“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” will go down in history as one of the most anticipated and popular movies in cinematic history. Not only has it broken numerous records from ticket pre-sales, weekend box offices records, domestic and international gross records, but “The Force Awakens” is a great movie.

It has been 32 years since the world has been treated to a “Star Wars” movie that is coherent and made to feel like a legitimate film. Even though George Lucas’ attempt to recapture fire with the prequels made everyone sick to their stomachs, it was time for Disney’s newly-acquired baby to come out screaming with passion and excitement without Lucas.

What this is is “Star Wars: The Apology.” It is a way of telling people, “Don’t worry. Star Wars is in good hands.” Great hands, actually. If it was bad, people would have been calling it “Star Wars: The Farce Awakens.”

Director J.J. Abrams (“Star Trek,” “Super 8”), producer Kathleen Kennedy (“Indiana Jones”), and screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan (“The Empire Strikes Back,” “Return of the Jedi”) absolutely knew from day one of pre-production that there could be no mistakes.

Despite the fact that “Star Wars” pumps in my veins and that I am a “fanboy,” I will try my best to give this movie an honest review and mostly avoid any spoilers. If at all I come to a story point, I will mention that it will be a spoiler, and you as the reader may want to skip over it.

“The Force Awakens” is an energizing and breathtaking spectacle, but it is not a perfect movie. One major criticism it has received over the last month is that the movie is too similar to previous installments.

First, it is important to understand that Lucas always said that “Star Wars” is basically poetry in space: “...again, it’s like poetry, it’s so that they rhyme. Every stanza kinda rhymes with that last one […],” he said during the making of “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.”

If one were to break down moment-by-moment of the “Star Wars” prequels and do a screen comparison to the original trilogy (IV, V and VI), characters and events cater to the same beats, plot points and dialogue.

Second, the most glaring examples of how “The Force Awakens” may be “derivative” of other Star Wars movies is a desert planet, a droid called BB-8 carrying secret information for the good guys, Han Solo basically playing the role of the wise, old man that Obi-Wan Kenobi played in “A New Hope,” and a bigger Death Star named “Starkiller Base,” except that this time it is larger and can destroy five planets at once instead of just one planet.

I think people are dwelling on these issues and are overshadowing the great elements. Starkiller Base may be Death Star 3.0, but it serves as a backdrop to the characters and the individual dramatic moments they are having.

New to the “Star Wars” universe and films in general is humanizing Stormtroopers. We as Star Wars fans finally get to understand them in their struggle in a galaxy far, far away. John Boyega adds a new dimension of fun, energy and legitimate acting.

Second, British actor Daisy Ridley, who plays the lead heroine Rey, a scavenger from the desert planet Jakku who spends her days rummaging through the desert and trading in scraps and spare ship parts for food. My biggest concern was that her character would run too close to the likeness of Luke Skywalker and even though at some parts she is following the typical hero’s journey, Rey is instantly likable and it is captivating to watch her try to survive.

Ridley crushes it in this role. Overnight she became a megastar.

It is crucial to note that Abrams said to her on day one of shooting that her acting was “wooden.” Ridley admitted this in interviews close to the premiere of “The Force Awakens.”

Nowhere in this movie is she ever boring. Every scene she is in, every shot, every moment, she is giving it her all and she does it better than anyone else. Pinned up against the likeness of Harrison Ford, who returns as the beloved Han Solo, Ridley gives a better performance than he does.

Speaking of Han Solo, Harrison Ford could have easily treated this like any other movie, but watching him during interviews and special features, he knows what Star Wars means to the world. This is his best acting in 30 years. Also returning is Carrie Fisher as Leia, who is no longer a princess, but is now a general for the Resistance, an underground military organization fighting for the New Republic.

The moment Ford and Fischer meet up on screen, and every time they are together after that, powerful emotions ooze out of the screen. It strikes harder for “Episode VII” than it would for any other random Star Wars film, not just because it is Leia and Han together again, but because of what came before “The Force Awakens.” The Prequels lacked emotion, they lacked basic human feelings and it is beyond rewarding to witness that again. It is amazing how a “Star Wars” movie actually feels like a movie.

“The Force Awakens” is such a rich story that rekindles the magic and novelty of the original “Star Wars” films.

Next, Kylo Ren, the new villain to the “Star Wars” universe, played brilliantly by Adam Driver, could have been disastrous. It would have been really easy to discount him as a “Star Wars” villain, simply because no one could live up to the love and importance of Darth Vader.

Wisely, screenwriters Kasdan and Abrams wrote that into Ren’s character. All Kylo Ren wants to be is the next Darth Vader and it bothers him that he is not living up to that. It is a dimensional aspect of characterization that we have not gotten in a “Star Wars” movie before. He is unsure of himself, he gets angry, and he wants total control in everything he does. He wears that weird looking mask to intimidate others, but, unlike Darth Vader who had to wear a mask to stay alive, Ren does not have to.

A slight spoiler is that Ren reveals his face to Rey when she is captured. But Ren is not scarred and he does not have a damaged face. Rather, he is a pretty good-looking guy. He speaks calmly, to the point that it is chilling. It is a Shakespearean approach that the movies have never explored and it is rewarding to get that dimension in a modern-day blockbuster, let alone in “Star Wars.”

Abrams and crew, during the making of “The Force Awakens,” did numerous specials and featurettes about how this movie will be made like a normal movie: Real sets, practical explosions, real locations, natural lighting, props, etc.

Of course there is a lot of CGI in this movie, but unlike the Prequels, the story is not used to extensively show special effects. Rather, the real sets and locations bring in an element of “world-building.” Locations feel lived in, actors sweat on screen, there is room for them to run and act on an un-restricting set and, most importantly, they interact with the world around them.

Ewan McGregor, who played Obi-Wan in the Prequels, once called the job “a nightmare,” simply because of how difficult it was to give a performance and not react to anything.

This time around, “The Force Awakens” is given the proper treatment. The feeling of grit that made the Original Trilogy so visceral and fun is back in this new installment. It is glorious.

I remember going home after seeing this new Star Wars flick for the first time, actually thinking about running around in the desert with Rey and all the other great characters and that is credit to how real this movie looks.

Sure, we can nitpick about how “The Force Awakens” retreads a lot of story points from “A New Hope” and “The Empire Strikes Back,” but generally speaking this movie connected with fans on an emotional level, and that is the important thing.

This is not a perfect movie, but it is pretty close. “The Force Awakens” wedges itself nicely in with the likes of the Original Trilogy, and is worthy of the being called “Episode VII.”

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