Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens
Star Wars: The Force Awakens had a difficult job of trying to make up for the horrid prequels while also capturing the spirit that fans loved in the original trilogy. I believe it did it, even it wasn’t the best movie of 2015. It was one of the most fun to watch and will be really fun to watch repeatedly in the future.
The overall plot was like a mini remake of the original trilogy with someone not knowing they are a jedi, with a jedi turning to the dark side of the force, and there is a much bigger version of a Death Star that must be blown up at the end. I did not mind that much rehash because the movie was juggling showing the original characters and also introducing newer characters.
It was great to see Han Solo and Chewbacca again, but I also loved getting to know Rey and Finn. I really enjoyed that a woman was the focus of the movie and could hold her own, even when Finn kept thinking that he was protecting her, she could more than take care of herself and even had to protect him at times. It was refreshing to watch her look annoyed whenever he would grab her hand as if she was a damsel in distress, when she was clearly not.
I was a bit conflicted about Kylo Ren. He was much more of a scarier presence with the mask on, and once he took it off, he lost some of that. It did make me laugh whenever he had a temper tantrum with his light saber, yet it did not feel as annoying as anything Hayden Christensen did as whiny Anakin in Attack of the Clones or Revenge of the Sith.
I loved BB-8 and was so excited when R2-D2 appeared. I knew he would have something essential to moving the plot along since I really feel like he saves the day in every Star Wars movie. He’s the best! I really like robots so of course they are going to be my favorite characters in any Star Wars movie.
I also liked Poe and would like to see more of him in future movies. I think Oscar Isaac is an interesting actor so even though he had such a tiny part in this movie, he still managed to stand out.
Finally, here are some spoilerly random thoughts:
- My favorite part was when Han looked at Chewie and said, “Oh, you’re cold?”
- Did Mark Hamill have the easiest job of not having to remember any lines?
- Why didn’t Chewie hug Leia after losing Han? The first person she hugged was Rey while Chewie walked right on by.
Rating: A-
YES, Mark Hamill did have the easiest job!! He just had to look emo at the end.