Star Wars : The Force Awakens comes in with more hype than The Dark Knight Rises, and that’s saying something. But once John Williams score starts, and the big yellow STAR WARS starts the scroll, all the hype gets pushed aside by the rush of memories and preparation for a film of intergalactic scope. JJ Abrams understands these feelings being a fan himself, but he also embraces them to craft a strong reboot of the Star Wars brand. The Force Awakens will be very familiar to even the most novice fan, but this movie uses its history to drive the story and provide it inherent emotional depth.
A farm scavenger on a desert planet comes across a droid that contains secret information that will help defeat a maniacal power. This scavenger must deliver said droid to the resistance fighting this evil power, before it falls into the hands of the dark side, run by an overlord and his faithful servant. No idea where Abrams got that idea from. The Force Awakens just uses different packaging. The scavenger is Rey (star in the making Daisy Ridley), a ship conscious badass Katniss Everdeen would defer to. The overlord is Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis) uncompromisingly pushing evil out of his First Order. His twin servants are General (Adolf?) Hux (Domhnall Gleeson) and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), a Vader worshipper with volatile personality issues. The new R2D2 is BB8, owned by star Resistance Pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), who is tasked with providing the map of Luke Sywalker’s (Mark Hamill) whereabouts to General Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) and the Resistance. The new Abrams spin is a good one, FN 2187 (John Boyega) is a stormtrooper deserter; he gets thrust onto the side of the Resistance, where he adopts the moniker “Finn.”
The Force Awakens smartest move is embracing its own mythology. Like the viewers, Rey, Finn, and even Kylo Ren revere their forefathers and mothers for their participation in this giant struggle. When Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Chewbacca saunter onto the screen, the viewers and Rey/Finn jump with excitement. If you went in cold without any prior knowledge, The Force Awakens establishes the importance of these people, but fans of the previous films understand Rey and Finn’s wonder, and Abrams fuses fan history with movie history to give unwritten depth to the story as the movie quickly jumps from one location to another. Letting the history do the work for him, Abrams then focuses on setting up the new generation, which should have fans mostly excited. Rey is an entirely self sufficient hero; anytime she gets in trouble, she bails herself out. Finn I’m most excited to see, since his upbringing taught him the exact opposite of the side he is now fighting. Of the villains, we see enough of Snoke (unlike the Emperor in the first trilogy) to develop his menace and mystery; his role is sure to expand. Kylo Ren is the potential weak link as his struggle can border on Anakin level petulant, but the final sequence establishes how terrifying a focused but volatile Ren can be.
A New Hope was revolutionary in the movie industry for its simple hero story and spectacular effects are world building. Abrams clearly adores the hero arch, and as such, does very little to change it. Bad guys are mostly bad, with one exception. And good guys are mostly good. If you go in expecting wild swings with the plot of Star Wars, you might be disappointed. However, the world building and special effects are still pretty great. Each planet or spaceship has its own unique aesthetic, and the director’s most welcome contribution is giving relative sizes to objects. Abrams makes the chases and accompanying explosions extremely exciting, building one upon the other until the big, tense, beautiful final faceoff.
While good acting isn’t a necessity for Star Wars, it is certainly welcome. For the good guys, Daisy Ridley is a bonafide star. Charisma and determination abounds in Ridley’s debut performance, which should become more self assured as the series continues. My MVP was John Boyega, who sells the arc of scared deserter to legit resistance fighter. Boyega chews into the juicy role with aplomb, and leaves the most interesting questions in future installments. Oscar Isaac is doing a Han Solo impression here; later missions should give him the chance to showcase his acting chops. Lupita Nyong’o is also solid as a CGI friend of Han Solo’s who knows lots about the past. Adam Driver has the impossible task of being the new Darth Vader, so he plays him a little too conflicted to whiny; especially when the mask is off. However, he figures it out as the movie goes on, and become as compelling as Rey by the end. Domhnall Gleeson delivers his deliciously evil monologue perfectly and will make a strong counterpoint to Driver. Andy Serkis’s Supreme Leader should be interesting as time goes on, but for now, Serkis sells the chilling factor well enough. Finally, the old timers Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford jump right back in. Ford in particular does some spectacular heavy lifting of relatively thing material, reminding us just how awesome an actor he is.
As Bill Murray once sang, ‘Please let these Star Wars….stay.” I for one, thank Disney for buying these films from George Lucas. Say what you want about the corporation, they know how to make kids smile. With the setup from the Force Awakens, we can look forward to these new Star Wars making a new set of kids smile over and over again.