Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens

Walking into the theater and sensing the excitement around me, how could I not flashback to that day in May of 1999 when The Phantom Menace opened?  There was that same anticipation, that same sense that I was about to witness a cinematic event...I wouldn't be surprised if some of the people seated near me were also seated near me 16 years ago.  Thank goodness, this is where the similarities between Phantom Menace and The Force Awakens end.  Whereas that day long ago ended with personal disappointment and an overall sense of hype that could never be feasibly topped, today I walked out of the theater joyful, thrilled, and transported in such a way that only a truly great film can do.

Director and co-writer J J Abrams has done the seemingly impossible - He has revitalized the Star Wars saga so that it feels just as grand as when the original trilogy was new.  He has brought personality and joy back to the franchise.  Yes, the characters we grew up with are back.  We've got Luke, Han, Chewie, Leia, and the comedy droid team of C-3PO and R2D2.  But the new characters that Abrams and fellow screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan (who co-wrote Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi) have dreamed up are just as great, and may become just as memorable to fans over time, should the sequels treat them right.  The movie feels organic and alive.  Gone are the digital sets from the prequels, replaced with physical ones.  There are even quite a few physical special effects on display, with CG only being used when necessary.  What gave the original trilogy part of its charm is that it looked somewhat grungy and real.  The technology didn't always look perfect or practical.  This is something that was lost in the very shiny and glossy look of the prequel films.  The look of the film not only invokes the classics, but sets its own course that stands out from a lot of recent blockbusters.

Now here comes the hard part for me - How do you describe the plot of the film without spilling the beans, and raising the ire of just about every Star Wars fan (or film fan in general) who can't make it out to see it opening weekend, and has to wait until sometime later to see this movie? (Heaven forbid!) Especially in a film like this, where the tiniest of plot synopses could ruin some potential surprises.  I will do my best to be as vague as possible, but this latest adventure focuses on Rey (newcomer Daisy Ridley), a girl forced to hunt for scrap on a barren desert planet.  Just like a certain farm boy in the original movie, she's about to set off on an adventure bigger than she ever dreamed, and that adventure starts with the discovery of a cute little droid, BB-8, who I'm sure will sell countless merchandise for Disney, the new owners of the franchise after George Lucas sold it to them.  She's aided in her adventure by a young man named Finn (John Boyega), who has his own personal reasons for being on the run from the First Order, a military unit who looks to finish what the Empire started in the original trilogy.

The introduction of Rey as the first female lead in a Star Wars movie is both a bold move, and an obvious corporate strategy.  You can't help but view her as a strategic move to lure in the young and lucrative girl fanbase, especially when you walk through a department store, and see her face plastered all over different kinds of clothing for small girls.  But at the same time, she has been written to be an intelligent and sympathetic character, and Daisy Ridley makes an impressive big screen debut, giving her a lot more humility than your usual blockbuster hero.  She not only drives the plot, but she actively participates, and feels like a genuine part of the film universe.  Her youthful energy also serves as a nice counterbalance to Harrison Ford (whom she shares a lot of scenes with) as the aging Han Solo.  They play off of each other well, both dramatically and during lighter moments.  All in all, she's more than just a calculated effort to appeal to a demographic that's been somewhat left out of the franchise money train up until now.  She's an interesting character who sparks a lot of possibilities in future entries, and I'm genuinely looking forward to see how her story arc turns out.

The Force Awakens really not only resembles the earlier films in tone, plotting and style, but it actually sort of harkens back to the way blockbuster films used to be.  It's simple, it's cleanly edited, it dazzles the imagination and the senses, and the characters are able to stand out even surrounded by countless effects and creatures.  The technical wizardry carries the story and helps move it along, rather than take center stage.  This is also the first "event movie" in a very long time that has actually felt special to me.  After the yearly installments of The Hunger Games and its imitators, it's kind of nice to go back to a grand old space opera that's joyful, exhilarating in all the right ways, and doesn't get bogged down in unnecessary melodrama or franchise padding.  This movie emphasizes the characters, humor, genuine thrills and technical marvels.  The fans who have been following this series for the past 38 years will no doubt not only welcome this as a return to the material that they love, but a new and exciting story that they can actually care about.

But what about those who are not fans, or haven't been following this since they were young?  Is there enough here for them to be entertained?  I say, yes.  As someone who has enjoyed most of the previous films, but never exactly became fanatical about them, I can say that this entry has enough new to go with the old charm that just about anyone who sits down to watch it can find something to like.  All you have to have to enjoy this is a sense of adventure, and a love for classic storytelling.  It's hard to explain, but this movie elicited such a reaction of joy from me while I was watching it.  I wasn't just happy seeing the old characters back, I was thrilled to be having an entirely new experience that was not afraid to have fun.  I was excited by the action sequences, I was laughing at the one liners.  This is the rare filmgoing experience that reminded me of just how fun movies can be.  Of course, all movies set to achieve this at some level, but this one does it so effortlessly, you wonder why more filmmakers can't grasp it.

So, forget the inevitable broken box office records.  Forget the long lines that are likely to be stretching outside the theater through the entire holiday season over the next 2 weeks or so.  While you're at it, forget the fact that you've pretty much had this movie driven into your skull with constant exposure on television and media the past few months.  Just see The Force Awakens for what it really is - A cinematic thrill ride that not only actually manages to thrill, but is probably the most fun you will have had at the theater in a long time.

See the movie times in your area or buy the DVD at Amazon.com!

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