May the Force be with this Film

Rating: 9/10 (27 December 2015)

I saw this movie today and I am definitely planning on seeing it again. I had hoped that this movie would be able to pull the franchise out of the hole that the prequels had caused. I think it's safe to say that it did. The characters, the action, the story, all of it was stunning. Not to mention the visual effects, but I'll get to those last.
First- The Characters: The movie centers mostly around our two main protagonists, Finn and Rey, played by John Boyega and Daisy Ridley, respectively. Finn is a former stormtrooper who deserts the First Order, (basically the "New Empire") after seeing them slaughter a village of innocent people. He then comes across Rey, a scavenger who was abandoned by her family when she was a child. The two are accompanied by a droid named BB-8, who has a piece of the map to find Luke Skywalker, who has vanished. They escape in the Millennium Falcon, which was on their planet, and quickly get found by Han Solo and Chewbacca, who had gotten the ship stolen from them years before. They plan to go to the Resistance base to deliver BB-8 and the map to Leia, now a general. They are helped along by the alien Maz Kanata (played by Lupita Nyong'o) before Rey is captured by Kylo Ren, the film's main antagonist, who turns out to be Han Solo's son. This forces Finn and Han to go after her. While Harrison Ford is as good as ever as Han Solo, I am going to mainly focus on Finn and Rey. In some ways, these two are opposites. Finn is somewhat of a coward, pretending to be part of the Resistance and later trying to desert the group in order to save himself. Rey is a tough, self-sufficient scavenger who is an expert pilot and very brave. However, I think this is what makes them have so much chemistry together. They are different enough to each provide something new while also being just similar enough to click. I felt a connection to these characters that I have rarely felt before in a movie. I genuinely cared about them.
Next up- The Action: Ho-ly cow. The action in this movie was fantastic. The updated visual effects mixed with director J.J. Abrams' technique made for gripping action. Everything was there. There was the daring escapes, the near-suicidal run to disable the First Order's sun-draining superweapon. Then there was the key lightsaber battle near the end. The lightsaber fighting was a perfect balance between the medieval-style dueling of the original trilogy and the ultra-smooth, CGI laden fighting of the prequels. It was just quick enough, just smooth enough. And unlike the prequels, you actually felt like there were actual people wielding the energy weapons. I won't say much more. You have to see it to fully appreciate it.
The Story: For the most part, I liked the story of this movie. My only gripe is that some of it borrowed a little too much off of "A New Hope." We had the mysterious character in danger, placing the key plot point in a faithul droid, and that droid coming across our hero. We also had the giant, uber-powerful superweapon that was capable of destroying planets (or in this case, whole systems,) and the heroes embarking on a daring mission to take it out seconds before it can fire. And while some of the familiarity was comforting, some of it seemed a little too familiar.
The Effects: Oh, what a change this made. The CGI here was light-years above the prequels, part of this being thanks to the updated effects. While it did rely quite a bit on the effects, they were smoother and blended in more. I also feel I need to give some credit to J.J. Abrams himself. His style was different from George Lucas', and it provided a fresh look on the Star Wars universe. He should definitely helm at least one more movie. He did this one right.
My final verdict: This film is a very worthy addition to the Star Wars canon. It did just about everything perfectly. I would certainly recommend this movie if you haven't seen it already. Even if you aren't a fan of Star Wars, give it a watch. You won't regret it.
May the Force be with You. -EJ