Star Wars: The Force Awakens – [SPOILER FREE] Film Review

I had been off Star Wars for a few years, given my distaste for the Prequel Trilogy. This left a void of in my interest in something cool and sci-fi, which in turn gave way to my newfound love for Star Trek. But when it was announced that a new Star Wars film was coming soon, my interest was suddenly reinvigorated. To tell you the truth, I was screaming my head off in excitement and bawling my eyes out when the first two teasers came out. I kept running through my head, “Star Wars is back for good.” But I could not be certain of that until I had seen the film.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens was the most hyped film of 2015, and with good reason. The Star Wars Saga is one of the most iconic movie franchises in the history of cinema and to have a new film come out after so long is a pretty big deal, given how the films have touched the lives, more notably their childhoods, of millions of people worldwide, I included. To the surprise of many, I grew up watching The Phantom Menace and its sequels and I loved them, even the incoherent political nonsense. As an adult, I can say that I now know better about these films but I cannot dismiss The Phantom Menace entirely, because if it were not for that film, I would not have grown to love the Original Trilogy. I hoped that The Force Awakens would do a better job at introducing Star Wars to the next generation and not meddle with their understanding of the events of the Original Trilogy, as the prequels did with me and many others for a while.

Taking place more than thirty years after Return of the Jedi, the film kicks off with the establishment that the New Republic is in conflict with the First Order, the last remnants of the Galactic Empire. Fighting on behalf of the Republic is the Resistance, a band of pilots and soldiers formed to combat what was left of the Empire long after the Battle of Endor. The plot follows Finn, a Stormtrooper of the First Order who has deserted his post to go on a different path, and Rey, a scavenger on the desert planet Jakku. When their paths cross, they find themselves caught in the epic struggle between Good and Evil.

What can I say? The Force Awakens was a good film. It’s got great action scenes, something J.J. Abrams is known for, and great characters that are complex and well-written, much to the credit of the writing of Lawrence Kasdan, who is best known for his work on The Empire Strikes Back. The film stars John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, and Oscar Isaac as Finn, Rey, and Poe Dameron, an ace pilot of the Resistance. Reprising their roles from the Original Trilogy are Harrison Ford as Han Solo, Carrie Fisher as Leia Organa, and Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, along with Peter Mayhaw,  Anthony Daniels, and Kenny Baker as Chewbacca, C3PO and R2-D2. Serving the First Order and the Dark Side of the Force are Kylo Ren, played by Adam Driver, Captain Phasma played by Gwendoline Christie, and General Hux played by Domhnall Gleeson.

Now when it comes to the plot, and without wishing to spoil, the first and last ten minutes of the film for the most part play out like the plot of the original Star Wars all condensed in a short space of time. The rest was just character interaction and plot stuff. Everything else was just established to build up to the climactic attack on the First Order, essentially playing out like a standard screenplay. Taking a step back from the cultural impact the franchise has had, it is just another example of high concept cinema, where an idea for a film can be easily described into one sentence or image for ease of marketing’s sake (the idea being a fantasy adventure film set in space).

It was excellent, however, to the see the concept ‘show, don’t tell’ implemented so well throughout the film (as it should be for all works of fiction anyway), which is something the prequels lacked. Right from the get-go, it is established that the First Order truly is the reincarnation of the Empire, both in appearance and essence, with Kylo Ren and his Stormtroopers doing some pretty evil things. We are shown how Finn and Rey naturally form a bond together. We are shown the gravity of Han and Leia’s relationship having destroyed. We are shown the complexity of Ren’s character. This depth in storytelling  was never present in the prequels. A lot of character development in those films happened offscreen and in between films. We are only TOLD about the friendship between Obi-Wan and Anakin and we never see them develop their friendship.  We never got to see Anakin really change, make mistakes during his training, or grow as a person. We just force-fed information to make us think we care about him, usually through dialogue. In The Force Awakens, apart from Poe Dameron, not a single word of dialogue is used to establish who the characters were and what they did. Abrams just lets the camera roll to capture whatever unfolded in front it. It was that natural.

Abrams delivers the well-done and exciting directing that he is known for. Each of the action scenes brought the plot forward and was not put in for the sake of it. He makes use of seemingly free-flowing cinematography, with a lot of quick camera movement around the characters and the scenery to bring energy into each scene. This energy is even present in the non-action scenes, another thing that was not present in the lifeless and static dialogue scenes in the prequels. There just life in every shot. Even the scenes that involved the use of CGI did not disrupt the audience’s immersion. The balance between practical effects and CGI contributed to the strength of how absorbed they were into the film, even during the dogfights. The lightsabre duel towards the end was superbly executed, with a lot of great shot coverage that helped with the scene’s flow. Also, it brought back the rawness of the duels from the Original Trilogy but added a bit more fluidity. It was not as choreographed like in the prequels, but this was due to the fact that the characters’ of any real opposition with a lightsabre.

The musical queues in this film were fantastic. John Williams has returned bring to us a fantastic musical score, which is filled with exciting and emotional sounds that blend a lot of new elements with some of the iconic tunes and leitmotifs from the Original Trilogy, establishing that this would be the sound of the new Star Wars films. Each track added richness to their associated scenes which enhanced their impact. Despite the quality of the music, none of the new tracks really stood out to me the way “The Imperial March” or “Duel of the Fates” did. There was nothing memorable about them. But again, it was a very effective musical score that served its purpose well. The big reveal in the lightsabre duel was made even better with the score harkening back to a very emotionally powerful moment for Luke in the original Star Wars.
Like the Original Trilogy, this film is filled with wonderful and memorable characters. I liked the way the Stormtroopers were characterised, in particular. They were more humanised than they were in previous films. They were not the endless clones being birthed out of Kamino as expendable soldiers that we will never care about, nor were they just the faceless conscripts/volunteers the Imperial Stormtroopers were. They were people indoctrinated into the Order and conditioned to love all it stood for. Some of characters, however, were just either not shown enough or completely wasted, having not done much throughout the film. Two in particular were what I believed to be derivatives from other Star Wars material, which I felt like was a total cop out. Despite this, they had turned out to be well-written and very interesting.

Kylo Ren was one of the more interesting characters in the film. On the outside, he postures himself as a menacing follower of the Dark Side and a ruthless instrument of the First Order, obsessed with aspiring to be as powerful as, maybe more, Darth Vader. But underneath the mask is a man torn between his heritage and his desire to be powerful. He is not without flaws. At times, he comes off as bratty without ending up like Anakin Skywalker, and would sometimes let his ego and his own agenda get in the way of serving the First Order. Unfortunately, I cannot go into the depth of his character without using spoilers, so please take my word for it when I say he is a much more interesting character than he is when taken at face value. But what happens with him is not nearly as interesting or as surprising with Rey.

Underselling Rey was a clever idea because it made some of the developments in her character surprising and all the more pleasant. When you don’t anticipate how a character grows in the narrative, you really start to have a deeper connection to them. By not knowing how Rey was going to turn out by the end of the film, it makes the changes in her seem more believable and that you feel like you share the sense of achievements in these changes with her, and the way it was done was excellent. She developed very naturally and was never being forced by the will of the screenwriters into her role. When the moment came to step up to the occasion, she fit right in her role perfectly.

I would have to say that this film has the best acting out of the entire series. Everyone, including the older cast members, played their parts very well. As for Boyega and Ridley, I can tell that they have bright futures ahead of them after this trilogy. Driver delivered an amazing performance in his role, conveying the menace of his character while at the same time exposing his vulnerability and cockiness with great effect.

The ending of the film was a big drawback. As nostalgic and emotional as it was, it that made the film seem incomplete to me. It felt too much like the film was too comfortable in its role as a sequel. All it did was just to set us up for the next film. Despite the fact they were parts of a bigger story, each Original Trilogy film worked as a standalone film. Even in watching The Empire Strikes Back on its own, all you needed to know was that a group of rebels, led by someone named Luke Skywalker, fighting an evil Empire. Even each of the prequels was set up to be unique chapters in the story of Anakin Skywalker, all made to be able to stand on their own while still able to be included in the larger overall plot. It left me dangling with more questions than when I started off, which to me was a bit unsettling. I felt rather unsatisfied and wanted more. I can understand how this was purposefully done to make us anticipate the next film more, but I think that this is rather detrimental to the film’s overall quality.

Despite its flaws, Star Wars: The Force Awakens is definitely a much welcomed instalment to a beloved film series. It is a film that manages to recapture the magic that made the original Star Wars the pop culture artifact that it is while at the same time bringing a whole new generation of fans into its fascinating universe. But overall, I didn’t find it amazing. It was everything I expected out of a sequel to the Original Trilogy, which was a story about a group of characters, completely different from one another, coming together to embark on a journey of discovery and adventure. Its thin plot was made up for with great characters and stunning action. It met my expectations, but it didn’t surpass them. That is not to say that this film is was just average or “meh”. I keep comparing it to the Original Trilogy because it set such a high standard for the franchise, and for the most part, the film did live up to that standard; it’s just that it was unsurprising that it did so.  If you haven’t seen this film yet, I highly encourage you to go and participate in this once in a lifetime event. It definitely was not the best film of the year, which I believe is reserved for Mad Max: Fury Road, but that is a discussion for another time. After all that has been said, I think it’s safe to say that Star Wars is truly back for good.