The new Star Wars movie has a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes and a solid 81 on Metacritic. I’d give it a 7 or so. It’s a fun movie. It does all the things that Star Wars does, and it does them right. The score, the battle between good and evil, the comedic relief, the sci-fi adventure, the mystery. It is all well done and professional in a way that George Lucas doesn’t seem to know how to do anymore. That being said, JJ Abrams didn’t take any risks. This is essentially a remake of A New Hope. Every character in the original Star Wars has a corresponding character in The Force Awakens, and most of the scenes have corresponding scenes.
It is a really good movie. It does exactly what it needs to do. JJ Abrams put Star Wars back on track. Daisy Ridley was great. The stage is set for a true rebirth of the franchise. I truly appreciate The Force Awakens and I’m going to go see it again in IMAX, but I don’t put it on my top 10 movie list. To be truly great a movie has to do something brand new, and SWTFA doesn’t do that. Still, I’m thrilled with the direction of the story and as long as Episode 8 isn’t a remake of The Empire Strikes Back, I’m happy.