In our spoiler free Star Wars: The Force Awakens review, J.J. Abrams has managed to tell an updated story that still pays homage to the past and it’s virtually perfect from beginning to end…
By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer
After a long wait, Star Wars: The Force Awakens is finally in theaters and fans of the outer space saga are flocking by the millions to go see the latest installment in this new generation of movies minus George Lucas plus the power of Disney — the same company responsible for giving us a rebooted Marvel Cinematic Universe as well.
Fans of this particular series of films are even more excited for the new movie after a trilogy of regrettable prequels that reignited the Force and then watched it burst into flames and come crashing back to the ground while getting lost in government agendas and trade route plots that fizzled and faded before becoming rather forgettable in the end.
Enter J.J. Abrams — the modern day Jesus of science fiction who can resurrect a franchise left for dead just like he did with Star Trek several years ago. Combining his ingenuity with Disney’s passion for making Star Wars for a new generation of fans while still paying tribute to those who have been around since 1977 resulted in Star Wars: The Force Awakens — the best movie set in this universe since the carbonite shell came crashing down around Han Solo in 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back.
Now fair warning — this review will be as spoiler free as possible while telling the very outer limits of a plot line that has already largely been revealed in interviews and trailers. No information from the movie outside of those bare bones will be discussed in this review — only the minimum needed to tell you what went right and possibly a couple things that may have gone wrong in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Plot
So here’s the loosest possible plot that you can get without any real spoilers …
Out of the ashes of the old Galactic Empire has risen a new power in the galaxy called The First Order. They are led by an ambitious power monger named General Hux with Kyl0 Ren — the dark side of the force embracing, Darth Vader wanna be — as the other half of a very evil coin. Much like the original Star Wars, these two are at odds more often than not about the type of power structure that will get the job done to eradicate this new Republic that was built after the Rebel Alliance defeated Vader and the Emperor some 35 years ago.
The crux of the entire film is based on one central thesis — Luke Skywalker, the last living Jedi, has vanished and everybody in the galaxy is trying to find him. That includes Kylo Ren and the First Order along with a mysterious puppeteer named Supreme Leader Snoke and the Resistance — the band of freedom fighters led by General Leia Organa and the army that once defeated the mighty Empire all those years ago.
The new players including a former Stormtrooper named Finn, who was raised from birth to care about only two things — white uniforms and killing on command. The problem is Finn doesn’t want to kill on command anymore and that doesn’t bode well for his advancement in the First Order army. Then there’s Rey — a scavenger on a remote desert planet called Jakku, who gets mixed up in the fray after she happens upon some crucial information that could lead to the whereabouts of Skywalker. She’s a mix of survivalist, wanderlust and just a small dose of Furiosa all put together in one spunky package.
Mix in a cast of familiar faces including Han Solo and Chewbacca and this is a real blend of old and new with an homage being paid to the original movies while moving at break neck speed towards the future. A future where the world is once again on the brink of chaos and war and only one man could possibly stop it….
Acting
There’s not a single thing to complain about in the acting department, especially when speaking about the new cast joining the Star Wars universe this time around. Both John Boyega and Daisy Ridley are perfectly placed in their parts and perform them with precision and grace. It’s clear from the trailers that Ridley is going to be a breakout star from the franchise considering she was barely known before being cast in a crucial part in this opening film from the new Star Wars trilogy.
Oscar Isaac is probably my personal favorite from this film playing fly boy Poe Dameron, who is clearly the new age Han Solo for this updated Star Wars series. He’s a little bit cocksure but that makes him equal parts Han and Lando and who couldn’t fall in love with that?!?
The old guard is on point like always — Harrison Ford, despite pushing 70 years of age, still has that same swagger that carried him through the original trilogy. Ford was the actor from the original movies who went on to have the biggest career post-Star Wars but he steps back into Han Solo’s shoes like he never left them.
Everybody else is also spot on with an extra nod to Adam Driver, who plays an impetuous and rage driven Kylo Ren, which is a much different villain than we’re used to seeing in past Star Wars films. This portrayal is probably what Lucas was going for when he attempted to tell the story of a teenage Anakin Skywalker, but then failed miserably by casting Hayden Christensen in the part. Driver pulls it off well because he mixes in equal parts of cold and calculating with the necessary evil of trying to prove something and it all comes together so well in the end.
Directing and Writing
Abrams is a master of this kind of story telling, but one of the most striking parts of this movie was how he constructed so many sets by hand on only relied on CGI where it was truly necessary. The original Star Wars movie took place at a time long before computers did the bulk of the work for effects on movies and Abrams tried his best to go back to that same look and feel so this new movie would feel connected to the ones from the past rather than make it seem so obvious that Star Wars: The Force Awakens came along 30-plus years later. There are improvements in effects — but not so big that it takes away from the overall look of the movie.
The writing is also on point this time with Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan handling the bulk of the script. Kasdan was one of the original writers on The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi so he knows this universe very well so he’s well aware what Han Solo would or wouldn’t say while firing off a blaster or getting shot at for that matter.
The plot in the movie isn’t reinventing the wheel by any means but remember these films were created to appeal to children and adults alike so don’t expect things to get too difficult to follow. And in this particular case it works from star to finish while leaving us with a dangling cliffhanger that makes the next movie seem so, so far away from a release date.
What’s Wrong with the Movie?
Is there something wrong with Star Wars: The Force Awakens?
The truth is not much if any and the only thing that might get a complaint out of me is the fact that the film wasn’t a little bit longer. It felt like the introduction of the new characters took quite a bit of time, but that was absolutely necessary so that we would invest in them the same way we did Luke, Leia and Han back in the 1970’s. But once we get past that opening sequence, there’s so much story still to tell that I wish the movie had been extended by another 30 minutes.
It’s a very minor quibble because nothing gets rushed and no one gets left behind — but when the movie was over, I only wanted more and I think that’s a good sign for any filmmaker attempting to tell a story to their audience.
Final Verdict
Star Wars: The Force Awakens is everything you could possible want in a Star Wars sequel — it pays tribute to the past, connects to the future and then gives us the perfect staging ground for the two films that will follow in this latest trilogy. There’s a part of me that wishes Abrams was sticking around to direct all three films, but he set the bar awfully high for Rian Johnson, who takes over for Star Wars: Episode VIII. This is a movie you’ll obsess over just like the original trilogy and if you’re anything like me, I’ve already booked tickets to see this one a couple of more times in theaters just so I can catch every possible nuance that I may have missed the first go round.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens get 5 out of 5 on the Skolnick scale
