Well, I loved it.

Rating: 10/10 (29 December 2015)

I intentionally didn't read any reviews before seeing The Force Awakens because I didn't want to go in with any preconceptions. Having just seen it, and having thoroughly enjoyed it, I was curious about what others thought and I just don't get all the negative reviews. I won't offer any spoilers, and so won't speak to specifics, but I will say this. I was in college when the original Star Wars just came out and it blew me away. Later, I was mesmerized by The Empire Strikes back and riveted by Return of the Jedi. Those three movies stand in my memory, along with the original Alien, as the only movies in my life where I totally and completely lost myself in the films and forgot who and where I was. Well, after 30 years, this one did that for me once again, and I loved every second of it
After the disappointing prequel films, this one returns us to classic Star Wars. Yes, there are many things that are similar to A New Hope, and those, for me, were nods to the very things we loved about that film. A young hero who rises from humble beginnings to discover a larger universe, a clash between a ridiculously polarized good and evil, hopeless situations you can't see a way out of, but that the heroes do. It is the same swashbuckling style of movie as the original, with the added emotional payback of seeing our previous heroes return.
Plot holes? Of course there are plot holes! It's Star Wars. Really, are these people saying there weren't plot holes in every SW movie? Get real! Not realistic? Really? It's a movie about star ships, the Force and light sabers. We were expecting realistic? Bad acting? Well, I genuinely liked our new young stars, and I am looking forward to seeing them again. I'm not a drama teacher, but I believed in their characters. If our new villain isn't as intimidating as Darth Vader, it gives his character room to grow and develop.
Seriously, it is easy to sit back and pull any movie apart, but we use the phrase 'suspension of disbelief' to recognize that we don't have to analyze every second of a story for it to be a good story. This is a good story and an excellent movie. And, no, I am neither stupid nor do I work for Disney. To those who suggest one of these must be true for someone to write a good review, I offer the suggestion that our society's current intolerance for differing opinions is a much more serious issue than whether someone liked this movie. Get over yourselves!
My advice is this. It's obviously too late not to read reviews before seeing this movie, but just stop right now. Don't read another thing. Go see it, just sit back and take it as it comes, then decide for yourself. If you loved the original Star Wars, and don't love this one, then sadly, your inner child has died sometime in the last 30 years.