JJ Abrams. The man’s a saint. He has retroactively rescued my childhood.

George Lucas, creator of the Star Wars franchise, is the Deadbeat Dad in this scenario. He created something beautiful decades ago, but as the years passed he twisted and perverted it into something disturbing for the fulfilment of his own ego, and then left.

Abrams, however, he’s the heroic Stepfather that stepped in to pick up the shattered pieces and mould it into something we can love again.

Truly, Star Wars episode VII: The Force Awakens is a triumphant return to all that we love about the Galaxy far far away.

The visuals are spectacular. There is a real focus on practical effects and actual landscapes rather than the green screen backgrounds and CGI everything that Lucas became so dependent on in the prequels and various re-releases over the years.

The script is refreshingly upbeat and has a distinct lack of Lucas-esque awkwardness. The new characters bring a vibrancy desperately needed for this new trilogy to work and our returning favourites are all in stellar form. There are no potential trilogy killers of ‘Jar Jar’ level proportions and BB8 may actually be a cuter droid than even R2D2.

When Han and Chewie turn up, assuming you’re familiar with the original trilogy, you will squeal like a giddy school girl. You’ll even smile like smiling’s your favourite when C3PO shows his golden droid face.

If you’re a Star Wars virgin and you’re thinking of ending your drought, or you have kids that are begging to go, fear not! You do not need to have seen any of the previous films.

The Force Awakens has a similar feel to the original Star Wars. You could easily treat this as the start of your star wars experience. If you wanted to do some research, however, I’d recommend watching the original episodes IV to VI because this picks up from there. And, if you have time, you could start with the prequels to see just how great this is in comparison.

Either way, just go. This film will be a phenomenon to rival that of 1977.

Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens – 9/10.