Review of Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) by Whiskeyfiend — 30 Jan 2016

Have watched this twice now, first time would have given it a 7 or 8 but my enjoyment increased quite a lot on second viewing. Going into it first time I wanted it to be the greatest film I'd ever seen.....It wasn't. Plenty to nit-pick. After the second viewing, with my lofty expectations no longer a factor, the film really bloomed. It has been made with so much love and care, and the actors really shine. I think I'll enjoy it even more with future viewings, just like I did with ANH and ESB (Jedi, not so much). Sure it has flaws and there is no denying the story is a re-tread, but it's all executed so beautifully it doesn't matter.

It can't have been easy to create new characters that people are going to love like the old ones, but from what I've seen here they've done just that. And that's probably the crowning achievement of the Force Awakens and what makes it a great film.