Saturday, January 2, 2016

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015, PG-13)

While I’ve seen all the Star Wars films, I wouldn’t consider myself a Star Wars person.  In the lead-up to The Force Awakens, my general thought was, “I’m sure I’ll see it sometime, but do I really need to see it in theaters?”  I definitely wasn’t going to be camping out in a line.  However, the movie’s excellent fan and critical reception – and more importantly, positive buzz about the dual protagonists, a woman and a man of color – put it more squarely on my radar, and I realized I’d better see this movie sooner rather than later (basic plot spoilers.)

In the time since the destruction of the Empire, a new nefarious group called the First Order has risen up, complete with their own stormtroopers and powerful leader in a black mask.  They’ve been terrorizing the galaxy and fighting the resistance movement, led by our very own Leia.  When they set their sights on a(n adorable) droid containing valuable information, it’s up to Force-sensitive salvage collector Rey and stormtrooper deserter Finn to help it reach the rebel base with its intel.  Three guesses as to which “pile of junk” ship they commandeer to escape the First Order, as well as which human-Wookie space cowboy duo said ship-commandeering attracts the attention of.

With the film, there’s definitely a sense of revisiting the greatest hits, and a number of original-trilogy hallmarks get pulled out in additional to the familiar characters; things like a cantina-esque locale and a major clash over a strategically-important droid, along with more spoilery elements I won’t mention, have a pretty strong ring of familiarity.  The nods to the past are clear, and it’s fun to see the old characters again.  In general, I think the movie does a pretty good job of reconciling what came before with the story they’re giving us now.  Han and Leia, for instance, have changed in the years since we last saw them, but very understandably so, and they’re still 100% recognizable as who they used to be.  (The original cast, by the way, don’t miss a trick – everyone does a really nice job.)

For me, though, I’m more excited for the new threads introduced in this movie, chiefly Rey and Finn.  I think I need a bit more time to fully process them (expect a Relationship Spotlight and/or some Favorite Character posts before too long,) but I really enjoy both the leads here.  Daisy Ridley and John Boyega do terrific work as these two characters, and the friend/partner/ally/romantic/whatever chemistry between them is great.  They both have a feel of being very familiar within the Star Wars universe while somehow seeming completely new at the same time.  I’m looking forward to learning more about both of them in future installments.

Other drive-by cast members of note (so many characters, and so little screentime for many of them) include Lupita Ngong’o (Patsey from 12 Years a Slave,) Andy Serkis, Gwendoline Christie (Brienne!,) perennial J.J. Abrams collaborator Greg Grunberg, and Ken Leung (Miles from Lost.)  Fine work all around!

Warnings

A fair amount of sci-fi violence and frightening images for younger viewers.

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