Best one since Empire Strikes Back?

Rating: 10/10 (15 December 2017)

The Star Wars franchise has been a favorite of mine. Although I developed this love only after I saw Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens premier, my love for it has never been lost. I started watching all the cartoons, I watched the updated versions of the original trilogies that kept being remastered by George Lucas and I started reading the Star Wars novels (which to my surprise, were pretty entertaining). Now, it would be stupid not to be pumped for the new one. But, I did have some concerns then. I feared that the franchise that I love will lose its magic. I don't want it to be another generic sci-fi action films. The X-Men universe, Transformers, Star Trek, or even the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Not to give hate, but when you watch these movies, sure it's cool, fun, and entertaining, but after you got home and you turn on your laptop or whatever, the impression you had kind of fades away. The Force Awakens was great for me. It was immensely fun, they introduced us to great new characters, while still doing justice to older ones, and most importantly, it captures the Star Wars magic that we all know and love. So, I hoped that this movie still has that same magic. Thankfully, it did.
What a blast I had with this movie. This movie had everything I wanted in a Star Wars movie. The space battles were epic and loud, the lightsaber battles were better than ever (one scene involving Kylo Ren was the best lightsaber fight I've ever seen), the characters grew even more interesting as you would expect in a sequel, and most importantly, I love what they did with the Star Wars lore. The movie actually gives a good chunk of its runtime to explain about the Jedi, the Force, and the Sith. They committed on actually telling the spirituality behind these Star Wars myths which are so iconic. Perhaps this is why, despite all the other superhero and fantasy movies nowadays, Star Wars still feel special to most people. They have a core. A deep spiritual philosophy that we can all relate to. And also, because they have bright laser swords (sorry, couldn't help it).
Another thing I found really interesting was Kylo Ren. I think he might just be my favorite Star Wars character yet. The complexity that his character has, provides an interesting conflict. And by the way, the actor (Adam Driver) was excellent as Kylo Ren. His struggle against his past and present was vividly expressed in his performance. Add to that the lightsaber stunts which he does by himself (and which I couldn't stop talking about) were excellent. What I'm also happy about is the fact that Luke Skywalker isn't merely just a typical wise master figure. He got a surprisingly hefty amount of character development in this movie.
I bet Star Wars fans will enjoy this movie. Old fans and New fans, The Originals fans and The Prequels fans. The exhilaration and the epic-scale space opera will surely please all viewers. If they could keep up with what they're doing here, I could safely say that I am confident in the future of the Star Wars saga. As a fan, that is all I could say. Disney, keep up the good work.