Updated Jan 12 2015
Since the glory days dated way back between 1977~1983 with the much revered original trilogy (A New Hope, Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi) , the Star Wars franchise got hauled over the coals, fairly or unfairly, after the release of the notorious prequel trilogy between 1999~2005 (Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith). Now, 30+ years later, George Lucas’ space opera is re-introduced by J.J. Abrams of the Lost/Star Trek-reboot fame. Finally it is here, the 7th film in the Star Wars saga: The Force Awakens (2015).
To avoid spoiling anything for you, my royal reader of none, I will refrain from writing about the synopsis like I always do. But this review WILL contain spoilers, so proceed with caution. Basically tread forward like the Night-fox did when he stole the egg in Ocean’s 12. Remember the laser-field? Ahh forget it you youngsters, remember nothing.
To review this movie turned out to be much more complex than I originally thought it’d be. We must separate Star Wars the cultural phenomenon and Star Wars the 7th movie to properly evaluate each’s significance. Unnecessary to do so you say? This is why I am the pretentious self-proclaimed movie critic and you are not.
If we look at The Force Awakens as a stand-alone movie, then the review is much easier to write: it is a top-notch sci-fi/action fantasy with well-choreographed chase sequences and special effects. The acting is rock-solid and the dialogues are well-versed. Audiences got a healthy dose of nostalgia with Han Solo, princess Leia, and Chewbacca reentering our lives. But a balance of intriguing new characters like Kylo Ren, Finn, and the new protagonist Rey was also present. J.J. Abrams proves again he is very skilled at reviving old materials and making it relevant to today’s viewers while also pleasing the original fans. Such balance isn’t easy to handle and he does it again after the successful reboot of the Star Trek franchise.
In many ways, The Force Awakens is exactly what the series needed: a new look at both the evolution of the Star Wars entity and the perfect reminder of how rich the story actually is. A fantastic blend of both the old and the new, as a stand-alone film, it is without a doubt a success.
But as part of the Star Wars phenomenon, this newest instalment does not really offer a continuance of the culture Lucas created 30 some years ago. One would be hard-pressed to find a defender of the prequel trilogy, and with good reasons. The prequels’ (1, 2 &3) got some fun moments but they were in essence horrendous. The acting was terrible across the board, some characters were possibly racist portrayals of social stereotypes, and the dialogues were worse than your average grade-school level essays (any scene between Queen Amidala and Anakin were basically the verbal equivalent of waterboarding). However, conceptually, you also get a lot of new things/characters like Darth Maul & his double-edged/stick-like lightsaber, General Grievous & the clone army. Audiences got to see a proper lightsaber dual (Qui-Gon Jinn/Obi-Wan vs Darth Maul) instead of the snooze-fest we got in A New Hope (Darth Vader vs the old Obi-Wan Kenobi). And we finally got to see the master of all masters, Yoda in action. Bad movies though they were, the prequels were at the very least innovative and that’s no easy feat. Lucas might have lost his touch as a film maker, but he was at the very least imaginative with the prequel trilogy.
The Force Awakens, without George Lucas’ influence, for better or worse, does not attempt to be original. The story is remarkably similar to A New Hope (1977), in fact the progression of the 2 movies are almost identical. Even the new characters can be viewed as rehashing of old ones: Rey is, for all intent and purposes, Luke. Kylo Ren is exactly like Vader (subtle hint: he idolizes the faded evil grandpa…ok not so subtle in fact), and there’s no real difference between any Sith Lord and Snoke (perhaps Snoke will turn out to be a Sith Lord). A nice way to phrase it is to say The Force Awakens is paying tribute to the old greats, but one can easily accuse it of being unimaginative, which of course is the anti-spirit of what any Star Wars story is supposed to be: imagination on steroid. A Star Wars film that lacks Luca’s creative input or any real creativity involved, one can view it as concrete evidence as it being a departure of Star Wars’ founding approach.
That is not so much of a criticism than an observation, to be clear. Abrams was tasked with a difficult job and you can see from the film that he is a true avid fan of the Star Wars story. Much passion was injected and you can see it in every frame. But to leave the bad taste of the prequels behind, Abrams needed to take a safer approach with this sacred material. He choose to go with the formula that worked when the franchise was first introduced. But he is skilled enough to put enough spin in it so that the film felt new and refreshed rather than tired and plagiarized.
I view The Force Awakens as a nicely constructed bridge between the older generation and the new one. This film brings back old memories that reminded us of the good old days when Star Wars wooed us. It reminds us of the 1st time we saw a lightsaber, the 1st time we see an X-wing fighter, the 1st time we saw Darth Vader and heard his theme music…epic moments indeed. If you have not seen the originals, this film also serve as a great intro to this hollow fantasy: you care about Kylo Ren and his relationship with this mysterious Vader person/machine, you root for Rey and wonder what will happen between her and Luke, the last of the once great Jedi Order, you want to know what is the history of the apparently legendary Millennium Falcon and its owner, the fantastic Han Solo and his furry sidekick Chewbacca. All these elements inspire great curiosity in viewers and I would not be surprised to see a revived interest from the younger audiences to re-discover Lucas’ Star Wars. More than making just a fun movie, this inspiration would be a triumph on a much larger scale, and isn’t that what greatness is supposed to entail?
The Force Awakens paints a new future for the Star Wars saga, and it is a bright one. It was a bitter-sweet experience however, as we bid fare-thee-well to Lucas’ take on a story he created. He handed over the rein to a younger director in Abrams who loves his baby, and I think that is a hard but wise decision. Now we have the 8th and 9th film to look forward to base on a very solid 7th. As a devoted fan of films, being hopeful is a great disposition to have.
My name is Danny and I endorse this message.
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