We all know, of course, that a new Star Wars film is virtually critic-proof. Costumed fans will storm the ticket windows, and generations will line up in droves, and word of mouth will spread quickly and naturally, just as Lucas and The Force intended.
But there is certainly still something at stake here, as early word tumbles out, in terms of the critical verdict. For starters, it could be the difference between a big opening weekend and a record-setting one.
So now that the early critics spake, what say they?
Well, the general praise seems near-universal, with reviewers often pointing out that director J.J. Abrams - in inherting a six-film franchise from creator George Lucas - faced two particularly central challenges. One was to deftly perform a balancing act to satisfy expectations for both decades of storytelling nostaglia while also putting his imprint of innovation on The Force Awakens. And a second mission involved accepting the degree to which Star Wars, in the wake of the much-maligned prequels, needed not only telling, but saving.
Judging by those early returns, Abrams nimbly met both challenges, and perhaps even exceeded them.
