Star Wars: The Force Awakens REVIEW

Boy, it's good to be back in a galaxy far, far, away! JJ Abrams has crafted a love letter to the original trilogy (especially A New Hope) while propelling the franchise forward in exciting ways with impeccably casted new characters. Read on for my review.
Anticipation and excitement for Star Wars: The Force Awakens has been at a fever pitch for not only myself, but for most of the population of earth for some time now. While I will steer clear of most major spoilers for this review, I will say this: It's good to be back. While I don't think it's a perfect film, I do think it's as good as JJ Abrams & Co. could have done given the seemingly insurmountable task that was before them when Disney acquired LucasFilm ($4 billion is starting to look like the deal of the century).

Not only did they have to resurrect everything that made the originals so timeless, but they had to do it in a way that would pave the way for the future of the franchise - and I would say they've done it (for a separate blog post I want to discuss this one question: Why, of all the franchises, has Star Wars captured the hearts of so many of us, worldwide? What is it about these movies that does that? Star Wars movies aren't just movies, they're events that remain embedded in our culture forever. It's amazing that these films can bring so many of us together - clearly these films are meant to be experienced with others and not just from the comfort of staring at our phones. But anyway, that's for another post. For now, on with the review!).

Everything is working here. The action is great, the set-pieces are incredible, the humor is consistent (this is probably the funniest SW movie yet), and the characters are well acted and multi-dimensional  - especially Rey and Kylo Ren.

In fact, the best thing to come from this movie are the characters, especially the new ones. Rey (Daisy Ridley), Finn (John Boyega), Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and even BB-8 are the best parts of this movie. Every one of them is a joy to watch on-screen  - I only wish we would have had more of them (in fact, that could be a running them of how I felt of the movie - I just wanted more overall). The movie works best when we are focused on them, rather than spending time with characters of old. Rey, most of all, owns this movie and I want more than anything to see her story continue to unfold.

The things that TFA does right (and often times exceptionally well) far outweigh the flaws; which I believe are (if you've paid attention to the trailers these won't be spoilers for you but I guess they potentially could be considered as such):

***POTENTIAL SPOILERS***

1. Enough of the bigger-death-star-every-movie-with-a-far-too-easy-x-wing-fight-to-blow-it-up ploy device.

and...

2. TFA is essentially two hours of build up.Yes, I resisted this thought at first as well, but when you take a step back and look at the film, it really is 85% build up.

***END POTENTIAL SPOILERS***

Again, I feel like there was a slight missed opportunity to give us even more of what Abrams decided to. I know he was keen on keeping the movie brief, but this is an example of a movie where an additional 20 minutes could have fleshed out the characters, and, more importantly, the plot more. With that being said, the movie does so much, and so much right, that these flaws don't take away from the experience and what it was setting out to be - which in the end was to take us back to a galaxy far, far, away where we felt at home - all the while leaving us thirsty for more.

And thirsty I am. As great as TFA was, I'm already salivating at the idea of Episode VIII. There is so much story left to be told, and I can't wait for director Rian Johnson's take on the Force (Johnson directed a great little move a few years back called Looper, but is probably best known for directing some of the very best episodes of Breaking Bad).

Star Wars: The Force Awakens does it's job and does it very well, even if it does rely a little too much at times on nostalgia and plot points of the past. Now that we're back, it's time for the franchise to shed it's past and boldly go into the future of the Force; fully embracing new story lines with it's delightful new characters

Grade: A-

Side thoughts: 

• How has Daisy Ridley and John Boyega not been in more movies? Because they're amazing. Not just good for a SW movie, but really good, period.
• Was it just me, or did John Williams' score seem a little weak? I mean, it's still miles better than most of what you find in, say, a Marvel movie, but I do feel like this was his weakest score of the franchise. I needed more themes. 
• There's a lot of backstory to many of the plot points that I hope they explore in the future...or maybe it'll just be glossed over (Maz, the lightsaber, Rey, R2-D2, the dream sequence, the Max Von Sydow character at the beginning... I WANT MORE). Let's hope it's the former. 
• BB-8 is the cutest droid of all the droids. Please let me have a BB-8
• Episode VIII better have more Poe Dameron. Oscar Isaac is an incredibly talented actor, let's give him more to do. He and BB-8 were my favorites of the movie. 
• Love the rawness of the lightsaber fights. I genuinely felt like they were trying to off each other. Great stuff indeed.