“…the best that a Star Wars sequel could be…”

I was never a huge fan of Star Wars growing up. I mean, I was a huge fan of running around in my backyard with my friends pretending we were Jedi while we hit each other with sticks, but when it came to the actual movies I was never really into them. As a matter of fact, I hadn’t actually seen the original trilogy in its entirety until about three years ago when I sat down and marathoned it all. I understand why people like the movies, but I don’t have that nostalgia connection with them like some people do. Anyway, my point is that Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens comes along and completely blows all of my expectations out of the water and makes me a fan of the franchise. Everyone knows what this movies about, so let’s get to it.

The Force Awakens is a movie that is very similar to the first Star Wars movie, I’m not going to deny that; but I would argue that it brought exactly what the franchise needed to be thrust into the forefront of entertainment again. The Force Awakens banks a lot on nostalgia, but it’s fine with me because it doesn’t feel exploitative. It feels as though it was a precautionary measure to make sure that asses were in seats in the first place. This was important because, depending on how you look at it, people hadn’t gotten a good Star Wars movie in decades. The prequel trilogy takes the series in a completely different direction that focuses on world-building instead of having fun; The Force Awakens brings the fun back. Now this isn’t to say that the world building was abandoned, because it wasn’t, but The Force Awakens knew that fun had to come first. It made sure of this by updating the usual recipe and adding a lot of comedy and action, which is in-line with more modern films. It also managed to create amazing new leads that will carry this franchise into the future, and also bring a lot of new perspectives to the story that we have overlooked before (like humanizing stormtroopers). And to top all of this off, the movie looked incredible. The effects were absolutely insane, and the design was stunning.

Overall The Force Awakens was the best that a Star Wars sequel could be, and it actually managed to make me fall in love with the franchise (for real this time).

I give Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens an A