Movie Review: The Force Awakens · 8:59am Dec 20th, 2015
Wow...
I can honestly say I was not expecting that. The single biggest and most influential piece of art and entertainment to affect pop culture of all time. It contains one of the largest and most active fanbases. It’s a legacy series spanning decades with its own highs and lows. The marketing department from Disney was carpet bombing this movie on every single media outlet it could get to the point where even Star Wars fans were getting sick of the hyper saturation. Could it possibly hold up to all of that anticipation?
The decision has come in from most critics, and the answer is yes.
Let’s be clear: I have deliberately avoided any and all information concerning the movie for as long as I could. I saw a trailer, and a teaser trailer, and nothing else. I didn’t look up any set photos, author interviews, frame-by-frame deconstructions of any of the trailers, nothing. I wanted to go in completely blind and judge the movie entirely on its own merits. I have also not seen the original trilogy in a good decade. As for Lucas’ prequel trilogy? I can’t even remember much other than whining and sand.
I would say just skip this review entirely and see it for yourself. Do not let any information taint your viewing experience. However, I am a professional, at least the nametag drawn in crayon says I am. I will be avoiding spoilers for as long as I can, and any spoilers that I deem worthy of note will be issued with a spoiler warning. So, how is the movie?
It’s been about thirty years since the destruction of the Death Star over Endor. Luke Skywalker(Mark Hamill), the last of the Jedi, has disappeared and no one knows where he is. To make matters worse, the resistance movement wanting to reinstate the republic is on the ropes as the fragments from the Empire consolidated into the force known as the First Order to fill in the power vacuum. The resistance sent their best pilot, Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) to retrieve a star chart of Luke’s last known path through the galaxy in hopes of gaining his aid. Yet the First order is hot on his trail along with Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), a cloaked figure with powerful force abilities of his own.
On the technical side of things, thank the Sith’ari that George Lucas had nothing to do with this one. Director J.J. Abrams shows his usual flair and attention to detail, along with several nods towards fans. The biggest of which is a special reliance on practical effects over CGI and computer animation. Adding additional and sometimes unneeded CGI scenes into past installments is already part of infamous Star Wars lore. What I really like, and what Abrams promised, is that he used practical effects unless it was absolutely necessary to use CGI. BB-8, that cute little droid you’ve probably seen trolling around, isn’t a special effect. In fact, what impressed me most of all was that I had trouble telling what was computer generated and what was not. This is a good thing. Not only does it show that the technology has finally caught up with the sheer scope of Star Wars, it is proper use of CGI. CGI for the sake of CGI has always been terrible because it has been pandering to the lowest common denominator. It’s supposed to enhance the experience, not be the experience.
If I could say one thing about the movie, it’s back to basics. A movie is only the sum of its parts. When scouting talent for The Force Awakens, Abrams hired writer Lawrence Kasdan, the same guy who worked on the original trilogy. John Williams, a name you might know as the composer of all the films, was also scooped up. It’s a distinct move away from Abrams’ usual formula, but it does lend credence that he did his homework on who would be best to create the Star Wars universe. Abrams has some directorial chops, but one thing he struggles with is dealing with works he hasn’t created from scratch, such as Star Trek’s notoriously bumpy reboot.
I really liked the casting for the film. I was nervous at first because John Boyega and Daisy Ridley, relative unknowns, were cast in very prominent roles. That is a terrible idea, but at the same time it got me thinking; Star Wars did the same when casting Mark Hamill as Luke, along with the roles of Han Solo and Leia Organa. Coupled with the biggest franchise of all time, it’s a lot of pressure to put on people. Where it didn’t work so well was Hayden Christensen as Anakin. So color me surprised when Rey (Ridley) and Finn (Boyega) proved to have some of the strongest roles in the movie. In fact they outstrip some of the legacy cast members at times, even when they are in the very same scene.
My inner movie nerd was absolutely squealing when I saw the sets. The desert planet Jakku, the fascist-inspired Starkiller base, Maz Kanata’s cantina; the realization that these places were shot on location was something short of cerebral. Doing so lent a massive layer of realism to a movie that was very much dependant on fantastical elements. Star Wars certainly isn’t noted for its realism, but it does have an internal sense of consistency, at least when the director isn’t concerned about selling toys as much as he is making a movie. Items like BB-8 are actual, physical things that are meant to perform in front of the camera and not digital effects inserted like afterthoughts. This world breathes. There are aliens in the background that I know I missed, and when i did take a moment to look around, it was just people doing normal things.
When something is on screen, more often than not it is actually there. There’s a careful balance to be had when creating a story more heavily revolves around fantasy. You must make a choice between to include more to make your movie more immersive, and less so that it isn’t bogged down by a bunch of unneeded garbage. Does this character need to be here? This scene? This place? This is as much a job for the editors as it is for the director, but I believe this movie found that careful balance.
Keep this point in mind; I’m coming back to it in just a moment. Part of what makes the Star Wars universe so enthralling to some is its wide selection of people and places, especially in the expanded universe. Assassin droids, the Mandalorians, bounty hunters, Sith, Jedi, super weapons, legends, and such all help to enrich a story. It’s something I both like and don’t like about this movie. A large chunk of it follows the perspective of Finn, who you may remember from the trailer as the guy wearing the Stormtrooper armor. He’s disgusted with his lot in life and wants something more. It’s a classic “What more is out there?” trope, but while it is valid, I still feel that the movie could have done so much more to make his choice more impactful to me. I accepted them, but it didn’t feel meaningful. I wanted more.
The Force Awakens feels like a fleshed out movie that had a legitimate, expansive universe filled with thousands of stories yet to be told. This is good. I like having that feeling that there is more than what we’re shown, that I missed so much by watching the main characters and not what was going on in the background. Yet at the same time, we’re not getting a complete picture. I feel like Finn has plenty of reason to hate the Final Order, but as an audience member, I don’t see it. I understand his emotions, but not why he has them.
The story is great, but it feels like there is a lot missing. Rey’s looking for something in the movie that keeps her on Jakku (I won’t say why), but it feels like there’s a lot cut out. A lot feels cut out explaining why the Millennium Falcon is where it is. The reasoning makes sense, but again, more satisfying details are missing.
Expressing this point is a little difficult. How it is portrayed isn’t bad. In fact, if all of these little details were present, it might add too much fat to the movie and bring down the pacing. Still, I believe it is something that is worth mentioning. I’m just not sure if this was a choice by Abrams or the editors.
If I had to gamble, it would be Abrams, however, because I don’t see the editors doing the hyper frenetic editing commonly associated with most action scenes. Take a moment and watch this video of Captain America’s elevator fight in Winter Soldier. Seen it? No? Alright, but here’s the question.
How many cuts were made in that brief scene? Let’s shorten it: how many cuts were made in the fight itself? I counted over sixty before I stopped caring. That’s almost a cut every second. It’s been a real problem in most modern action movies that embrace this technique. I’ve seen it called the ADD editing for the ADD generation, but to me it feels just plain insulting. Hyper fast editing feels to me like the editors are utterly terrified of losing the attention of the audience, so they keep throwing more and more at them in desperate hope of keeping them placated.
The Force Awakens doesn’t use hyper editing, and as an added bonus it keeps the camera panned back in several fight scenes in order to give the audience a wider view of the carnage. Panning back is certainly the best move because many of the battles aren’t just battles, they are skirmishes that sometimes go into full-scale battles. Panning back, even from the main characters, shows the damage being wrought and the lasting consequences, that the movie cares about more than just the leads.
What I like best in the film is its representation of the Force. I will just say it outright: the word midichlorians isn’t even mentioned. That alone is huge. We’re back to basics here, but by the same token it’s not quite the same as the original trilogy. In four, five, and six, the Force was portrayed akin to an omnipresent magic force that existed in harmony with both Jedi and Sith (to grossly oversimplify it). It’s a less technological power in a world dominated by technology. That was ruined in the prequel trilogy with the introduction of midichlorians (yes, I’m still a little salty). The Force Awakens does something a little... different. It keeps that magical fear, but there is an instinctual feeling of dread whenever the Force is wielded by the Sith known as Kylo Ren. I was frozen in my seat, the only sound in my ears being the deep thrum of base that tickled the back of my spine. It was primal, almost base instinct. Here is someone with power I do not understand. The Force is invisible, but the movie makes damn sure you feel it.
It harkens back to the Emperor on his throne in Return in the Jedi. With the guards clothed in red in the background, the symbolism was obviously meant to invoke feelings of the devil mythology. Here was the one true evil that needed to be defeated by the classical hero archetype known as Luke. Just seeing him, we know this man is wicked. His modulated voice, face-concealing mask, and vast power of a force beyond a mere soldier with a blaster gives that same feeling of evil.
The light side and the dark. The Force itself isn’t evil, but the people that use it can be. When speaking of the light side of the Force, here we have that glimmer of hope and righteousness, that feeling of immortality when so close to death and battle. I can’t really say much more concerning the Jedi or the light side because the movie has a distinctly more heavy emphasis on the dark side. But boy, when the Sith and the dark side come on screen, you are in for a treat.
I see know I have been a little obtuse and vague about much of the movie. Understandable, but it come bring back to my suggestion above: I don’t want to say anything, and you should see this movie before I give you anything. I will be talking about a few topics now in a little more depth, so I will be issuing a SPOILER WARNING here.
Be warned...
When first hearing that Hamill, Fisher, and Ford were coming back to the movie, I was excited as all hell because there are few that know the movies and characters better than these three. Considering so much of the series was spawn from their character’s actions, it’s hard to argue with that opinion. I liked bringing them back in theory, but execution is what matters.
I had heard that Mark Hamill was offered a lot of money to keep his trap shut about his role in the movie. It’s a way to increase hype because if you tell them too much, people have less reason to see the movie. I was shocked to see that Mark has, at best, a whole minute of screen time.
This movie is very much a remake of A New Hope in the sense of a hero’s journey. Instead of Luke, we have Finn and Rey, but it uses the same formula. It’s not that the formula was bad, but while it’s not the same movie, it feels like it’s following in its father’s footsteps a little too closely. I’d say about every ten or twenty minutes, the movie nudges the audience we piece that fans might recognize from the older trilogy. We see a desolate and crashed AT-AT walker and Star Destroyer. “Yay!” goes the audience. Then we see the Falcon. Then Han Solo. Then Leia. Then R2D2. It almost feels by the numbers, constantly nudging people with “Hey, remember this?”
It’s a great story, but we’ve heard the story before.
I liked Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren, until he takes off his mask. It’s partially because Driver has such a punchable face, and partially because taking off the mask humanizes a person who was until that moment portrayed as almost a monster. When he’s masked, he doesn’t just carry a scene, he freaking suplexes it through the floor. He’s a beast. Yet when the movie tries to humanize him and takes off his mask, those scenes are both tonally inappropriate, and not satisfying. It’s hard to explain my feelings on him because he’s an important part of the movie, but I feel like there are a lot of missing pieces to the story that are to be filled in during later installments.
In Return of the Jedi, Luke almost does over to the dark side himself. In the Force Awakens, the reverse happens where Kylo Ren is constantly tempted to return to the light. It lacks emotional substance. You may remember seeing Darth Vader’s helmet in the trailer, and it’s a relic Ren holds in high regard because, one of the biggest spoilers in the movie, Vader is his grandfather. He wants to complete the mission of Vader and bring order to the galaxy and become a master Sith. Where missing pieces in a movie can make it feel like it has a larger scope at times, here it does not work in its favor. More is needed to empathize with him.
I love the special effects on the lightsabers. One if the really cool features in the film is that whenever a lightsaber is active, it lights up the nearby objects in a similar hue. It’s really cool and a nice nod. There is one thing that kinda bugs me, however. Finn uses a lightsaber on more than one occasion. He is not force sensitive, so he can’t be trained as a Jedi. Seeing people using a lightsaber that can’t use the force makes it feel... I don’t know, less special? I’m speaking strictly about the original trilogy. When someone brought out that humming sword, you know shit just got real. Having Finn pull it out, and actually be fairly proficient with it, feels wrong somehow. Consider it a personal preference.
There is one more spoiler to talk about, and it’s the only one bigger than the lineage reveal. I won’t reveal that one, because saying it won’t help the critique.
To wrap up the rant, and because I’m nearly at five pages, I think it is a quality film. There are several holes in the film, but I can’t discern if they are plot holes, or if they are pieces to be filled in during later films. I can’t say if it’s a good thing or a bad thing because I literally have no idea. Cinematography and CGI is top notch with a reliance on practical effects. The battle scenes are massive and amazing, and the portrayal of the force is both parts fantastic and terrifying.
Yet this movie still very much feels incomplete. A New Hope had Luke going through a hero’s journey that eventually cumulated with him saving his friends and destroying the Death Star. Beginning, Middle, End. There’s pieces missing and while the movie is filling, I feel a certain sense of emptiness. Make no mistake, I love this movie and will see it in theaters a second time, but be warned that it may not answer all of the questions it poses. It’s a good film. Maybe even a great film.
But only you can decide. You know it to be true.
I went in to see this movie today with low expectations and was pleasantly surprised to find that they were unfounded. While it's a glaring copy of the original trilogy, (including the same call to action and even coming with its very own version of the Death Star) I was happy to see that there was a competent director this time without the likes of Jar Jar Binks or any shitty romance to ruin the narrative.
I agree with you on a Finn as a character and Ren's face just stealing away any fear and respect the audience may have had for him. Finn's betrayal of the First (Final? I may have misheard or you've got a typo in there) Order felt rushed, I mean, that was his first battle and suddenly he decides this isn't for him? I mean come on man! You've been indoctrinated your whole life to do this! That is some bad training if you break after just one fight. As for the second point, I loved Ren as this dark rage filled sith, the scene where he just sliced up the console due to failure actually made me recoil back into my seat for a few seconds. But then he took off his mask and I literally felt any respect and fear I had for him melt away, and in every scene afterwards, even with the mask on, all I could think of was just how mismatched the face was to this supposed powerhouse of a character.
A small thing I wish to nitpick was the lack of screen time for the Stormtrooper Captain (the shiny one? the one played by brianne of tarth from game of thrones?) I thought she'd get at least one action scene, but instead it's like two scenes and then down a trash compactor to possibly her death. I mean Wow, I so glad such an important character was featured so prominently in the middle of the damn movie poster.
Don't mind that last bit, that's just my love of stormtroopers talking. Which I'm very happy they were allowed to look competent in this one.
I believe you missed it when Han Solo ask's Rey where she got the ship, then Han quickly explains that it was stolen from Han, sold to someone, sold to another person, then sold again But I do agree that they gloss over a lot of backstory. Which can be good or bad. I'm just hoping that questions will be answered in the next film.
3635697 I agree, I was hoping to see more of her. It is the first time we get to see a Shock Trooper(or at least the shock trooper armor) on screen, then when one of the Shock Troopers does fight, its someone we dont know and not the badass looking Crome Armor. But I will say I had a nerdgasm during all the dog fight scenes with the Tie Fighters and X-wings. For some reason they just looked more bad ass in this film then the origs
3630922
The galactic rim will soon know the truth. Dark Side. Light Side. Messa has blinded all.
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3635697
It was a very competent movie. In fact, it is one of the few movies that blatantly shows that there is critical detail in other movies, yet still holds up on it's own. It's a Catch-22; the movie is either as is and missing some scenes and a character development, or it adds them and the movie bloats at the seams. I didn't mind Chrometrooper because she wasn't in the movie much, but I was really digging the fascist feel of the New/Final/First/Furher Order. I'd love more movies, but I am concerned that there are going to be so many coming. That means, by necessity, that some are going to get shitty directors and production budgets. I sense a great disturbance on the horizon.
3639540
Yeah, Po was supposed to be ringing all the bells of a new an Solo. I counted ten downed TIE fighters. Ride 'em, space cowboy.
I'm a bit late to the party, but I have a few words to say none the less.
I have to say that I agree with you about Finn. His motivations are clear but we never really get to see why he has those motivations. When he deserted it didn't feel like a choice he made, more like a random whim. I also think that Kylo suffers from the same thing. I can understand them, but I can't really empathize with them.
Their effort at humanizing Kylo didn't work for me at all. Before the mask came off he was imposing and terrifying. Afterwards he just seemed whiny. Before the movie was even over I'd nicknamed him "Darth Emo." Not very mature of me, but it felt fitting.
What I did like about Kylo was that he wasn't this ancient sith lord, he was, essentially, a sith-in-training. His lack of impulse control, his lack of skill with the lightsaber, and his reliance on his freakishly strong force powers all indicate that, at the very least, his training as a sith was rushed.
I also like the concept of a sith struggling with being tempted towards the light side. However, the execution was lacking in my opinion.
Honestly, the execution of the film reminds me a bit about Cultural Artifacts by Dan_s Comments.
Interesting plot, intriguing characters, and generally rather good writing. However, sometimes the reader isn't given enough information to understand the context of the events being portrayed, or sometimes scenes come completely out of the blue, without any context or understandable connection to the scenes before or after it, which can result in several chapters in a row that are almost nonsensical. With chapter lengths commonly around 15k it can be a taxing read.