Three years after ‘Episode VII’ was announced… three years after we were told a new live-action ‘Star Wars’ movie would be made… three years of stupid drama from the fandom… the time has finally come. ‘The Force Awakens’ is here, at last. But the question is… is it any good? And is it worthy to stand alongside George Lucas’s beloved six movies?
The first six chapters of the ‘Star Wars’ saga told a beautiful story about Anakin Skywalker, a character who started out as an innocent boy enslaved on Tatooine, and ended up sacrificing himself to save his son, kill the Emperor, and bring balance to the Force. It was a satisfying character arc with a brilliant conclusion. So when a Sequel Trilogy was announced, I couldn’t see how an Episode VII, VIII, and IX would work out. Thankfully, after watching ‘The Force Awakens’, Anakin’s story is still able to continue even after his death. Things involving the balance of the Force and the legacy of Anakin/Darth Vader are major plot points in the movie. As a matter of fact, the villain, Kylo Ren (real name: Ben Solo), happens to be Anakin’s own grandson, and appears desperate to live up to his grandpappy’s dark legacy. So much of Kylo reminds me of Anakin, such as the hair, attitude, and killing a bunch of Jedi. Heck, the injury he got at the end of the movie really makes it seem like he’ll have a similar scar in his face as Anakin did. What will become of the Skywalker legacy as we get into Episodes VIII and IX remains to be seen, but I’m certainly interested in seeing where things go!
With ‘The Force Awakens’ being the first film in a new trilogy in the saga, it should be able to introduce us to new main characters who’ll be the focus of the new trilogy, just as ‘The Phantom Menace’ did in 1999, and it certainly delivered on that front. Apart from Kylo Ren (who I just spoke about earlier), the two main stars of the movie are Rey and Finn. The two are very likeable characters, and make a great duo. Finn is a former stormtrooper who escaped the First Order after witnessing the atrocities done by the evil group, continuing the trend started by ‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars’ of humanizing troopers, and giving them personalities. And while he doesn’t seem Force-sensitive, he sure did a good job using a lightsaber during combat. Rey is a scavenger on the desert planet of Jakku who lives on her own as she waits for her family to return after being abandoned since she was a little girl. One very important detail involving Rey is that she seems to be Force-sensitive, and is quite good with using Force abilities. It’s not revealed anywhere in the movie who her parents were, though I have a strong feeling that she may indeed be a Skywalker (personally, I’m leaning towards her being Luke’s daughter). And if that seems to be the case, then Rey may certianly be the “Anakin/Luke” of the Sequel Trilogy. Hooray for strong female characters! Oh, and besides those two, the rest of the new cast was pretty good too. While not appearing much, I like what little I’ve seen of Poe Dameron (particularly his friendship with Finn). And since Poe is supposed to be the third member of the trio that includes Rey and Finn, hopefully he’ll be interacting more with the other two in Episodes VIII and IX. And then there’s BB-8… damn he was so adorable! This cute little droid certainly feels like something George lucas himself would come up with, and I can’t wait to see more adventures with this little guy!
Now as much as the movie is about the new cast of characters, the older characters shouldn’t be forgotten about. Though for the most part, they seemed to have taken a back seat. Even Han Solo and Chewbacca, who out of the old characters appeared the most, didn’t appear in the movie until after the Jakku portion concluded. I honestly thought this may have been for the best, as being a new trilogy, it needs to make sure we, the audience, get to know these new guys, while also being reminded of the old characters that we love. And I feel all the old characters that appeared were used effectively. I’ll be honest, I was never a huge Han Solo fan, and found him completely overrated. But the Han Solo in ‘The Force Awakens’ was a version of him I actually liked. This was a man who was damaged and hurt by the betrayal of his own son, Ben Solo, and tried to put the past behind him by going back to what he did before he got involved with the Rebel Alliance in the Original Trilogy. But upon meeting Rey and Finn, he decides to be the good guy once more, eventually reuniting with Leia along the way. And damn, Han’s final scene certainly was his most powerful, I actually felt sorry for him as he was impaled by his own son. Yet, as he died, he still placed his hand on Ben’s face, indicating he still loved him (and seemed to forgive him) despite the things he did. Powerful stuff. But of course, with Han Solo comes Chewbacca, a character I love a lot. Chewie was still the same adorable Wookiee we’ve come to know from previous chapters in the ‘Star Wars’ saga. It was certainly nice to see him and Rey bond, and I really hope the ending indicates that he’ll continue accompanying her on the Millenium Falcon just as he did with Han. Leia also makes an appearance in ‘The Force Awakens’ (as previously mentioned), now referred to as ‘General’ instead of ‘Princess’. Like Han, Leia too appears to have changed from the tragedy involving their son, Ben. What was interesting was that just as how Padmé and Luke were firm in believing that there was good in Darth Vader, Leia too believes that there is still good in her son. Poor Leia though… having to deal with the fact that Han was killed by their own son. Rounding up the trio from the Original Trilogy, Luke Skywalker (my favorite from the trio in the Original Trilogy), was barely in the movie, appearing only in a vision Rey was having, and in the final scene (which was truly beautiful btw). But I feel it was justified. After trying to train his nephew as a Jedi with a bunch of other Padawans, and seeing him pull a Darth Vader and murder the other Padawans… Luke surely must’ve felt guilty. And so, Skywalker disappears, with the Resistance trying to find him for assistance in the fight against the First Order (while the First order themselves wanna finish him off, as they see him as a threat). Though hopefully, it seems that there will be a whole lot more Luke in Episode VIII (which is great news for me). Of course, it can’t be ‘Star Wars’ without C-3PO and R2-D2… even though their roles in ‘The Force Awakens’ was smaller than in previous films (though R2’s connection to Luke was the reason for his absence throughout the movie).
Now there definitely is more to ‘Star Wars’ other than the story and characters that I look forward to. John Williams, having scored for Episodes I-VI, returns to score the seventh chapter of the saga. Now, I personally felt the film’s score was unique in that it was the ‘Star Wars’ film that didn’t reuse themes as much as previous movies did. Most of it was new, and I applaud Williams for that… though I felt it would’ve been nice to hear more familiar tunes than just ‘Binary Sunset’. Still, ‘Rey’s Theme’ is a personal favorite of mine. It’s a great track for a great character, and whether or not Williams will return to score Episodes VIII and IX, I’m sure her theme will return. And then there were the special effects. Lucasfilm made a super big deal this past year about practical effects and real sets that it became so damn annoying. Yet when I was watching the movie, all that was on my mind was the enormous amount of CGI being used. No amount of reiterating ‘practical effects’ can change the fact that ‘The Force Awakens’ is a CGI-fest, like it or not. And honestly, that’s fine. I have zero issues with CGI personally. ‘Star Wars’ should embrace today’s movie-making technology, and I’m glad to have seen lots of it in the movie. So much for going back to old-school effects. CGI is here to stay, and if you don’t like it, well too effin’ bad.
After watching ‘The Force Awakens’, my fears about the movie have been put to rest, and I have come to peace with calling it Episode VII. It’s a brilliant and respectable continuation of George Lucas’s stories from Episodes I-VI, and I look forward to seeing the next two chapters of the Skywalker saga.
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