Star Wars is Back!

Rating: 9/10 (13 January 2016)

I really don't understand a lot of the hate I have seen this film get. I believe that The Force Awakens is one of, if not the, best films of the franchise.
After watching the film I came out having enjoyed myself for every minute. For me this is one of the best films of the year. However, that is not to say I don't realise that the film has problems, its not perfect and there are some things that don't work as well as they could have, one scene springs to mind due to a certain set of special effects, but I can enjoy the film despite this.
For me, the new characters were all strong:
1) Poe Dameron is a modern day Han Solo, he's funny, witty and a little bit cocky. My only criticism is we needed to see more of him.
2)BB-8 is possibly the best addition to the Star Wars Universe. BB-8 is a cute little droid which again has some surprising humour.
3)Rey is probably my favourite character in the film, largely due to the fact that we don't know anything about her. I also don't think she is overly powered in the slightest because it is possible she is related to the Skywalker Family.
4)Finn is the perfect comic relief character, because at the end of the day that's what he is, but whilst he is funny he has some successful emotional moments.
5)Kylo Ren is the perfect villain, and what Anakin Skywalker should have been in the Prequels. I love that he is a tormented soul who is bound to tantrums mainly because he is being torn apart by the Light and Dark Side. This was the perfect entrance for a character that will no doubt go down in history.
6)Maz Kanata. I love the intentions of Maz and the way she is presented, I just wish there was an explanation as to how she got Luke's Lightsaber.
7)General Hux was obviously inspired by the Nazi movement of World War II and it works. When he was presenting his speech to the First Order I was terrified largely due to the pure emotion he had.
For me the only misses with the characters are Snoke and Captain Phasma. Phasma should have done more and I hope we see her in VIII as a true character and not a Boba Fett wanna be. As for Snoke be just wasn't there enough, but this could be easily fixed in Episodes VIII and IX.
The design, characters, musical score and easter eggs where fantastic and only got me even more excited for the future of one of my favourite film series of all time.