Wow  The Force is Strong with this one

Rating: 9/10 (19 December 2015)

The minute the Star Wars running storyline came on screen with the familiar music score, I had chills. Honestly with so much hype and expectation weighing on this movie I was half-expecting that it would buckle under the pressure. But much to my very pleasant surprise, this was an excellent movie, better than I expected actually.
As I said, I had chills the moment the movie started and I was truly enthralled throughout. The storyline was strong and kept very much in the spirit of the original Star Wars (IV, V, VI). Though it was obvious the original characters had grown much older, they kept their personalities right through. From the charming and roguish Han Solo with his witty one-liners, to the best buddies rapport between Chewbacca and Han Solo and of course Leia. Our much loved characters make a grand return and it is obvious from the way that they make their entrances how much JJ Abrams is a fan of Star Wars.
Talking about JJ Abrams, he has absolutely nailed this. He has painstakingly crafted out a story that rehashes part of the scenes from the original yet in a very tongue-in-cheek manner. And I absolutely loved that. I wanted to cheer every time one of the original characters was "introduced", it brought on such a sense of nostalgia.
But more than just the original characters, what made this movie even better was the introduction of the newer characters from Rey, Finn, Poe to Kylo Ren and of course BB-8. All of them played their parts well. Special mention to Daisy Ridley as Rey. Great introduction of a new character to the story and a strong female lead to boot. Daisy did an excellent job portraying Rey as strong, independent, resourceful yet vulnerable and broken. I'm certainly looking forward to seeing more of her story. I was a little concerned about John Boyega as Finn, but I need not have worried. He showed great comic timing and actually provided some of the laughs. BB-8 is another awesome character introduction. Whoever invented "it" is a genius. Who knew that a robot ball could show so much expression without saying a word.
Of course the dogfight scenes were awesome. IMO, some were even more spectacular than the original, in particular the one involving the millennium falcon and some tie fighters. Watch out of it, it was out of this world! Without giving anything away let's just say that light-sabers were used and it didn't disappoint.
In short, thank you JJ Abrams for bringing back the Star Wars spirit through great story telling, wonderful old and new characters. Never having seen the original Star Wars on the big screen, this was such a visual treat. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. It brought back great memories and I'm sure the series will be creating great new memories with such a great start as The Force Awakens. Truly the force is strong with this one