Ever since the big news a few years ago that Disney had bought the rights to Star Wars and was going to be releasing the first in a planned trilogy, fans have had a pretty mixed and somewhat hesitant reaction. Sure the movie had renowned director JJ Abrams helming it and the trailers looked very promising. But at the same time, back in 1999, a lot of Star Wars fans were really hyped for the release of The Phantom Menace, 16 years after the original trilogy ended, and we all know what a disappointment that was. So, after all these years of waiting, will The Force Awakens live up to the hype surrounding it or will it prove to be yet another steaming pile of... Jar Jar? Well, let's take a look.
So The Force Awakens takes place 30 years after the original trilogy. In that time, many things have changed. Luke has gone into hiding, from the ashes of the Galactic Empire, there has risen the First Order, led primarily by Captain Phasma and Kylo Ren, and Leia has ditched the title of Princess and is now a General of the Republic-backed Resistance. But news reaches both the First Order and the Resistance of a map that could lead to Luke's location. As the story unfolds, there's plenty of action, secrets are revealed, and the First Order tries to destroy the Resistance with its latest super weapon.
Now I was fortunate enough to buy tickets for me and my brother, Stephen, to go see the very first showing, in 3-D no less, the exact night they went on sale, before selling out fast, as an early birthday present for him and after waiting months to see it, what were my thoughts? Well, in the words of one of my favorite characters from My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, "It. Was. AWESOME!!!!!!!!"
Guys, the hype is real and Star Wars has come back with a vengeance. There's soo many great things about this movie it's hard to keep track of them all. First off is the new worlds that are shown. They are just beautiful to look at from the desert planet of Jakku to the Resistance Base on D'Qar to even the Starkiller Base (or as I like to call it, the "Death Star 9000") which is actually built inside an Arctic planet.
Next is the characters. Now, obviously, fan favorites like Han Solo, Chewbacca, Leia, and even C-3PO will get a big cheer once they show up onscreen (at least they did in the showing me and my brother saw), but we also have plenty of new characters. Daisy Ridley is great as "rough around the edges" Jakku scavenger, Rey, and John Boyega is likable as Finn, a redeemed First Order Stormtrooper, but, out of all the new characters, few stand out as much as Kylo Ren.
Let me just tell you guys right now, this dude is super intimidating and ruthless, but, at the same time, he's not entirely bland. Hell, he's given a very tragic backstory as well as plenty of dimension for his character (which I won't give away as it has major spoilers). However, just like Darth Vader before him, Ren serves a much more sinister figure in Supreme Leader Snoke, played by the "Master Of Motion Capture" himself, Andy Serkis. He doesn't appear much in this movie, but I don't mind it that much as Emperor Palpatine didn't show up until The Empire Strikes Back, very briefly, if I remember it correctly, so I can only assume that Snoke will have a much larger role in the subsequent sequels.
Another quick thing to mention is keep an eye out for a famous British actor who has a cameo in the movie. All you fans of the new Star Trek movies, the 3 most recent Mission Impossible movies, and/or the Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy will know exactly who I'm talking about and should be able to pick him out relatively easily.
And, while we're on the subject of the characters, the chemistry between them, both new and old, was a lot of fun as there was plenty of playful banter to go around, making this a fun and funny experience in the process. But, at the same time, there were still plenty of dark and dramatic moments scattered throughout as this movie holds no punches. There are quite a few shocking instances that will leave you gasping.
An interesting nod to the earlier movies is during a scene that many faithful Star Wars fans will recognize as feeling very similar to the Mos Eisley Cantina scene from A New Hope. Seeing that whole environment just brought back a fresh wave of nostalgia from having first seen the original trilogy as a kid countless years ago.
Even though this is kind of a minor thing in the grand scheme of the movie, I really loved Abrams' insistence on using practical effects for the different aliens and even the landscapes of these different worlds. In our CGI obsessed culture, it was nice to see some good old fashioned puppet work as well as real locations. I already knew all about how Abrams shot the scenes for Jakku in Abu Dhabi and the fact that some filming even took place in England.
At one point close to the end, there was a scene on a distant planet that I saw and I turned to my brother and said that it almost looked like it might have been filmed in either Scotland or Ireland. What's really funny though is, after doing a little bit of research, I found out that that scene in particular was filmed at Skellig Michael island, which is just off the coast of Ireland. Score One for me.
Next, let's talk about the action. The action in this movie is lots of fun to watch. Because me and my brother saw it in 3-D, I thought that the aerial dogfight scenes were amazing to behold. You feel like you're flying through the air with these characters and it's such a rush. I remember a lot of my friends talking about how amazing the 3-D was in the How To Train Your Dragon movies during the flight scenes. Sadly, though, I only ever saw the first movie once in regular theater format and the second one I didn't see until it was already on DVD. This movie, I feel, makes up for that.
The lightsaber duels, few though they are (understandably as Jedi are few and far between), were also very engaging, intense, and sometimes even brutal. There were plenty of moments where certain characters would be injured by their opponents' lightsabers and the audience would let out a gasp.
And, finally, the score was beautiful. When I first heard that JJ Abrams was helming this movie, I was slightly concerned that he'd bring Michael Giacchino on to score the movie as they're frequent collaborators (and no this is nothing against him as I do like his work on The Incredibles, Up, Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes, just to name a few). But, when you hear that infamous John Williams score during the opening scroll, it's just soo invigorating and it gets you pumped up for what's about to follow. They even update it some to have a satisfying blend of old and new themes.
If I did have anything to take issue with, it would probably be that I was slightly disappointed that there was no Dramatic Choir incorporated during any of the fight scenes as I really enjoyed those moments from the prequel trilogy. But, in all honesty, that's really scraping the bottom of the barrel when it comes to nitpicks.
Overall, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens is a welcome return to the franchise, breathing new life into the series with great characters, thrilling action, amazing effects, and a cliffhanger ending that will leave many eagerly waiting for the next chapter in the Star Wars Saga (and in case you were wondering, no, there is no post-credits scene). So, for those reasons, this movie gets a perfect 5/5 stars. Go see this movie as soon as you possibly can. It's well worth the money.
And that was my review of Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens and I'd like to know what your guys' thoughts are for those of you who've seen it. Feel free to comment below and I'll see you guys on the next post. Until then, though, if I don't get a post out before 2016, I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Later.
No comments:
Post a Comment