Walking into the theater, I had no idea what to expect; I had avoided anything even related to star wars for months because I was worried about spoilers. As I sat down on opening night, I realized I was going to this new star wars blind. All I knew was what I had seen in one trailer and the style of directing that J.J. Abrams provides. Which was why I was anxious.

To be honest, I am a huge nerd when it comes to space. Star Trek and Doctor Who were my favorite shows in high school, and I was raised to be a Star Wars fan. When the most recent reboot of Star Trek arrived in 2009, I was disappointed. Abrams didn't stay faithful to the series, but rather made it just another action-packed disaster (besides for Chris Pine because he's a gem). Therefore, when the news came out that Abrams would be directing the new Star Wars movie, I almost went on an internet rampage. I was not ready to see my beloved Star Wars turned into a lens-flared action packed catastrophe. However to my surprise, Abrams pulled through this time.

Rather than give you a review full of spoilers and stuff you could figure out on your own, here is a review from the perspective of a film student because there are a lot of things that are amazing about this movie.

I promise there will be minimal spoilers.

1. He still used lens flares

It's widely known among film nerds that Abrams has a thing for lens flares. There's like a million memes about. He almost used them in every shot in Star Trek and if you start to pay attention to them you will become enraged at how impossible that many lens flares could appear in one movie.

This time, however, it seemed that Abrams realized that making everything look like there is some massive light beaming into their eyes at all times is not exactly exciting. Of course, he still used them but at times that it actually made sense. When there was an explosion, there was usually a lens flare. Or if they were looking at a sun, it usually was coupled with a lens flare. Which makes sense for it to be there. I guess.

2. Bringing back Practical Props

Since the age of CGI, a lot of things are not real when on set. For the most part, it's all digitally put in which can be great. Avatar being a prime example of impressive CGI work. However, Star Wars is known for its practical props (mainly real props that aren't digitally inserted). If you've seen the original three movies, you know what I'm talking about. The Phantom Menace is an example of crappy CGI everything in case you were wondering.

Abrams stayed true to the originals by making sure nothing looked fake and the things that were CGI were barley noticeable. The best of both worlds was the new Droid BB-8 who is a real robot like R2-D2 but has a bit of CGI work so that it can move about quickly and not clumsily. The results are astounding and adorable.

3. Staying true to editing

Star Wars is often known for its editing strategies. George Lucas used wipes for transitioning forward in the story. This type of transition pushes the other image of the screen and replaces it with the new one. It's a very dramatic and dynamic transition which is not often seen in any other movies as much as they're used in Star Wars.

Thankfully Abrams realized the significance of this because they were used in the new movie but in a few ways that were different. There were wipes from all over the screen, even one that was a circle that would turn small and reveal another scene. When you're working with a franchise as big as Star Wars there isn't a lot of room for change but somehow Abrams was able to make the movie fell like the rest of them but still had his own 'flare'.

4. The Plot (No Spoilers)

I promise to not say too much about the plot in case, by some crazy chance you haven't seen the movie yet, but I wanted to talk a bit about the plot. There was a definite feel of the old star wars movies when watching the force awaken. It was exciting to see the plot evolve and change away from the old ones and into a whole new beast. There were still holes though, like most movies there isn't enough time to explain it all.

At times, I felt like it was a little rushed. There is a clear stopping point towards the end of the movie and for some reason they just had to keep going. However it is a Star Wars movie and if you go back and re-watch them all, you will find about a million plot holes that, as someone who notices, really hate.

5. Finally some Diversity

For starters, our main protagonist is a woman! (insert cheering here!) Rey is no damsel either, she kicks ass and can handle herself. Our other main character, Finn, is African American. Can I get another cheer? Two lead characters that aren't white macho males? Yes, Abrams made a fantastic call with making the plot less misogynistic. In a way it makes up for how he ruined Star Trek's women by making them gushy in love losers.

Overall, I really enjoyed this movie. I've already seen it twice and plan on going a few more times because it was definitely worth it. If you haven't seen it already, try and notice some of the cinematography, the plot or just anything about the movie that isn't just the 1st level of thought. Though I loved this movie, I found things that I didn't like and things that should have been different but ,of course, that's only my opinion.

However, EVERYONE who likes Star Wars, even just a little bit, should see this movie, just remember to avoid the dark side of the theater.