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| Image via StarWars.com |
Before I begin, I feel the need to say that while I certainly enjoy the original trilogy very much (the prequels not so much), I've never been a die-hard fan of the series. For whatever reason, Star Wars never resonated with me in the same way it did with other people and it was only until recent years that I really looked at those original films and realized how good they actually are. But man, The Force Awakens is just something else. I loved this movie and I will say right away that this is probably my favorite Star Wars film of all. I know many people will disagree, but maybe some will agree and that is the beauty of film. Much like with food, everybody's taste is different and The Force Awakens, for me, is just exquisite.
**WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD**
One of the main problems I had with the prequels was how political they were. I felt that that specific approach took away a lot of the magic that the original trilogy had and made the prequels quite boring a lot of the time. Because trailers tend to spoil movie plots a lot these days, I decided to not watch every trailer or teaser that dropped for The Force Awakens and since I didn't really know what to expect, I feared going into this new movie that we would be headed for more of what the prequels did. However, right from the opening crawl we learn that the movie will focus on finding Luke, who has been absent for many years, in order to have a chance at restoring peace to the galaxy once more. This proved to be a great starting point and made for a fantastic story.
Now, one of the things that I loved most about The Force Awakens was the way in which they used of the old characters, in particular Han Solo and Chewbacca. They weren't the stars of the film, but they were used marvelously as a way to blend the old with the new. Princess Leia, now known as General Leia Organa, also makes an appearance although her role isn't as vital as that of Han and Chewie. I think that including these characters without making them the central part of the story was absolutely the smart and right thing to do because it is now time for a new generation of Star Wars. While we probably won't be seeing Harrison Ford as Han Solo in future films (more on that later) I believe that this is an absolute necessity for this new franchise to prove it can continue on without depending on its most lovable characters from the original trilogy.
As far as the new characters go, they are all, for the most part, fantastic. John Boyega as Finn and Daisy Ridley as Rey are great and have a really fun and believable chemistry together. Rey, in particular, is a very intriguing character because of how devastatingly strong she appears to be with the force. I'm curious to see the development of her character and I am anxiously waiting to see what her lineage is. Oscar Isaac as Poe Dameron is also a huge positive in the film. BB-8 is even more lovable than R2-D2 ever was, if you can believe that, and I loved the "conversations" he would have with Finn throughout the film. But my favorite character in this new movie was Adam Driver as Kylo Ren, who we learn is the son of Han and Leia. What Driver was able to do with this complex character was nothing short of amazing. You could see the incredible power that he possesses but also his inner struggle of being tempted by the light side of the force. I loved the temper tantrums he demonstrated throughout the movie because they showed the instability and insecureness of the character. There is a key scene where Rey accuses Kylo Ren of being afraid that he will never be as strong as Darth Vader, and you can clearly see by his reaction that this is true. And yes, Kylo Ren is no Darth Vader, but he doesn't need to be because Kylo Ren has the potential to be so much more than Vader even if he never matches his power. Domhnall Gleeson, who appears to be in every movie this year, was good as General Hux but I thought he worked best when he was interacting with Ren. I am very curious to see their relationship develop in future films.
While it was very evident that it was about to happen, I still really loved Han Solo's death scene. Kylo Ren, whose real name is Ben, killing his own father in order to prove his loyalty to Supreme Leader Snoke (the big bad guy in this new franchise) was effective even as telegraphed as it was. I loved in particular seeing Ren's internal struggle as he is about to kill his father. I believe that when Kylo first asks Han to kill him, he means it. Yet when Han reaches for Kylo's lightsaber he has a sudden change of heart and opts instead to kill Han.
There are some other highlights from this movie. The comedy worked great in this film and I appreciate the fact that it wasn't overdone. Instead, it seemed to come naturally given the situations the characters were being faced with. I also appreciated the fact that so much of this film was done with practical effects as opposed to being a CGI fest like the prequels were. Lastly, I feel that Luke's reveal at the end couldn't have been done any better. I loved the fact that he had no spoken dialogue, he simply just stares at Rey and at his old lightsaber in a way that seems to indicate his own internal struggle of deciding whether or not he wants to come back to the world he once tried to escape.
As far as negatives go, there isn't a whole lot. I thought that for all the hype behind Captain Phasma, she came off as a rather weak character. Her design was great, but as a character she didn't really deliver. I hope that in future films this character can be redeemed and isn't so easily pushed around by the heroes. For as great as I thought that Han's death scene was, I did find myself wishing they had developed his relationship with Kylo a bit more and maybe tried to mask his death a bit more in order to deliver a bigger punch. Finally, I wish that they would have explained a bit more what the First Order is and where they came from. They gloss over it momentarily in the opening crawl but then that is all that is mentioned and I found myself wishing I knew where they came from and why they are doing what they're doing. Granted, there are more movies coming and maybe this will get explored then, but I am nonetheless dissatisfied by that.
As a whole Star Wars: The Force Awakens is a marvelous film that I ended up enjoying much more than I anticipated. It's not a perfect film, of course, but it is definitely an indication that Star Wars is back and better than ever. It is as 8.5/10 for me.
Now, one of the things that I loved most about The Force Awakens was the way in which they used of the old characters, in particular Han Solo and Chewbacca. They weren't the stars of the film, but they were used marvelously as a way to blend the old with the new. Princess Leia, now known as General Leia Organa, also makes an appearance although her role isn't as vital as that of Han and Chewie. I think that including these characters without making them the central part of the story was absolutely the smart and right thing to do because it is now time for a new generation of Star Wars. While we probably won't be seeing Harrison Ford as Han Solo in future films (more on that later) I believe that this is an absolute necessity for this new franchise to prove it can continue on without depending on its most lovable characters from the original trilogy.
As far as the new characters go, they are all, for the most part, fantastic. John Boyega as Finn and Daisy Ridley as Rey are great and have a really fun and believable chemistry together. Rey, in particular, is a very intriguing character because of how devastatingly strong she appears to be with the force. I'm curious to see the development of her character and I am anxiously waiting to see what her lineage is. Oscar Isaac as Poe Dameron is also a huge positive in the film. BB-8 is even more lovable than R2-D2 ever was, if you can believe that, and I loved the "conversations" he would have with Finn throughout the film. But my favorite character in this new movie was Adam Driver as Kylo Ren, who we learn is the son of Han and Leia. What Driver was able to do with this complex character was nothing short of amazing. You could see the incredible power that he possesses but also his inner struggle of being tempted by the light side of the force. I loved the temper tantrums he demonstrated throughout the movie because they showed the instability and insecureness of the character. There is a key scene where Rey accuses Kylo Ren of being afraid that he will never be as strong as Darth Vader, and you can clearly see by his reaction that this is true. And yes, Kylo Ren is no Darth Vader, but he doesn't need to be because Kylo Ren has the potential to be so much more than Vader even if he never matches his power. Domhnall Gleeson, who appears to be in every movie this year, was good as General Hux but I thought he worked best when he was interacting with Ren. I am very curious to see their relationship develop in future films.
While it was very evident that it was about to happen, I still really loved Han Solo's death scene. Kylo Ren, whose real name is Ben, killing his own father in order to prove his loyalty to Supreme Leader Snoke (the big bad guy in this new franchise) was effective even as telegraphed as it was. I loved in particular seeing Ren's internal struggle as he is about to kill his father. I believe that when Kylo first asks Han to kill him, he means it. Yet when Han reaches for Kylo's lightsaber he has a sudden change of heart and opts instead to kill Han.
There are some other highlights from this movie. The comedy worked great in this film and I appreciate the fact that it wasn't overdone. Instead, it seemed to come naturally given the situations the characters were being faced with. I also appreciated the fact that so much of this film was done with practical effects as opposed to being a CGI fest like the prequels were. Lastly, I feel that Luke's reveal at the end couldn't have been done any better. I loved the fact that he had no spoken dialogue, he simply just stares at Rey and at his old lightsaber in a way that seems to indicate his own internal struggle of deciding whether or not he wants to come back to the world he once tried to escape.
As far as negatives go, there isn't a whole lot. I thought that for all the hype behind Captain Phasma, she came off as a rather weak character. Her design was great, but as a character she didn't really deliver. I hope that in future films this character can be redeemed and isn't so easily pushed around by the heroes. For as great as I thought that Han's death scene was, I did find myself wishing they had developed his relationship with Kylo a bit more and maybe tried to mask his death a bit more in order to deliver a bigger punch. Finally, I wish that they would have explained a bit more what the First Order is and where they came from. They gloss over it momentarily in the opening crawl but then that is all that is mentioned and I found myself wishing I knew where they came from and why they are doing what they're doing. Granted, there are more movies coming and maybe this will get explored then, but I am nonetheless dissatisfied by that.
As a whole Star Wars: The Force Awakens is a marvelous film that I ended up enjoying much more than I anticipated. It's not a perfect film, of course, but it is definitely an indication that Star Wars is back and better than ever. It is as 8.5/10 for me.
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