“Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” a revitalizing, seventh installment in the legendary space saga established, and relinquished, by George Lucas has revived the franchise with a burst of excitement and energy. The film, released on December 18, shattered dozens of domestic and international records including the most profitable opening weekend, drawing in $529 million as well as reaching an astonishing $1 billion in a mere 12 days. The new writer-director, J. J. Abrams took on the monumental undertaking of captivating a new audience of Star Wars fans as well as old by constructing brilliant callbacks to the the original trilogy, catching up with old favorites, and introducing a fresh generation of characters.

This episode takes place about three decades after the Battle of Endor as the First Order of galactic terrorists rise from the ashes of the evil Empire to rage against the rebel movement known as the Resistance. A Resistance pilot conceals a secret map, which includes information of the whereabouts of the missing Luke Skywalker, inside a droid, sending the orange and spherical BB-8 to seek refuge in the desert planet of Jakku. A conflicted Stormtrooper, Finn, escapes from the First Order with the help of a Resistance pilot and crash-lands on the desert planet and eventually partners with Rey and BB-8 with intentions to return the droid’s coveted information reaches the safety of the Resistance. Sound familiar?

The dynamic duo manage to evade the enemy TIE fighters, commandeering the legendary Millennium Falcon, which of course, means Han Solo cannot be very far behind. Solo and Chewie turn up to recover their beloved spaceship and reluctantly join Finn and Rey on their quest. Indeed, it obviously wouldn’t be authentic Star Wars if the worrisome C-3PO and sidekick R2-D2 were not present, or if someone didn’t say “I have a bad feeling about this,” Viewers can expect their hearts to undeniably swell as the most moving scenes are reserved for Han and Leia, their relationship raspier and gentler than all those years ago.

The majority of the film relies on exposition to fill in the gaps between the events of “Return of the Jedi” and those of “The Force Awakens,” but in a more subtle and less lengthy fashion. This installment also conveys an intentional sense of mystery surrounding characters of old and new, especially around Finn, Rey, and Kylo Ren, the ones responsible for carrying the series onward, whose backstories will be hopefully revealed in the installments to come. Conclusively, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” proposes the work of a producer met with the exciting yet difficult task of somewhat reconstructing one of the most cherished sagas in film history, advancing the characters’ paths in a significant manner to pay homage to the past six episodes while paving a new road in this new generation of Star Wars.