Star Wars is Back to its Former Glory!

Rating: 9/10 (21 December 2015)

I went into this film with a bit of worry. I had heard that it was too similar to A New Hope and when people put the story together in the way that they did, it did seem similar. After seeing it, however, I wondered why I was ever worried in the first place. The Force Awakens is an incredible film with a spectacular cast of characters, incredible writing, amazing performances, great humor, and a compelling story.
The story itself may seem like A New Hope but is instead an echo of it. The similarities are noticeable, but the story was meant to mimic that in a sense because it really did want to capture the feel of the original trilogy as opposed to the prequels. In addition to that, the film knows how to grab the attention of the audience and is constantly keeping the plot rolling.
The tone the film took was absolutely perfect. It was a very dark film, which is great since it is one of the reasons as to why The Empire Strikes Back is generally seen as the best Star Wars film. The first moment in this film was an attack on the village from the First Order—an organization that has been built from the ashes of the Empire—and it sends the audience into shock. You can feel the panic during this scene as the village goes up in flames. When Kylo Ren enters the scene, you feel his presence. Another scene that sticks out in particular is Han Solo's shocking death. Kylo Ren kills him in an unspectacular way. Han is stabbed by Ren's lightsaber and falls into the bottomless abyss below.
Other aspects of the writing were great as well. The humor is great in this film. In my personal opinion, humor is one of the best aspects of Star Wars. It was not good in the prequels because those relied too heavily on slapstick as opposed to wit. However, The Force Awakens gets it right with humor and wit as good as the original trilogy. From the interactions between the protagonists to BB-8's antics, it all works well and adds an extra layer to the film.
The character interactions are also well done. They do not seem like actors but actual people in their own universe (or galaxy in this case). The chemistry shared between the characters is nice as well and they are extremely interesting. There are many emotions going through these characters. The two characters that stood out to me in particular were Rey and Kylo Ren.
Rey is one of the primary protagonists of the film. She is a scavenger that was abandoned by her family on the planet, Jakuu. You can see her transformation throughout the film as she learns that she is capable of using the Force. It is extremely interesting to see her come to terms with this and begin to accept it and begin to use it. It is particularly interesting to see her learn to use it on her own and eventually even be able to defeat Kylo Ren in a duel (which is a spectacular lightsaber battle).
Kylo Ren is the primary antagonist of the film and seems to take the role of a sort of Darth Vader-esque character, which is purposeful. He is a large part of the First Order and is an apprentice of the Supreme Leader Snoke. His name also comes from the Knights of Ren making it more of a title. You learn more and more about this character's origins as the film goes along. You learn that he is indeed the son of Han Solo and Princess/General Leia and that explains his connection to Darth Vader. His real name is revealed to be Ben in the scene where he ends up killing his father, Han Solo. As it turns out, he used to be trained by Luke Skywalker but he ended up finding the Dark Side since he has elements of darkness from his grandfather. This caused Luke to go into hiding and led to his hatred for Luke, Han Solo, and the light itself. He constantly bouts with himself and has some light left in him but will do what he must to rid of it. He has everything someone on the Dark Side needs. Anger, fear, and hate.
Overall, The Force Awakens is great but it does have a couple flaws. While Snoke is menacing and Andy Serkis does a good job portraying him, I did not find him as imposing as the Emperor, especially since they showed Snoke's entire body. The only other flaw that I have (that is not a nitpick) is one that I have seen many people talk about is the fan service. When objects and characters that are from previous Star Wars films are shown, it is done in a way that is intended to get moviegoers excited and nothing else. I understand why but it happens so frequently. It works with the Millennium Falcon because it is the first time it happens and it is rather humorous (plus it makes an amazing reference to A New Hope with the dialogue). The other times seem in your face. "Look, here's Han Solo and Chewbacca! Look, here's C- 3P0! Look, here's R2-D2!" It may be a minor flaw, but it does get a bit tiring after a while.
All and all, The Force Awakens more than delivered on the hype. The characters, the writing, the plot, the humor, it was all spot on. It is a definite must-see for Star Wars fans everywhere and even if you are not a Star Wars fan, you should still see it. In short, it took the best aspects from A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back and put them together. In fact, The Force Awakens is as good as, if not, better than The Empire Strikes Back. The Force is strong with this film.