“The Force Awakens” Review
In “The Force Awakens,” (From Left) the villainous Kylo Ren, played by Adam Driver, stands off against former Stormtrooper Finn, played by John Boyega, and Jakku scavenger Rey, played by Daisy Ridley.
In 2015, after a monumental deal in 2012 that saw Lucasfilm change hands, the first “Star Wars” film to be distributed by Walt Disney Studios came to theaters. The buildup for “The Force Awakens” was insane. Not only were the trailers watched over and over, not only was it the first “Star Wars” film in a decade, but it was a sequel to the original trilogy with Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Peter Mayhew, Anthony Daniels and Kenny Baker returning to the franchise they left over 30 years later.
Taking place 30 years after the end of “Return of the Jedi,” the galaxy has become overrun by the villainous First Order, born from the ashes of the Empire, and Luke Skywalker, played by Mark Hamill, has vanished. While the New Galactic Republic is powerless to stop The First Order, a Resistance led by General Leia Organa, played by Carrie Fisher, has been created to fight them and find Skywalker in order to bring peace back to the Galaxy.
When word gets out that a map to Skywalker is in the hands of an old ally, played by Max von Sydow, on the desert planet of Jakku, Resistance pilot Poe Dameron, played by Oscar Issac, and his droid BB-8 are sent to get the map. However, Poe gets captured by Kylo Ren, played by Adam Driver, a mysterious warrior of the Force who is the apprentice of First Order Supreme Leader Snoke, played by Andy Serkis, leaving BB-8 on his own. Meanwhile, a First Order Stormtrooper FN-2187, played by John Boyega, becomes disillusioned with the First Order and breaks Poe out of prison, crashlands on Jakku and gets separated from Poe.
While wandering, BB-8 encounters Rey, played by Daisy Ridley, a scavenger on Jakku who spends day after day collecting parts from wrecked Imperial starships to survive. When FN-2187, now calling himself “Finn,” meets Rey and BB-8, the three of them escape from Jakku in an abandoned Millenium Falcon to get BB-8 to the Resistance. Along the way, they meet an older Han Solo and Chewbacca, played by Harrison Ford and Peter Mayhew, who help them get to the Resistance.
During this journey, Rey discovers that she may be Force-sensitive which is revealed when she is confronted by Kylo Ren, who is battling demons of his own.
When a planet turned into a weapon called Starkiller Base, which is capable of destroying entire systems of planets, is revealed as the First Order’s new weapon, our heroes go on a mission to destroy the planet before it can install terror throughout the galaxy as well as confront Kylo Ren.
In “The Force Awakens,” The First Order has created a weapon within a planet which is capable of destroying entire systems of planets.
I remember when I first went to see the film on opening night. I was dressed in a crappy Jedi costume I threw together at the last minute and I was surrounded by fans old and young who were excited to see this film. When the lights in the IMAX theater went off and I saw the words “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…”, I stopped breathing. When I left the theater, I thought that I saw the greatest “Star Wars” film since “The Empire Strikes Back,” which was true given the films in between.
Nearly five years later, looking back on the now completed sequel trilogy, “The Force Awakens” remains a fantastic film and a well made first installment in a gigantic trilogy of films. Among its many positive attributes is the fact that the film’s story doesn’t rely on the characters from the original trilogy. Don’t be mistaken, several of the iconic characters we love play a large role in this film, Han Solo and General Leia in particular, but this film crafted new characters which are just as iconic as Luke Skywalker or Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Rey, Finn and Poe are incredibly entertaining characters who add a new level of emotion and diversity to the “Star Wars” universe. Rey and Finn both have demons in their past with the former being abandoned by her parents and being afraid to be attached to everyone else and the latter struggling with guilt over his crimes as a Stormtrooper. Poe, while a lot of fun, unfortunately doesn’t have a lot of screen time compared to his co-stars which renders him more underdeveloped.
Kylo Ren is also an incredible villain and one of the finest characters in the franchise. Unlike Darth Vader, who was a straightforward bad guy in the original “Star Wars” film, Kylo Ren has a complex persona right from the-get-go. His character is made even more complicated when he’s revealed to be Ben Solo, the son of Leia and Han, who was once an apprentice to Luke Skywalker and turned against him. Adam Driver has revealed himself to be one hell of an actor in recent years with his performance as Ren, along with those in “BlacKkKlansman,” “Marriage Story” and “Silence,” adding to his impressive resume.
Adam Driver’s performance as Kylo Ren is fantastic and his character is one of the greatest characters in the “Star Wars” franchise.
Several other characters have become iconic including the adorable droid BB-8 who provides a great deal of comedy which is another one of the film’s strengths. Unlike other “Star Wars” films, like “The Phantom Menace,” which tried to install comedy into only one of its characters, “The Force Awakens” has humor that results from the characters interacting off of each other, much like the original trilogy.
While the film is fun to watch, there are still some heavy moments that bring some weight to the sequel trilogy from the beginning. The film opens with a massacre which feels like a depiction of Mai Lai from the lens of science fiction and shows just how ruthless the First Order is. Another scene that is emotionally rich is when Han confronts his son and begs Ben to come home. After hesitation, Kylo kills his father which is a hard scene to watch considering that Han Solo is my favorite “Star Wars” character of all time. However, it also takes the story in a complex direction which, as a future filmmaker, I appreciate.
The special effects also deserve praise for cleverly blending animatronics, puppets and computer generated imagery. Much like “The Lord of The Rings,” “Terminator 2: Judgement Day” and “Jurassic Park,” the special effects that we remember generally use multiple tools to create new things on-screen. BB-8 was a real robot used on set, many of the aliens are really interacting with the actors and, because of the constant practical effects, the computer generated creatures and spaceships look more realistic because the effects successfully fooled the eye.
If I was to point out any flaws in this film, it would be that the story is very similar to the original “Star Wars” film with a droid on the run with a vital piece of information, the droid running into a scavenger, a planet sized weapon capable of mass destruction and a brave band of heroes fighting against a tyrannical force to destroy said weapon. While these similarities are noticeable, there’s so many new characters and ideas added that you don’t care. Plus, with a franchise existing as long as “Star Wars” has, some repeating is to be expected.
I generally don’t mind repeating in franchises as long as there’s something new that challenges the viewer. The repeating in “The Force Awakens” works because the film is able to craft its own narrative and has new characters which take the franchise in a different direction. The “Transformers” franchise doing the exact same thing in each film doesn’t work because the human characters range from boring to idiotic, the Transformers are given bland dialogue and the action is over-inflated, difficult to follow and is so boring because the action sequences go on forever.
My personal big issue with the film is with the climax, in particular the Battle of Starkiller Base. While the fight on the ground between Rey, Finn and Kylo Ren is emotionally investing, the ariel fight where Poe leads starships to destroy the base isn’t as interesting because the action isn’t shot that spectacularly and the only person in the battle we care about is Poe who we haven’t known for that long. However, in the grand scheme of things, the errors of the film do not outweigh the positive attributes by a long shot.
Upon revisitation, “The Force Awakens” is probably my least favorite of the sequel trilogy but it is still an entertaining film with a great sense of fun, imagination and drama. Since the film’s release, Disney and Lucasfilm have made several new stories set in the galaxy far, far away. Some have been great and others have been fine, but we won’t forget which film started this new era in “Star Wars.”
