Star Wars has Finally Returned to Glory

Rating: 10/10 (19 December 2015)

I've been waiting for this movie for so long that it still feels strange that it's actually come out and I've laid eyes on its gloriousness. This film is magnificent and I recommend everyone to give it a shot. You probably don't need my advice though since it seems like almost everyone is going out to see this one. I had a feeling that J. J. Abrams would be able to pull off a fantastic sequel/sort of reboot of the series and I'm glad that Star Wars is finally back. Let's talk about the story.
The plot centers around a group of new characters that are searching for the legendary Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), which, in case you forgot, is the original hero from Episodes 4-6. Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) manages to find a map leading to Skywalker but is captured by an evil galactic government known as the First Order. Poe's droid BB-8 manages to get away with the plans and looks for help on the desert planet of Jakku which causes a powerful dark side user called Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) to start scouring the area looking for the droid. While this is going on, a storm trooper named Finn (John Boyega) decides he's had enough of the First Order after witnessing a massacre of innocent lives and decides he's getting out of there. Finally, a young woman named Rey (Daisy Ridley) gets sucked into this battle when BB-8 finds her and turns to her for protection. All of this eventually leads to, you guessed it, a big old battle between the good guys and the bad.
Man, there are a lot of characters in this film but I'll try to go over everyone as quickly as possible. First up, Daisy Ridley really impressed me with her performance in this one. Like many of the actors in this movie, I'm not really familiar with her but she's able to show us the sadness and resilience that are ingrained into her character incredibly well and I'm happy to see that we have a new and interesting protagonist. Boyega also did a fantastic job and is probably my favorite character in the whole film. This guy is incredibly funny but he's also selfless when he needs to be. He's nowhere near as capable as other storm troopers but he still goes out of his way to help his new friends. Oscar Isaac is always enjoyable and this movie is no exception. Poe is kind of like our new dashing rogue character but he already works for the Republic, which is a little different from Han's situation in the original trilogy. Speaking of Han, Harrison Ford is back and better than ever. I was a little worried if he could still do Han Solo but he immediately put all my fears to rest as soon as he first came on screen. Hell, it was great seeing all of the old faces as well as the new ones.
Can't forget the villains! Adam Driver is the biggest draw among the villains and he is certainly terrifying, though not in the way I expected. I thought this character would be the new Darth Vader but Kylo Ren is very different from Vader. He's certainly more prone to outbursts of emotion compared to the steely Vader and Ren seems to be straight up unhinged in many scenes. He talks to a helmet for crying out loud! I'm glad that the character is as conflicted as he is though. Makes for good drama. Domhnall Gleeson also does a fantastic job as General Hux and manages to give a speech that puts to shame many other villainous speeches in these types of movies. We also get to meet the character of Supreme Leader Snoke played by Andy Serkis. It's Serkis, of course he does a great job but I do wonder about this character's motivations and background. We need the sequel right now! There's a lot to like about the film so I'll just try to go through a few things really quickly. First, the movie feels like the original trilogy. It's shot in a similar fashion to the originals and it relies on actual sets and practical effects in many scenes. There's still cgi but it's nothing like the prequel trilogy. Next, BB-8 is probably one of my favorite characters and he doesn't even speak my language. J. J. managed to make me empathize with a literal ball with a head. That is amazing in my opinion. I also liked the many odes and callbacks to the original trilogy while managing to put their own spin on things. The story is fantastic and just makes the wait for the sequel that much more difficult.
There isn't really anything that I didn't like about the film. I guess I could try to nitpick it a little but none of it actually bothered me so I really don't think I can. I guess the cgi is noticeable in a few scenes but other than that my only complaint is that I couldn't see more of these characters interacting in this world. That's a good complaint to have. I can't recommend this movie enough. Seriously, go watch it if you haven't already.