Star Wars The Force Awakens has been a long awaited installment in the series, and I certainly have looked forward to it. The day before its release I booked myself a ticket for a viewing at 12:00am on the 16th of December 2015, to be among the first to see it in Bahrain.

Armed with popcorn, a ticket and a pack of Maltesers I made my way to the cinema hall.

For a midnight viewing there were many people, the cinema hall was mostly full. Along the way I even bumped into a few colorful characters including a Jedi, and a Stormtrooper.

The Force Awakens Impressions

These are my personal impressions of the movie. Lets start with the ‘meh’:

• Pacing – This was a major issue to the point it made elements of the movie feel trivial. Character development felt rushed, a certain subplot within the story could have been the basis for an entire movie. Basically, too much was happening too quickly.
• Writing –  Problematic on occasion, for example one character performs a number of feats bordering on the seriously questionable given the movies time frame.
• Reuse – Various scenes and plots were ‘reused’ from other entries in the Star Wars Universe, I’d hoped for more.

Now lets end on a good note:

• Strong start – The movie stays true to the classic opening, and characters are introduced well.
• Great visuals – No doubt about this, the visuals and set pieces in this movie are top notch.
• Kylo Ren – Though I wish they had allowed us to stew on certain elements of this character more, I like the concept of the villain and look forward to further development.
• ‘Humanizing’ Stormtroopers – I appreciate this, and I hope they revisit this theme in more detail.
• Old Faces – I’m happy to see a return of some old the faces to help rejuvenate the next generation of Star Wars movies.
• Elements of Comedy – With Han Solo and BB-8 racking up the most laughs, the comedic elements worked at times, supported by my fellow audiences occasional laughs.

Is The Force Awakens worth a watch, absolutely! In itself it’s a good movie. I admit that my ‘commentary’ is affected by the standards set by the best of Star Wars, and why shouldn’t it be? I’m critical because I enjoy the Star Wars, and want its manifestations to be the best they can be.

Will I watch it again? Eventually… I look forward to the next movie, albeit a little more skeptically.