Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
It's been over a month since Star Wars: The Force Awakens came to theaters. It's safe to fully talk about it, right? Without spoiling something for somebody? If not, too bad. I've waited long enough. And if you haven't seen Star Wars yet, what are you doing with your life, anyway? I don't mean to judge, but seriously.
Right after I saw the movie the first time I did a short spoiler free movie review, so I won't repeat any of that here. I'm just going to get right down to it.
The very first thought I had when the credits first started to roll was, "This is the third time I've seen this movie," thinking about The Phantom Menace and A New Hope. A lot of people I've talked to mentioned all the A New Hope similarities (there's so many), but there were a crazy amount of similarities between A New Hope and The Phantom Menace as well.
My family was split after the first showing. My Mom and brother Robbie loved it for what The Force Awakens is. My brother Michael, Steven, and Dad were like, "it's okay, but we've seen it all before." I've heard some say it's because it's Star Wars. A Force Awakens is very Star Wars. And all I can think after hearing those arguments is this: Is it really good storytelling when you have seven movies that are all remakes of each other? Referring to episodes I-III being slight mirrors of IV-VI. George Lucas said, talking about episodes I-III, "You see the echos of where it all's going to go, it's like poetry, it's sorta, they rhyme." And there's a good video on YouTube that shows some of this poetry, entitled Star Wars Poetry: by Mca Free.
Just some of the similarities between A New Hope and The Force Awakens: droid carrying sensitive materials, a force sensitive desert dweller, a bigger death star, father figure dies, etc.
And JJ Abrams has responded to the "rip off" claim. From THR’s Awards Chatter:
"I knew that, whatever we did, there would be a group of people—and I was
just hoping and praying that it would be smaller than not—that would
take issue with any number of things. But I knew we weren’t making the
movie for any other reason than we believed that it could be something
meaningful and special and entertaining and worthy of people’s time . . . I can understand that someone might say, “Oh, it’s a complete
rip-off!” What was important for me was introducing brand new characters
using relationships that were embracing the history that we know to
tell a story that is new — to go backwards to go forwards."
Maybe a part of my problem is the fact that I've grown to love the now no longer canon Star Wars Expanded Universe. The Thrawn Trilogy, by Timothy Zahn, picked up where eps IV-VI left off when I was a kid. It was a full feast for my imagination. And a part of me is bitter that Mara Jade, Grand Admiral Thrawn, Captain Gilad Pellaeon, Talon Karrde, and mentally insane jedi clone Joruus C'baoth are no longer canon. So many interesting ideas and fantastic new characters. And I was hoping against hope that at least one of these characters would return to canon. It didn't happen.
I've grown to really like the new character introduced in The Force Awakens: Rey, Finn, Poe Dameron, Maz Kanata, BB-8, and to some extent Kylo Ren.
Rey is a really likable character. I am bothered by how perfect she is at everything. I'm not claiming she's a Mary Sue, that's a staple of fan fiction where the author inserts an idealized version of themselves in a well established universe, or as example when Eugene Wesley "Gene" Roddenberry created Wesley Crusher for Star Trek TNG, a classic Gary Stu. She's just good at so many things. If it wasn't for her fear of abandonment, what would be her flaws? She's a quick learner when piloting the Millennium Falcon, picks up the force super quick, a skilled fighter, incredible knack at fixing things, speaks all these languages including Wookie!, and if you've read Star Wars: Ray's Survival Guide (a really fun and interesting book), she's really good at drawing, too.
But even though I wish she had some flaws or struggles beyond environmental/circumstantial, she is still a really interesting and likable character. And I like newcomer Daisy Ridley's portrayal. She's got that no-nonsense strong thing going on, and admirable traits, such as when she wouldn't sell BB-8 for food rations. She's the perfect foil to Adam Driver's Kylo Ren.
And of course the whole "who are her relatives" debate is quite enjoyable. The obvious choice would be her being the long lost daughter of Luke Skywalker. It would make the "poetry" of episode I, IV, and VII complete, where each trilogy starts with a force sensitive Skywalker desert dweller. The balance would make sense.
Or she could simply by the new "chosen one." Succeeding where Darth Vader failed in bringing balance to the force. Kylo Ren wants to finish what Darth Vader started, but maybe he's simply mistook what it was Darth Vader was suppose to complete. Kylo, aka Ben Solo, is emulating the wrong side of Anakin Skywalker, and Rey has the opportunity to truly finish what the Chosen One was suppose to accomplish. In this way Rey really would be Kylo Ren's true foil. So is she descended from Anakin Skywalker? She looks an awful lot like Shmi Skywalker. Or maybe she is also of a virgin birth, making her family connection even more complicated. So then the question would be, are the Star Wars Trilogies a Skywalker arch? Or a Chosen One arch? A fulfillment of the Chosen One prophesy: Mace Windu said, "You refer to the prophecy of the one who will bring balance to the Force. You believe it's this…boy?" Maybe it's not "the boy." Maybe it's Rey.
Rey's new friend is Finn, FN-2187, played by John Boyega. He's the most relatable of the new characters. (He doesn't speak Wookie!) And I like his humor. Though why, if he's a character with morals, did it take for him to finally crack after his stormtrooper friend die? Maybe it's all that time spent in sanitation. Why would the New Order send a group of sanitation workers to retrieve important information? Is this his first mission? And if not, why now? Plot device, but seriously.
And did Poe Dameron kill Finn's stormtrooper friend??!! The one who's bloody fingers streaked Finn's stormtrooper helmet. Seriously, that's what I noticed the third time I saw the film, and I'm not sure I saw that correctly. But if Poe did, what would happen if Finn found out? Especially after their quick friendship. Maybe they'll never realize.
The third new character Poe Dameron, played by Oscar Isaac, is the Resistance top X-Wing pilot. His opening scene with Kylo Ren is an immediate breath of fresh air. A quick verbal jab at the start of the film, in the middle of conflict, that The Force Awakens is going to be fun, have humor, and clever writing. Another great character.
Maz Kanata, the 1000+ year old force sensitive bar owner, played by Lupita Nyong'o, is like the extroverted untrained version of Yoda. Wise and bold. And I heard there's a deleted scene where she drops the roof on a couple of stormtroopers. That would have been fun to watch in the film. I'm not a huge fan of CGI characters, but she's very well done, and I never thought once "she's not real." She feels very real.
BB-8. When all the BB-8 merchandise started coming out I was a little dubious. They're trying to replace R2-D2!! But I love BB-8. He's cute. And the scene with Finn, where BB suspects Finn isn't apart of the Resistance, and they do the "thumbs up," was really charming.
And last, but not least, Kylo Ren, aka Ben Solo, the disappointing offspring of Han Solo And Princess Leia, the immature man-child with a crazy Darth Vader obsession. There is something quite terrifying with a man who has crazy power, but no self discipline. A spoiled brat who loses it whenever he doesn't get his way. It's unpredictable. It's uncontrollable. His lack of discipline makes him dangerous. He's been indulged. Instead of calm, quiet strength, he's reckless. He's no Darth Vader, which enrages him all the more. He's not suppose to be Darth Vader. His quest would be complete if he was.
With repeated viewings I'm growing to like Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
As annoyed as I was at first with there being ANOTHER Death Star, it makes sense when you realize Kylo is trying to walk in his Grandfathers footsteps. If only he learned from Vader's mistake and didn't make it so easy to destroy. The folly of imitation? I did like how it was called the Starkiller Base, a homage to Luke Skywalker's original name, Luke Starkiller. Also, Luke Skywalker was, in early drafts of A New Hope, a female protagonist, so Rey fills that roll.
I'm still perturbed by the whole Map to Luke Skywalker plot line. It makes no sense in my mind how R2-D2 has a part of the map, and a floating hard drive of sorts has the missing piece. Why would there be two parts of a map for a man that doesn't want to be found. This plot element is the weakest part of The Force Awakens.
All in all, though I've dealt with early disappointment with Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the movie is growing on me. I enjoyed it yesterday far more my third time seeing the film then my first. I love the humor, the banter, and the cast chemistry. There are some really great moments. I love the return to practical effects with less dependency on CGI, which is what made episodes IV-VI pure magic.
And I'm glad The Force Awakens didn't end with an awards ceremony!! Thank you for not having an awards ceremony.
MPAA: Rated PG-13 for sci-fi action violence.
