What can I say? Better than 1-2-3 was my only true request. That was done easily. However, the deeper lore of Star Wars was revealed. This was a movie I wanted to watch. I yearned for more info. I wasn’t bogged down in senate talk. And Poe’s intro scene said it all. Action, mystique, new ways to use the force and that humor from the originals all added up to a worthy successor to the films I grew up watching.
Seeing the old characters old was spectacular. How many sequels are truly set 30 years after the fact? The new characters shone. The action was great and the practical effects made this a tangible world I wanted to live in. The only downside I could see what that I knew it was part of a trilogy. Things must be explained and fleshed out later rather than NOW. A very minor downside indeed.
Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens is a title I can’t believe exists. It is fun but not goofy, light-hearted and funny but not cheesy, serious but not crippling so, new but old! Magically, Star Wars is somehow cool again.