Movie Review – Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens

Starring: Daisy Ridley, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, Gwendoline Christie, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, John Boyega, and Mark Hamill.

Let me go on record and say I realize this will probably be the least read review I have ever written, which is saying a lot. Rest assured, I am going full on spoiler free with this review, as you will not see one plot point given. Except for this one.  Despite my highest of hopes that it would happen, there is absolutely, positively NO appearance of Jar Jar Binks. Damn.

So what am I going to say in this review? I am going to give my thoughts on what is undoubtedly the most anticipated film of our generation. In 2012, Disney put all their eggs in this basket, paying over $4 billion for Lucasfilm, while simultaneously hoping to resurrect the Star Wars cash cow that enjoyed the highest of financial success in each of the four previous decades. I want to reiterate that the pressure on everyone to make The Force Awakens as good as can be, especially given peoples’ at times unwarranted hatred toward the prequels, is incoherently high. Press releases that promised no midichlorians, as well as a more practical approach to the film’s effects, seemed to calm people down, and all hopes were risen even higher that this would be THE definitive Star Wars film.

Have no fear, Star Wars fans. Director and co-writer JJ Abrams has brought a sensibility and aura to his Star Wars entry that will undoubtedly please those coming in looking for more of an original trilogy feel than the last. Sometimes too much so, as even story beats from that trilogy are rehashed. On top of that, some nice nods and sly winks are given, and Abrams takes extra care to give audiences a memorable ride through both nostalgia and modern keenness of each and every cinematic mind.

But what Abrams and co-writer Lawrence Kasdan -returning to the series for the first time since 1983’s Return of the Jedi– knew they needed in order to make The Force Awakens successful, was an emotional anchor. And latching onto the bottom of this impassioned and wavy ocean, is the relationship between Rey (Ridley) and Finn (Boyega), which in all honesty is very well outlined. The decision to make the ‘space opera’ portion of Star Wars lore not lose any steam and move up there with Return of the Jedi‘s -and I would argue Revenge of the Sith‘s- emotional core was a great one.

But this would have not been pulled off had it not been for the performances of both Ridley and Boyega. Ridley in particular has such good emotional beats that it rivals Fisher at her best in Empire. Abrams puts her through the ringer here, as there are times her character has to turn sympathies around on a dime, as a hard hitting action scene was literally right around the corner from her emotional drawback feelings of the previous frame. But her character of Rey is a huge highlight and will no doubt be one of the film’s most talked about aspects. Boyega has his moments, but some of his beats unfortunately fell surprisingly flat with me, and he seemed to be the one actor here who is playing his wide-eyed fanboy tendency as opposed to his supposedly layered character. Speaking of falling flat, don’t even get me started on Driver.

As for the overall film itself, I couldn’t help but feel more than slightly disappointed in Abrams’ inability to tone down his directing style and focus on one storyline at a time. His style is so bombastic and so fast paced that the propulsive nature of The Force Awakens more often than not works against it rather than for it. Star Wars is at its best when it lingers and allows us & its characters to take in what was just seen and heard. The few twists that are in the story (nothing I will divulge here) are done without having characters who feel them. It’s almost as if Abrams wants to move on and give away all his tricks at a more rapid fire clip than do what needs to be done with new characters, which is develop them.

I am not even going to talk about how each of the returning characters are used, because experiencing them in The Force Awakens is part of its fun. However out of all the returns to this franchise, it is Kasdan’s which is most satisfying. The film’s dialogue flows more freely than it has since the original trilogy, and the sharpness of its wit is both surprising and welcome. Plus, instead of getting to know characters while revolving the story around senate hearings, Abrams makes it all about the entertainment factor. Is that a bad thing? The cinematic Star Wars universe, despite its multiple book and videogame built worlds, has never been much more layered than what was on its initial surface. So the world Abrams and company is creating works, even given its very own complete absence of layers.

Make no mistake about it. The Force Awakens, almost fittingly, makes me feel young again. So much so I am going to use the oldest critical description in the book to describe what I think of it. I feel there are times it will make you laugh. There are even times it will make you cry non-manipulated tears. Will it make you think? No, not really. As it shouldn’t. The Force Awakens is a fun movie. It is an entertaining movie. But on grounds of it not leaving any lingering effect on my emotions afterward, it was an indifferent film going experience. Far from unpleasant, The Force Awakens will please those who hold those ‘evil’ prequels in such low regard. But even with a fun source of comedy named BB8, Abrams comes within an eyelash of making The Force Awakens much more than a mildly memorable film, as opposed to one that qualifies as a Star Wars experience.

7.5 out of 10