Everything old is new again

Rating: 9/10 (31 October 2016)

I just came from seeing STAR WARS VII! Before I get started, I'd just like to point out that I have never seen a movie with as much hype behind it in my life! Disney has really pulled out all the stops and spared no expense in stoking the flames of this release. With all the merchandising and third party tie in's from makeup to jewelry to breakfast cereal to (no lie) oranges, this movie is set up to possibly be the biggest movie of all time! As a matter of fact, it's so set itself up that if it's anything less than that some will look at it as a failure. Directed by Hollywood powerhouse J.J. Abrams, the director of the Star Trek reboot, this new Star Wars movie seeks to blow more wind into the sails of the biggest film franchise of all time and wash the taste of the ill fated prequels from the mouths of Star Wars fans everywhere. So what does that mean for you, John and Jane Q. Movie-goer? Well, it typically means one of two things, either it is in fact the greatest movie ever made or it's a rotten piece of garbage that the studio is hoping for big numbers for in the first few weeks before people realize that it stinks on ice. Well folks, I've just come from the theater and I have to say that without a doubt, Star Wars delivers! Just to give you a bit of a background, the last time we we heard about the saga going on in a galaxy far, far away, Luke Skywalker and the Rebel Alliance had just defeated Darth Vader the evil Emperor Palpatine. The story in Star Wars VII takes place some 25 years after the defeat of the Galactic Empire where out of the ashes of the now defunct empire a new evil has emerged in the form of The First Order, an oppressive force bent on destroying Luke Skywalker and his group of Jedi Knights who have since gone into hiding. At the same time a faction of the Rebel Alliance known as The Resistance seeks to find Luke and fight The First Order. This story is centered around The characters Rey and Finn, two misfits, played by relative Hollywood newcomers Daisy Ridley and John Boyega and their journey to help The Resistance find Luke Skywalker at any cost. I'd love to tell more, but given the nature of this film, it's best to leave the details of the plot alone. Let's just say that they, along with Oscar Issac, who plays the hot shot X-Wing pilot Poe, do a great job of breathing some much needed new life into this franchise. At the same time, Domhnall Gleeson, Adam Driver and Andy Circus are famously evil as the quasi-Nazi First Order. This movie is not all new blood however, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill and all your favorite Star Wars heroes like Chewbacca, C-3PO and R2-D2 make appearances here and they work well to provide balance between the old and the new in the film.
The special effects are fantastic, the action scenes are crisp and well choreographed and the story is thrilling, fast paced and immersive, with equal parts old and new Star Wars, bringing in new characters and new stories while at the same time taking quite a few cues from the original Star Wars which for me ended up being both heart warming and a little disappointing seeing as the familiar parts begin to give the movie a bit of the Ghostbusters 2 syndrome in that a few too many of the same notes from the old series are hit.
All in all, I really really liked this movie and it's faults are all but crushed by it's hundreds of positives from funny script writing to thrilling visuals to the pure rush I got from seeing some of the old characters back together. I am definitely looking forward to seeing this movie at least another 2 times in the theater. Star Wars: The Force Awakens get a 4.5... out of 5.