A Successful Recentering of the Series

Rating: 9/10 (21 December 2015)

In my view, SW:TFA is precisely what Star Wars fans were hoping for back when the prequels came out. Unfortunately, George Lucas himself was the obstacle, as he apparently had little understanding of what made the films successful in the first place.
IMO, JJ Abrams understands and accomplishes two critical things simultaneously, and that is why this Episode is dead-on:
1) Abrams understands that the humor that made the original trilogy enjoyable was humor which played almost entirely off of the conflicting personality traits and interplay of clearly defined characters. He brings that back, rather than having a bunch of flat/serious characters surrounded by the clownish "comic relief" characters, cheap gags and slapstick that infested the prequels.
2) Abrams also understands that fans take these characters and their histories completely seriously, and brings depth and soaring melodrama back to the series. The film is a bit darker, a bit heavier, and a bit larger than the others in many ways, without losing the comedy and adventure components. This aspect alone suggests to me that the next film will be heart wrenching in the best possible way.
My only complaint is that the central plot is thoroughly derivative. Obviously that was a deliberate choice, and the film is strong enough that it works. But I do not ever want to see another Star Wars film in which shields need to be discretely disabled around a super weapon, after which pilots must target a minute weak spot to blow it up.