Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)
Starring: Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Harrison Ford, Peter Mayhew, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong'o, Andy Serkis, Domnhall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels
Directed by: JJ Abrams
Rating: 
So maybe you're like me. Maybe Star Wars kinda passed you by when you were a kid. Maybe you didn't see it until you were in your twenties, and you thought, 'Aw, that's a nice film,' but didn't really get what all the fuss was about. And maybe now, however many years later, you're pondering whether you can really be bothered to go see part VII: The Force Awakens, you know, now that the huge hype has died down a wee bit and there's feck all else to see...
This review is for you. And this review could consist of four simple words: 'Yes, you should bother.'
Because yes, it's got lightsabers and the force and hyperdrive, and baddies wearing weird helmets, and the dark side and Harrison Ford looking grumpy, and all that other Star Wars stuff you don't quite get. But it also looks utterly amazing, in an old school, Mad Max, salvaged, steampunk style that doesn't always rely on CGI to take the breath away; the plot cracks along at a fine pace (even if the twists I've been avoiding like the plague on tinternet for the last week and a half are all pretty obvious as the story unfolds) and the dialogue (for once) isn't a contrived tongue-twister of stilted jargon that no-one can pronounce, but almost sounds like real people talking. Then there are the characters: feisty Rey (Daisy Ridley), the accidental heroine, bumptious Finn (John Boyega), the world's worst stormtrooper turned renegade, adorable spherical droid BB8, a conflicted villain (Adam Driver) who looks like Professor Snape in a Darth Vader outfit and, er, Harrison Ford looking grumpy.
So even if the force hasn't always exactly been with you, you'll still find it hard to resist being swept away by this vast, sprawling, quasi-Biblical sci-fi fantasy epic. It's sweet, funny, moving, charming (look out for the Henson-like monsters that lurk almost subliminally round every corner), dramatic and exciting. And if nothing else, it's great fun to spot the celebs larking about in tiny cameo roles. After the over-engineered, computer-generated overdoses of the prequel movies, the force has indeed been reawakened by JJ Abrams. Not just a great Star Wars movie, a great movie full stop.