Movie Review – Star Wars: The Force Awakens
I’ve been a huge Star Wars fan since I was a little kid – I’ve seen the movies dozens of times in my life (Empire is my favorite) and played all of the video games. Basically, the Star Wars franchise (particularly the original trilogy) are among my favorite movies. So when I heard that Disney had acquired Lucas Film and planned to make a new trilogy, and on top of that were bring back the original cast (including Harrison Ford as Han Solo, my favorite movie character of all time), I was excited.
Thankfully, writer/director J.J. Abrams delivered, creating a fun, thrill-ride that fits perfectly within the Star Wars universe. He was the perfect choice to reboot the franchise, bringing in a brilliant young cast to compliment the older actors. In short, I loved this movie.
Honestly, you could nitpick this movie to death, and there are some scenes that I thought could have been handled better. But at the end of the day I got everything I wanted – Han Solo being awesome, cool lightsaber battles, amazing space dog-fights, etc… I couldn’t help but feel like a kid again as I sat through it. And on top of that, the ending had me wanting to see what happened next, while also providing a satisfying conclusion.
I didn’t think there was any way this movie could live up to the hype, but somehow it did. Can’t wait for the next one in 2017.
Grade: A