Star Wars: The Force Awakens encompasses every aspect fans love about the original trilogy without even coming close to appearing like the prequels. The original trilogy was about a great story of the hero's journey and the fight against good and evil. That's all the original three boil down to, but they're made that much more complex with the addition of some of the best characters in film history. It would be difficult to replicate or even top that. It didn't get bogged down in action sequences or CGI, it found a way to make the action organic based off the natural decisions the characters made. The prequels, however, were so focused on using the new technology of the twenty-first century that it favored action, and computer-animated Yoda doing flips, and intricate light saber fights that it forfeited not only story, but (mostly) good characters. And while I understand that any movie set in a fictional galactic universe is going to need some CGI, The Force Awakens doesn't succumb to using it as a spectacle, nor as a crutch. In fact, other than one of the main villains of the film, Abrams goes back to using animatronics and puppets to give each creature or set piece an intimate feel... a realistic feel and it honestly looks better than any CGI could've provided.
In The Force Awakens there is a perfect balance of familiar faces among new, fresh ones. On the side of good: we've got X-wing pilot Poe Dameron, played brilliantly by the always amazing Oscar Isaac. We've got scrap junker turned Resistance ally, Rey (Daisy Ridley), Storm Trooper turned dude with an actual conscience, Finn (John Boyega), and volleyball droid BB-8. On the side of evil: there's the as-close-to-a-Nazi-as-you-could-possibly-be General Hux (Domnhall Gleeson), the I-want-to-be-Darth-Vader-so-bad Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), and the I'm-probably-more-evil-than-you-think Supreme Leader Snoke (the fantastic Andy Serkis). We also get the return of the original cast with varying levels of screen time. You've probably already been able to tell from the trailers, but its Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Chewie that get the most.
Everyone in the film brings their own 'oomph' to the screen. Oscar Isaac is always a joy to watch and it just looks like he's having a great time. John Boyega's Finn steals the show. Most of the group that I saw the film with had no idea that's he's like SUPER British. Like one of those British people that you need subtitles to understand what they're saying. He's wonderful as a man looking to escape his dark side family and get away from senseless murder, yet he's never been on his own before. Domnhall Gleeson, other than not looking at all like anything resembling evil, does bring a very overpowering presence to the dark side. Adam Driver, as long as he's not showing his stupid face is actually a very good villain. He's flawed to the perfect amount, even to the point of throwing temper tantrums when things don't go his way. Yet, the tantrums don't feel forced like they did EVERY SINGLE TIME with Anakin Skywalker. Harrison Ford is Han Solo all over again. Nothing has changed but his hair. Him and Chewie are the perfect duo and he's still his quippy, near sleazy self. It was wonderfully refreshing watching Ford do his thing almost forty years later. Finally, Abrams did something quite brave with the new droid BB-8. He made another character cute. This was done to some success with the Ewoks in Return of the Jedi, but some still found them to be annoying. And this was attempted to be done with Jar Jar Binks and we all know how that experiment turned out. However, BB-8 is cute enough to be endearing and funny, before hitting that bridge of becoming hokey and annoying.
The only two characters that I have a little bit of beef with is Serkis's Snoke and Ridley's Rey. My problem with Snoke is that I mentioned earlier that for most of the film, Abrams opted for practical effects, especially when it came to building the alien world and filling it with colorful characters. Snoke sticks out like a sore thumb because he's entirely computer animated. I know this is exactly what every role Andy Serkis has ever taken has become, but because he's surrounded by such beautiful practical effects, he looks that much more fake. Rey, on the other hand, is a strange one for me. The character is fantastic. Abrams and writing co., like always, have written a strong, independent, female character that can certainly hold her own when it comes to, well, anything. Like, her and Furiosa from Mad Max would totally be besties. She's a welcome character in the Star Wars world, but I'm not sure if I really liked the way Daisy Ridley portrayed her. Her acting, at first seemed a bit frenetic and forced. It felt like she was rapidly speeding through her lines because she'd been instructed to, not because that was the character. By the end, she won me over and there are some moments in the final act where Ridley certainly became Rey and the two were indistinguishable, but for a good two-thirds of the film, she was really getting on my nerves. Though, this may be a first-watch gripe and upon second viewing, she'll be consistent.
There's really nothing too specific, however, to complain about the film. It may be a bit confusing in the beginning because Abrams doesn't sit you down and say "this is this character, his name is this, his background is this..." It's something you have to figure out as you go along. There are a few brief moments of awkward dialogue like something has just happened and ten seconds later a character will shout out that it happened. There are a couple of awkward stare-downs of characters that lasted just an awkward smidge too long. And, then there's the slightly bigger complaint that the film kinda, sorta feels like a re-imagining of A New Hope. And while I'd say there are definite similarities, I'd have to argue that instead of it rehashing an already told story, it builds upon it and uses it more as an homage. Abrams knows what made the prequels terrible and knows what made the originals so much fun. So, he harnesses that fun from the originals (almost to a fault) and gives us what we yearn for. And while this one may have more allusions and connections to A New Hope than we expected, the series is now set to go wherever it pleases while still maintaining the original vision once filmed back in the late 70s.
Abrams does a stellar job of living up to the hype. While I'm not a superfan myself, I was with a few of them and can tell just by watching it that there is something here that everyone will like. The movie is also wildly funny. There are moments of pure humor and joy spilling out from almost every character. It's also very dark in certain places. Abrams didn't come here to mess around. He came to bring us the Star Wars we've been looking for since Return. I believe that handing off the reigns for Episode VIII to director Rian Johnson (one of my favorite directors) will work out quite nicely as he's also one who is more in favor of practical effects and character than CGI and fitting in as much action as possible. Star Wars: The Force Awakens is a great film, one that was promised to capture the vision of the originals and one that certainly didn't disappoint in that aspect. I'm not even that big of a Star Wars fan, but I know I'll be seeing it in theaters at the very least a couple more times.
A-
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