Review of Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) by Lawoftheseas — 27 Mar 2016

Okay, we all knew it. Star Wars VII would never live quite up to the masterful creations of the Original Trilogy. But anyone has to admit, it was a pretty darn good movie!

I am ready to admit, I grew up as a Prequels kid. I had just one VCR tape in my possession and that was Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. Call me deprived, but at the time, I thought it was amazing. Hit 10, I had watched all of them, and by 14, I understood that the prequels were definitely not as good as the OT, regardless of its flashy effects and the presence of Ewan McGregor, my favourite actor at the time (still top 10).

I learnt to love the original ideas of Star Wars - odd band of misfits in search for princess before destroying bastion of evil and representation of oppression in form of moon-sized superweapon. Once I understood these, the core components of Star Wars, story and characterisation, not necessarily the flashy lightsaber fights and big battles, I began to think about how someone should have given A New Hope to Star Wars, even if unable to remove the marring stains of the Prequels. For me, at least, The Force Awakens was that chance.

Admittedly, I joined the hype train. From pulling all-nighters to watch trailers as-released, as well as film theories and snippets of information, to buying a number of Chewbacca shirts in preparation for the big day (howl out to my Wookiee brethren), I was into it. I knew in the back of my mind that it would disappoint. The question was how much.

The answer - not much. Not much at all. As a person who, within the first two weeks, had watched it seven times, I can attest that no matter how much this film lets us down, it drags it up just as well.

Yes, the action was a bit too fast paced, with focus constantly changing from one moment to the next, and the story itself was a bit slow, but I enjoyed it. It played to my nerdy self, giving me hope that Star Wars is going to new places.

So let's go to the nitty gritty. Characters. We are introduced to a cast of new faces, from the maverick Poe Dameron to John Boyega's rendition of ex-stormtrooper Finn. Probably the star of this show, with a beautiful accent to match, is Rey, as portrayed by Daisy Ridley. Her shifts in character and beats in each scene are articulate and well-crafted.

The music is done beautifully, with John Williams reprising his role as Star Wars' composer, and multiple parts of the music mirror those from the Original Trilogy gorgeously. As well as this, pieces such as The Abduction, Rey's Theme and some others have made good additions to the list of Star Wars Leitmotifs.

All in all, Episode VII has made its way into Star Wars history, and I believe successfully. People have been waiting a long time, and it would never have been just as good as the Originals. But certainly it isn't the Prequel trilogy, and that is something very good.