Review of Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) by Theapplegnome — 02 Jan 2016

J.J just successfully did what the creator himself couldn't do with the prequels. Star Wars has returned to its roots where humor, action and beloved characters are all combined in a flawless way.

*Spoiler free review* ’Star Wars The Force Awakens' is a wonderful journey of, once again; good and evil. It’s definitely the most character-driven movie of the franchise to this date, and it really is a good one. We see similar faces and a bunch of new ones. Rey, Finn & Han are the major players and they all have a spectacular chemistry and surprisingly much humor. We experience wonderful development of both old as new individuals, and the acting performance of this diversity-friendly flick is five-star worthy! One character’s fate is a big event in this film. Some of you might find it like a smart move meanwhile others just find it like a bad one. I think it gave the film a brand new future. But it’s still a bad choice by the writers from a story-perspective. Can the franchise really continue after this event? The moment could also have been much more powerfully presented.

Rey is probably going to be the new favorite of this trilogy. She’s smart, funny, independent and just fantastic. We see her develop in a wonderful way, but there are two moments in this film where her character might have been too rushed into development. But this might be further explained in episode 8 & 9, were they probably will establish more background to her character. Kylo Ren is another big individual in this space-epic. As the main protagonist does he somewhat hold up as the new Darth Vader. Sure, he's not as menacing nor as awesome but he's without any doubt one of the best villains in the whole franchise (and the most complex).

But there are a few minor aspects with that make him look a bit flawed. He got a very special behavior and I do find it very unique to see a villain like him act like this. But there could have been much more understanding to why he act like he does. He sometimes come of as an immature and childish villain, and I miss a better background why he act in this peculiar way. The second time I saw this film though, made me look at Rey's and Kylo's flaws in a much less critical way. There're hints throughout the film that might give an inside to why they are as they are. J.J and his mystery box; I should have known it wouldn't be simple enough to notice everything in the first viewing.

The movie starts in a very high-paced way and it continues to be exactly that throughout the whole flick. I especially love the first act; it's the most character-driven, action packed and intense part of the movie. There, characters are quickly introduced and the feel throughout the movie is very "SW-ish, it really is a return to the old days. But 'The Force Awakens' might use too much of the old ingredients and less of new ones. There are very many similar aspects from the original trilogy, perhaps too many. The lack of originality of the plot in the 2nd and 3rd act made the film a bit meh, I wanted more to happen since there weren't that many original nor mind-blowing scenes. It's kinda the same with the action; very similar to the old days and too remake-ish. The second screening did however boost the action-feel, even though there could have been more originality and power to the action.

Those were pretty much my biggest complains about this film. The plot is very remake-ish yes, but I still enjoyed it and it never drags along! It's great to, after have seen the film three times, still have several questions that remains unanswered. There are tons of aspects that could have been better yes; like that the music had too little drama, power and thrills or that there wasn't enough space or that too many scenes were shown in the trailers. Yes, the film got flaws. But ohh boy it's good. It's been thirty years since RoTJ and we still, after seen the film, got questions. Everything basic with the film is excellent - flawless dialogs with humor, minimum exposition are presented in a very discrete way, splendid & unique J.J-cinematography and one of the most emotional endings in the franchise (but a bit too convenient).

Everything that George Lucas failed to deliver in the prequels are top-notch in this film! Star Wars has finally returned, and it really uses a lot of its passed self to build this new foundation on. Sure it’s no 'Empire Strikes Back', but it didn't need to be. It’s one of the best in the series, but not as inventive! J.J Abrams gave the franchise new energy, but perhaps too much to please the fans and forgot the regular moviegoers. It's a character driven fan flick, and it got better after every time I saw it (3 times). There're lots of teases throughout the film that really did diminish the flaws that are mentioned above, and it took time to notice them.