Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) - Spoiler Filled Review

Director: J.J. Abrams

Cast: Daisey Ridley, John Boyega, Adam Driver, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fischer, Andy Serkis

Country: United States

Rating: PG-13

Run Time: 135 min

Most people believed that George Lucas' Star Wars saga had officially ended when Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith was released to theaters in 2005. Lucas' complete saga consisted of six films that told a cohesive, although flawed, space opera that focused on the history behind the Skywalker family. However, Lucas made a momentous move when he sold his Star Wars property to Disney in 2012, thereby giving them the chance to make more movies and continue the story of Luke Skywalker and friends. After several years of speedy development and much anticipation, the next film in the saga, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, has finally arrived in theaters.

I have witnessed an unparalleled amount of buzz and coverage for this film on social media. Few films, besides Lucas' own The Phantom Menace and Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight, have garnered as much anticipation as J.J. Abrams' latest. Therefore, I believe that many fans are simply drinking the Star Wars Kool Aid and setting aside their film criticism glasses for this one. The Force Awakens may be a solid and well crafted blockbuster sequel, but its sentiments ring too similar and its action scenes are mostly devoid of tension. The film is an exercise in going with the motions, as Abrams and co-writer Lawrence Kasdan hinge their Star Wars plot on the framework of A New Hope's tried and true classic story. The two emulate the original trilogy, which was two thirds penned by Kasdan, as much as possible. Much like this year's Creed, The Force Awakens heavily emulates its classic predecessor in order to pass its franchise onto a new generation. While this may be a certified way to earn fans' adoration, there is no denying that a fresher experience would have proven more gratifying and satisfactory. Still, I'd be a sour puss if I were to deny the pleasures of a Star Wars film, even if it is one that feels too familiar and predictable.

Our new heroes; male, female, and droid.

Also, I should preface this review with a warning that it will be filled with spoilers. I see no point in reviewing the film with generalizations, as every critic is already hailing how much they love the film in as general a fashion as possible already. Therefore, I am going to dive head first into spoilers from beyond this point. 

Since the events of Return of the Jedi, a new force of evil, the First Order, has arisen to oppose the Republic. Led by Emperor Snoke (Andy Serkis) and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), the First Order seeks a map that leads to Luke Skywalker's location amidst the galaxy. They wish to eradicate him, along with the Resistance, in order to cleanse the galaxy of all Jedis and First Order offenders. When a pilot, Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), gets caught with said map, he places it inside of a droid and sends it off into the distance. The droid, BB-8, eventually bumps into Rey (Daisey Ridley), a lower class woman who lives on her own on Jakku. An escaped stormtrooper, Finn (John Boyega), also finds himself on Jakku, and quickly befriends Rey upon locating BB-8. Pretending to be a member of the Resistance, Finn helps Rey escape Jakku. The two go in search of Luke Skywalker, all the while battling Kylo Ren every step of the way.

The most common point/criticism made in every review for The Force Awakens is that it heavily emulates A New Hope. Both film's plots are extremely similar to the point where The Force Awakens' story beats are entirely predictable and devoid of surprise. The framework of A New Hope, that being of a down on their luck lower class citizen joining up with a rebellion in order to stop an evil political party from using their giant planet destroying space station, is exactly what The Force Awakens models itself after. It's clear that Disney, as well as Abrams and Kasdan, went the safe route and made a Star Wars film that they knew fans would recognize and love instead of one that would try something new and alienate them a-la the dreaded prequels. Therefore, The Force Awakens holds few surprises, besides characters' relations to one another and Luke's whereabouts after all of these years. 

What a nerd. Kylo Ren is such a Vader fan that he went and dug up his mask.

The Force Awakens introduces a butt load of new characters and brings back several old friends for another go around in a galaxy far far away. In fact, several of the film's new characters are directly modeled after characters from the A New Hope. Rey is Luke, Poe is Han, Kylo is Vader, BB-8 is R2, and General Hux is Grand Moff Tarkin. You could also compare Snoke to the Emperor, Captain Phasma to Boba Fett, and Maz Kanata to Yoda, although their characters weren't introduced until The Empire Strikes Back. Not only does Abrams and Kasdan introduce us to a new array of characters based off of tried and true classic characters, but they also have them interact with said classic characters. The only new character who seems to not be based off of a recognizable character is Finn, a disillusioned stormtrooper who makes for the film's funnest and most original character. After all, we have never seen a stormtrooper develop character and become the focus of a Star Wars film before. That is unless you count the whole clone trooper element from Attack of the Clones in which the clones are modeled after Jango Fett, but that doesn't count.

Performances are uniformly excellent all around. Everybody, besides the clearly unseasoned Carrie Fischer, gives the film their A-game and helps make their characters as lively and memorable as possible. Newcomers Daisey Ridley and John Boyega breathe immense life into their starring characters, especially the incredible Boyega. Boyega's Finn feels as if a Star Wars fan were dropped into a Star Wars movie at times thanks to his sense of humor and nerd-like energy. Adam Driver also does great work as Kylo Ren, the saga's newest Darth Vader-esque character who proves to be more emotional and dangerous than Vader. Ren's occasional immaturity and over confidence bears a strong similarity to the characteristics found in Anakin in the prequels. Other character highlights include the surprisingly charismatic and likable BB-8. It's tough to make a robot who can't speak likable and energetic, but Abrams and crew did a fantastic job with making BB-8 both one of the funniest and likable new characters. I can't help but root for the little droid when I see him rolling around spouting beep noises.

Of course, no one can go without mentioning the classic characters and their reappearances after a nearly 40 year time gap. Harrison Ford and Peter Mayhew are back as Han Solo and Chewbacca and have plenty of screen time in this film. The two were clearly envisioned to have as much time together on screen as their classic partnership is destroyed by the film's end. I don't think I can go on without discussing Han's death, as it heavily mirrors Ben's death in A New Hope when he allows himself to be killed by Vader in front of Luke. Here, Rey and Finn watch as Han pleads to his son, only to die like a chump. I personally saw this death coming from a mile away and felt it was out of character for Han to walk out on to a scaffolding the way he did. I also feel that his death wasn't as emotional as it could have been, as the relationship between Han and his estranged son is barely touched upon within an already overcrowded film. I'm bummed to see Han go, but would have preferred a hero's death. Oh well, at least Harrison is free of the character after all of these years.

BB-8 gets the Better Clear On Out The Back seal of approval!

Leia and Luke also appear in the film, although neither character has much screen time and is clearly set up for greater things in future sequels. Carrie Fischer is particularly awful, as her face cannot emote more than C3PO at this point. However, Mark Hamill's one scene appearance instilled hope and joy inside of me, as I cannot wait for the character to return, and speak as well.

Abrams and company take a page out of the original trilogy and design an immense amount of practical creatures for the film. You know that a film's makeup and art design is good when you wish you could pause the film and take in every creature as they pass. And while the immense amount of creatures will please any monster fan like myself, the film sports two motion capture characters who stick out like a sore thumb and plague the film's otherwise mostly practical design and aesthetic. Maz Kanata and Supreme Leader Snoke should have been designed in a practical or realistic matter in order to blend with the rest of the film's characters. Abrams mostly pulls from the classic trilogy with his creatures, but gives in to modern technology and echoes the likes of James Cameron and Peter Jackson with two motion capture characters who simply should have been redesigned from the get go.

The action in The Force Awakens ranges from exciting and fun to formulaic and devoid of tension. Abrams, whose action pedigree is particularly solid considering the likes of Mission: Impossible III and Star Trek, can't seem to conjure up the same level of excitement or grit that he previously instilled in his earlier efforts. Only the first set piece in which Rey and Finn fly the Millenium Falcon away from a group of Tie Fighters conveys the classic notion of Star Wars excitement. As the film moves on though, the action grows weary and becomes routine in nature. In fact, the entire sequence set aboard Han Solo's freighter involving two groups of pissed off pirates and tentacle creatures adds to the plot in no way at all. The film's entire finale is especially disappointing. After all, the raid on the Star Killer Base is so similar to A New Hope's finale in the trenches of the Death Star that one wonders if Abrams and company said to themselves, "Well it has to end like this, it's Star Wars." There may be stakes, but the viewer doesn't feel them nearly as well as they should.

The final lightsaber fight is also disappointing, as Abrams fails to shoot the action in a pleasing matter, opting for medium close ups that cover up the fight choreography. When the camera does pull back, it reveals a fight that simply doesn't contain the emotion or drama of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi's classic lightsaber fights. Rey and Kylo simply swing their sabers around, passing the screen time until one of them gets the upper hand over the other. I could go on forever about the details of this film and this fight, but it's clear that Rey had it far easier than Luke ever did. 

Until next time Kylo.

The final damning criticism that I have to lay on the film concerns its surprisingly routine musical score. John Williams returns for the seventh time to the series and composes what may be his final Star Wars film concerning his elder age. While the score may hit all of the familiar notes that one expects from a Star Wars film, Williams fails to compose any notable new music that sticks out upon first watching the film. Say what you want about the prequels, but all three of the scores for those films contained absolutely excellent pieces of individual music that stood out upon first listen. In fact, each prequel soundtrack is worth listening to on its own separate from the film. The Force Awakens on the other hand, not so much. Maybe I need more time with both the film and the soundtrack, but this is simply an initial reaction that I had to the film's music.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens is a solid and safe film that will most likely set up a greater sequel that will be made by a greater filmmaker. However, Disney has to push forward from here. They can have their safe reboot, but they can't make routine and familiar Star Wars films forever. I fear that Disney will fall into the syndrome of Marvel Studios and churn out similar products that don't differ from one another or push the envelope of cinema. At the end of the day, The Force Awakens is more Avengers: Age of Ultron or Jurassic World than it is Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation or Mad Max: Fury Road. It gives you what you know you like and nothing more. It doesn't reinvent the wheel or push the envelope as Christopher McQuarrie and George Miller did this year with their respective blockbusters. Therefore, here's to the future of Star Wars. Let's just hope that the Force is with Disney as far as future sequels come.

Rating: 7/10 - A routine, safe, and predictable soft reboot/sequel that gives you what you know you like with new likable characters that are destined for greater things in hopefully more envelope pushing sequels.

My Experiences, Opinions, and Thoughts on Star Wars

The internet and society is currently experiencing Star Wars mayhem like no other due to the anticipation surrounding the release of the latest film, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, on December 18th. It will be a landmark film like few others due to the history surrounding the franchise and its placement within the series' time honored mythology. As most reviewers and websites revisit the various films and write up reviews in anticipation of the latest entry, I thought that I would just give my general thoughts on the entire series and explain my history with the franchise instead of reviewing each film individually. Even though Star Wars is not directly an "action" movie franchise, it more or less defines blockbuster cinema and movie fandom in general. Therefore, I feel that I would be remiss if I went without saying something about the franchise at its most hyped about hour.

In order to give perspective on my history with the series, it is important to know that I am currently 23 years old and that I was born in 1992. Therefore, I am apart of the "prequel generation," those who were young during the prequels. At the time of my birth, George Lucas had yet to taint the original films with his awful special editions and the prequels had not even been announced yet. Star Wars fans were existing in pure bliss at the time of my birth. However, everything changed in the mid 90s when Lucas re-released the original trilogy and announced a new prequel trilogy as well. I personally cannot recall when I watched Star Wars for the first time, but I specifically remember my dad taking me to see A New Hope in the theaters upon its re-release in 1997. I am certain that my dad must have had me watch the rest of the series on either VHS, television, or within the theaters. After all, nobody went to see the new prequels without haven already seen the original trilogy multiple times.

I specifically remember going to the Long Beach Town Center to see The Phantom Menace and remember liking it at a young age. When the film came out on VHS, I remember watching it every single day that I could because I liked the film so much. I'm pretty sure I saw both Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith at the Long Beach Town Center as well. Anyways, I, like many young people, loved the Star Wars prequels as a kid and than came to realize their grave flaws and errors as I grew up. As of right now, I do not hate any of the Star Wars prequels, and simply view them as flawed but mildly entertaining science fiction films that stand as interesting pieces of independent blockbuster filmmaking. I may have a bit of a nostalgic attachment to them as I saw them at a young age when I was new to Star Wars, but I understand their problems and don't disagree with anyone who goes after them. Regardless, the prequels at least have amazing scores by John Williams and some memorable moments (i.e. the Pod Race, Duel of the Fates fight, Obi Wan vs Jango Fett, the Genosian arena battle, the death of the Jedis, and Anakin and Obi Wan's ridiculous lava planet fight). 

It feels funny to be apart of the prequel generation because we were the most naive group of Star Wars fans when we saw the prequels. We were little and didn't know any better. The original trilogy generation is clearly the most battle scarred and burned of the Star Wars fans because the prequels pissed on their trilogy. Therefore, it will be interesting to see the birth of an entire new generation of Star Wars fans with the "who knows what it will be called" generation that comes from The Force Awakens. Anyways, Star Wars is truly getting started as Disney plans to release a new Star Wars film every single year. Plus, action fans should be more excited than ever for Star Wars, as The Force Awakens features The Raid's Iko Uwais and Rogue One stars both Donnie Yen and Jiang Wen. 

While I dislike the prequels, they don't rile me up and piss me off as much as they do other Star Wars fans. They are products of their time and represent a flawed filmmaker who tried something new and failed miserably due to his usage of excessive green screens, bland direction, and poor writing. Instead, Lucas' re-edits of the original Star Wars films are what truly piss me off.

I do not understand why Lucas thought it was a good idea to insert contemporary technology into a film series made from another time period. It's also a huge disservice to directors Irvin Kershner and Richard Marquand because neither of them were given a say in the re-edits of their films. It still burns my eyes when I look at all of the unnecessary computer generated creatures in A New Hope or Return of the Jedi. I hate the added digital ships, the inclusion of Hayden Christensen as a Jedi ghost, and the awful song that replaces the classic "Jub Jub" song. I agree that a filmmaker can make an edit of a film to their liking, but I can't accept that Lucasfilm still won't release the theatrical cuts of the original trilogy on Blu Ray. That fans have to still hold on to their laserdiscs and VHS's pisses me off because we are talking about cultural preservation here. The prequels are one thing, but the "special editions" are a whole other issue that stand as one of film preservation's greatest crimes.

Nowadays, people have to choose how they will watch the Star Wars films, as well as how they will expose their children too it. Some people prefer the chronological order, the "machete" order, or even their own personal re-edits. I personally believe that one should experience the Star Wars films in historical chronological order, the order that they were made in. It is essential to expose children to the original trilogy first and than the prequel trilogy in order to help them understand the history behind the franchise. Besides, you don't hear anybody saying that you should watch the Hobbit trilogy before you watch the Lord of the Rings trilogy, that's just ridiculous. History trumps everything, not filmmaker preference or what makes it a better series. 

For those who are curious, here are my general thoughts on every film in the series...

Star Wars (1977) - A classic science fiction adventure film that defines modern day blockbuster filmmaking. It's a great film loaded with unforgettable characters, a classic hero's journey, ground breaking special effects, and one of cinema's greatest musical scores. The film holds up to today and represents escapist cinema's greatest attributes. This little film that could is arguably the most well rounded of the original trilogy, balancing both entertaining spectacle with good filmatism to boot. 

The Empire Strikes Back (1980) - This is definitely the best film in the series and the definitive sequel to end all sequels. It amps up both the stakes and the series' themes. The film is even more mature and character driven than the previous, offering up less sci-fi spectacle despite the unforgettable Battle of Hoth. While it is widely accepted that this is the best, I still prefer Star Wars because it offers more entertainment bang for your buck. Like I said, this is the most well made of the series, but I prefer my Star Wars to be more lighthearted and entertaining a-la Star Wars than Empire, just saying.

Return of the Jedi (1983) - This is a blast of a finale, as it wraps up all of the trilogy's loose ends. In recent years, Jedi has taken on a stigmatism that it is not only the weakest of the trilogy, but that it foretells the horrors of the prequel trilogy. While I remotely agree, as it leans too heavily on both the creatures and the spectacle, Jedi is still an amazing finale, especially when one considers the entire final scene between Luke, Vader, and the Emperor. That's just masterful stuff.

The Phantom Menace (1999) - Originally declared the worst Star Wars film of all time, Phantom Menace has since become known as the second worst of the series. I haven't seen this film in a long time, but remember it being a mildly entertaining, although slightly boring, children's fantasy. I remember parts, but not the whole experience. At least this one is pleasing to the eye because it was shot on film and mostly on sets...unlike the sequels that is.

Attack of the Clones (2002) - This sequel has since earned the chagrin of many Star Wars fans as truly the worst solely because of the romance between Padme and Anakin. I personally prefer it to The Phantom Menace though because it doesn't feature a young kid or a racist alien as main characters. The over abundance of digital effects and green screen backgrounds really hurt this one though. It looks off and uncanny to the eye. Jango Fett and the surprisingly lengthy action packed finale are all I remember from this one. As well as champion dialog like, "I hate sand. It's coarse, and it gets everywhere."

Revenge of the Sith (2005) - Sith has always been my favorite of the prequels. It's dark, tragic, and action packed. It's not perfect, but at least it's a far cry from the children's affair that is The Phantom Menace. Once again, John Williams' music saves the film and conveys the character's emotions better than the characters themselves. Grievous is cool, Anakin is comically bad, and the Emperor is just a silly goofball. Even after all of these years, I still believe that each prequel is better than the previous.

Anyways, those are my thoughts on the series and a few opinions I felt like sharing. I can't wait for The Force Awakens, and eagerly anticipate watching it and sharing my opinion with the world. May the Force be with everyone and have a Merry Christmas...Star Wars style that is!