That's what's so impressive about the tricky balancing act Abrams has pulled off with The Force Awakens: He's made a movie that's simultaneously gripping and a huge release. We are in good hands, at last.
It's a big Star Wars universe out there and Abrams has just made it bigger again with this mix of fan boy homage and a fresh and quirky vision of his own.
With The Force Awakens, Abrams has begun one of the most important reclamation projects of our time: the complete erasure from cultural memory of The Phantom Menace and its sequels.
