A return to form for the beloved series, Star Wars: The Force Awakens is heavy on humor, excitement, fun and nostalgia.

The Force Awakens is a difficult film to summarize as any plot detail can be considered a spoiler. In the broad strokes, the seventh installment of the franchise tells the story of an AWOL stormtrooper, Finn (John Boyega), and an orphaned scavenger, Rey (Daisy Ridley), who must deliver a droid with important information to the Resistance before they can be intercepted by the First Order, the heirs apparent to the Empire, led by a dark side force user Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson) under the direction of the mysterious Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis).  Along the way, Rey and Finn enlist the help of Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) in  a race against time to deliver the droid before the First order can stop them.

That is as broad a summary as I can provide and right off the bat it must be mentioned that this framework is pretty much exactly the same as A New Hope and while I am sure that will rankle some saga fans, the Force Awakens brings enough new material to the table and handles the story within the framework in a unique enough way that it feels like a fresh new experience. It is heavy on nostalgia but it also works as a palate cleanser from previous efforts and brings the audience back to the familiar ground that they love. I am not going to debate the merits of the prequels but I will say that The Force Awakens feels more like Star Wars than any of those did. The inclusion of original trilogy characters and ships goes a very long way to make this happen but the tone, effects, action set ups and performances all do their part to give The Force Awakens that familiar feel. From the very beginning it catches the audience up in the Star Wars experience and delivers it through the whole of the film.

I should mention that I am a life time Star Wars fan and as such I have a profound love for the original trilogy and even the prequels as much as I can. Star Wars has been a very big part of my life for as long as I can remember and so the idea that we could get a new trilogy that can live up to the legacy of the originals is a very enticing and terrifying proposition. Sitting in the theater opening night I was filled with extreme excitement and anticipation but also a creeping dread that it just might not pan out. That would have been a huge disappointment and I was really not looking forward to that happening. Thankfully, when the credits rolled, I found myself completely satisfied with what I had just seen.

One huge concern that I had for the story was that it was fairly clear that there would be at least some measure of torch passing involved with the new characters taking the reins and driving the action. I worried that the new characters wouldn’t be compelling enough to command attention and that the original characters would be given the short shrift. Those fears were ultimately unfounded as I found Finn, Rey, and Poe (Oscar Isaac) to be fun and refreshing while equal time was paid to most of the original cast (as much as was allowed by the story). Kylo Ren proved to be a complicated and intriguing villain who is still forming when we see him in the movie and provides layers upon which to build as opposed to being a stoic black clad cipher who is only around to menace and hassle the heroes. There will surely be debate about Kylo and how much of a badass he is or isn’t but it is really untenable to call him uninteresting.

The performances here were uniformly great which was another relief as the most recent films were not well known for strong performances. Daisy Ridley was one of the biggest question marks prior to release as she is a relative new comer but she was absolutely terrific and a joy to watch. She could move from serious to excited to sad with ease and she felt like a well formed character right off the bat. John Boyega is equally good, offering a layered performance that was all at once funny and intense. Adam Driver reaches the perfect balance of petulance, arrogance, anger and fear for a performance that feels just right. Domhnall Gleeson turns in a great arrogant slime ball in General Hux, the Grand Moff Tarkin of The Force Awakens. He is given less to do but he does it with the perfect sneer. Given even less to do is Gwendolyn Christie as Captain Phasma. Her character looks cool and she cuts an imposing image but there isn’t a whole lot she can really do here.

Carrie Fisher returns as Leia Organna and she provides a charge of gravitas to the proceedings that help form a bit of the emotional core. Fisher gives Leia great internal strength while also embracing her vulnerability which provides a much needed one two punch in her scenes. Harrison Ford slips back into the Han Solo role perfectly and easily and delivers a powerful performance that should be recognized by the Academy if we lived in a just world. His impact on the film is enormous and contributed to a great deal of joy I derived from this movie.

From a special effects tip, the Force Awakens absolutely shines. Mixing practical effects with digital effects makes for much more convincing visuals and it feels like the characters are occupying real space in real place with real people. This is a pretty big deal as the original trilogy has a particular feel with these effects and the Force Awakens recaptures that very well.

The performances, writing and effects all contribute to the overall tone of the film which, as mentioned above, feels just right. It is hard to quantify but watching the Force Awakens feels like watching the original trilogy. The humor is consistent and never strays into the tone-deaf slapstick of the prequels, while the characters feel genuine. Everything flows naturally from where the trilogy left off and emotional beats feel earned. There is a great deal of nostalgia here but it is the best kind and goes a long way in making this feel like a homecoming rather than a visit with someone you used to know but no longer have anything to talk about anymore.

Conclusion [10 out of 10]

Now listen, The Force Awakens isn’t perfect and that isn’t what a 10 means. What it means is that this movie was completely successful at delivering the experience promised. I got exactly what I wanted out of this movie and I am completely satisfied. It is a movie that has layers and begs for repeat viewings. It is a movie that maintains its sense of fun and adventure while still managing to keep the stakes high. I am sure there are going to be contrarians who lead the backlash charge and yell to whomever will listen that this is a travesty of the highest order but I think those people are wrong. I would recommend wholeheartedly to any Star Wars fan and probably to those fresh to the franchise too. It is truly great.