At first I must admit when I heard the title The Force Awakens, I wasn’t sure about it. Sure it was leaps and bounds better than Attack of the Clones but I still wasn’t thrilled by the name. Well, it’s the perfect name. The Force, the franchise and the fan base have awoken from the slumber that was the prequels. What captured our imaginations when watching the original trilogy has once again been rewarded here. Anyone who knows me, knows how much of an influence Star Wars has had on my life. It was the first “big” movie I ever saw. I remember dragging my mom 10 weeks in a row to see The Empire Strikes Back. And I stood in line for over 2 hours on opening night in 1983 to see Return of the Jedi. Love you mom! Those same feelings I had as a child, live on now as a 43-year old adult. Warning, this is a spoiler-freereview…
Set 30 years after the events of Return of the Jedi, Awakens follows the story of a scavenger named Rey (Daisy Ridley), a droid BB-8 (carrying valuable information) and Finn (John Boyega), a former member of the First Order. The First Order is an evolved version of the old Empire. At the center of the First Order is Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) a bad-ass Sith with a Darth Vader obsession. At the heart of the story is the search for Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) who has mysteriously vanished. The resistance wants to find him and bring him back home and the First Order want him because he is the last of the Jedi’s.
Along the way familiar faces like Han Solo (Harrison Ford), Chewbacca, Leia (Carrie Fisher) and C-3PO and R2-D2 get thrown into the mix. I was especially impressed with Harrison Ford. Han Solo was never better than he is here. Yes he is older and bit worn and bit slower but always cool. Awakens brings with it a great mixture of characters we all know and love and the freshness of a new generation of heroes and villains. John Boyega represented the moral conscience of the story while Daisy Ridley was the strength. It was so good to see Ridley’s Rey take on a very prominent role in the Star Wars mythology. She was fantastic. We have longed to see a strong female lead and bravo to J.J. Abrams for giving us just that. As for Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren, coolest Sith since Darth Maul. He is both conflicted and menacing.
Sitting in a packed 400-seat theater felt more like a religious experience than simply waiting for a movie to start. But then, Star Wars has never been just a movie. As I watch The Force Awakens, I’m reminded why the originals were so much greater than the prequels. The originals felt real and imperfect. The locations and the characters made you believe in a galaxy far far away. Whereas with the prequels, the technological advances of today actually cheapened the film. Too much CGI took away from the human element that resonated with the originals. Director J.J. Abrams restores that missing element. Every feeling and every sense of wonder that I experienced as a little boy has been renewed many times over.
As a side note, this happens to be my 200th posting for the Dork Knight! I couldn’t ask for a better subject to do. Star Wars is a major reason why I’m doing this to begin with and I couldn’t thank you all for sticking with me through the first 200 postings and here’s hoping you’ll continue to be there for the next 200 and beyond. As they say in Star Wars, May the Force be with you!
Directed by: J.J. Abrams
Starring: Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Issac and Adam Driver
PG13 136 Min
STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS – ***** (Out of 5 stars)
May the Dork be with you,
JPB
The Dork Knight
