Review of Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) by Mrmoviebuff — 18 Dec 2015

The Force will be strong in this review. If you were ever looking for a movie that lives up to a very long hype, that movie is 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens', a movie that, in my opinion, is just as fantastic and thrilling as "A New Hope" (1977) and "The Empire Strikes Back" (1980).

Directed by J.J. Abrams ('Star Trek' and 'Super 8'), the movie is filled with gorgeous set pieces, some fast-paced action scenes that is pure eye candy, and a well-told and well-paced story.

Luke Skywalker has disappeared since the events of "Return of the Jedi" (1983), and we meet some new characters who try to find out where Luke is. We meet a pilot named Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), who is sending a BB-8 Droid the map to where Luke has disappeared to. We also meet a former Storm Trooper whose name is Finn (John Boyega, in an ambitious performance) who is on the run from the orders of the film's main enemy, Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), who promises to finish the job that Darth Vader set out to do.

Finn ends up in an accident and meets up with a young, female protagonist named Rey (Daisy Ridley) and they agree to help each other to send the droid where it needs to be in order to find the missing, legendary Luke.

Harrison Ford returns as Han Solo, and his accomplice, the wookiee, Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) in order to help the two young warriors find Luke and finish their mission.

More familiar characters do return in this movie, but the main focus is on; Rey, Finn and Han. These are the three reasons why anyone, "Star Wars" fans in particular, should see this movie.

Back in 1999, everybody was waiting so long to see "The Phantom Menace", and the result was disappointment, and mostly hate. That wasn't the movie everybody wanted to see. In my opinion, "The Force Awakens" is what "The Phantom Menace" should've been. Filled with superb action, a memorable plot, and some troubled characters with a dark past, who we end up caring for.

Many of you may, or may not know about my strong dislike for 'Guardians of the Galaxy' (2014), a Marvel comics movie made very similar in style to "Star Wars". This was also the movie I wanted "Guardians" to be. The humor has to be reduced to when it's appropriate to joke, the characters need drive and focus instead of being so thinly written and having forced romance (Drax and Gamora from "Guardians"). The action needs purpose and the villain needs motivation and needs to be memorable (Does anybody still remember Ronan from "Guardians"?).

All in all, 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' is a movie that is worth the hype, everything from the action, to the characters, to the plot, right down to hearing the iconic theme by John Williams while the opening credits still remains the yellow text crawling upwards on the screen. It's nostalgic, but also new and fresh.

J.J. Abrams did a fantastic, albeit very complicated, job of bringing in over 30 years of "Star Wars" into one movie, it may look overcrowded, but it's organised to a fault. You will have no trouble following the story, plus with a few surprises added in, this is a movie that is not to be missed, and must be seen in the theater.

This is why, for me, it is a 10/10. Absolute perfection...