It’s been a long time since I enjoyed a Star Wars film. I loved the first (4th?), enjoyed the second (5th), and found the 3rd (6th) to be like watching a bad Muppet movie. The prequels 1, 2, 3, bored and saddened me. Jar-Jar Binks was a new low even in comparison to the Ewoks. So I went into this with diminished expectations. I was, therefore, happy when I really enjoyed myself. I was looking for a low-impact film with familiar characters and no-demand action and emotion and I got it. Han Solo, Princess/General Leia, Chewie, etal, fit like an old loafer. The new characters included: Daisy Ridley as Rey, the Luke Skyewalker of this film from a nowhere planet who can pilot anything and is imbued with Jedi-like powers by The Force that her journey awakens in her; John Boyega as Finn, the runaway Storm Trooper with a heart of gold, a la Solo himself, mostly worked;. although Adam Driver as Kylo Ren, the wimpy wannabe Darth Vader, doesn’t make it. A new droid, bb-8, brings the IT up to date. Andy Serkin as the Supreme Leader of the new fascist First Order is fine reprising his Golum, this time with power. Will he ever be a real person?. He’ll never really find “Precious”. Anyway, the First Order is trying to take over the galaxy and destroy the republic’s parliament with an uber-death-star planet and a fearsome, planet-destroying death ray. There’s a very cool galactic bar where everyone stops when Han Solo’s name is said aloud. Sound familiar?. It should, because it’s a straight out knockoff that works for precisely that reason. It’s that old shoe thing, with characters who know how to make this work. Favorite line (approximately): Han to Leia, “you’ve changed your hair” I enjoyed this despite or perhaps because of its artistic limitations. It’s cinematic comfort food and was just what I needed last night. Even Bronwen, who may be the only person outside of North Korea and the most remote parts of the Amazon who doesn’t know what a Jedi is, liked this one