Thank You, JJ Abrams.

Nerd Alert: Now that the movie has been out for two weeks, I think it is safe to deliver my official, way too long Star Wars thoughts/review/breakdown.  It will include an asteroid belt's worth of spoilers, so don't read on if you have not seen the flick yet. 

Let's start with my expectations. I was super excited to see the movie, but tried to keep my expectations and preconceived ideas reasonable.  There is a set of fans so rabid that they would have cheered anything short of Jar Jar Binks.  Fans that would have clapped had Han and Chewie  shown up wearing clown suits while riding minature ponies; that's not me.  But I also did not expect an Academy Award winner.  Why would I, this is Star Wars?  What I hoped for was a warm glass of a galaxy far, far away.  And that is exactly what JJ Abrams delivered.  He made a movie that entertained 41-year-old me and, just as A New Hope did, would have entranced 5-year-old me.  Yes, I am reviewing through nostalgia-colored glasses, but I think that is the whole point.  Star Wars is a community, a cultural touchstone, a common bond.  It is a mix of movies, quotes, toys, and playground adventures woven into a cozy blanket in which an entie generation happily wraps itself.  So, was I delighted that there were so many nods or homages to the Original Trilogy? Damn right!  I expected nothing less; JJ Abrams is a fan just like me and my friends and millions of others who were blown away the first time we watched Darth Vader step through the smoking hatch of the Tantive IV. 

I literally had goosebumps when the  Lucasfilm logo appeared onscreen.  I got a little emotional when the crawl began.  I had a moment of prequel panic when the crawl ended.  What if like Episode I, it was all downhill after the crawl?  Fortunately, the fears were allayed almost immediately.  Where the prequels were wooden, boring and dense with political explanation , The Force Awakens was fast, fun and pleasing in a raw, visceral this-sure-feels-like-a-Star-Wars-movie way.  Is it flawless? Hardly.  There are cheesy moments and there are plot holes and there are convenient things that advance the story just like, oh I don't know, all three movies of the Original Trilogy.  If you love IV, V and VI despite their "flaws", I don't know how you could not enjoy The Force Awakens.

On to the specific highlights/questions/criticisms:

Kylo Ren: I admit, upon first viewing, I was only lukewarm (you know, like the internal temperature of a tauntaun) to Ren as a villain.  Part of it was casting; I am not a big Adam Driver fan.  Part of it was seeing another sullen, whiny branch of the Skywalker family tree. (If you haven't already, check out the funny Emo Kylo Ren twitter feed.)  Upon subsequent viewings, I realize he is just a boy out of his depths.  Powerful, yes (freezing a blaster bolt in mid-air!), but not fully trained.  He's a poser trying, but not yet qualified, to fill Grandpa's boots.  I am guessing in Episode VIII we will see, through back story and training montage, a more fully formed villain.

Who is Rey? The internet is filled with theories ranging from the interesting to the preposterous.  My bet is the safe one that the movie seems to lead us to, that she is Luke's daughter.  This raises so many questions that eagerly await being paid off in the next two movies.  By the way, Rey was  by far my favorite new character.  A strong female protagonist that my daughter can root for? What's not to love?  Daisy Ridley did more acting with her eyes than the entire cast of the prequels did in three movies.  Now, if we could just get more of her toys on store shelves.

Han Solo:  Let me just say that the scruffy-looking nerfherder is my favorite movie character ever.  I collect his toys, I have quoted him endlessly and I have pretend flown the Millennium Falcon more times than I can count.  Of course, I was sad to see him killed off, but it worked with the story.  And if he had to die, this movie was a terrific sendoff.  Harrison Ford actually looked engaged (a real concern of mine going in) and gave a strong performance.
He was the heart of this movie, providing the perfect bridge between old and new.  Han was basically a dopey prop in Return of the Jedi.  Here he has a legit role as mentor to Finn, father(?)figure to Rey, heartbroken father to the villain, and one last run as the galaxy's coolest smuggler.  Godspeed, space pirate.

New characters:  Rey was awesome, Poe was cool, if inconsequential, and Finn was okay.  I liked how Finn was sort of the conscience of the film. However, when the movie veered towards being too jokey it was usually because of Finn.  I felt Finn was aboard solely to shepherd Rey into the larger story. I don't see where he has much to do going forward.  I hope JJ comes up with something neat for his character.

Death Star 3:  Probably the weakest part of the film.  I know the heroes need something to attack/climb on/be threatened by, but Come On!  We can't come up with a different type of peril?  That being said, it hardly ruins the movie.  The second Death Star was dumb too, yet that is not why I ding Jedi (that would be the Ewoks).  And I did love that they called it StarKiller Base.  A nice nod to George Lucas.

Fan service: One of the big criticisms is that the movie is too much like A New Hope, that it  has too many Easter Eggs and too many throwbacks to the Original Trilogy.  I know one guy who was annoyed that fans cheered every time a fan favorite from the OT first appeared on screen.  That stuff was exactly why I enjoyed going opening night with a theater packed with true fans.  The reveal of the Millennium Falcon, though only ten minutes in, was my favorite part of the movie.  I thought Abrams found the right balance between old school and introducing the next story line.  Critics should remember that this film had to lay out a ton of exposition as part one of the larger three film story arc.  If VIII and IX mirror Empire and Jedi I will be disappointed.  Until then, however, I trust great things are in store come May 2017.

The bottom line is I was looking for a palatable, prequel-erasing movie and got that and more.  There was love for the originals with enough mystery built in to whet the appetite  for what is next.  Luke on the hill was a perfect ending.  I can't wait to read the next crawl as it recedes into space as John Williams' score blares in sweet Dolby surround sound.  I don't know what else JJ Abrams has in his plans, but after resurrecting Star Trek and Star Wars I will follow him anywhere.  What else from my childhood can he fix? CHiPs?  Thundercats?  Laverne and Shirley? Until he decides I am content to watch the Force awaken over and over again.