'Star Wars: The Force Awakens': What Critics Are Saying
— -- The reviews are in for "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" and by the looks of things, it's going to be a happy weekend for fans of a galaxy far, far away.
Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times and USA Today have all printed what they think of J.J. Abrams' take on the iconic franchise (ABC News is a subsidiary of Disney and will not be reviewing the movie).
Here are what the critics had to say:
Chris Nashawaty from Entertainment Weekly said, "J.J. Abrams’ 'The Force Awakens' delivers exactly what you want it to: rollicking adventure wrapped in epic mythology, a perfect amount of fan service that fires your geekiest synapses, and a just-right cliffhanger ending that paves the way for future installments."
He gave the movie a B+.
Brian Truitt from USA Today gave it four out of four stars and immediately began his review by writing, "That old 'Star Wars' magic is back."
"'The Force Awakens' reveals surprising connections, begins a few bromances, solves mysteries while digging up others, and sets a strong tone for what comes next in 'Star Wars' lore. Best of all? It’ll make you feel like a kid being introduced to something truly special once again," he added.
Richard Lawson from Vanity Fair wrote, "'The Force Awakens' finds just the right path through reverence and respect to find invention, ushering a new generation into its galaxy of iconic visuals and reliable heroes by raising the epic stakes, while keeping the narrative, for the most part, focused and propulsive."
Matt Singer from ScreenCrush was a fan of the new cast. "The film is at its best in its first forty minutes, before the classic cast returns" and that "It’s nice to see Ford, Fisher, and Hamill, but 'The Force Awakens' really belongs to Ridley, Boyega, Isaac, and Driver," he wrote. Singer rated the film a 7 out of 10.
Finally, Manohla Dargis of The Times exclaimed, "The big news about 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' is — spoiler alert — that it’s good!"
"Mr. Abrams’s smart idea — an overarching ethos, really — in 'The Force Awakens' is to have returned to basics, largely by dispensing with a lot of clutter," Dargis wrote.
To be fair, Andrew O’Hehir of Salon wasn’t sold and didn’t think “The Force Awakens” advanced the franchise.
“They rewind it and repeat it, with new characters substituting for old ones but many of the same action set-pieces, narrative dilemmas and hidden connections,” he wrote.
"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" is produced by Lucasfilm, a subsidiary of Disney, which is the parent company of ABC News.
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