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Review: Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Fair warning, there will be SPOILERS later on in this review. Everything before the jump will be spoiler-free, and everything after the jump will have spoilers. I’ll make the distinction clear.
This is not the movie you’re looking for. Or maybe it is. Honestly, I think opinions are going to be all over the map for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. For some, it might be a glorious return to that wonderful galaxy far, far away. For me, it was a fine and enjoyable film, but it wasn’t the be-all, end-all cinematic second coming that it was hyped up to be. Instead, The Force Awakens is a fun adventure full of familiar characters that easily entertains.
But if this really is the start of several decades worth of new Star Wars films, one after another, I’m no longer as excited as I was yesterday.
Movie Rating: 6/10 – Pretty Good.
There is definitely a lot to enjoy about Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It’s definitely worth going to see, especially if you’re a Star Wars fan. The new cast all acquit themselves well, meshing splendidly together and with the old, returning cast. Harrison Ford’s aged Han Solo steals the show, with ample support from the legendary Chewbacca. The two of them on screen again is worth the price of admission alone. Lightsabers blaze with iconic glory, the Millennium Falcon is as great as we’ve always know it to be, and this galaxy looks like the lived in, wildly varied galaxy of yore.
But the movie is far from perfect. There are numerous plot contrivances that seem to exist solely to bait the fans’ love for the franchise. Several seemingly important characters barely get any screen time, making you wonder why they seemed like such a big deal in all the advertising. And worst of all, what really took me out of the movie, was the inexhaustible desire to callback to and remember the original trilogy.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens does not take the franchise anywhere new. It revels in the old ways, while presenting just enough new material to guarantee the endless supply of new movies we’re going to get over the next several years (decades?).
But at the very least, Han Solo and Chewbacca are pretty awesome.
Join me after the jump for my full review. Be warned, I really get to rambling a bit. And this is the SPOILER cut off. Read the rest at your own risk.
Star Wars Had Their Thing!
Didn’t I tell you they were going to have a thing? They promised, and they delivered! And that thing was a new trailer!
First impressions, I’m not as blown away as everybody else. It looks great, it looks very slick, but there’s just something missing…We didn’t get any Luke Skywalker stuff. The end of the trailer didn’t have any particularly strong buzzes. But maybe I just really want to see the movie now, and any tease is just going to leave me wanting more! It happens.
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Star Wars Is Gonna Have a Thing Tonight!
The new Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer is going to premiere tonight during a football game! I won’t be watching the game — as per last week’s List of Six — but you can be darn sure I’ll be scouring the Internet afterwards for the trailer! I’ll probably post it tomorrow morning after I sleep off the effects of watching the trailer.
While we wait, Star Wars was kind enough to reveal a badass new poster for The Force Awakens!
Oh man, now that’s a poster! Han! Leia! Rey, Finn and Po! Lightsabers! A new super Death Star!
Then Star Wars as kind enough to release the same poster horizontally, for some reason!
They’ve got all the bases covered for tonight’s trailer premiere!
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I Hate to Be ‘That Guy’, But I Don’t Like the New Star Wars Title
It was revealed yesterday that principal filming is over for Star Wars: Episode VII, and with it we learned the title: Star Wars: The Force Awakens. I have no idea who comes up with this stuff.
So look, I hate to be ‘that guy’, that geek who can’t accept change or new ideas with his franchises, but I don’t like title. I’m sure it fits the movie fine, it’s just that I don’t like the word ‘Awakens’. It’s such an awkward word. I write crime stories for my local newspaper for a living, and sometimes I have to write about people being woken up by a crime, and the word ‘awakens’ is all manner of cumbersome and ungainly.
So there, I have a very good reason to dislike the new Star Wars title. Maybe George Lucas will now read my blog and change it!
Beyond that complaint, though, it’s probably fine. I mean, ‘Return of the Jedi’ would seem to imply that the Force was coming back. But I guess it meant ‘Jedi’ singular, as in just Luke.
Henchman-4-Hire 