It is rare in these times to find a trilogy of films that hit the 5-star mark, that so exemplify the best their genre, series, IP, or whatever cultural grouping and cataloging system you prefer, can attain.
When I give a film five stars, it is not always because it is a "perfect" film. It's because that film is an example of the best any particular style, genre, etc can be. So when I dole out five stars to films in the Star Wars series, it does not mean I think them to be Great Films as compared to, say, LAWRENCE OF ARABIA or 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY. It's because I feel they represent all the best a Star Wars film can or should be.
In THE FORCE AWAKENS, then, we catch up with characters once familiar but now shadows of their former selves, a new crop of players soon to join the fray, and a galaxy of boundless possibilities.
In spite of all these possibilities, we also find that - even in a galaxy far, far away - time is unkind and the plans of mice, men, Heroes, and Jedi often go awry. Despite all Leiah Organa has done to shepherd in a new Senate, the cancerous growth borne of the ashes of the Empire, a sect called The First Order, has arisen.
Is this perhaps also a commentary that all systems tend towards chaos and disorder? I can spend my time deconstructing the arguments against this film (and the Sequel Trilogy in general) but doing so would give the butthurt crybaby fanboi incels free rent in my head. Instead I choose to focus on the positives.
Except to point out that Rey is anything but a "Mary Sue". For those that don't know, a Mary Sue is a type of character prevalent in fan-fiction who typically exists as an avatar, a self-insert fantasy fulfillment trope/stand-in for the author, who is instantly loved by all the characters they encounter, are perfect in all they do, and have mastery of their new-found abilities almost instantly.
While it is true that Rey is a Force-sensitive who has an uncanny grasp of Force abilities without training, and yeah Han Solo and Chewie like her almost immediately, she is anything but perfect.
She routinely fucks up, whether it's dragging the hull of the Millennium Falcon across the desert sands of Jakku, or releasing a bunch of rathtars (nasty creatures all tentacles and teeth) on Han's freighter. She isn't immediately able to fly the Falcon, there is a learning curve to it and she is good at electronics but more often than not ends up tripping the wrong fuse.
But that's not what I'm here to talk about. What I would like to do is praise this film as not only a great start to a grandly entertaining trilogy, but the reflection of those that came before it, rivaling its forebears in cinematic acumen. There is just enough similarity to the original STAR WARS to feel firmly entrenched in its universe, but enough originality to set it apart. Director JJ Abrams constructs some powerhouse set pieces here, which have the look and feel of a Spielberg or Lucas joint.
Even so, the mark of the maker is upon it and a number of elements - sure to perturb OG SW fans to no end - are never explained such as who made the map which serves as the film's Maguffin, or how was the Skywalker Light Saber retrieved from the bowels of the Cloud City Bespin after Vader relieved Luke of both hand and weapon?
The short response is, the answers to these questions simply don't matter. Not every mystery needs to be explained, not every riddle needs to be solved. The most important part of this movie is that Mr. Abrams provided a wild ride that somehow becomes more exhilarating (especially that opening sequence!) the more I see it.