I took the kids to see The Force Awakens on its opening day in France. They’ve been dying to see it since the first mention of the movie – ah since a few years back now. Yes the hype train has been in motion for quite some time, along with the unbelievable number of associated marketing product tie ins. All of that aside, the great thing about these films is we can actually all enjoy them when we go to the movies.  The only issue was that we had to see it dubbed in French but even that didn’t dampen my enthusiasm.

Like many kids of their generation, they have become Marvel superhero children and quite frankly while they’re not bad movies, they do get rather tiresome (for me anyway). And surprise, surprise, the trailers revealed that there will be yet another Captain America with the same cast of rotating superhero characters. I was interested to see whether their reaction to The Force Awakens would be as good as their The Avengers experience. Would there be enough action as well as an emotional heart to draw them in and to take them out of their superhero bubble, at least for a moment.

There’s something about the text rolling over the black screen into the distance that made me feel very excited for what was about to come. And the familiarity of the John Williams score just felt so right. The new Dark Side character Kylo Ren was great, with the moodiness and unpredictability of a teenage boy gone off the rails. Apparently actor Adam Driver (Adam in Girls) can keep a secret. He kept mum on the details surrounding his part for three years – even from his wife.

If you’ve been a Star Wars nerd for years, then it will be quite something to see the original characters on screen – well Mark Hamill only briefly but a decent amount of screen time for Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford plus his side kick Chewbacca. I loved seeing them back on screen together, nearly 40 years later and as I have enough nerd in me, I felt a little emotional.  Daisy Ridley has the key role as Rey and at times reminded me of a more kick ass Keira Knightley, although this could be because we  watched Pirates of the Caribbean earlier that week.

Anyway if you haven’t yet seen The Force Awakens and grew up with the original trio of Star Wars films, it will seem like a beautiful flashback with more of a modern, Bourne / Bond styled feel. J.J. Abrams has the mix just right for old school Star Wars lovers. For young kids it’s pretty good too. Mine were big fans, although it was the all time favourite for just one of them.

Jimmy Fallon in his usual bang on pop culture style has a little treat here with  The Force Awakens cast, The Roots and yes himself singing the timeless Star Wars theme.

Have you seen the movie?