I Was Pleasantly Surprised!

Rating: 7/10 (26 December 2015)

Like a lot of people, I was very skeptical about "The Force Awakens" as soon as it was announced. However, my skepticism was thoroughly abolished after I went and saw this movie with my family on Christmas Day.
There are two things I would like to address that many of the other users have complained about in their reviews.
1. The Plot - Yes, the plot is very similar to that of the fourth Star Wars. There's another "death star" type weapon that can wipe out entire planets, a Darth Sidious-like mastermind with an apprentice that aspires to be Darth Vader, and a rag-tag gang that infiltrates and destroys the new weapon and saves the day. Like many others, I also found the plot to be redundant to say the least. However, a lot of time was spent developing the new characters (Finn, Rey, etc.) and setting the stage for the plot of the eighth Star Wars (yes, it was announced that another Star Wars will be coming out around the end of May, 2017).
2. The Villain - Many have also said that Kylo Ren is a weak villain. I will also agree with that statement. He's young, somewhat emotionally "torn" like his grandfather, Anakin Skywalker, and somewhat inexperienced (I also think to increase his impact on the audience, Kylo shouldn't have revealed his face until his encounter with Han Solo. That's a different issue altogether). Even though he definitely had his shortcomings, I think that the portrayal of Kylo Ren was appropriate for this movie. Think about it. Since he received a near-death ass-kicking from Rey towards the end and was saved by Hux to receive the rest of his training by Snoke, I think we can confidently draw the conclusion that in the next movie Kylo Ren is going to return as the indomitable villain we were all expecting in "The Force Awakens".
In conclusion, I really liked this movie and I think that things are only beginning to warm up. I only expect better things to come with the next movie now that new characters and a new era has been introduced. As a big Star Wars fan, I give this film 7/10 all day.