The moment is finally upon us. Ever since Disney acquired Lucasfilm in 2012 for a cool $4 billion, the world ha been pretty fanatical about a new Star Wars flick a decade after Revenge of the Sith. Buoyed by a record-busting $530 million worldwide weekend opening, the Star Wars craze is definitely at fever pitch.

JJ Abrams, love him or hate him, is the man tasked with not only delivering a pleasing picture to the franchise's legion of fans, but also to usher in a new generation of fans. The return of several cast members from the Original Trilogy only further intensified audience's appetite, with Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill all reprising the roles that made them internationally-recognized stars all those years ago.

Despite that, an air of weariness still loomed over the coming sequel trilogy, with lurking memories of George Lucas' much maligned prequels (though the last film wasn't bad at all) making even the most optimistic lot still skeptical as the latest film approaches release. So, is seventh time's the charm in this space opera franchise?

The focus on practical costumes and models (which Disney stressed A LOT) ensure the necessary CGI in Star Wars (especially during those space dogfights and lightspeed jumps) blend seamlessly to create beautiful life-like effects and sceneries, from the sands of Abu Dhabi doubling as the desert planet Tatooine Jakku, to the lush greeneries of Skellig Michael in Ireland. Every creature looks like they do exist among us, and every ship have you believe that they'll really take off, a far cry from the excess blue screen, awkward computer-generated alien days of the prequels.

Seeing it on the massive IMAX screen (via GSC Maxx), you'll feel every blast and movement as the action fill up all four quadrants of the screen, and that really amped up the viewing experience. The musical score, while great (it's John Williams composing again for crying out loud), feels at times like a cover album of previous Star Wars themes with few notable yet great new tracks, yet these still send those shivers down your spine. Still kinda wished for something along the lines of Williams' 'Duels of Fate' and 'Battle of the Heroes' from the prequels *SHUDDER*

Of the original characters brought back, Harrison Ford and Peter Mayhew (as Chewie) is given the most to do among is original trilogy cohorts, with most of the casts given a mere cameo capacity, Carrie Fisher given the more prominent screen time amongst them sans Solo and Chewbacca, which isn't saying much. Focusing on Ford, he slips in to his Han Solo role so seamlessly you'll feel that he's been acting as everyone's favourite galactic smuggler for almost 40 years. Rather, the laurels of The Force Awakens rests its laurels on the several new additions to the cast, who serve as our main focus of this installment. John Boyega (last seen headlining 2011's Attack the Block, then already saving the world from space threats), Daisy Ridley, Oscar Isaac and Adam Driver all represent the new main characters to the sequel trilogy and are all equal bits a superb bit of casting.

Both Boyega, as rogue Stromtrooper Finn, and Ridley, as Jakku scavenger Rey, both display great interaction and chemistry with one another, also unlike the wooden interactions between the Jake Llyod/Hayden Christensen/Natalie Portman days, with Rey being the shining beacon of the new central characters. While Boyega brings his charisma and humour to the table, The Force Awakens is effectively Ridley's story as we see her progress from a lonely soul to a powerful yet mature force to be reckoned with throughout the course of this two-hour adventure. Completing the trio of heroes is Oscar Isaac as skilled X-Wing pilot Poe Dameron, who seems to be the living on the 'Han Solo' moniker, being a humorously gleeful wise crack even when facing up against Kylo Ren, and it's a pity that we didn't get to see as much of Poe compared to Finn and Rey. Here, you feel that eveyone's having a blast and are certainly enjoying themselves, despite a raging galactic war going on in the distance.

Opposite our heroes is the crossguard lightsaber-wielding Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), a villain who isn't exactly a Sith nor originates from the Dark Side, and vows to finish what Vader started all those years ago (dethroning the Empire?). Vader wannabe and angsty teenage vibes aside, Diver manages to show how conflicted his character is, as a Sith Apprentice yet to fully control/realise his power (that blaster freeze moment), but he sort of loses mystique and fear factor whenever he takes off his mask to shows us his long black locks.

Alongside our antagonist are the Nazi-esque General Hux (Domhall Gleeson, last seen playing Bill Weasley, time travelling in a closet and romancing an android) and a Boba Fett-like Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie), all epic looking First Order parties, but these characters barely registered much of an impact in such a characters-crowded film setting, and it'll be interesting to see how their story arcs progress beyond episode VII. Also, who thought Supreme Leader Snoke (motion captured by Andy Serkis) was a 40 feet tall Sith Lord?

One thing I'm sure much of the online community has since lamented, was that the film treads too closely to the story beats of A New Hope. Similar to how JJ Abrams pretty much lifted the story of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan onto his last picture, 2013's underrated Star Trek Into Darkness, and it shows in The Force Awakens as well, from an all-important MacGuffin hidden inside an astromech droid, to a daring rescue sting within a massive space station. But the new characters certainly make these sort-of recycled elements fresh again, with an added value of enhanced, post-1977 special effects. Besides, if one were to mirror a previous Star Wars movie, you can't do much wrong with copying the originals.

As a fan of the film series, Star Wars: The Force Awakens had me feeling all kinds of emotion, the latest installment being a great throwback to its original trilogy predecessor, without detracting us from the new characters and story elements. While it's also tough to judge a film with so many elements purposely left out to be explained in the coming sequels, JJ Abrams opted for the safer and familiar route to jumpstart this 38 year old franchise, and his efforts worked out well as a great passing of the torch story.

With The Force Awakens, the sequel trilogy is already on a promising start, while what we do have before us thus far is a fun sci-fi follow-up deserving to be uttered in the same breath as the original trilogy. Over to you now, Rian Johnson. Episode VIII can't come soon enough.