The movie delivered.
It has a feel like the first Star Wars from 1977. I took my 26 year old son with me and as we sat down, I realized I watched that first Star Wars when I was 26.
One by one, actors from the original Star Wars made their first appearance. As each one day, applause would erupt from the audience. It almost seems like Alec Guinness is back, but no, it's another great elder actor.
But it's not just the actors. Some of the technology also brings applause. You'll see.
For me, seeing the actors, thirty-six years after I first got to know them, was like seeing old friends again. Once or twice it literally brought me to tears. I know. I'm a wuss. And several times it give me chills. How many movies can you see where you met the characters close to 40 years ago. Even my son, at 26, probably saw the first Star Wars by the time he was ten or eleven. After all, i tried to give him a decent cultural education (his first rock concert was Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood.)
The movie has some CGI, but not too much, a good thing, because it feels like Emmy and Oscar award winning director J.J. Abrams attempted to keep the feel of the movie similar to the original.
There's a real story, character development and great action. Since it's been mentioned a lot, I don't think it's a spoiler to report that there's a decent cantina scene. There are bad guys and then really bad guys-- The First Order-- looking just like the original storm troopers. Not surprisingly, considering this was created by Disney, there's no real political message to this.
Scenes were shot in England, Iceland, Abu Dabi and Ireland.
If you want all the details, here's the link to the Wikipedia page and to the IMDB page.
Bottom-line, I rate this a nine-- a really great, riveting movie that not only entertained, but also touched my emotions. See it. If you liked the original, this one will be satisfying.
