Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)

There has been an awakening...

I have waited for this day for years. New Star Wars! And it's good! Like, really good! I just got out of the theatre and I already want to see it five more times. So let's get into it. (DON'T READ THIS IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE MOVIE.)

JJ Abrams is the man. The movie feels a lot like episode IV, but you know its intentional. The story heavily mirrors that of IV, but it doesn't feel like a remake or reboot, it is very much a continuation of the story. And it is a natural continuation, it didn't feel forced. I had a feeling that Kylo Ren would be Han Solo's son, and it's so cool that Luke trained him. So sad that Kylo turned to the dark side, and Luke went into hiding. Kylo really feels like a scared, sad, confused character--and when Han called him Ben (for Obi-Wan) I almost cried. You can see Kylo's inner struggle, that there is still good in him, that he is scared he is just being used by Snoke (sp?).

I also loved the homages to the original trilogy: "Where should we keep him?" "Garbage chute? Trash compactor?" There were TONS of little references to the old movies and they were great.

Every character was amazing, except for Snoke, in my opinion. I just didn't like Snoke because we know nothing about him or where he came from, so I'm hoping we will see soon. Everyone else had clear intentions and were awesome, especially Daisy Ridley as Rey. They showed early that she is a strong female character ("stop holding my hand!") and continued that strength and badassery throughout the movie, but didn't beat you over the head with it, as many movies with strong female characters do. It just accepts that she's a badass and tells the story. I wish more movies would do that. Also, WHO IS SHE? Who is her family? Why is she so strong with the force?

I can't wait for the next one. So many questions need to be answered and I trust now that it will be great. So many loose ends need to come together and the next one should explore who Rey is, maybe have her train with Luke, find out what Finn's role is, and maybe find out who Snoke is. I want to talk about this more, but I want to see it a few more times first.