Last night we watched The Force Awakens, the next movie in the Star Wars chronological timeline after Return of the Jedi.
This is not a review and it isn’t meant to rain on anybody’s opinion of this movie – it’s simply an attempt to articulate my own feelings about it. Your mileage may most definitely vary.
I went to see The Force Awakens at the theater with mixed emotions – hopeful that it would rekindle the spark of the Star Wars original trilogy, and fearful that it might fall even farther short of the mark than the prequel movies. I was thrilled to have my hope rewarded. I’ve watched The Force Awakens multiple times since then, and I’ve enjoyed it more each time. It really did re-awaken my love of Star Wars.
Warning! Spoilers Below (if there can be such a thing as spoilers for a movie released in 2015).
What I Liked
Original Trilogy Callbacks. I know some people criticized The Force Awakens because of the deliberate callbacks to the original Star Wars, but that was one of the highlights of the movie for me. I thought J.J. Abrams did a marvelous job walking a very fine line with the callbacks – bringing back the joy and energy of the original trilogy, while still creating something fresh and new.
Finn. Finn may be my favorite character in this movie. The Stormtrooper who makes a choice to not follow orders to kill innocents is a brilliant storyline. It humanizes the Stormtroopers in a way that we’ve never seen, and that we’ve frankly needed in Star Wars. Previous movies tended to treat the Stormtroopers as being as disposable as armies of orcs or droids. I’ve always wondered about the people behind the masks – why they chose to be Stormtroopers, if they had a choice, etc. Finn’s story gives us a hint that things are more complex than we might have thought. And it doesn’t hurt that Finn brings humor and vulnerability, along with bravery, to the story.
Rey. I cannot tell you how much I love Rey. A scrappy survivor in a hostile environment, she brings heart to the story. Watching her as her world expands and she begins to understand that she has a connection to the Force – and to other people – and that she isn’t as alone as she believed, is amazing. We aren’t beaten over the head with exposition telling us she’s special; each choice she makes reveals more of her character. And tell me your heart didn’t break a little for her when the meaning behind those carefully scratched ticks on the wall of her so-called home on Jakku became clear.
Han and Leia. Watching this movie just a few days after watching Return of the Jedi was a bit of a surreal experience – like seeing friends age 30 years overnight. That quickly faded, though. Harrison Ford is Han Solo, just as quick with a quip, if maybe a touch more grumpy. And Carrie Fisher was Leia, still fiery and in charge, if a bit sadder and a bit more resigned. Seeing each of them again for the first time was thrilling. And while I perhaps (sentimentally) wanted a different outcome for Han, his death was just the kind of emotional kick the story needed.
Poe Dameron. Poe could have been played as a carbon-copy Han Solo for a new generation, but Oscar Isaac makes the character his own. Sure, he’s a pilot who “can fly anything” but he doesn’t come across as cocky, just confident. My only complaint is I wish we’d seen more of Poe, though I’m not sure what I’d want to cut in order to fit him in.
Droid Comic Relief. Okay, okay, BB-8 isn’t just comic relief, he’s also plucky. Don’t tell anyone, but BB-8 has actually replaced R2-D2 as my favorite droid, something I thought would never happen.
What I Was Ambivalent About
Kylo Ren. Ren, with his tantrums and his silly, unnecessary mask, certainly doesn’t have the presence of Darth Vader. However, he may be even more of a menace, since he seems unpredictable and rash and emotional. The first time I saw the movie it did strike me that he might be even harder to redeem than Darth Vader, since he did the unforgivable for many fans when he deliberately killed Han. Not sure I’ll ever forgive the character for that. All that said, I’m still not 100% sure if we were supposed to see Snoke or Kylo Ren as the true Antagonist.
Luke. Yes, I know he was the McGuffin of the story, but I wish he would have had a bigger presence. In a perfect world the story could take the route of meeting Luke earlier. Of course that would be a different story with a different ending. Maybe it would have been as good or better, but it also could have gone the other way… So, yeah.
What I Disliked
Honestly, I can’t come up with anything that I actively disliked.
Conclusion
There’s a lot more to love here than I mention in my non-review. The Force Awakens is a fun, emotional romp of a movie, and it ranks in my top 3 Star Wars movies (so far).
