A welcome return to fun for the Star Wars saga!

Rating: 10/10 (4 January 2016)

It took me two viewings to really decide how I felt about this one - having been a Star Wars fan since Empire, and having been so totally caught up in the year long hype for this, my first viewing was almost surreal. The second? It all came together and I had a great time. I'm not going to comment on whether or not this is a legitimately great movie, but I will say that I love it. I find it fun, action packed, intriguing and it absolutely satisfied my Star Wars itch and is (in my opinion) a worthy successor to the original trilogy. The new characters were lots of fun and I'm looking forward to seeing them develop - especially Rey! There were lots of moments that had me wanting to fist pump, several that had goosebumps rising on my arms and lots where I was grinning like a Cheshire cat - Poe and Finn's escape, the first flight of the Millennium Falcon, the attack on Takodana, the final battle between Kylo and Rey... Both me and my family enjoyed every second of this, with my 10 and 12 years old sons both being amazed at the running time because "it felt like just an hour!" This movie was everything I wanted from a new Star Wars film - it was familiar enough to be nostalgic, but new enough to be a continuation. It was mature enough to not fall into the trap of the prequels, but had enough humor to lighten scenes. It answered lots of questions and also raised some great new ones - leaving me wanting more. But, most of all, it's fun and like the Flash Gordon reels that George Lucas has stated inspired him to write Star Wars in the first place it was a rollocking adventure that didn't take itself too seriously and dished out exactly what the majority of the audience wanted - thrills, spills, laughs and action. Gone are the tedious politics, gone is the annoying slapstick and back is a full throttle space adventure. Awesome!