STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS – REVIEW
We finally returned to the galaxy far, far away after a long absence and it more than lived up to the hype. Star Wars: The Force Awakens took the world by storm when it hit theatres and has not relented bringing in over 900 million domestic and over 2 billion worldwide. Almost everyone I talked with over the Christmas season went to see Star Wars and most times with their families. The magic of Star Wars really worked great with the December opening promoting family and fellowship, helped that they gave us a really good movie. It was the only movie not to open in May and at first I was annoyed by that but after seeing the run The Force Awakens has had I can admit I was wrong. I’m pleased to hear Episode 8 was moved from May to December, can continue what TFA has started. Now onto the movie…
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I have now seen it 4 times in 3 different forms; 3D x 2, DBOX, IMAX (real massive screen IMAX not the new LIEMAX) so I feel like I can give it a good review haha first time, and every time really, that I watched it I could not wipe the big stupid grin off my face for the first 5 minutes, just hearing that music and watching the scroll was worth price of admission. We start out learning Luke Skywalker has vanished and from the ashes of the Empire a new evil has risen while Princess Leia tries to hold things together and find Luke. Pretty great way to start as it raises a lot of interesting questions right off the bat and puts us in the middle of a hunt for the last Jedi. We first meet Poe Dameron and his droid BB8 who have gone to Jakku to try and retrieve a key piece of a map to Luke. They get it from Lor San Tekken but are immediately interrupted by the First Order Stormtroopers and new bad guy Kylo Ren himself. I liked the twist of having Poe’s X-Wing damaged so he couldn’t take off and eventual capture, thought for sure he was getting away. He puts the map in BB8 for safe keeping until he can come back for it which ends up being a wise decision as he is captured moments later.
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Kylo Ren’s first appearance is a home run as he immediately commands attention and respect when he comes on screen. From his dialogue with Lor San Tekken, an old ally to the good side of the force, we learn Kylo Ren was once good and part of an honourable family but turned on them for the evil side of the force. He strikes down San Tekken with his lightsaber and that is too much for Poe who tries to shoot Kylo with his blaster. But Kylo Ren displays his power as he stops the blast in mid-air where it stays until he leaves. They bring Poe on board and order the villagers killed. 1 Stormtrooper is unable to fulfill his duties and does not shoot at the villagers, this causes a pretty intense moment as Kylo Ren stops and stares at him. We soon learn the identity of this Stormtrooper, FN2187, and that he is a good man trapped in a bad situation. After Kylo Ren once again displays his power, this time using the dark side force to successfully extract a confession from Poe Dameron. Poe is left in rough shape but not for long as FN2187 helps Poe escape. They head back to Jakku so Poe can get BB8 but the TIE Fighter they stole is hit and they crash land on Jakku. The only survivor we see is FN2187 who is now known as Finn thanks to Poe and he heads off in search of help.
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Finn is wearing Poe’s fighter jacket that he found in the wreckage which attracts the attention of BB8 and Rey who is currently in possession of BB8. We first meet Rey scavenging for parts in the wreckage of old Empire Star Destroyers. There are some amazing shots of the desert with the wrecked ships in the distance, especially with Rey standing on the big hill, really puts you in the scene. Rey slides down the hill and heads into town to exchange what she found for small portions of food, we see she lives a very tough life. They really made it easy to put yourself in her shoes and imagine how you would live under the same circumstances. She puts on an old X-Wing fighter helmet to have a bit of fun while eating what little food she did get when she is hears the sounds of what turns out to be BB8. After rescuing him from a fellow scavenger, they aren’t supposed to scavenge active droids, she allows him to stay with her. And that brings us to them finding Finn, who they see after Rey lays the smack down on some thugs trying to steal BB8. But it is not a pleasant introduction as Rey starts to chase Finn and eventually catches him with a well placed shot from her staff. BB8 thinks Finn stole the jacket from Poe but Finn sets the record straight about what happened. They don’t have long as the First Order has found BB8 and has marked Finn and Rey as enemies. In trying to find a ship to escape we get a great moment, the re-introduction of the ultimate piece of junk the Millenium Falcon baby. Rey struggles with the controls but manages to get enough of a hang of it enough to evade and eventually take out the TIE Fighters chasing them with the help of Finn who turns out to be a pretty good shot. This has become 1 of my favourite Star Wars scenes, it was especially great in the DBOX seats. The CGI was flawless, the colours were perfect, the scenes were intense, it was just an awesome sequence.
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After they get away their elation is short lived as another ship locks onto them and brings them into their dock. But it turns out to be the real owners of the Falcon, Han Solo and Chewbacca. So great to see them back on screen in this story and they don’t miss a beat as Han seems to have immediate chemistry with Rey and Finn, he even almost seems like he knows Rey but doesn’t ever let on. They quickly inform Han and Chewie of what they are doing and where they are going, that they have a map to Luke Skywalker and that definitely gets Han’s attention. Then we have the only truly weak moment of the film IMO and that’s the scene with the 2 gangs and the Rathtars. Seemed really out of place and the CGI was not good, better just to get through it and move on. From there we are introduced to a character I really loved, Maz Kanata, her opening inquiries about Chewie were hilarious. I was hoping for a character(s) like her, something like Yoda and I feel Maz is in that category. Hopefully her role grows in the coming films. She makes perhaps the biggest introduction of the film leading Rey to Anakin/Luke’s lightsaber last seen in Luke’s hand that Vader cut off in Empire. This blew me away, first couple times I saw it I thought it was just Luke’s lightsaber he had put away when he vanished, really great plot point. She also gave us a potential big clue to Rey’s parentage when she says the lightsaber that belonged to Anakin then Luke now calls to her through the Force which is very strong in her. Grabbing the lightsaber causes Rey to have a series of flashbacks/premonitions/illusions including of the moment she was left on Jakku as a young girl, we even hear Obi Wan’s voice say “Rey, these are your first steps.” This puts a scare into Rey as she runs away from the lightsaber and into the woods.
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That brings us to the first confrontation between Rey and Kylo Ren who has tracked the group to Maz Kanata’s planet. Kylo uses the force to subdue her and once he learns she has seen the map, he is confident he can extract a confession from her and they don’t need BB8. He takes Rey and the First Order troops leave with him allowing Han, Chewie and Finn to get BB8 to Leia and the Resistance who have come to rescue them after being alerted to the presence of BB8 on the planet. We see that Poe did survive the crash and is not only leading the Resistance in the air but is 1 hell of a pilot. The shots of his X-Wing maneuvering around and tracking down TIE Fighters was absolutely awesome, amazing CGI. Great reunion between Han and Leia, and 3PO haha but not much good news as they can’t use BB8’s map to find Luke, it’s incomplete. Finn is eager to go rescue Rey while the Resistance tries to come up with a plan to stop the new main weapon of the First Order, Starkiller base, which dwarfs the original Death Star and can destroy multiple planets at once. Tone seemed a bit too light in the meeting for what they were facing but it didn’t really hurt things too much. I wasn’t crazy about Starkiller, just seemed too easy to wipe out multiple planets and there wasn’t really any emotional connection to them. And the Republic seemed like it was bigger than a few planets but they said it was completely wiped out now. Starkiller to me was too over the top to have the impact it should have, the original Death Star was menacing this just didn’t seem real. But it still worked in the movie and the assault on the Oscillator was fun.
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We go back to Rey and Kylo Ren who is starting his interrogation when Rey pushes his buttons enough so he removes his mask revealing a young man, not a grown man or some other kind of creature. Gotta admit my first reaction was, ugh, because I thought he looked a bit too young. I was expecting a man but I thought he held his own and established himself as a good villain with or without the mask. I also thought losing the mechanical voice from the mask would really hurt as it was working great but he has a lower tone to his voice so it was fine. He quickly learns she is no ordinary scavenger as her natural strength with the force allows her to resist his interrogation and even turn the tables reading his thoughts. He reports this to the hologram of Leader Snoke who seems to be the one in charge of the current evil and Kylo Ren’s transformation. It’s during one of these meetings that we learn Kylo Ren is Ben Solo the son of Han and Leia. Snoke upon learning about Rey asks for her to be brought before him. When Kylo Ren goes to retrieve Rey he finds she is gone and throws a fit destroying the room. These outbursts were great and helped establish his character as unhinged. But I have a big problem with how Rey escaped. She knew she was naturally strong with the force but she used a Jedi mind trick to get out of the restraints, nobody had ever shown her that so she had no way to know that technique existed nevermind would work in that situation. To me that was a ridiculously huge stretch that just screamed laziness. It ended up working in the movie and establishing Rey as a badass but it was tough to swallow.
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Han, Chewie and Finn successfully make it to the surface of the Starkiller Base and get ready to make their move to take down the shields. My favourite comedic exchange of the movie between Han and Finn, “Don’t worry we’ll just use the Force….That’s not how the Force works!” They actually did a pretty good job with the comedy they put in the movie, pretty much all of it worked which is no small feat considering bad comedy can ruin the reputation of a movie. It was perhaps a bit too easy to get Captain Phasma to lower the shields but the exchange was funny and the movie needed to move along so I was fine with it. Expected Phasma to have a bigger role but I think that will come in the next films. They find Rey and decide to help the Resistance pilots trying to destroy the oscillator by planting some explosives they have. As they are doing this Han see’s Kylo Ren start to to walk across the bridge and makes the decision to go try to bring him back to the good side. He screams out his real name, Ben, which adds some emotion but this scene definitely needed more. Some flashbacks of their time together and his fall to the dark side would have done the trick but that said it was still a very intense scene. The way things were set up with the bridge and long fall below I knew Han was a goner when he walked out there. Nice touch having Kylo Ren remove his helmet, 1 of the things that did add emotion to the scene, but there was no convincing him as he ignited his lightsaber into the chest of his father. 1 last embrace before he falls seemingly to his death, great scene. With the way it went down I wasn’t convinced we had seen the last of Han, Luke once survived a fall similar to that. Granted he didn’t have a lightsaber wound through the chest but still, the fall could be survivable. Now if he survived I see 3 possibilities: 1- Someone loyal to the Resistance there undercover sees Han’s body and gets him out of there in time. 2- Kylo Ren’s men found him and Kylo keeps him alive trying to turn him to the darkside. 3- Kylo Ren’s men found him and Kylo keeps him alive in secret because he can’t bring himself to kill his father twice.
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Han is probably dead but I just didn’t see it as stone cold fact the first time I watched it. One reason I want him to be alive is I prefer Han Solo to have a Bruce Willis in Armageddon type death, this way still works but for me it’s not a proper death for Han Solo. If he comes back and then still dies a noble death it wouldn’t really cheapen it I don’t think. I also really want an on screen reunion between Han and Luke, they went through a hell of a lot, doesn’t seem right not to get one. His death shocked me in part because I was sure going in that Chewie would be the one going down in a Boromir type way via Kylo Ren. He was the only old character on the Subway cups and I thought the clip in the trailer of Rey crying over someone was Chewie, glad he is still around haha Rey and Finn don’t get far before Kylo Ren catches up with them for their final battle. Kylo is injured after taking a shot from Chewie’s powerful blaster which evens the odds a bit. Finn tries to use Anakin/Luke’s lightsaber and does ok but eventually gets overwhelmed by Kylo’s technique and takes a slice up the spine, will be interesting to see what the effects of that are. Before Kylo can summon the lightsaber to him it goes to Rey who is ready to use what calls to her. She does great but seems to use hate and rage near the end of the fight to get the upper hand and those are dark tactics so hopefully she gets that under control in the next movies. Rey slices Kylo Ren across his face which will leave a significant scar, we may not see that mask off again for awhile, but before she can deliver the final blow the earth between them separates due to the imminent destruction of Starkiller Base and possibly some help from the Force to keep Rey from the dark side. Thanks to the explosives set by Han’s team plus the ace pilots of the Resistance lead by Poe they were able to destroy the oscillator which was crucial to harnessing the energy required to fuel the weapon, the unharnessed energy would now cause the entire thing to explode in a very cool fashion.
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Everyone is now back at the Resistance Base celebrating victory but also mourning losses, like Han, when R2D2 suddenly wakes up and comes through with crucial information, he has the rest of the map to Luke. I don’t think it was a coincidence that R2 wakes up as soon as Rey gets there, could be another clue. With a complete map to guide the way Rey, Chewie and R2 head off to find Luke Skywalker. After climbing a long way, Rey finally finds the man they have all been looking for. Luke turns around to see Rey holding his father’s lighsaber and the movie ends. So cruel haha but what a great ending, makes anticipation for Episode 8 skyrocket.
To me this was the ultimate 8/10 movie, needed a bit more to hit that perfect 10 but was still a great movie. The best part for me was that it created so many questions about who these people are, where they are going, why they are going there, how they will get there, what other places and people they can introduce. It was so great to finally have another Star Wars movie that made you excited about the story/movies to come. I admit I got a little nerd drunk initially going crazy with theories and trying to piece together any nugget of info I could find haha but that’s what I want from movies, to be inspired and to bring out positive emotions. Despite where the story goes next I will always have love for this movie, I really enjoy it and even after 4 times in theatres I want to go again. There were things they could have done better but in the end what they did do was still great so I’m more than satisfied.
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My expectations for the next movies are very high and they have big questions to answer. Rey’s parentage and Kylo Ren/Snoke/Dark Side stuff need to be a home run for these movies to have a shot at the perfect 10 and living up to the hype. I really hope Rey is Luke’s daughter but I have a feeling she will be a Kenobi. Next movie after 8 is a Kenobi film and you can kinda make the connection work with what we have seen. Like I say I hope she’s Luke’s as I think that opens up a more interesting story but as long as it is done well I’m cool with it. Kylo Ren should have a big role and the explanation behind Snoke and who is really pulling the strings needs to be good, we should get introduction to the Knights of Ren this movie which will probably be awesome. The war between good vs evil should kick up a notch and the KoR will have a big role.
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They have set up so many confrontations I just can’t wait to see them all. Kylo Ren vs The Mighty Chewbacca has to go down, esp now after killing Han and taking a significant blow from Chewie’s blaster. That fight will be fn epic. Kylo vs Rey II. Kylo vs Finn II. Finn vs Phasma. Kylo vs Luke. Rey vs Luke? Luke vs First Order red shirts. If Benicio Del Toro’s bounty hunter killed Rey’s mother you can add Luke vs BDT, Rey vs BDT. So much action coming, they would really have to try hard to screw this up I think. They have a Han Solo type character in Poe Dameron, I’d love to see them create a Red Baron type character in the First Order to be his rival. They have the CGI to create some epic fight flying scenes and for a badass character like Poe he needs a worthy rival to go against.
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So that finishes up my Star Wars: The Force Awakens review, as I said earlier I feel it is the ultimate 8/10 movie. Could have been better but was still great. At the very least I’m just glad to have a new Star Wars movie to watch and review. Disney has big plans for the Star Wars universe including many more films so new stories and characters are coming, that’s why it was a great decision to give us a nostalgic first movie. Give us our last taste of the old stuff before going off into new directions with no looking back. I think in 5-10 years when we are far removed from the original story we will appreciate TFA more. I’m looking forward to seeing it 1or 2 more times in theatres and then getting my own copy to get me through to Dec 2017 haha can’t wait to see what they do and where we’re going. Hope you continue to enjoy the movie and may the Force be with you!
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Prediction for the next movie title – Star Wars Episode 8: Knights Have Risen