‘Star Wars’ Premieres to Enthusiastic Thumbs Up in Hollywood

James Rainey
Senior Film Reporter

The force is strong with this one. On Monday night, J.J. Abrams’ “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” screened for the first time in Hollywood and the initial responses were, to the relief of fans, overwhelmingly positive.

Actress Geena Davis let out a whoop from her seat in the second row of the Dolby Theater balcony, as soon as the film ended, “I loved everything about it,” she said. “Especially Rey,” referring to newcomer Daisy Ridley.

Young stars John Boyega, Oscar Isaac and Adam Driver also received cheers from the audience at the Hollywood and Highland complex, where Lucasfilm’s seventh “Star Wars” pic screened at three different theaters, while others praised Abrams’ “old-fashioned” approach.
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Twitter reactions quickly poured as soon as “The Force Awakens” let out, as expected, despite Disney’s official review embargo for early Wednesday morning.

“JJ did it,” tweeted Patton Oswalt.

“It was epic, awesome and perfect,” added Rainn Wilson, star of “The Office.”

Brett Morgan, director of Kurt Cobain documentary “Montage of Heck,” actually took it a step further and called it “the best blockbuster since the original.”
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Peter Bradshaw in the Guardian wrote:...My only tiny reservation, which I will get out of the way now, is with a tiny new droid who has a bit of a Scrappy-Doo vibe about him....

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