This film was god awful and a great disappointment.

Joke. Star Wars: The Force Awakens was actually really good. It had the focus and spirit of the original trilogy, good likable characters and a brilliant pace.

Now I would usually write the premise of the piece I’m reviewing but writing a complete premise would involve giving some things away.

Trust me. There’s a reason why everyone’s saying you should see this unspoiled.

However I will give a brief, brief overview.

Its 30 years after Return of the Jedi, an imperial army known as The First Order is trying to take over the galaxy. Our protagonists try to stop them.

The characters is what made Star Wars great and The Force Awakens perfects its characters.

While they’re not really unique or three dimensional the film establishes their desires and personalities instantly and with that knowledge you immediately care about them.

The performances are great. The new cast members express the chemistry between the characters brilliantly.

I won’t lie Daisy Ridley was a bit woody at the beginning with the way she delivered her lines but she got better as the film progressed.

The Force Awakens is possibly the best example of referencing done right.

In Doctor Who, the recent Star Trek films and most remakes and reboots the references are always shoehorned into the dialogue and sound really awkward and unnatural.

Here the references are presented as the mythology of the story. They are brought up as historical events and don’t feel artificial.

Is The Force Awakens perfect? Is it a game changing classic? No.

The biggest problem I had with the film was the plot.

Without spoiling anything the film is basically a carbon copy of A New Hope.

I know a lot of people have said it is just paying homage to the original trilogy bur for me the line between homage and copying really blurred. There were many points when I was thinking to myself “really? They’re doing this again?”.

I wouldn’t call it a classic or even the best film of the year but I don’t think The Force Awakens was supposed to be any of those things.

While I still agree with all the points I made in my post ‘The Force Awakens: Just Another Sci-fi Fantasy film?‘ I say that if it was supposed to be a simple, fun, nostalgic adventure film that caught the spirit of the original trilogy, then it succeeded.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens earns a solid 8 out of 10.