Let me start by saying that Star Wars: The Force Awakens is a great movie. The Star Wars nerd that I am, I was afraid the movie would fail to please or to capture the essence of the franchise; however, it did the opposite. The movie had compelling character development coupled with a strong plot. Unlike the previous trilogy where the humor felt contrived and forced, this installment had genuine, intelligent humorous moments. 

As you may already know, the movie takes place thirty years after the events of Star Wars Episode VI: The Return of the Jedi. There are three main protagonists: Rey, a young scavenger who lives on the desert world of Jakku; Fin, an ex-stormtrooper who no longer feels the desire to serve the First Order; and Poe Dameron, a very skilled resistance pilot. The movie also includes many characters from the past movies such as Han Solo, Chewbacca, and Princess Leia. (I will not go into much more detail because of potential spoilers!) The antagonist is Kylo Ren, a warrior of the First Order on a mission to find Luke Skywalker.

Like all movies, this film is not free of flaws. The flaws are not terribly noticeable, but the movie does fail to follow the lore of the expanded universe. I highly doubt that the new trilogy will move in the direction of the Yuuhan Yong War — a war fought between the New Republic and the Yuuzhong in comic book lore. The story is great, and it kept me on the edge of my seat for the majority of the movie.

All things considered, including the incredible hype surrounding the film, this is a great movie. It could very easily be one of 2015’s best. I highly recommend going to see it over the break!