Firstly, a warning. Though I don't intend on spoiling the big plot points of the film for those who have yet to see it, I will be posting mild spoilers.
Three years ago, George Lucas sold LucasFilm to Disney, along with plans to make three new Star Wars films that carry on the Skywalker story. At the time, I really could not have cared less for anything Star Wars, and I was one of the people who greeted the announcement of Episode VII with a "meh".
Over time, that has changed, and it even got me to go back and re-watch the first six in preparation of the new film. I will confess that I fully intended to review all six before I went to see the new film, and it has been nearly a week since I saw it, but I wanted a bit of time to look at the film a bit more objectively, to let the hype go down before reviewing it.
The film is set 30 years after Return of the Jedi. Luke Skywalker has gone missing following the betrayal of one of his Jedi apprentices, leading to the destruction of the new Jedi Order. The Rebel Alliance has reorganised into a New Republic, and the Galactic Empire, having been humiliated both at Endor, and a year later at Jakku, have signed a Galactic Concordance which disarms them, and they fragmented and disappeared into the Unknown Regions, with the First Order arising from the ashes of the Empire (it's not entirely clear if the First Order are rebuilt from the whole of what remained of the Empire, or whether they are one remnant, with other remnants of the Empire out there). The New Republic, essentially disarmed as well, begrudingly supports a Resistance against the First Order. The film introduces a lot of new characters: Rey, a scavenger stranded on Jakku yet waiting for her family to return; Poe Dameron, a pilot with the Resistance; Finn, a stormtrooper who abandons the First Order after realising the wrong they are committing; and BB-8, a new astromech droid with a ball for a body. On the Dark Side, you have Kylo Ren, ex-apprentice to Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader fanatic (there's a little more to him though that goes into things I don't wish to spoil); General Hux, leader of the First Order forces at Starkiller Base; Captain Phasma, who regretfully is underused in the film; and Supreme Leader Snoke, Kylo Ren's master and the true leader of the First Order.
Without spoiling too much, some say the plot is a rehash of A New Hope. I personally feel that description, while technically not inaccurate, is doing a disservice to the film, as there is enough different to A New Hope for this film to stand out on its own. It's like laying the same charge at Return Of The Jedi's door. I personally find the new characters mostly engaging and interesting (definitely more so than any of the characters in the Prequels). The comedy is timed right and written well. The use of the original characters was done well, with the film not focusing too much on them at the cost of the newer characters. The only real issue I take with the film is the fact the First Order was able to get away with building Starkiller, which is, for lack of a better term, a bigger, meaner Death Star. Kylo Ren's character was done well enough but the choice of actor to play him could have been better (then again, they could have gotten Hayden Christensen to play him).
At the time, I said this film was beter than Empire Strikes Back. Reviewing it a little more objectively, I would place Empire Strikes Back in my top spot for Star Wars films, with The Force Awakens coming in second. The Force Awakens still knocks Jurassic World off my top spot as my favourite film of the year, and this film leaves me optimistic for the next two films in the Episodic series.
Final verdict: 8/10.
No comments:
Post a Comment