I hope you all had a great Christmas week and had a chance to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens in the theater. I normally discuss films available to stream in this column but with Force Awakens being such a huge film I felt I needed to talk about it. If you live under a rock and are unfamiliar with the Star Wars I filmed a video before the release giving my thoughts on each of the 6 existing Star Wars films and the show Star Wars Rebels. I think all of the films even the prequels are worth watching at least once. Warning: There ARE spoilers in the video.
If you haven’t seen Force Awakens you are missing out on a great cinematic experience. This was the Star Wars movie fans had been hoping for since Return of the Jedi 32 years ago. I have a few little things I would have done differently but nothing that prevents me from having a wonderful time at the movies. If you are super spoiler sensitive you may not want to read this review but I will do my best to keep it spoiler free with just information available in the trailers.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens takes place 30 years after the events of Return of the Jedi and it focuses on a girl named Rey (Daisy Ridley) who is a scavenger on the planet Jakku. She comes across a droid called BB8, meets a Stormtrooper named Finn (John Boyega) who has deserted the First Order (the new Empire), and they meet Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and other characters from the original trilogy.
There are also other new characters such as a pilot named Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) and a new villain named Kylo Ren (Adam Driver).
That’s all I will tell you because I do want the details of the plot and what happens to the characters to be a surprise, as I know that is important to many people.
In some ways Force Awakens reminds me a little bit of X-men Days of Future Past. They are both combining old and new casts, navigating lots of characters and stories and they both try to please hard core fans while introducing new people to the franchise. Obviously Star Wars is a franchise that X-men can’t match in popularity (nothing can) but I think both films succeed in creating a layered, character based story that is very entertaining.
A lot of the credit for the success of Force Awakens goes to the new cast who are all strong. I particularly loved John Boyega as Finn who is a conflicted member of the opposition- something we have never seen in Star Wars before. I also thought Adam Driver was great as Kylo Ren. He is a villain who is tempted by the light not the darkness as we normally see. Daisy Ridley is great as Rey and is without a doubt the strongest female character to date in a Star Wars film. And don’t forget the adorable new addition of BB8 who steals every scene she is in (she or he? Not sure?).
That said, the returning cast is also excellent- particularly Harrison Ford who is trying harder than I thought he would. It is certainly a huge step up from the lazy grump we got in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull a few years ago.
Part of what made the film entertaining is how visceral it felt. The practical effects work to make the world feel lived in and real. The battle scenes and chases are exhilarating and there is more carnage and tension than we have seen in most Star Wars films. We even see a stormtrooper’s helmet get bloodied in one scene.
The Force Awakens is also extremely funny with a script worked on by Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan, who penned Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. You can feel that old school influence throughout the picture but especially in the script.
There are definitely moments where they could have been a little bit more creative. I don’t want to give anything away but the plot is similar to Star Wars: A New Hope in many ways. This wasn’t a problem for me but some people object to it.
Some critics have said Rey is a “Mary Sue” character- meaning she is good at everything and the hero of the author. There are a couple scenes where tension could have been improved by things being harder for her but I think calling her a “Mary Sue” is too strong. She was a compelling character who faced many challenges. I am very excited to see where the next 2 films take her.
I was a little disappointed in the head villain called Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis) and feel he could have been more menacing and better designed. I also wish we had seen more of Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie) as we have never had a strong female villain in Star Wars.
To see the rest of Rachel’s reviews, click here.
The ending really worked for me and I found myself cheering throughout the film. Sure you can nitpick little things but forget that! Go have some fun at a Star Wars movie!
As far as content there is a little bit of blood and mild torture scenes but overall I don’t find it much more objectionable than Empire Strikes Back. I think if your kids could handle Jurassic World or the Harry Potter movies the will be fine with Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Overall Grade A
My brother and I gave our expectations going into and reactions going out in this video you might enjoy. This video is the non-spoiler version. 🙂
Let me know what you think if you get to see it.
Twitter •
