"There was something about finally sitting in front of the new Star Wars movie that felt like enthusiasm, but there was also something that felt like dread. I'm not a Star-Wars-head, particularly, but I have enormous fondness for the original three movies, which I've seen a decent number of times and own on DVD (Regular DVD! Not even Blu-ray! Like I'm a pioneer seeing movies in a covered wagon!) The prequels I don't care about: I saw the first one and skipped the other two on the theory that one bite of a bad peach is enough to know the rest of it isn't for you, particularly if many people you know and trust discuss the entire episode as the Bad Peach Incident."

"But Star Wars: The Force Awakens is, as it turns out, both a worthy companion to that original trilogy and a very good movie on its own. Director J.J. Abrams, who's also been making the current batch ofStar Trek movies and earlier co-wrote Armageddon and co-createdFelicity, has, against rather overwhelming odds, successfully taken the handoff of one of the hottest batons in film history."