Star Wars The Force Awakens Review

Star Wars Review – needless to say heavy SPOILERS

The Force Awakens was simply fantastic and one of the few movies that lives up to the hype. I could never have imagined after Revenge of the Sith to be sitting down to watch a new Star Wars film and the moment is indeed surreal. Watching the familiar “a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away” was overwhelming and had me welling up. It hit me during the crawl that this was actually happening, that something that has shaped me so much was coming back again. I was seeing the further adventures of Luke, Leia, and Han Solo (amongst some newcomers). My only complaint was that I wish Lando was there to join them. I want to see the smoothest man in the galaxy return wearing the hell out of a blue and gold cape.

The new characters were great and surprisingly funny. It’s been a long while since a Star Wars film was funny on purpose. Even Kylo Ren had some good humor moments (his impotent rage slashing scenes in particular). My kudos to JJ Abrams for finding Daisy Ridley and John Boyega because they were incredible in their roles. Rey was kickass at everything and her closing fight with Kylo Ren is one of the best lightsaber fights I’ve seen, even though I was a little surprised at how good she was concerning she had little to no jedi training (I bet she’s Luke’s daughter and was beginning her training when Kylo wreck the place). I’ll buy it that Kylo was physically and emotionally drained, but he could have taken out Finn a little quicker. Still, the fight was so primal and raw, especially the end when Kylo is swinging wildly at Rey when he knows he’s lost. As for Finn, he too had great lines and fantastic chemistry with every character. He and Poe’s instant comaraderie was more believable than Anakin and Obi Wan’s supposedly long years of friendship.  Here’s hoping he awakes from that coma and gets a major fight scene with Captain Phasma.

Despite the great roles for the new kids, Han Solo stole the show. He got the biggest applause when he entered the film and fit right back into the swing of things. Harrison Ford, for all his misgivings about the character, really gave the best performance of the film. He wasn’t just playing Han Solo, he was Han Solo. His death scene was my favorite part of the movie. Once he and Chewie split up and he saw Kylo Ren on the bridge you knew something bad was going to happen. Watching Solo confront his son and lose him to the dark side of the force is up there with “I am your father” for most emotional moments in the saga. Even though I knew it was probably going to happen and thought it made totally sense within the narrative, nothing can prepare you for the moment when Han Solo, the coolest cat in the galaxy, gets betrayed and killed by his son. The look of sadness, betrayal, and almost forgiveness when he touches Ben’s face and falls into the pit was the closest I’ve come to crying in a movie since the opening credits…well this film. For the rest of his life, Adam Driver is going to be known to generations of children as the man who killed Han Solo.

Chewbacca was amazing in this film. He had some hilarious moments (shrugging with the general comment and recounting his injuries to the nurse), but his stand out moment is in the aftermath of Han’s death. Like the total badass he is, he immediately hits Kylo Ren right in the side with his bowcaster after letting out the most emotional roar I’ve ever heard. I kept thinking about how Chewie must have felt in that moment. He watched his best friend of over 40 years die by the lightsaber of his son, a man Chewie probably had a part in raising. To watch Chewie shoot Ren was as cathartic a moment as you could hope for after watching everyone’s favorite smuggler die.

Adam Driver has cemented his place as one of my favorite actors around. es sold the unpolished and conflicted nature of Kylo Ren so well and held his own against Harrison Ford in the bridge scene. The reveal with his face could have been silly because it’s the guy from Girls playing a Sith apprentice but if there’s one thing I should have remembered, it’s that Adam Driver plays intense really well. Watching Kylo Ren develop as a Dark Jedi will be a highlight moving forward and I can’t wait to see him duel Rey again or maybe face off against Luke Skywalker.

I was initially disappointed with Luke having no lines, but then he sold the hell out of that last minute reveal to Rey providing for a last overwhelming emotional moment. It’s better to have Luke stay in the background for this film because you would cease to really care about the other characters (as co-writer Michael Arndt said). You would want to see full on Jedi Master Luke Skywalker kick some ass. Here’s hoping he does so in Episode 8.

I was surprised Princess Leia (she’ll always be Princess Leia to me) had such a small role. I thought she’d do a bit more other than simply man the command station, but she was great in her part. Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford will always have the most free-flowing and fun chemistry in the galaxy. I loved how they played up her force sensitivity when she could feel Han Solo’s death.  A great nod to Obi Wan sensing the destruction of Alderaan. My only complaint is that I wanted to see her have a moment with Chewbacca after the death of Han.

This was the best use of C3P0 in a while. His introduction to Han Solo was actually funny. I didn’t get why R2 was in low power mode because I would have enjoyed seeing some classic droid bickering, but oh well. Minor quibble. BB-8 putting up a flamethrower thumbs up: a meme waiting to happen.

I was disappointed with Captain Phasma as all she did was walk around and get jumped by Chewie. So much for her being this amazing Stormtrooper and central piece of marketing. Even Boba Fett got to shoot a blaster before being idolized. Same goes for Max Von Sydow’s character of Lor San Tekka. It would have been nice to see him do something other than get killed by Kylo Ren within a second of saying bye to Poe.

Lord Snoke is an interesting character but not an intimating one at all. Han and Leia know who he is and the film makes it clear that he was manipulating Ben for a while, so I’d be curious to see who he was in relation to everyone else. I bet that Luke gave him his nasty scar. I hear a rumord that he is Darth Plagueis the Wise (the Emperor’s former master), but that seems like a little too inside baseball to happen (like the rumor that Kylo Ren was Darth Revan).

A great thing about this film was that I left leaving with more questions than answers. I am nothing but psyched for Episode 8 and excited to see what Rian Johnson brings to the film (May 26^th 2017 can’t come soon enough). JJ Abrams hit the beats of A New Hope and it seems like Rian Johnson is the perfect choice for what should be a darker sequel chapter.

I’ve read people complain that The Force Awakens is too similar to A New Hope, and I’d agree, but it doesn’t really bother me because Star Wars is always repeating itself. In each first installment of each trilogy the same beats are hit. An orphan/poor child with special powers leaves a desolate planet (while being an excellent pilot) and gets swept up in the middle of a great adventure. A mentor dies and a big imposing ship/space station/weaponized planet gets destroyed. The first chapter of any Star Wars trilogy is taking your first steps into a larger universe as Obi Wan once said. So I’m cool with the repetition. After the disappointments of the prequel trilogy it was smart to go safe in this one. Hopefully, Episode 8 will go into new and crazy Star Wars places.

In conclusion, I will be seeing this movie a million more times in the theater (I will go with anyone who asks) and will continue to shed many a tear when watching Han Solo approach his son on the bridge.