Abrams, Kasdan and Arndt haven’t designed a story filled with surprises (most of them are pretty easy to figure out) so much as they’ve engineered one that the realization of what is about to transpire hits the viewer like an out-of-control Tie Fighter. There’s plenty more to say, but to do so doesn’t feel right. When all is at its worst, when hope appears lost, a rogue smuggler comes to Rey and Finn’s aid as if drawn there by destiny, ex-Rebel leader Han Solo ( Harrison Ford) and his best friend and co-pilot Chewbacca ( Peter Mayhew) swooping in just when needed most. Assisting a lost BB-8 droid, aided by a former Stormtrooper calling himself Finn ( John Boyega), she is forced to flee Jakku with a whole fleet of First Order warriors, led by the powerful Kylo Ren ( Adam Driver), hot on her tail. With time growing short, General Leia Organa ( Carrie Fisher) has sent her most trusted pilot, Poe Dameron ( Oscar Isaac), to the backwater desert planet of Jakku, looking for the final pieces of a puzzle that has mystified them all for over a decade.īy happenstance, fate or something greater, maybe even mystical, the missing information, the key to learning where Skywalker is, has found its way to scavenger Rey ( Daisy Ridley). In that time, a new evil has grown, the nefarious First Order, while the rebels have blossomed into the Resistance both armies in a desperate race to find the whereabouts of the last remaining Jedi Knight, the one and only Luke Skywalker ( Mark Hamill). It has been thirty years since The Empire fell, the Emperor was defeated and the Rebel Alliance scored a major victory for freedom and democracy throughout the galaxy. But overall? Beginning to end? The Force Awakens is a triumph, and whether one is a fan of Star Wars or a newcomer uncertain what all the fuss is about this is a science fiction spectacular worthy of celebration. Not without a lump here and a bump there. With the aid of Little Miss Sunshine Oscar-winner Michael Arndt and, arguably more importantly, franchise returnee Lawrence Kasdan (a screenwriter on both The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, but also the writer/director of complex, character-driven genre fair like The Big Chill, Silverado and Body Heat), Abrams accomplishes his task. He is asked to compose a story and scenario that will launch a new trilogy, one that pays deft homage to Lucas’ first set of films yet also erases the bad taste left in the mouths of many who found the prequels underwhelming.

If Abrams had a seemingly impossible task as it pertained to his reboot/reimagining of Star Trek in 2009, the challenge here is unfathomable, the director tackling the iconic Star Wars franchise by bringing back all of the principal 1977 players while also introducing a number of new faces for modern audiences.

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