Thirty years after the defeat of Emperor Palpatine, Darth
Vader and the Galactic Empire, the galaxy is threatened once again from a far
more dangerous enemy: the First Order. Risen from the ashes of the Empire, the
First Order seeks to continue the Empire's goal of complete galactic
domination. Headed by Supreme Leader Snoke and his Dark Jedi apprentice Kylo
Ren, in order to fulfill their destiny as the dominating force the First Order
must find all of the separated pieces of a map which could lead to the whereabouts
of Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker, who has gone missing for a good portion of the
last thirty years. The Resistance races to find the map before the First Order
so they can put a stop to the murderous regime.
DISCLAIMER: I WILL DO MY BEST TO STAY AWAY FROM MAJOR
SPOILERS FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO SEE THE MOVIE YET, HOWEVER I MAY
HAVE TO GIVE SOME MINOR SPOILER DETAILS IN ORDER TO GIVE MY FULL REVIEW. YOU
HAVE BEEN WARNED.
As a huge Star Wars fan, I was really looking forward to
seeing The Force Awakens. I'm not ashamed to admit I was actually counting down
the days leading up to its release I was so excited. Coming out of the theater,
I can thankfully say that J.J. Abrams effectively recaptured the magic of the
original trilogy that was lost in the prequels (not to say the prequels were
entirely horrible, they all have their redeeming values, but still...). It's
been a long time since I've been in a movie where 2 hours goes by and it feels
like only 30 minutes. In some ways I both love and hate this, but Abrams
manages to leave more questions than answers - some of which are almost
obviously going to be answered in the next installment.
I've heard people argue that The Force Awakens is basically
a remake of A New Hope. I can see where they're coming from, but after thinking
about it for a day or two since walking out of the theater, I can honestly say
the story itself is different, but J.J. Abrams takes quite a few visual
elements from A New Hope. The Starkiller base in which the First Order is
located looks a heck of a lot like the Death Stars previously used in the
original trilogy, only bigger and more devastating, this time embedded into an
entire planet instead of a space station the size of a small moon. Kylo Ren
seems to take on a similar role to Darth Vader, and Snoke can possibly be
considered as a stand-in for Emperor Palpatine. All the visual cues from
previous films evokes a sense of something the audience has seen before, but
there's enough there in story, performance, and visuals to stay away from being
a complete remake. It was awesome being able to see the old gang back together.
I will say though, I am glad Abrams gives the newbies a chance to shine instead
of this being a complete fan service film. Daisy Ridley and John Boyega as Rey
and Finn respectively were great in each of their roles. In the beginning, Adam
Driver as Kylo Ren was great, but there were parts almost reminiscent of Hayden
Christiansen as Anakin Skywalker in the prequels where he came off more like a
spoiled brat than a true villain. I hope to see more development of his
character into a true villain in Episode VIII, because I was left wanting more
from him. Same goes for a few other characters, it almost seemed like The Force
Awakens was just the beginning and their true character development would be in
Episode VIII. Not necessarily a bad thing in the long run, but for me it
brought the overall movie down from being the best in the franchise to probably
second or third best.
In the end, I can easily say that longtime Star Wars fans
and casual fans alike will without a doubt love The Force Awakens (this is
already evident considering there are reports of it already reaching an
estimated $120.5 million in its opening day, and projected to be over $200
million by the end of the weekend). I know I sure did. I can already tell you
I'm personally going to see it at least 1-2 more times in the theater and then
buy once it gets released on DVD.
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