JJ Abrams delivers on high expectations with a true Star Wars movie!

Rating: 10/10 (31 July 2017)

Star Wars is back, as JJ Abrams achieves a small miracle in creating a movie that respects its original material, brings in a ton of new characters, makes it appealing for new viewers and sets up a story to build a new Star Wars trilogy on.
Without giving away too many spoilers, the story revolves around a scavenger(Rey), a renegade stormtrooper(Finn) and a fighter pilot(Poe) in their quest to defeat an enemy with the power to endanger the galaxy. To be honest, superb acting has never been a strong point in any of the previous Star Wars movies. This trend has thankfully been broken, as the stellar cast give great performances throughout the whole movie. The newcomers Daisy Ridley and John Boyega, playing as Rey and Finn respectively, prove themselves more than capable of carrying the load in continuing the saga. They both show great chemistry together and give us extremely likable characters, with Rey bringing the heart of the film and Finn the abundant energy. Oscar Isaac, who plays Poe, is the veteran among the young cast and pulls of a cool and smartass X-wing pilot. And finally, the old cast returns to give this film a true Star Wars feel to it. Harrison Ford returns as Han Solo and has not seemed to skip a beat since 1983, as he is as cheeky and badass as ever. His witty banter with Chewbacca is a pleasure to watch, but Ford also brings a strong emotional performance this time too. Carrie Fisher as Leia also returns, in a rather small role, and delivers some sweet scenes with Han and the new cast. However, the most complex character with the best arc in this movie, is the antagonist Kylo Ren. Ren, played by Adam Driver, gives us an extremely intimidating villain with a troubled past we are eager to discover. Ultimately, he serves us more than a Darth Vader wannabe.
JJ Abrams, alongside Lawrence Kasdan and Michael Arndt, wrote a fun and entertaining screenplay with plenty of emotional plot twists and content. Each main character has its own background and motivation, which develops over the duration of the film. A pleasant surprise to see is the humor used in the movie. The comedic relief in the film was used very effectively in developing chemistry and sympathy for the characters. It is also a sign that the movie does not take itself too seriously as the prequels did.
The Force Awakens is filled with exhilarating action and moves with great pace during these scenes. Yet, Abrams knows to slow it down during scenes conveying intense emotion giving the audience time to process all that is thrown at them. These combined make it easy to understand the main characters' motivations, making the emotional investment so much better.
As is typical of Star Wars, the movie is full of awe inspiring visual images and astonishing sound editing, creating new sounds for laser beams, light sabers, and alien noises. The cinematography is equally impressive, showing beautiful landscape shots of new planets reminiscent of the original trilogy. The cinematographer, Daniel Mindel, also shows us a diverse array of shots, giving heart-pounding POV shots inside the cockpit and nice long shots of the battlefield giving it a great scope while avoiding confusion caused by the numerous explosions.
John Williams makes a welcome return to the Star Wars franchise with a bombastic new score, but also with nicely timed inserts of his famous original music to bring up emotional heartwarming feeling among the old- school fans.
In conclusion, The Force Awakens is a return to form for the Star Wars franchise, as JJ Abrams gives his tribute to the original Star Wars, leading to a fanboys' dream. This beautiful reunion of old characters combined with the introduction of promising new characters results in a nostalgic and emotional adventure trip that left me excited for what is coming next. To quote Jimmy Kimmel, this movie was probably "the most anticipated sequel since the New Testament". So expect this movie to be under the most intense scrutiny by reviewers as they dissect the movie to its core to find the tiniest flaws. Nobody wants to be "Phantom Menaced" again. In the end, The Force Awakens delivers as a fantastic Star Wars film and a worthy addition to the franchise. It is definitely the best Star Wars movie since 1983 and, in my opinion, the best one since The Empire Strikes Back.