I’m not prone to dropping big spoilers in my reviews as it is, but before we get started I’ll just reiterate this will be a very general overview and will not contain any plot or character details given the hype for the film and this franchise’s penchant for dramatic reveals.  If there’s enough interest, I can see about giving you a more in-depth review in a couple of days when more people have had a chance to see the movie.

In the meantime I’ve got good news and bad news for you Star Wars fans out there.  The good news is that Star Wars: The Force Awakens fixes just about everything the prequels got wrong. The bad news is that it has all new problems of its own that may leave some of you feeling like I did after watching Star Trek Into Darkness as a Star Trek fan.

On the light side, everything in the film looks just as beautiful as the trailers indicate.  The real sets, real props, and real creatures give this movie a feeling of authenticity that is sorely lacking in Hollywood today, particularly when compared to Lucas’ lifeless CGI-infested prequels. Moreover, nobody can accuse JJ Abrams of not knowing his way around a camera, and since his customary lens flare is almost entirely absent, it’s truly a sight to behold as he flies, pans, and zooms his way through everything from massive aerial battles and lightsaber duels to desert junkyards and planetary vistas.

Those lightsaber duels are incredible, by the way, since the actors actually get to put some emotion into the fight rather than twirling around like ballerinas and dancing across obstacles that obviously don’t actually exist. All of the rest of the action is similarly well shot, well edited, and just generally fun to watch.  Storm Troopers even occasionally hit things when they shoot now too.

Acting is another thing awakening after a long slumber through the prequels. Even though old Han Solo is old, both the returning faces and the new ones bring things to the table worth having, and nobody is forced to stare blankly into a green screen as they stiffly recite high school level confessions of their love.

Lastly, John Williams. Need I say more?

On the dark side, The Force Awakens moves at a blistering pace that undercuts the development of the characters, their relationships, and the universe they inhabit.  Whereas the prequels dragged on interminably, this one zips so fast from place to place that it left me feeling quite numb, and it came precipitously close to losing me entirely before it finally slowed down for a minute around the halfway mark.

Naturally it has to rely on the same kind of incredible coincidences and plot conveniences that plagued the Star Trek reboot films in order to cover that much ground that quickly.  At least with Star Wars you can pretend that this is all due to the will of the Force, but it still becomes just a tad distracting after a while.

Worse, The Force Awakens retreads a ton of familiar ground without really making it feel fresh in the way that Creed did for Rocky, and how you feel about seeing old sequences only bigger and with a slight twist will probably be the make or break for whether or not you ultimately end up loving or hating the film.

For me the light eventually overcame the dark, and I ended up somewhere in the middle of love and hate. It was an enjoyable enough experience for me to give you my stamp of approval for whatever that’s worth, but I also can’t say I have any particular desire to see it again.

Frankly none of that matters though because The Force Awakens is as much a cultural event as it is a mere movie, and so it gets a 5 on Ed Morrissey’s HotAir scale on that basis alone:

• 5 – Full price ticket
• 4 – Matinee only
• 3 – Wait for Blu-Ray/DVD/PPV rental or purchase
• 2 – Watch it when it hits Netflix/cable
• 1 – Avoid at all costs

Even if you don’t like Star Wars all that much, go for the experience, assuming you can still get a ticket.  And if you do love Star Wars, in all probability you’ll be rushing to the comments section afterwards to tell me how incredibly wrong I am.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens is rated PG-13 for sci-fi action violence.

For more of what I think about entertainment and politics, follow me on Twitter @crankytrex or check out my other writing at buzzpo.com.