The wait is over.
In a way, Abrams has accomplished exactly what he did with 2009sStar Trek.
If anything, the shoes were far bigger to fill this time around.
Credit: David James/Lucasfilm
Suddenly, I was 13 again.
Mercifully, theres not a single mention of taxation or trade routes.
(Theres also BB-8, that rolling gyroscopic weeble that, if possible, may out-cute R2-D2.)
That may sound like a whole lot of confusing new characters to keep straight.
So much so that at times you feel as if youre watchingStar Wars: The Next Generation.
But Abrams and his co-writers Lawrence Kasdan and Michael Arndt have an ace up their sleeves.
The filmmakers get what made George Lucas original trilogy magical, and they recapture that magic.
But the sense of deja vu is undeniable.
The First Order has built what amounts to a bigger, more lethal Death Star.
Doesnt the Resistances playbook have more than one play?
Its a tad lazy, but you may recall it worked pretty well the first time.
Like AbramsStar Trekreboot,The Force Awakensis funnier and has a lighter touch than the previous Star Wars films.
But the ending hes come up with here feels so note-perfect its hard to imagine it any other way.
WhenThe Force Awakensends, it feels bittersweet simply because you so badly want to get to the next chapter.
So, yes, the wait is over.
But now a new waiting game begins…B+
