Yes, it really is that good

Rating: 9/10 (20 December 2015)

This movie does everything right. Right from the start, I was sucked into the story. It may not have the sort of punch that Mad Max Fury Road had, but there are so many ways this could have gone wrong, and I'm so glad they did it right. Lets first touch upon the main criticism that I've seen about this movie. People say that it follows the structure of the original movie beat for beat. And yes, this is true. However, the movie also does plenty of innovation and world building of its own. And so this movie does feel new, even though it follows the same structure.
The movie pays a lot of homage to the old movies, but not in that annoying Kingdom of the Crystal Skull way. There aren't constant wink winks to the audience. Instead they recognize lots of stuff from the old movies in a loving way. These are the sort of nods to the old movies that feel just right. Stars like Carry Fisher and Harrison Ford aren't just brought back for a cameo, but play an important part in the movie. In fact, Han Solo is one of the main characters throughout the entire movie. Leia's role is decidedly smaller, but still important. I also felt Harrison Ford did a really good job. He really was Han Solo again. Carry Fisher is just okay, but Ford IS Han Solo.
I was afraid that perhaps the new characters would not grow on me, but fortunately that wasn't the case. Finn's role is just perfect, plus it allows the movie to give the audience more insight into the structure of the empire, and what being a Storm Trooper is all about. This is the world building I was talking about earlier. The movie answers a lot of questions, even the simple ones. Rey is also a great character, but the exact opposite of Finn. Plus I really enjoyed the way the movie dispels common damsel in distress tropes with her. It was almost a slightly feminist movie in that sense, but in a good way. I think Rey's character makes the Star Wars universe more accessible to a young female audience, and that thought makes me smile a little. The movie does its best to show us that Rey is perfectly fine at saving herself.
The opening shot of the original Star Wars had its audience literally ducking in their seats, and thus succeeded at making you feel the oppressive rule of the empire with a mere visual. But The Force Awakens nails that too. Rather than steal those shots, they have new shots to achieve the same thing. A lot of the shots of imperial ships are shot at an angle from below, so they look really big.
The special effects in this are also amazing. There is so much use of real sets and practical effects. Tons of creatures are puppets, animatronics, or suit-characters. -Even some of the really big creatures are puppets, I suspect. This makes the world look real. Sure, when it comes to big battle scenes there is also liberal use of CGI. But unlike Age of Ultron, it doesn't look like CGI. It looks like the characters are really there, I also really like the way they show the interior of various ships, and show how the technology works. It makes it all feel real.
Plot wise, the movie succeeds at making the First Order feel threatening, by showing the cruelty of the empire early on. This is something that the old movies never really succeeded at. They always made the Storm Troopers look like bumbling cannon fodder, -but not so in this movie. They also have some fun with the villain, which is welcome. He isn't just some two dimensional character.
Another thing that surprised me, is how they expand on the lore of The Force. We get to see new ways in which the Force can be used, and they focus more on the mystical elements of it, and don't even mention the midichlorians from the prequels. And we get to see the Force being used a lot. If you think about it, Darth Vader didn't use the Force all that much in the original trilogy, and neither did Obi Wan. But in the Force Awakens, we see liberal use of it.
So with this avalanche of praise, is there anything bad about the movie? Yes, but it is only minor. The movie had me along for the majority of it, up until the end. The final part of the movie is where it kind of lost me. And it just didn't blow me away, like Mad Max Fury Road did. It is perhaps unfair to expect a movie to have that much of an impact, because the few times that it has happened, it was always a surprise. But that's not the only problem. The ending just was a bit lacking. It feels like the movie doesn't end on a high note, like the original movies all did. It tries to end on a cliff hanger, but it doesn't really work. And perhaps the predictability of the ending is to blame for that. I also felt some of the villains were a bit silly. Kylo Ren is just fine. But some of the others are a bit goofy (and they have goofy names too).
If you have children you owe it to them to take them to this movie. I mean it. Take them to this movie right now! They will love you for it! Come on! Reserve those tickets already. And if you are still a child at heart, then go see it as well.