Great film that combines nostalgia with new elements to recapture the magic of the earlier Star Wars films. The movie relies heavily on the story structure of the previous opening chapters of the first film in a trilogy. While this has worked well in the past and works here, there is a line they come close to crossing where they borrow too much from the past. Whether it’s story elements or just nods to the original trilogy, there are moments where it just feels like fan service. As expected, the special effects are top-notch. A CGI character or two look a bit off, but otherwise everything looks fantastic. The strongest element of the film is its characters. The new characters mesh well with the returning ones, and surprisingly, the recent additions quickly establish great chemistry with each other. Both John Boyega’s Finn and Oscar Isaac’s (underused) Poe are great new additions to the franchise. Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren is more complicated than any of the previous villains in the Star Wars films. It’s Daisy Ridley’s Rey that steals the show. She is just memorizing to watch and just brings so much to the role. Honorable mention goes to the lovable droid, BB-8 as another fun new character. The few downsides to the film are the underuse of some of the characters, the somewhat uninspiring final action sequences and the weak payoff on some spoilers teased by the movie’s trailers.
****1/2 out of *****