One Month After: Star Wars: The Force Awakens Review
January 2016
One month after its release, after
seeing the film twice in theaters, I still look forward to the next time I will
see Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Old
fans will enjoy the new, yet nostalgic, seventh episode of the franchise, and
those who were not a fan of Star Wars are coming out of the theater as new
fans. The movie is good, and as many others have stated, Star Wars is back. If
you haven’t seen the movie, stop reading
this review and go see it, there are minor spoilers below.
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| Figure 1: The Force Awakens Poster; imdb.com |
A quick
disclaimer: I am probably one of the biggest Star Wars fanboys you will ever
meet. Therefore, I took the time to make sure the fog of fanboyism had
dissipated to write a fair review, and, now that the fog has cleared, I can
safely say this movie is everything I had been waiting for in a Star Wars film.
Not counting the dreaded prequels, the Star Wars franchise continues to inspire those looking to escape to a galaxy far, far away. J.J. Abrams directs the seventh episode that continues to break sale records across the globe.
Taking place thirty years after the events of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, Abrams leads a cast of new heroes mixed in with the heroes of old. Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, and Mark Hamill star alongside the new villains and heroes played by Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, and Oscar Isaac. All of the cast members give the performance their all; none of the veteran cast just show up for their takes, but instead, give meaningful and emotional performances. While it would have been easy for someone like Harrison Ford to just ‘go through the motions,’ he instead gives one of the best performances I have seen from him. The new cast has a lot of talent, also. Adam Driver plays an emotional and rage-filled villain while Daisy Ridley and John Boyega play heroes with amazing on-screen chemistry. On-camera chemistry is, in my opinion, the best selling point of the film. In the limited time John Boyega and Oscar Isaac had together, they created a better brotherhood bond than Hayden Christensen and Ewan McGregor had done in three entire films.
The biggest complaint I, and others, have about the film is how closely it resembles the original trilogy. While I agree that the movie does pull most of the major plot points from episode four, five and six, Abrams and the writers are able to twist each familiar element to make it feel more than just a remake.
Aesthetically, the movie forgoes a lot of CGI in favor of practical effects and sounds. Stunning X-Wing dogfights, lightsaber duels, and real costumed characters fill the movie with a nostalgic true Star Wars feel. For example, BB-8, the new spherical droid character, is not CGI, but instead, the droid is a real, moving character using some sort of magnetic force-wizardry.
All and all, the film lived up to the Star Wars hype and exceeded many critics’ expectations, including my own. Comparing it to all of the previous films, I rate it a five out of seven: better than Return of the Jedi, but not quite as iconic as A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back. Critics and fans currently rate the movie at 93% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Not counting the dreaded prequels, the Star Wars franchise continues to inspire those looking to escape to a galaxy far, far away. J.J. Abrams directs the seventh episode that continues to break sale records across the globe.
Taking place thirty years after the events of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, Abrams leads a cast of new heroes mixed in with the heroes of old. Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, and Mark Hamill star alongside the new villains and heroes played by Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, and Oscar Isaac. All of the cast members give the performance their all; none of the veteran cast just show up for their takes, but instead, give meaningful and emotional performances. While it would have been easy for someone like Harrison Ford to just ‘go through the motions,’ he instead gives one of the best performances I have seen from him. The new cast has a lot of talent, also. Adam Driver plays an emotional and rage-filled villain while Daisy Ridley and John Boyega play heroes with amazing on-screen chemistry. On-camera chemistry is, in my opinion, the best selling point of the film. In the limited time John Boyega and Oscar Isaac had together, they created a better brotherhood bond than Hayden Christensen and Ewan McGregor had done in three entire films.
The biggest complaint I, and others, have about the film is how closely it resembles the original trilogy. While I agree that the movie does pull most of the major plot points from episode four, five and six, Abrams and the writers are able to twist each familiar element to make it feel more than just a remake.
Aesthetically, the movie forgoes a lot of CGI in favor of practical effects and sounds. Stunning X-Wing dogfights, lightsaber duels, and real costumed characters fill the movie with a nostalgic true Star Wars feel. For example, BB-8, the new spherical droid character, is not CGI, but instead, the droid is a real, moving character using some sort of magnetic force-wizardry.
All and all, the film lived up to the Star Wars hype and exceeded many critics’ expectations, including my own. Comparing it to all of the previous films, I rate it a five out of seven: better than Return of the Jedi, but not quite as iconic as A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back. Critics and fans currently rate the movie at 93% on Rotten Tomatoes.
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