*WARNING: THERE BE SPOILERS HERE!*
Full disclosure: I'm not a true die-hard Star Wars fan. Like those people who waited in line for 5 days just to watch a marathon of all 6 films so far which segued into the new film. I'm a huge fan, though. When A New Hope came out we went as a family to see it at the drive-in and I remember being entranced by the story of droids and Wookiees and not even needing the pillow I had brought along so that I could sleep in the back of the hatchback. Cut to 6 years later and I was seeing the final film in the trilogy with my best friend and his brother and I remember the line to get into the theater stretching for 3 blocks. I was officially hooked.
I also am not one of these "purists" who hates on the prequels. I hate The Phamtom Menace. The other two are flawed but fairly decent, with the third installment being the best. So I went into the new movie with an open mind but also a typical fanboy's requirements. It had to be faithful to the established Star Wars universe but also be new and exciting and make me want to see more of this new trilogy. Did it succeed? Short answer: the Force was definitely with J.J. Abrams. What he produced was a pretty damn kickass Star Wars movie.
Ostensibly the entire plot concerns a search for Luke Skywalker. So the reason people noted that Mark Hamill wasn't in much of the pre-release trailers is because he's not in the film much at all. I could see being a little pissed off about this, but I knew that going in so I wasn't. What we get instead of time with Luke, at least for the first third of the film, is a boatload of new characters which might be taxing if they all weren't so damned memorable. Simply put, Daisy Ridley and John Boyega are spectacular, bringing a new level of acting to this series once abandoned by the stilted Shakespearean speak of the prequels. A quiet scene between the two where they each implore the other to come with them (for different goals obviously) is just one example of how good they are. We've never seen a Stormtrooper with morals before. They've always been impressive looking cannon fodder but little more, so Boyega's turn as a PTSD suffering trooper who slowly discovers his path to heroism (the Han Solo of this trilogy it would seem) is fascinating. Ditto to Adam Driver's personification of confused evil in Kylo Ren. The series up until now has always been fairly black and white where Good and Evil are concerned. Except for Darth Vader, nobody really has shades of grey to their character. So Kylo Ren is intriguing in that he is already in a powerful position on The Dark Side but still has doubts about whether he should be there or not. I've seen some critics complain that a villain shouldn't be weak. Fuck that. It makes him a hundred times more interesting to me, and Adam Driver plays him beautifully, especially in a very crucial scene which I won't fully spoil. At times you can feel the chess pieces being moved into position a bit as far as plot mechanics goes, but all in all, this is an epic new beginning for the Star Wars universe. Can't wait for Episode VIII.
Further thoughts:
- Thankfully, everything, from X-Wing/Tie-Fighter dogfights, to crumbling planets and amazing light saber duels FEELS REAL and even though it is obviously enhanced with CGI doesn't get buried in artificiality by it like the prequels.
- Some of the cinematography and CGI work deserves special praise, especially a light saber battle between our main protagonists in a dark snow covered forest and a showdown between Kylo Ren and our heroes lit only by a single shaft of sunlight. Those scenes definitely harked back to the samurai origins that inspired George Lucas to write the first screenplay.
- Hiring Lawrence Kasdan to co-write the screenplay (he of Empire Strikes Back fame) was a stroke of genius. They still have to recite bullshit scifi speak about heat shields and extrapolators (I think) but it's surrounded by genuine dialogue that makes everything shine. It makes me worried that neither Kasdan or Abrams are returning for the next one.
- Thank goodness for John Williams. I have trouble imagining a Star Wars movie without his CRUCIAL music. Even though I didn't notice any new character themes to speak of (excepting Supreme Leader Snoke's which is definitely a riff on the Emperor's old theme) the movie still benefited greatly from his presence.
- Why is C3PO's arm red? Is he at long last giving in to his queer side and accessorizing?
- Captain Phasma and General Hux, as opposed to the thoughtful villainy of Kylo Ren, are cardboard and boring. And I hated Supreme Leader Snoke. The CGI of his design was awful, especially in such an expensive movie. Hux especially seems like he's playing a Nazi in a panto version of The Sound of Music complete with teeth gnashing and scenery chewing. I also found myself giggling over the enemy plan and imagine General Hux's pitch for it going something like this: "Hey guys, let's do the same stupid thing the Empire failed at twice, only we'll succeed at it cuz ours will be bigger!" At least the name of it was an Easter egg. Luke's name was originally going to be Starkiller instead of Skywalker. So that was cool.
- Did anyone else think there should have been a moment between Leia and Chewie at the end of the movie? That was a missed beat right there.
- I never saw John Boyega before and didn't notice Adam Driver but goddamn if they don't both look sexy as fuck in this movie. How bout some beefcake shots in the press guys, huh? I'll settle for them wearing a Slave Leia bikini. Just sayin.
- "Why don't you take off that helmet?"
"What do you think you will see?"
"The face of my son." Harrison Ford earned his payday with that line alone.
- There are cameos galore in this movie, from a regal looking Max Von Sydow (who I wished had more screen time) to a masked Daniel Craig saying "scum" to holy shit Iko Uwais and two of his co-stars from The Raid. I loved every one.
Now, how bout a new holiday special J.J., and while I think of it don't fuck everything up Rian Johnson!
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