This movie takes you on an emotional roller coaster of plot twists. The Resistance struggles to battle the dominating First Order with their outdated ships and small numbers.  Despite what some predicted, there is no new version of the Death Star, a welcome diversion from the classic Star Wars storyline. Instead, they mix things up with a new main plot. The force is the strongest it has ever been with new features such as telepathic communication, flying through space, and force projection.

Luke Skywalker is no longer the idealistic hero from previous movies, but a grumpy old hermit. While he once had a personality like Rey’s, ready to learn and jump into the fight to protect the Resistance, he now seems content to sit alone on his island and milk thala-siren (space cows).  In this movie, Rey’s jedi training is minimal and slightly unconventional as she mostly trains herself while Luke watches and occasionally chimes in. Jedi normally train for many years, however, Rey picks up new skills in a matter of days.

Kylo Ren and Rey meet up and work together. Both of them are given an opportunity to choose between the light and dark side, a decision that is tested twice. Yoda’s ghost makes an appearance to an angry and frustrated Luke and of course says the wisest statement in the movie. New characters appear such as a shifty codebreaker and Rose, a mechanic.

Character development was fairly weak. There were no major character transformations and there were so many mini plots going on at once it was hard to get to know the individual characters. New romances bloom and leave you wondering who will end up with who in the next movie.

The overall movie was good and the plot was very original. It was not like the Force Awakens which was basically a repeat of “Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope”. The movie leaves you excited to see the next one and did a good job of setting up the future of the Star Wars trilogies, although the majority of the population would probably go see it just because it is a Star Wars movie.