The Force Awakens
Cast & Key People
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Our Review
Star Wars came back, and for one movie it felt effortless. The Force Awakens restarts the saga with new faces that immediately belong: Daisy Ridley’s Rey, John Boyega’s defected stormtrooper Finn, and a scavenger plot that mirrors A New Hope on purpose, hoping the rhyme will carry the wonder back. For most of its runtime, it does.
Harrison Ford’s return gives the film its emotional anchor, and Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren arrives fully formed: a villain who is scary because he is weak, not strong. The practical effects and real locations put the prequels’ green screen world firmly behind the franchise.
The film borrows so much structure from the 1977 original that it sometimes feels like a cover song, and the new republic’s state of play is underexplained. But the cast, the pacing, and the ending cliffhanger make it the strongest theatrical Star Wars in three decades at that point. Our score: 8/10. Tonight it is the easiest watch of the sequels.
Seasons
Season guides coming soon.
