A new hope in ‘Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens’
From Disney+ and Lucasfilm Ltd, taken from theatrrical release poster
Hello! I hope, whoever and wherever you are, you’re having a most beautiful day and that you’re staying sane inside amidst the chaos of COVID-19. For those who are still working, I hope you are safe and well. I have needed some time to determine my exact thoughts on the New Trilogy’s first instalment – namely, where I would place it on my ranks. The good news is I found a great deal of relief in Episode VII after my disappointment watching Episode VI. Now, is The Force Awakens a redux of A New Hope with alterations for a new generation? I would be mad[der] if I tried to deny that. Do I think director J.J. Abrams did a fantastic job reinventing Star Wars for this next gen? I’m so glad I asked!
After seven films, I am entirely comfortable naming the franchise as a character-driven, sci-fi, western, space opera mish-mash. There is countless action and adventure to be had, such not to be taken too seriously, but when I think of Star Wars, I do think firstly of the characters. For me, the Prequels worked because I loved the main heroes – for better or for worse. The Original Trilogy, meanwhile, was able to carry its third and final instalment because we already had fantastic characters we were behind. With Episode VII, we have five new characters of note: Rey, Finn, Poe Dameron, Kylo Ren, and BB-8. These aren’t the only newcomers, but they’re the ones of importance; BB-8, I would argue, is a fantastic next-gen droid for us to love (after all, while I really enjoy C-3PO and R2-D2, they’ve been holding that fort for six movies/37 years – new blood is welcome). Finn – played by John Boyega – has a definite character arc that is both compelling and easy to support, all while giving us something new: a Stormtrooper as a hero. He is also arguably a force user; I’ll be returning to that particular note later. In short, I liked him; better yet, he didn’t feel like a token POC character, but rather a central piece of the New Trilogy.
A promising concept! Taken from Star Wars: The Force Awakens by Lucasfilm Ltd, cinematography by Dan Mindel
Rey, our next feature Jedi and hero, is plucky, determined, high-spirited and entirely capable – played wonderfully by Daisy Ridley. If I had to give an example of an active hero, I would happily name her. She has drive, she has doubts, and I had a good time watching her story begin to unfold. Poe Dameron, meanwhile, is played by Oscar Isaac – a smart move, given he has such a natural charisma that Isaac brings to all his characters. Setting all the pre-established characters aside, apart from Max von Sydow (what a legend!), Daniel Craig, and Domhnall Gleeson in particular, all playing minor characters – he is an instantly recognisable face with which audiences can quickly identify. And indeed, Poe has a natural likability that made watching this movie even better. His budding relationship with Finn is easily one of the high-points of this movie. Undeniable chemistry aside, I really appreciated Adam Driver’s performance as a conflicted Sith and son of two iconic Star Wars figures, managing to balance his drive to the light side and desperation to remain a Sith nicely done. With this foundation, Kylo Ren has the potential to stand as one of Star Wars’ best characters. All that aside, I do concede that if you had seen the show Girls prior to this movie, it probably took you right out of the film for a moment or two.
Former characters did return as well, and for the most part, I think they were handled quite well. There is undoubtedly a degree of fanservice in the way it’s all done, but a little bit here and there is nothing to bear concern over. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Han Solo transformed into a mentor figure to Rey and the newbies, all the while still being Han Solo. There’s a lot of guilt clearly bearing down on him regarding his son’s becoming Kylo Ren, which I think was well-written, but I remain undecided on if his demise belonged so early in this trilogy. I think there was enough potential for his character to continue on, though I understand why the film chose this lane. All the same… if it had been any more obvious what was about to happen between Han and Kylo Ren, I think it would have emerged out of my computer The Ring style and punched me in the face. At least when Obi-Wan “died”, new viewers didn’t immediately know such was about to happen until the music clues us in. Speaking of Obi-Wan, I only realised with subtitles that he cameos in this film. Well, his voice does, when Rey first happens upon Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber. Anyway, Chewbacca I will always enjoy seeing, as he’s definitely one of the more lovable heroes, 3PO and R2 haven’t changed at all beyond a new arm for the good ol’ protocol droid, and Leia felt like another influential mentor figure to our heroes, her character as strong, compassionate, and devoted to the Rebel cause as ever. What good parents Rey, Poe, and Finn had here, even though one did not see their way to the end (I won’t lie, I teared up seeing Han Solo betrayed as such, yet still reaching to hold his son’s face before he falls into the abyss. It’s Han Solo, after all! How can I not cry for such a character?).
A romance for the ages, taken to new heights. Taken from Star Wars: The Force Awakens by Lucasfilm Ltd, cinematography by Dan Mindel
Luke Skywalker, however, was not handled well at all. Truth be told, beyond his cameo part-way through the film – back in the Rey-finding-the-lightsaber scene – he did not need to be in this film. The Force Awakens had a perfectly good ending in Rey and Chewbacca boarding the best ship in the galaxy, the dear Millennium Falcon (perhaps the best-returned character out of everyone) and flying off into the unknown, the New Republic standing by and watching them leave. This would have been the perfect ending, seeing the Falcon in space and jumping to lightspeed. Boom, cut to black, cue credits. Instead, our top-credited actor is featured in the one scene that became too many, and we have this unnecessarily and blatantly fan-servicey moment that had no place here (indeed, this is how you don’t do fan-service). This would have been the perfect launching pad for The Last Jedi, but the filmmakers just couldn’t help themselves. In case you’re not sure, no, I was not a fan.
A quick side-note here: I really don’t appreciate having to place Captain Phasma – played by the awesome Gwendoline Christie – in the Fett pile, AKA the “we have a great premise here, but we entirely and shamelessly wasted it” pile. But hey, you can’t have everything.
What we do get is good dialogue! Seeing that we’ve gone from George Lucas having an active role in the making of these films to “based on the characters made by George Lucas”, he is not one of the primary screenwriters. And am I glad about that! There’s a lot of humour in this movie, a lot of wit and charm that the characters further bring out of the words. The exposition isn’t so blatant, weaseled into conversations and spread out across the runtime. I won’t lie, this is a big part of why I was so relieved with this film, is that the writing is just fantastic.
The fight choreography is decent as well, I would say. The space dogfight that comprises much of the film’s climax is entertaining, though it doesn’t have anything on A New Hope’s space battle (it would take a lot to match that, but I digress). The various other action pieces that occur – in particular, the Falcon’s initial return on the new planet of Jakku, the New Republic versus First Order (principally the Republic versus the Empire 2.0, only this time, the First Order is not being too subtle about its Nazi undertones)… My favourite is likely the battle between Kylo Ren, Finn, and Rey that also takes place in the climax. However, that brings me to a particular issue that either undermines Kylo Ren’s power or seriously emphasises Finn and Rey’s skills to unsightly heights. I genuinely don’t believe that even if Rey and Finn were the most powerful force users in the world, that they ought to have been able to beat such an experienced fighter, much less a capable wielder of the dark side. I may believe that the moment Rey calls the famous blue lightsaber to her and not to Kylo Ren (one of those spine-chilling moments, I loved it), but that victory belonged to Kylo Ren hands down. Either Rey and Finn are just impossibly good, or Kylo Ren would have had his arse handed to him by many of the Jedi or Sith we’ve seen before. The battle only works if you don’t dwell on it, and as I’ve mentioned both here and in the past, these films are intended to be escapist tales of adventure. Still, though I don’t believe the choreography in this film is as good as in the Prequels, but it’s solidly done, and each character felt unique in their fighting styles, which is always cool.
Seriously, though, for all this entire scene is worth, this part here is one of my favourite moments in the saga. Taken from Star Wars: The Force Awakens by Lucasfilm Ltd, cinematography by Dan Mindel
Meanwhile, the most consistent plus for these movies is the music, and though I found Episode VII’s score to be less memorable than that of the other films in the saga, it’s still a John Williams score.
The story is, as I mentioned earlier, very reminiscent of Episode IV. Despite this, the film manages to balance celebrating the old and embracing the new, offering great new adventures without overloading the audience. Of course, The Force Awakens was in a uniquely secure place – not only was it free of having to set up films in the way of the Prequels, but it had beneath it nearly 40 years of worldbuilding already established. Characters, stories, places to go and places yet to see… honestly, even with ten years between Revenge of the Sith and The Force Awakens to build up hype, this film succeeded in so many ways – and with such a straightforward yet mythos-heavy story, I have many reasons to feel thankful after Episode VI. Does Episode VII hit all the notes? No, not necessarily, but it proved a fun two hours – and what more can you ask for in a Star Wars movie? And with that, my hardest placement yet…
1. Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
2. Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
3. Episode I: The Phantom Menace
4. Episode VII: The Force Awakens
5. Episode IV: A New Hope
6. Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
7. Episode II: Attack of the Clones
What a ship! Taken from Star Wars: The Force Awakens by Lucasfilm Ltd, cinematography by Dan Mindel
So there we go! Honestly, I stared at this ranking for ten minutes, wondering whether Episode VII would place third or fourth. Still, in the end, I think that The Phantom Menace had me more on the edge of my seat than The Force Awakens – that, and Qui-Gon Jinn was in Episode I, him and the Duel of the Fates. But what about you? Did you enjoy it? Hate it? Somewhere in between? Let me know in the comments!
But that’s all from me today. I post (temporarily) on Tuesdays and Fridays! All the same, thank you for reading, and I hope you have a most beautiful day!
— Charis.
