The Best Star Wars since "Empire"

Rating: 10/10 (18 December 2015)

"A long time ago in a galaxy far far away..." When those famous words appeared on the silver screen once again, followed by the galactic logo and title crawl, the crowd cheered and I felt like a little, excited kid all over again. Seeing the Star Wars logo in the theater again solely almost brought tears to my eyes. What followed was a film that was everything I dreamed it would be. Dazzling, exhilarating, funny, and heart-breaking. This film brought me back to the world of Star Wars.
While a little weak on a formulaic plot, The Force Awakens has no shortage of great characters. With many of the original characters returning, it give you the chills to see some of them together again. Han Solo returns in a role many people were expecting to be more of a mentor role in this film, but he really does stay true to the Han Solo character and does not inspire to be some new Obi-Wan Kenobi or Qui-Gon Jinn. Harrison Ford once again delivers a great performance as the scruffy-looking Nerf herder. Carrie Fisher also returns as now *General* Leia Organa in a somewhat substantial role as does Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, but that's all I'll say about that.
While seeing these original characters, along with others like Chewbacca, R2-D2, C-3PO and even the man, the myth, the legend himself, Admiral Ackbar, is fantastic, it is the new characters that really pull you into the film. Daisy Ridley shines a the ass-kicking Rey, who I think will one day be among the greatest of film female heroines. The other heroes of the story include the young men Finn and Poe Dameron, portrayed by John Boyega and Oscar Isaac, respectively. Both men are extremely funny, courageous and are people audiences can really relate and connect to. In addition to our new heroes, we have the new villain: Kylo Ren. There is much more to Kylo Ren than meets the eye, and while he is not as formidable as Darth Vader, he has a lot of depth that audiences can explore and maybe even sympathize with.
It's really the characters and their dialog that makes this movie great, but no Star Wars would be complete without a killer soundtrack from John Williams, who once again delivers. In addition, J.J. Abrams' direction is fantastic as he draws the film from script to space and brings Star Wars back to its roots by relying much more on practical effects instead of making another CGI abomination, like so many films we see nowadays.
As I stated earlier, The Force Awakens is not without its weaknesses. The plot mainly relies on fate, or rather the Force, and some of the characters get sidelined. General Hux has his moments but he barely gets any characterization. And while they tried of give Gwendoline Christie a bad ass female villain role, Captain Phasma has to have been given one of the lamest roles in a Star Wars movie of all time.
Despite that, I haven't had more fun at the movies all year, nor have I been so nervous or even sad; it is an emotional roller coaster that really makes you feel for everyone. If you like Star Wars at all, you will truly love this movie and be begging for more when its over.