A summary of all the good points from the original trilogy - ****

The Force Awakens is the first of a new set of trilogy following episode VI, Return of the Jedi.  Star Wars creator George Lucas knew right at the shoot of Empire Strikes Back that there will be a sequel trilogy but it did not materialize until he decided that he will not make another Star Wars film. But the sale of Lucasfilm to Disney brought forth renewed energy to produce the next set, the first installment of which is directed, co-produced and co-written by the man of the hour J.J. Abrams. 

The story takes off 30 years after Return of the Jedi, continuing the fight between the force and the dark side.  Two forces continue to battle it out; the First order which used to be the Galactic empire backed by the dark side and the Resistance backed by the Republic finding themselves on the good side of the galaxy.  The story is driven by the search for Luke Skywalker by both parties. The former to finally end the only living Jedi that will guarantee success for the dark side and the latter to be finally reunited with his twin sister Leia now known as General Organa of the Resistance and get his support for the fight against the dark side. 

Watching this from a non-fan point of view the film looks and feels old, but that only means that they've tried to be consistent with original designs and editing styles from all the way back as Episode IV.  And when you get over that as a viewer you are just intrigued by the new characters Ray and Finn and how they will fare into the story, poised to be the new heroes of this trilogy.  Two characters  exchanging energies and helping each other survive, what is intriguing  to me mostly are their characters' origins, where they came from , that was not very well supplied in this movie. Thus to me they come off as aloof making it a little difficult for me to relate to their characters. 

But mostly what I am really admiring in this film is the way the story is told.  This film succeeds  in telling a story that mostly picks up most of the good points from the past films and putting them all in this one.  It captures the audience imagination and succeeds at making the audience involved in every scene be it a space chase scene, a family drama or some personal discoveries.