Star Wars: The Force Awakens is 'gorgeous trip down intergalactic memory lane'

What a gorgeous trip down intergalactic memory lane.

If you enjoyed the way they did things in 1977, then you will love this new awakening of the Star Wars juggernaut.

This is a film built to rekindle those lovely childhood memories of seeing the first Star Wars outing on the big screen.

What a smart man J.J Abrams is. He has dispensed with the CGI effects that caused such controversy and opposition amongst Star Wars purists in the last three films.

Watching The Force Awakens, in many ways, feels like watching the first film George Lucas created 38 years ago.

There are so many nods to the early films in this.

The humour is there, I wasn't the only one in the cinema smiling away at the many homages to classic Star Wars.

When the familiar appeared - be it the characters we've loved, or the one-liners, there were laughs and applause in the audience.

Harrison Ford remains grizzled and funny as Han Solo, getting many of the best lines - but what a revelation the two young British leads are.

It may have been a gamble getting two relatively unknowns to navigate such an enormous film, but Daisy Ridley and John Boyega are outstanding.

Daisy Ridley particularly - it is her story, and she more than rises to the challenge.

A Hollywood blockbuster with a mighty female lead - now that's the kind of development in Tinseltown that campaigners have been calling for years.

And with Carrie Fisher's Leia back in dominant form, this is an important step in the right direction.

It is challenging to talk too much about the plot - suffice to say there are some dramatic moments.

But The Force, The Dark Side, the Droids, The Empire - they're all there. And there are some surprises....

In all this is a film made by a man who is a huge fan of Star Wars and it shows - Abrams has made the kind of movie that no doubt made him swoon all those years ago.

And with a huge budget he has created some thrilling set pieces - quite simply this film looks spectacular. The cinematography is quite beautiful.

Will it smash the box office? It certainly will.

The new Droid on the block, BB-8, will ensure that the merchandise will simply fly off the shelf. Expect records to be broken.

Disney can heave a huge sigh of relief - that four billion dollars they spent buying the franchise off George Lucas. They won't be having any sleepless nights about recouping their investment. This is a franchise in good hands.

Filming on the next Star Wars installment is scheduled to start next year - as this film more than sets up the follow-ons.

The Star Wars films don't move me the way they do so many millions of fans around the world, I confess - but resistance is futile - I loved this.