hope is there but its more of a background and a tribute to original Star Wars. It is a wink to the old fans while kids will be very likely entertained by the SW universe.
The movie is action packed to its limit but its not over-packed. Starts rather slow and picks up the speed as the movie develops. Its fun and entertaining. Its not a movie for everyone and some may be left very disappointed if they expect too much. Its a block buster movie for families with old school elements so expect lots of winks, jokes, and action. For the third one you can enhance your experience by going into 3D. So fasten your seat belts and enjoy the ride when you jump into light speed.
Solid 7