Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) - Review
Originally published May 2016Star Wars: The Force Awakens... It's fine.
I'm not being facetious, either. I liked the movie and I think that The Force Awakens is a lot better than the last three movies in the Star Wars franchise that George Lucas subjected the world to. Still, it seems like a far cry from the quality the franchise managed to achieve in The Empire Strikes Back. You could argue that that's just nostalgia talking, but I'd argue that I've somewhat lost interest in Star Wars over the past decade. I'd also argue that I didn't even like Empire until I was old enough to appreciate it as a good film and not just a good Star Wars movie. In other words, I'm not much of a Star Wars fan anymore and I've tried to remove nostalgia from the equation as best I can.
More to the point though, The Force Awakens is a perfectly serviceable movie in its own right that manages to capture some of the essence of the Star Wars franchise, while inserting some new material in at the same time. Which means it plays things safe. I'm sure there was a great deal of deliberation around the making of this film from Disney and J.J. Abrams about how to make a Star Wars movie that was guaranteed to please fans, but could start a new trilogy of films with new characters. So far, it seems to have been relatively successful, and even some critics think that it's the best writing that Star Wars has had in a long time. How did they accomplish such a feat? For one thing, they remade the original movie without telling you, but we'll get to that.
Image: Disney Lucasfilm
Since I've done it to the prequel trilogy of Star Wars movies, and I don't think The Force Awakens is as good as some of the movies in the original trilogy, let's do a quick, spoiler-free, Fair or Foul of it. Though, you already know that I'm going to consider it Fair, so, spoilers on that, I guess.
Foul: Lack of New
As I already mentioned, The Force Awakens plays it safe. Really safe. If it wasn't for the fact that there were characters from the original trilogy who are now older and still remember the events of their movies, this could have been mistaken as a remake or reboot of the original Star Wars. In some ways, it still is. The plot points, character arcs, and even the little quirks of the original Star Wars are thoroughly recycled here, with a few minor tweaks to make it feel new.
The film has its own cantina scene where it shows off various creature designs with a goofy song playing in the background.
There's a villain dressed in black and in a mask who is powerful, though not necessarily in command.
The villains prefer a particular type of base design—the film even overtly compares this base to previous ones.
Everyone is after a droid that has super secret information.
You get the idea. I wrote all these comparisons out back in December, but the internet seemed to finally catch on within the past few months to the fact that Episode VII is practically a remake. There are many more similarities you can draw between The Force Awakens and the original Star Wars that I won't bother mentioning here.
Image: Disney Lucasfilm
When the first full trailer was released, I speculated in the numerous different directions the movie would go. The shots featured in the trailer led me to believe there would be a manhunt of sorts, and while that's sort of correct, I certainly didn't expect it to take practically the same direction as the original.
Fair: New Characters
While the general themes and concepts are still the same, the new generation of characters feels appropriately fresh. Finn, the former stormtrooper turned traitor serves as an interesting, reluctant protagonist. He fits the shoes of Han Solo's character as a rather self-preserving individual but is appropriately more naive and temperamental. Rey is the Luke Skywalker equivalent of the story who is much more mature and independent than her archetype, having been forced to survive on her own on a harsh desert planet that might as well have been Tatooine, but isn't, because... reasons.
Image: Disney Lucasfilm
Poe is a skilled pilot, whose role is more of a side character, but still manages to make an impact on the plot, much like Princess Leia or Chewbacca. Considering the bro-love between him and Finn, it's hard to tell which romantic story they're comparing here: Han and Leia, or Han and Chewie? Regardless, he's not in it much but has left the impression that he'll be in future installments more. Then there's the primary villain. Kylo Ren is a Darth Vader with a much more conflicted personality, which has the potential to become interesting in future installments. At least they're starting his character off as conflicted, instead of shoehorning it in later, like they did in Return of the Jedi.
Each of the new characters can be associated with a counterpart character from the original movies in terms of their impact and role, but the personalities of the new characters stand out much more. In the original Star Wars, Han Solo was the only hero who seemed internally conflicted about anything, while the others mostly knew who they were and what they wanted. Here, the two main protagonists and the primary antagonist are constantly reconsidering their actions. Finn wants to run away but is compelled to help. Rey wants adventure but is apprehensive about the responsibilities involved. And Kylo Ren has his own demons that I won't divulge here.
Image: Disney Lucasfilm
While some of them may not live up to the standards of coolness their predecessors set for them, the new characters are interesting and charismatic enough to make me want to find out what happens to them next. The performances of each of these actors are commendable and the witty dialogue also helps make the characters feel more alive and human than most other Star Wars characters.
Foul: Fast Action
I can't believe that movie-making has gotten to this level with its special effects, but I've found that I start to get a bit bored with the action when it moves too quickly, which is what occurred during some of the action sequences in The Force Awakens. I'm not sure what precisely caused me to lose interest in the action or when I started to prefer a good character discussion over an action sequence in films, all I know is that Star Wars has become a victim of the fast-action sickness that is permeating movies these days. This subject kind of leads into a much bigger discussion about whether or not Star Wars can ever be as big of a thing as it was, but for the sake of the movie review, I'll just say that the action sequences weren't as good as I expected.
Image: Disney Lucasfilm
There were still some that stood out and were fun to watch. I enjoyed the battle with Finn and the other stormtroopers while the dog fights were occurring overhead. However, much of the piloting sequences and even the climatic lightsaber battle were a little bland to me. What was happening looked cool, certainly with the Millennium Falcon, but, at the same time, it didn't hold much weight to me. It was fast and slick, and it served its purpose in characterization and plot progression, but I felt very little tension or concern over what was happening.
It was a bunch of lights and colors flashing on the screen with everything moving so gracefully that I was bored by it. Part of it is the CGI effect—and I know they were trying to use a lot of models and practical effects to counter that—but a lot of it is just how it's choreographed and shot. Practical effects certainly help in keeping the action interesting because the fact that an object or model is really there gives it contextual weight and movement that we instinctively expect. Mad Max, for example, was a movie that had a majority of practical effects and was an amazing spectacle because of it. However, it doesn't always have to use practical effects to get the impact right. Pacific Rim was mostly done on a computer, yet I was still just as excited when I saw Jaegers punching Kaiju because it felt like there was enough weight and slowness to the action that my eye could linger on what was happening.
A lot of what it comes down to is the movement on the screen and of the camera. If everything is going too quickly, my mind is playing catch-up to process all the information on-screen, which usually detaches me from the action. Man of Steel or the recent TMNT movie, for example, had a mess of action occurring and was a struggle to follow, partially because it was choreographed and rendered in a computer, frame by frame. While I don't think The Force Awakens is anywhere near as bad, I think some of its action sequences suffer from the same slickness-sickness. Of course, it could always pull a Matrix and end up with an obscene number of slow-motion shots, which is not good either.
Image: Disney Lucasfilm
I will briefly mention that there was one sequence that felt almost intentionally underwhelming. The obligatory lightsaber battle was a bit anti-climatic, due to the cinematography and a lack of fight choreography, but it made sense because of the characters involved. Considering this is practically a re-imagining of the original Star Wars, which also had a very bland lightsaber duel, I think it's fair to give this one a free pass. Still, I think the way it was shot could have been done better, as some of the angles prevent the action from being very interesting to look at.
Foul: Less Lucas
I don't hate George Lucas like so many of his fans do these days. I think he has his strengths and weaknesses as a writer and director that were certainly apparent in his movies, including the original Star Wars trilogy, but most people seemed to overlook the obvious weaknesses of the old movies. Then, 15 years after striking gold, he was just unable to get away with it again.
I think George Lucas is great at creating a universe and even making it feel a little magical. Say what you will about the franchise as a whole, I think Lucas was able to build his universe and add a certain touch to that universe that is actually lacking in The Force Awakens. There is some positive, magical quality to the films he's worked on, like Labyrinth, or even his prequel trilogy that I think this new film is missing. Unfortunately for him, that was not always enough to cover up his biggest failures.
Fair: Less Lucas
George Lucas couldn't write dialogue to save his life; some of the worst dialogue examples can be found in Episode II and III. The script of The Force Awakens is by no means a masterpiece of incredible writing, but holy crap, it feels like a breath of fresh air. There are some actual witty exchanges between the characters for a change. It almost feels unfamiliar. The script in Star Wars movies has rarely been great, so The Force Awakens doesn't have much competition, but you can certainly tell the difference here in how the characters talk to one another and how they're able to bring more out of the role through the script and direction. After the stifling performances of the prequel trilogy by George Lucas, the new natural performances of the actors here almost make it not feel like a Star Wars movie.
Image: Disney Lucasfilm
I'd mention more examples of how a Lucas-less Star Wars movie is an overall plus, but we might reach spoiler territory, so we'll end it here.
Verdict: FAIR
I may sound like I'm being a little harsh on it, but I did enjoy the movie, overall. The action scenes had their strengths and weaknesses, much like the dialogue and direction. The new characters were relatively interesting, though there's still room for growth. And while it lacked the spark of Lucas’ magic that the other films had, it didn't feel soulless because it still felt like people who cared about Star Wars made a Star Wars movie. However, the lack of genuinely new ideas and a formulaic attempt at making the movie also made me feel like I was just being marketed to—and not just because I had to sit through a half-hour of marketing before the movie started. It felt like Disney wanted to restart the Star Wars toy and game line just as much as the movies themselves. I'm hoping that by playing it safe this time around they're willing to take more risks in future installments and the franchise as a whole can elevate itself past the quality of its roots.