Long scrolling banners of text at the start, iconic thundering orchestral music and a view of the mysterious stars beyond – All hallmarks of a Star Wars film. The franchise has seen six entries till date, bringing us a galaxy spanning tale of love, friendship and the ultimate fight between good and evil. The film gave rise to numerous memes, sold merchandise galore and birthed spin-offs in the animation industry. How does such an iconic series’ resurrection fare in the form of Star Wars: The Force Awakens?
Star Wars captivated me since the first time I laid eyes on it. The mythos behind the characters, the tug of war between the light side (good) and dark side (bad) of the Force and the fancy sci-fi powers had me from the get go. I battled my cousins with tube-lights for light sabers (disastrous), whistled the delectable light saber sounds when bored and collected all things Star Wars through my teen years. The theater was filled to the brim, the excitement was palpable and the audience was dead silent, eager to dive into the lore of this Sci-Fi franchise again. The Force was strong with this audience, mixed with long time fans and new comers to this universe.
The movie kicked off with the instantly recognizable text scroll that set-up the story.
It was extremely familiar yet felt like it had received a fresh new coat of paint. An unknown user of the Dark side of the Force, Kylo Ren (leader of the Knights of Ren) attacks a village on Jakku to hunt down information about the last remaining Jedi, Luke Skywalker. Ren is has gone to great lengths to find Luke and exterminate any remnants of the Light side of the Force. BB-8, a droid that holds key information to Luke’s location, witnesses this event and escapes, be-friending a scavenger(ess?) Rey on its way. Parallel events result in a Stormtrooper (Finn) of the First
Order (GalacticEmpire v2.0) escaping the Starkiller base (DeathStar V2.0) and crash landing on Jakku. Although the world has long forgotten the ancient galactic battles between the harmonious Jedi and the vengeful Sith, the war between the Dark side and the Light side of the Force is still in play. The rest of the film deals with how these two key characters get wrapped up in the turmoil between the two extremes of the Force. Old characters return with aplomb, plenty of battles occur and emotions run high through the film till the bombastic finish.
The acting was surprisingly something I didn’t expect from a film of this series’ history. The main hero’s this time around are Finn and Rey, with each actor convincingly portraying the characters that they are playing.
John Boyega is completely interesting and funny as Finn, with enough display of courage for the audience to like him. Rey fares better and Daisy Ridley does a commendable job, presenting us a character who is not only extremely likeable but also someone we can empathize with. Harrison Ford is at home in his role as Han Solo, albeit a lot older and wiser. Chewbacca on the other hand nails his grunts perfectly (Sorry Chewie, can’t rate you – I don’t speak Wookie). Carrie Fisher also reprises her role of Leia Organa and provides a strong yet subtle performance as the general of the Resistance. BB-8 is adorable and a sufficient replacement to R2-D2’s antics in the previous sequels.
Kylo Ren, portrayed by Adam Driver, is something new to the Star Wars universe. Driver displays emotions and instability in Ren and while we are yet to visibly experience his struggle between the Light and the Dark, it is hinted deliciously in a few moments through the film. However, it does split the audience into two, with those who either love him for his diversity or hate him for being too whiny. I feel that both parties are correct, and it is discussed in length at the end of this review. The Stormtroopers seem to have received a major upgrade, with more menacing helmets and shockingly decent aim for once. Mark Hamill sadly makes no mark on the film and has zero dialogue, being mostly an ethereal phantom / forgotten legend until the very end.
Direction by J.J Abrams is laudable and his vision is apparent in each scene of the film. Abrams pays plenty of homage to the films of old
and yet brings this rendition to the modern era.
The visual splendor, the sound and the soaring music are all in competent hands as Abrams manages to find a balance between feeding us nostalgia and giving us something new. The visuals are gorgeous, satisfyingly realistic and completely worth the 3D. The sound is also spectacular, and it reaches the high point whenever there is a battle or an activated light saber on screen. The sputter of striking light sabers, the explosions and the whizzing blaster rounds are all too realistic and lend some much required credibility to the film. Even the light sabers seem to have gained weight, each strike connects heavily unlike the previous films where they felt like streams of light that pass through things. However, while the story is entertaining and thrilling,
it cannot escape the feeling of repetition – familiar plot elements make the film appearing like a rehash of selective moments from the previous six entries. There are way too many similarities and the plot development is predictable, causing the audience to easily guess the flow and outcome of the film. The only other major gripe I had with The Force Awakens, is the characterization of the hero and the villain, dedicated to a super RANCOR sized and completely spoilerific paragraph below.
**POTENTIAL SPOILER ALERT LIES BELOW!!**
(STOP HERE YOUNG PADAWAN!! Scroll down if you wish to avoid potential spoilers about this film. Although I’m sure you’ve already watched it by now)
The actors did splendid jobs with their characters and I absolutely enjoyed the finale. But in retrospect, the final fight sequence didn’t sit well with me.
The representation of these characters at that point in the film slightly hampers it from achieving greatness. Kylo Ren is an extremely conflicted and unstable character, a former Jedi who now walks on the Dark side of the Force after nearly eliminating all other Jedi. But the film reveals his past too soon, leaving the audience to predict the ending and lose their appreciation of Ren’s prowess. When Ren unmasks, the mystery is lost and the removal of his helmet to show what lies within depletes his ability to intimidate us. Even his colleagues demean him and his abilities with no consequence. Had this reveal and unmasking been done at the end of this film or the culmination of the trilogy, it’s emotional impact would have been significantly more.
This is also the same reason why Darth Vader and Darth Maul are revered as villains and Darth Sidius is not. Stretching to canon I would even compare with Darth Traya, the most bad-ass and most powerful female Sith ever. A villain needs mystery to be interesting, a villain loses gravitas when his weakness is shown too soon. But then again, I loved that Kylo Ren was not afraid to show his baby face (It’s impactful knowing that innocence can be corrupted), admitted to being tempted towards the Light side of the Force and put up a good fight even after all the trauma he suffered. Kylo is kind of like Anakin in reverse, hopefully with less weeping in the future and a more dynamic emotional range that doesn’t come off as emo.
As for Rey’s skills and proficiency with the Force, within the scope of this film and its universe, it is somewhat harder to digest when compared to the heroine’s that have come before her (An’ya Kuro, Mara Jade, Shaak Ti, Jaina Solo, Asajj Ventress, Asohka Tano etc.)
I refrain from calling her a Mary Sue, as I am an ardent humanist myself.
Even if her midi-chlorian count was more than Anakin’s and even if she was naturally gifted with the Force, it makes the viewer’s suspension of disbelief that much tougher when she sustains absolutely NO DAMAGE WHATSOEVER. I can suspend disbelief in hope that Rey has a past filled with some form of training. I can suspend disbelief that her intuition with the Force is immense and results in her survival at the end, considering that her nemesis is already in worse condition, both emotionally and physically. BUT, I CANNOT SUSPEND DISBELIEF when she goes scot-free, without any training or time to get accustomed to her latent natural gifts. Especially when her enemy is someone that is built up to be this supremely skilled but conflicted warrior. I know that both these mis-steps can be easily explained and fixed in the sequels. But it still remains a poor choice for this film – Her final fight and easy triumph diminishes her victory and affects the film in two ways – it makes the previously bad-ass villain look like a whiny weepy baby and it makes the untrained heroine look like a super saiyan ninja.
It makes her journey less perilous and less interesting. Even if the writers are referring to some hidden intuition that she had forgotten with repressed memories, it is still debatable. Intuition is also a type of experience and unless explained, it makes her sudden proficiency dubious at best for the viewer.
This ultimately results in no challenge to overcome and gives us little reason to invest in her character’s growth if she can be bad-ass from her first battle. The end did leave some New Hope for viewers though, as both Kylo Ren and Rey depart to train with their respective masters and I anticipate some epic tension filled balanced battles in Episode VIII. I was awed by the villain till he was unmasked and I was awed by the heroine till she became a super-heroine. I know what the director and screenwriters were going for, but they could have done it in a better and subtler way. In the Words of the Great Green Yoda: “Simple to fix these things are, but undermine this sequel they do”
**POTENTIAL SPOILER ALERT LIES ABOVE!!**
Nevertheless, this iteration of the Star Wars franchise remains a well-balanced and nuanced entry, combining some really confident acting and direction. While the performance, the music and the visuals steal the show, poor choices near the end leave the viewer with mixed feelings and impacts their investment/perception of the characters. And yet, Star Wars: The Force Awakens is a big budget spectacle that welcomed the new year in grand fashion – with deadly light saber battles, re-introduction of the Force and beloved characters of old. Even though it stumbles a little, it’s a fine blend of Old versus New and a testament to the survival of this series.
Fun Fact: The Force Awakens takes some liberties with the Star Wars lore and majorly with Kylo Ren’s relationships and past. Also, the Millennium Falcon chess game that Finn accidentally triggers picks up right where the chess game between R2-D2 and Chewie left off in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977). And, remember that Kick-Ass Stormtrooper that whupped Finn’s behind with a Shock Baton?? His name is TR-8R. And here’s why that fight (which felt a little personal) may be extremely significant: http://moviepilot.com/posts/3714797
Warning: The below reviews may or may not spoil the movie for you. Proceed with caution Cinephiles.
- IMDB – StarWars: The Force Awakens
- Rotten Tomatoes – StarWars: The Force Awakens
- IGN – StarWars: The Force Awakens
♦ VIDEO REVIEW ♦
“The nostalgia that this film induces is alone worth the price of the ticket. If that wasn’t enough, the beautiful visuals, the purity of good vs evil and a nice blend of shades of grey should be welcome to audiences both young and old. This is STAR WARS just how you remember it, except in much better packaging”
Movie reviews 
January 18, 2016 at 5:11 am
Its been a long time! 🙂
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January 20, 2016 at 11:32 am
Yeah.. Been super busy with life and my new job and Lara Croft.. 😛 ..I’m back tho!
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January 20, 2016 at 12:47 pm
Lol glad your back
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