Short Review - Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Spoiler Free)

I was so excited about this movie that I bought the tickets in advance and went to see it Thursday night. It's hard to temper expectations going into a movie as big as this but I tried my best to keep an open mind...

The best thing about this movie is the characters. Rey and Finn immediately come to life and have great chemistry with each other and with Han Solo and all three main characters have really solid arcs as does the new villain Kylo Ren. The writing in the film is generally quite strong and there is a lot of fun humor. The film also looks really great with a lot of practical effects and cool creature and environment design. With that said I do have some problems with the film. There is a major plot point borrowed from the original Star Wars film that I found rather derivative. In addition to this the pacing is somewhat rushed and erratic at times especially toward the end. I also have mixed feelings about this film's place in the overall Star Wars canon that I won't get into here. Overall though The Force Awakens is a pretty strong film with solid writing acting and direction. Perhaps the best complement I can give it is that I feel anxious to see it again.

Score: 8.5/10