Star wars: Episode VII - Le Réveil de la Force

Nearly 40 years ago George Lucas created what would go on to become one of the greatest movie franchises in movie history when he brought us Star Wars: A New Hope. This year saw the release of the continuing adventures of some of the characters we last saw in 1983's Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi with Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

From the opening music (once again with John Williams' Main Title score and the Star Wars crawl) I knew I was in for a treat. Just like A New Hope, the movie started with a desert scene, but this was no Tattoine. Instead JJ Abrams gave us a new planet, and new characters mixed in with some of our favorites from the original trilogy.

Throughout the movie, JJ also incorporated various homages to the original trilogy including Dejarik (Holochess), the training ball Luke used aboard the Millenium Falcon when he was just beginning his Jedi training. We also saw a few old characters (besides the main stars, including Nien Nunb (but no Lando?!), and Admiral Ackbar (who never used his most famous line). There are a lot more, but I don't want to ruin it for you, but keep your eyes (and ears) open when you see it again, and you may catch more little gems.

Was the movie perfect? No, but no movie ever is. Did I enjoy it? Yes, yes I did. Do I plan to see it again and catch things I didn't the first time? Yes, yes I do.

Saw the 12/18/15 at the AMC 24 Mission Valley in theater 20, San Diego