The big day has finally arrived. After all the hype, all the anticipation, all the mystery, the newest Star Wars chapter, “The Force Awakens” has finally arrived. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a movie get as much hype and anticipation as this has. I’ll admit, I was worried that this movie wouldn’t be able to live up to the hype it had, but I’m happy to say it did. This is without a doubt the best Star Wars movie since “The Empire Strikes Back.”

There are some spoilers ahead, so if you haven't seen the movie, walk away now! You have been warned!

Let’s take a look at this story. Set 30 years after “Return of the Jedi,” Luke Skywalker, the last of the Jedi, has disappeared. Meanwhile, a military group known as the First Order has risen from the remains of the Galactic Empire, and plans to destroy the new Republic and Luke. The rebel alliance, now known as the Resistance, is led by General Leia. Resistance pilot, Poe Dameron (played by Oscar Isaac) meets with a village elder on Jakku to meet with a villager who has a map indicating Luke’s location. Poe is captured by the First Order, led by Kylo Ren, where he is interrogated as to where the map is.

He hid it in his droid, BB-8. However, one of the Stormtroopers, FN-2187 (played by John Boyega), starts to realize the First Order’s cruelty, and decides to break Poe out, Poe decides to call him Finn, since he has no name. However, the two of them are split up after crash landing. Meanwhile, BB-8 comes across a scavenger on Jakku named Rey (played by Daisy Ridley), who takes him in. They come across Finn, and together, they escape in an old ship, the Millennium Falcon. They’re caught by a freighter. They think it might be Stormtroopers, but it’s our good old friends, Han Solo and Chewbacca, happy to have recovered their lost ship. They work together to get BB-8 to the Resistance so they can find Luke Skywalker, but along the way we learn more secrets about the characters, specifically Kylo Ren and Rey.

Literally, as soon as the film started, I was hooked. Much like the first Star Wars movie, the opening scroll gives us everything we needed to know going in, and the opening shot tells us so much. This First Order means business, even more so than the empire. It starts out with a view of the planet, but then a Star Destroyer flies over it, and covers the whole planet. On top of that, they have probably the deadliest weapon in any of the Star Wars movies. Yeah, you thought the Death Star meant business? Where the Death Star could destroy an entire planet, this one can destroy an entire star system. So the threat is once again legitimate.

First of all, the story is amazing. It’s easy to follow, not once does it loose focus, and it keeps you completely invested all the way through. On top of that, there are several twists along the way that literally are shocking. And honestly, despite that I gave a spoiler warning, I still won’t reveal most of the twists, but I will say it gives the characters some fantastic backstories.

And that’s another great thing about this movie; all the new characters are beautifully written. The script was co-written by Lawrence Kasdan, who wrote the script for “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi”, and it really shows. Kasdan was always great at character development, great twists, and great dialogue, and that’s all present here. They all have great backstories, they are all interesting, they are all relatable in some way, and they’re all extremely likable or people you love to hate. Add that with the original characters, who feel as though they’ve never left, and you have one amazing cast. I'm honestly very interested to see what happens next to these characters.

And to make it even better, there’s a lot of great comedy in here. Yes, each of the characters has some funny moments. There’s a hilarious scene where one of the new characters (I won’t say who) discovers they have the force and tries to use a mind-trick on a Stormtrooper to set them free. It doesn’t work at first, but after another attempt it does, and then the Stormtrooper is tricked into dropping his weapon too. That, to me, is legitimately hilarious. Also, BB-8 is just as funny as R2-D2 himself, because of the way he reacts off of the other characters. And of course, Han and Chewie have some more great moments.

On top of that, the action in this movie is the most intense that any of the Star Wars movies have ever given. Anytime someone got shot or stabbed, you really felt like they got shot or stabbed. Heck, some scenes can actually get bloody. And not just as in the original movie where Obi-Wan slices some guy’s arm off. No, I mean actual wounds from blaster shots. On top of that, they showcase new abilities the Force has that we've never even seen before. For example Kylo Ren can use the Force to stop a laser blast dead in its tracks; not deflect it like Darth Vader, hold it. Also, I don’t know what they did with the scenes where they’re moving in light speed, but it legitimately feels like you’re moving in light speed with them. Not to mention, when the First Order’s new weapon is demonstrated, you really feel like the systems were destroyed. In the original movie, when the Death Star blew up Alderaan, we only saw the planet blow up really quickly, but back then, it was quite impressive. Here, we literally see the millions of voices that cried out in terror, and were suddenly silenced, and the planets don’t just explode, you see the planets burn and shatter. I thought that was a wonderful touch.

But that taps into what is the movie’s strongest point; the emotion behind it. A lot of that comes from the acting, but there are quite a few emotional moments that come from characters’ backstories, or even their reactions to what’s going on. This is the one Star Wars movie that I legitimately cried at. I won't dare say what made me cry, but let's just say when you see it, you'll know.

On top of that, the effects are incredible. Everyone has always complained that George Lucas relied way too much on CGI and used little to nothing else, but here, they mix it up a bit. These are real environments, and those Stormtroopers are really there. There is some CGI in there, but it’s only used when absolutely necessary, like some of the aliens. And here, even the CG aliens feel like they’re really there. That doesn’t just come from great use of visual effects, but also great writing and acting. Every element plays a big part. And everything feels like it’s really there.

Now, I get how some people might complain about how this can be a little too similar to the original Star Wars movie, but honestly, it feels more like an homage, and there's more than enough new and good stuff to make it feel fresh and new. To me, it doesn't matter if they reuse a few plot elements, as long as they do it well, and this movie does what it wants to really, really well. The characters, writing, and acting is so good, that I really don't mind if it reuses a couple plot elements from the first Star Wars.

I don’t know what else to say without giving away too much. It’s just so good. With wonderful writing, directing, acting, action, and incredibly rich emotions, this is the Star Wars film the fans deserve and more. Not once did this movie lose my attention, and when it gets emotional, it really gets emotional. Honestly, I think this might be just as good as “The Empire Strikes Back”. It’s very obvious that J.J. Abrams loved Star Wars and knew how to continue it and breathe new life into the franchise. And that’s exactly what this movie did. It breathed new life into Star Wars. I cannot recommend this film enough. The Force truly has awakened here, and it’s stronger than ever before.