Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens!! (Star Wars theme)
Yep! The biggest film of last year is my next review! And here goes nothing.
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The film takes place 30 years after the Battle of Endor. While the Republic has been reformed, so has the Empire in the form of the First Order. In addition, after his nephew Ben (who now goes by Kylo Ren) was corrupted to the Dark Side by Snoke, the leader of the First Order, and killed all his other Jedi apprentices, Luke Skywalker has gone off the grid. His sister Leia, now a General, forms a faction of the Republic called the Resistance to find him.
Basically, the Resistance's best pilot, Poe Dameron comes to the planet Jakku to a village for a piece of a map that leads to Luke. However, the First Order arrives massacres the village and captures Dameron, but not before he gives his piece of the map to his droid, BB-8, and sends him off promising to return.
One stormtrooper, FN-2187, is shaken by the massacre, and defects from the First Order, helping Dameron escape (during which time the former takes the name Finn), but they crash back onto Jakku, and Dameron is assumed lost. Finn continues on his own through the planet's desert, and meets up with B-88 and Rey, a young scavenger abandoned on the planet as a child.
When the First Order tracks the droid, it and the two escape onboard the Millenium Falcon, stolen from Han Solo years ago. After escaping, the trio come face to face with Solo and Chewbacca themselves.
The Republic's heroes old and new must then team up to defeat the First Order and destroy their Starkiller Base, a superweapon/planet based of the destructive power of the Death Stars.
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As you all know, the prequel trilogy was panned by critics and some fans alike, while the original trilogy has been embraced by them all. Being a fan of both trilogies, I would reason that this is because, the originals put more emphasis on story, narrative coherence and character development, while the prequels tended to depend more on CGI, special FX, and action sequences, not to mention the various changes George Lucas made to the originals years later. Of course, the two trilogies came at different times, different ages of film and such, so this difference in quality could very well be understood.
The Force Awakens combines the elements of both trilogies: the story, narrative, and character development of episode's IV-VI and the action, CGI, and special FX of episodes I-III (though less so on the latter two due to J.J. Abrams' decision to put true quality over flashiness). It also combines the freshness of new characters and storylines, to the nostalgia of old characters and storylines as shown by the return of many of the original trilogy cast members.
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- John Boyega plays Finn, a stormtrooper who defects from the First Order after being shaken by the Jakku village massacre and the death of one of his comrades. Initially wanting to run, Finn finds it in him to fight and joins the Resistance. Boyega's performance as Finn is astounding. His portrayal of a main protagonist in constant conflict of what to do, what to fight for, etc. really shows his character development. And he and Daisy Ridley have incredible chemistry together. I'm willing to bet their characters will hook up in the next two films and if so, note that I called it first here.
- Daisy Ridley plays Rey, a young scavenger on the planet Jakku (left there by her parents at only five years of age), who is swept up into the said adventure after meeting B-88. She is eventually revealed to be very Force-sensitive after she gets a vision after touching the Skywalker family lightsaber. Ridley does a great job of playing a character who basically emanates Luke from A New Hope: a character who wants to know who she really is, where she comes from, what her place in the galaxy is. As said above, Ridley and Boyega have excellent chemisty and I'll bet their characters hook up at some point in episodes VIII or IX. I also have the theory that Rey is related to the Skywalker family. I think she could be Luke's daughter or maybe even Han and Leia's. If so, in either case, I'm gonna guess she was left on Jakku for her safety after her possible brother/cousin Ben was corrupted and massacred Luke's potentially New Jedi Order members. We'll just have to see if this is true or not in the coming films.
- Oscar Isaac plays Poe Dameron, the Resistance's best pilot, who is assigned to find Luke's map, and whom Finn helps escape in defecting from the First Order. He doesn't have much character development, but Isaac and Boyega have some witty and brotherly-like chemistry together in the escape scene. He might get more development in the next two films, so it remains to be seen.
- Adam Driver plays Kylo Ren, formerly Ben Solo, Han and Leia's son who was corrupted by Supreme Leader Snoke, and decimated his uncle's goal to restore the Jedi Order. While Ren is eager to become as dark and powerful as his grandfather Vader was, he shows hints of light, and is constantly conflicted. Driver's baby face plus his performance as a very conflicted villain make him the perfect villain for the new trilogy. Not to mention Driver's performance in the scene where (SPOILER ALERT!) Ren kills his father. Almost reminds me of Mace Windu's death in episode III.
- Lupita Nyong'o plays alien Maz Kanata, a wise Force-sensitive alien, who takes a Yoda-like role and provides advice for Finn and Rey. Frankly, I assumed Nyong'o would get the role of a villain, maybe a Knight of Ren, but she does great as an advisor. I wonder if she'll take up a lightsaber in a future film.
- Harrison Ford and Peter Mayhew return as smuggler duo Han Solo and Chewbacca. And I must say, these two have barely changed a bit! Ford's got the same snarkiness with a heart of gold, and Mayhew's still got those Wookiee howls we all know and love. Seeing them in their old shoes again is nothing less than epic, which makes Han's death scene all the more bitter.
- Carrie Fisher is back as Leia Organa, now a General in the Republic. Fisher captures her old role with ease just like Ford and Mayhew, along with her chemistry with the former. However, Fisher brings a little hardness to Leia, which makes sense given the corruption of her son and the subsequent collapse of her and Han's relationship. Nonetheless, she does splendid just like back in the old days of Star Wars.
- Anthony Daniels and Kenny Baker return as droids C-3PO and R2-D2, though their roles are minor, considering R2 is decommissioned most of the film. And the gold-plated 3PO has a red arm. How'd that happen? We might just see in the future films.
- And finally, Mark Hamill returns as Luke Skywalker, the last Jedi. Not much to say about his performance since he appears only in the last scene, excepted he does it well, and he makes a great set up to Episode VIII.
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The Force Awakens is a sensational start for the next generation of Star Wars fans and a new hope for the older generations of fans.
In all, I give it a 100/10 and well... SEE, SEE, SEE, SEE, SEE, SEE, SEE IT!
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