A trip down nostalgia lane, Good but not great

Rating: 8/10 (20 December 2015)

First things first. I grew up with Star Wars. As an 80's kid, it was a part of my childhood, sparking the love for all sci-fi. I'm a big fan of SW saga, in fact i loved the prequels and do not even mind Jar-jar. That being said, i was somewhat worried that Disney's re-boot to the franchise might go in a different direction, which would make the movies too mushy and childish. On that point, i am pleased to say, i was wrong. TFA delivers some very dark moments that children are not suited to see (rounding up and the subsequent massacre of innocent civilians).
On to the movie - for fans of the franchise, especially the original trilogy, this release will be a great walk down nostalgia lane; we get to once again see our beloved characters, albeit a little older, we get to hear the great musical score again and we get to see the SW universe in it's full visually magnificent splendor. What we get less of, is the typical SW movie story pacing and no "swipe between scenes" that is almost unique to SW and almost a must. The character development is also on the weaker side. This together then, makes it feel less like the SW we are used to and more like a new start to a franchise aimed at newer generations. This however doesn't make it a bad movie, just different. It can be viewed as a continuity step to previous 6 movies, but it can also be viewed as a standalone movie introducing the SW to new crowds. Obviously it lacks greatly on elaborating on the past and what really makes SW so great - a deep story. We can only hope, that the next 2 movies will return to the original pacing and clearing up events that happened in between episodes 6 and 7. The movie all in all raises many questions which are not at this point very well explained.
The characters, tied to the episode 6, (kylo, Han, Leia) do shed some light into the story progression but something feels missing. The characters aren't bound together very well and feel distant to fans, so we do not get that emotional connection and do not feel the tension. Same goes for the new characters, they are thrown into the light as sh*t hits the fan and we don't have enough to go on to really sympathise with them. On that note, i must say the leading new-found Jedi - Rey (Daisy Ridley) feels natural and likable. Her acting is good and she definitely makes me interested and wanting to see more of her development. As it was hinted, she also has a deeper back story than TFA reveals. The ex-Stormtrooper Finn (John Boyega) on the other hand feels kind of a miss. Other than story progression point, he feels out of place and sticking out like a sore thumb. I know many have been racist against the actor and so on, but i think that's dumb. It is weird how all clones are made after Boba Fett (a white guy) and then we have this clone, who's black. What gives? I don't mind black characters, but when they make no sense with the story, that's annoying. I know Disney is about multicultural diversity and that's all fine but come on.. this is huge lore hole that is hard to explain. And in the aspect of villains, Kylo Ren was bad-ass up until he removed the helmet.. Let's just leave it at that!
All in all, it's surely a good movie, worth watching and a glimpse of what's to come. Sure, some might say it's virtually a copy of episode IV, but who cares, there are many similarities but then again, it strangely works. The only thing that bothered me was how apparently anyone, including non Jedi, non trained people can just pick up a lightsaber, a very specific and unique weapon and fight as if it comes natural. But that's just nit-picking. Anyway, just clear your head and enjoy the movie for what it is – a new episode of Star Wars!