STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS (2015)
This one starts off with a new “Empire” type group called “The First Order” visiting a planet called Jakku which is basically like Tatooine, only it’s not controlled by the Hutts. The leader of The First Order, Kylo Ren (played by Adam Driver) is looking for a map to Luke Skywalker, so that he can hunt him down and kill him. Luke and Kylo have a serious beef which doesn’t get addressed until the next film. Meanwhile a Storm Trooper recruiter is probably getting fired somewhere because FN-2187 (who allowed himself to be renamed Finn who is played by John Boyega) is not down with killing villagers and decides do desert The First Order. We also meet Poe (played by Oscar Isaac) who is not only an amazing Kung Fu Panda, but also one of the best pilots in the “Resistance” (basically a faction that broke away from a weak Republic that was unwilling to take on The First Order). General Leia leads the Resistance and that is just freakin awesome. Okay - I need to settle down. Outside of all that we are introduced to an important character in the new trilogy named Rey (played by Daisy Ridley) and it’s made clear pretty early on that she is a force to be reckoned with. Not only can she beat up a bunch of scavengers with a staff, but she is a mechanic, a pilot and she has the force.
The makers of this movie went to a great length to include as much practical effects as they could to match what was done in the original trilogy rather than expanding further into CGI land like the prequels. I can only think of one sequence where I would have rather seen practical effects and got CGI instead, so overall the effort was worth it.
The Force Awakens not only revitalizes the entire Star Wars universe as far as theatrical releases are concerned, but actually tops anything done in the original trilogy. I don’t say this as a new fan either. I saw the original Star Wars in the theaters at the age of 4. I owned most of the original toys, read the comics etc. I can understand some of the comparisons with the first movie to this one, but we never really get a lot of the elements introduced here in the original. Kylo Ren for one is a complex character rather than a faceless sinister force of evil like Darth Vader. We get an introduction Storm Troopers that are not always ridiculously and blindly committed to taking over the universe and we get to see a more mature Leia and Han Solo that have been separated for what might be decades.
Harrison Ford’s return as Han Solo is a fantastic return to form where as I felt Carrie Fisher took getting into THE LAST JEDI to really revive the role. Not that she was bad at all in this one. Domhnall Gleesons performance as General Hux is pretty stellar as well as the rest of the cast. You can feel they genuinely loved making this thing. Overall I have to give THE FORCE AWAKENS a solid 7 out of 7. If I had an 8 rating it would have gotten that. It’s a brilliantly executed return to one of the greatest cinematic series of all time with superb pacing, plot line effects and lighting.
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