Not perfect, but you shouldn't expect it to be

Rating: 8/10 (19 December 2015)

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS! If you haven't seen it, basically my recommendation is go see it, this isn't a movie you should miss out on seeing in theaters. It's very good, not great, but you'll enjoy it. Now for the review. I've seen a lot of reviews giving it a 4,3,2 and even 1 star, which is absurd. This is an entertaining movie with great production, special effects, acting, and direction. There are issues (I'd be blind to say it's not Episode IV on more than a few occasions) but they don't by any mean outweigh the good. The cast is fantastic, Daisy Ridley and John Boyega have fantastic chemistry, and Harrison Ford IS Han Solo. Kylo Ren is not the Darth Vader reskin you thought he might have been, and while some complain he's just a brat, IT'S CALLED A CHARACTER ARC. He'll grow and develop in the coming episodes and his actions in this film promise an excellent arc to come. The scene between him and Han was the emotional high of the film (when Han called out to him by his real name, Ben, there wasn't a dry eye in the theater). Yes Han dies, but the fact that they got Harrison Ford back at all should have been clue enough for any fan that he was going to bite it in this one. And I'm okay with that, this trilogy is about the new characters, and they're fantastic. The action and cinematography is great, the special effects are solid, and the score, while not the best Williams, has its moments, especially at the end. Now there are some negatives with the story, such as Rey's sudden mastery of the force and her ability to defeat Kylo with no training, which seemed really really convenient. And while Luke's appearance had the crowd on their feet clapping, holding him to the last minute and GIVING HIM NO LINES was a lame considering Mark Hamill had second billing. Combine that with an appalling lack of the much-hyped Captain Phasma and a weird CGI squid fest scene and you have the negatives. So it's not perfect, but I'm looking forward to what's to come, and you should see it.