Director: JJ Abrams
Notable Cast: Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Harrison Ford, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Andy Serkis, Max Von Sydow
For the record, I’m not a huge Star Wars fan. Outside of growing up with the original trilogy and
suffering through the prequel trilogy for the sake of nostalgia, I can’t say I
was wholly sold on the entire thing. They are a fun film experience, sure, but not
necessarily the great film making that others seem intent on telling me they
are. (For further reading, feel free to jump over to my reviews of the other
films on this site). So the hype for Episode
VII: The Force Awakens didn’t quite resonate with me like it did for so
many of those around me and thus, I took my sweet time seeing it in theaters. I
have to admit though, despite my hesitations, The Force Awakens is easily my favorite film in the franchise. It’s
not perfect, we’ll get to that in a second, but the amount of fun in the
spectacle is matched with some shockingly heartfelt moments to make it one of
the better blockbusters this year.
With Luke Skywalker missing, the Resistance has had its
hands full fighting against the First Order, a core piece of the now crumbling
evil Empire. When a Stormtrooper (Boyega) goes rogue and frees a Resistance
pilot (Isaac) they end up chasing a droid with a map and discovering a young
and talented woman named Rey (Ridley) in the process. From there, they are
swept quickly into a full scale war with each of their own roles to play in
stopping the evil Kylo Ren (Driver) and finding the last Jedi Skywalker.
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| Running away from explosions is a great idea...generally speaking. |
You have to give it to JJ Abrams. After re-igniting the
reboot for Star Trek, he does it
again for this mega franchise. The Star
Wars prequel trilogy left a rather sour taste in the mouths of many older
fans (and some younger ones) with its overzealous spectacle and terrible
performances, but The Force Awakens
might just be the apology that fans are owed. Abrams does a remarkable job at bringing
the older tone and feel of Episodes IV, V,
and VI back for this latest entry and
the results are infectiously entertaining. Not only does Abrams bring out that
Lucas style epic visual flair (right down the edits), but he also knows how to
balance the various genre elements and tones to make the film flow smoothly.
Whether it’s the big league action spectacle of space fights, the silly alien
monster pieces, or emotional character beats…he blends it all into a smooth
moving flick. The characters are fresh faced and effective (and the
performances are eager and energetic) and the emotional moments work. While
some of if these moments are more surface level with the father/son/familial
issues that keep repeating, it doesn’t necessarily hinder what the film has to
offer. Not to give too much away, but there is one moment with a father and son
that could have just been slightly more epic, but it’s still a solid move for
the franchise and a great memorable moment.
While the tone is spot on, the main issue with The Force Awakens is that too often it
relies on being “too familiar” with its plotting and structure to truly feel as
fresh as it needed to be. Essentially, it’s a slightly different spin on A New Hope as it goes through to motions
to keep Star Wars fans feeling comfortable. It’s not nearly as bad as it could
have been, thanks to some strong executions and just enough new stuff to make
it fun, but for someone who wanted a rather new take on the series it leaves a
little to be desired. Occasionally, the film does take familiar moments/style
and spins them in better ways. The lightsaber duel at the end is much more akin
the original samurai inspired sparring versus the cartoon flippy shit that the
prequel trilogy brought to the table and the film showcases the consequences
of battle a bit better (showing ships crash and civilians in the midst of the
chaos), so the film does add to the experience in those ways. Luckily, the first spin off film Rogue One looks to change up the style by taking
the series into some new territory next year.
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| Bweeevvvvfffft. |
Truthfully, Abrams and company really handle the franchise
well. They bring in some great and clever new ideas (a rogue Stormtrooper and
his own character arc about fear from within the system) while retaining some of the older ones (the romantic
plot between Leia and Han) so that fans are getting more of what they loved
while the film slides in just enough new material to lay the groundwork for the
‘new trilogy.’ It’s not a film about rocket science and there are plenty of
massive plot holes to try and avoid, but it’s so entertaining, charming, and
fast paced that it’s hard to dwell on the details as it puts on a show. The Force Awakens might not be perfect,
but it’s perfectly Star Wars and fans
ought to be excited about this beginning and what it intends to bring.
Written By Matt Reifschneider
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