First Click: How the critics are scoring Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Bryan Bishop posted our spoiler-free review of Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens early this morning. I’m sure it’s great (I’m told it is), but I’m still suspicious of those 1,500 words — leery of small details about the plot or the characters that I've so far managed to block with a combination of filters and apps.

This Tweet from Bryan posted without context after he attended yesterday’s Hollywood premiere is about as much as I’m willing to read:

Fortunately, now that the embargo has lifted on The Force Awakens, we’re finally getting the professional review scores. And so far, it’s looking pretty damn positive.

Rotten Tomatoes has a 99 percent fresh rating (8.6/10 average) at the moment, based upon 90 reviews counted. Of these, only one review is rotten from Roger Moore of Movie Nation who calls the film "a glib facsimile." The score jumps to 100 percent fresh when looking at the 26 reviews from the so-called "top critics."

Metacritic, meanwhile, gives The Force Awakens a Metascore of 83, noting 35 positive scores from critics, two mixed, and zero negative reviews. That’s a very good score but puts it 468 places behind Boyhood (the only film with a perfect 100) on Metacritic’s all time best list. Still, that’s far better than the questionable 67 Metascore allocated to Zach Braff’s masterpiece Garden State.

It’s too soon to give IMDB’s score any weight. Its 9.2/10 rating came from 5,956 users who definitely have not all seen the film.

But hey, who am I kidding? This is JJ Abrams’ Star Wars. I was convinced I’d see it months ago.

The Force Awakens has written a new chapter in the Star Wars universe. It also wrote a new chapter in the history of movie trailers. Here's how The Force Awakens broke the mold: