Star Wars: The Force Awakens Initial Reaction
After spending 24 hours processing what I saw yesterday, I
can finally share my thoughts on The
Force Awakens, the newest installment in the Star Wars saga; not just the most anticipated film of this year,
but of this decade—perhaps this century. The wait was agonizing, but sadly,
three years of waiting passed by in a brisk two hours and ten minutes, and just
like that, was over.
But I can’t wait to see it again, because The Force Awakens was one of the most
phenomenal movie-going experiences of the year.
As we were waiting for the movie to begin, I was discussing with
my friends what other movies I had anticipated as much as this one. The ones
that came to mind first were Prometheus,
Godzilla, Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Jurassic
World, but probably the movie I was most excited for in my entire life was
the King Kong remake when I was 11,
which was ten years ago, almost to the day. My excitement for The Force Awakens matched that level of
excitement, then surpassed it, and it satisfied just as much as King Kong did.
This is going to be a pretty short review/reaction, because
I can’t talk about much without getting into spoilers (but I’ll be doing an
extensive spoiler analysis soon!), so I won’t get too specific. The main thing that
impressed me most about The Force Awakens
was the sheer amount of excitement jam packed into this entire movie. Right
from the very beginning, I was hooked, and there was hardly any time for
breathing room, because every scene was thrilling, even the quieter ones. Some
might say it’s too fast-paced and there wasn’t enough focus on certain
characters/moments, but there are going to be two more movies (and probably
more after that) to get more in-depth with everything, so I was okay with that.
Much like J.J. Abrams’ first Star Trek,
The Force Awakens moves at a terrific
pace, and not once was I bored. I actually wished it wasn’t going to end, which
really says something, especially when a movie is over two hours. Abrams and
company did a fabulous job bridging the 30 year gap between Return of the Jedi and this new story. I
didn’t expect it to rival the original trilogy, but I think it’s arguably
better overall than Return of the Jedi,
which I can’t believe I’m saying, but it’s true! It’s a movie that should
satisfy fans of the original films, but it’s also totally accessible to
non-fans. Of course you’ll get more out of it if you see the originals first,
but it’s not a requirement.
Looking back on the movies I anticipated in the past, none
of them, except King Kong, truly
lived up to my expectations. The Force
Awakens absolutely did. This year’s Avengers:
Age of Ultron had a similar issue that I was worried The Force Awakens might face, and that’s one of keeping so many
plates spinning and satisfying so many fans and trying to do so much it
collapses in on itself. Age of Ultron
was good, but it was a disappointment overall. I’m not trying to compare these
two completely different movies, but The Force
Awakens did what Age of Ultron
failed to do: kept all those plates spinning, satisfied as many fans as
possible, and didn’t collapse in on itself. It not only pays tribute to the
original films, but sets up tons of new things for the new trilogy, and did so
extremely well. Not once did the human characters and the emotional core take a
back seat to the action and fan service.
Many of the biggest complaints about another huge film this
year, Jurassic World, included: 1) It relied too heavily on nostalgia 2) the
characters were bland, and 3) It lacked the heart of the original Jurassic Park. I agree with those points
to a degre, though I still had fun with Jurassic
World. Not one of those apply to The Force
Awakens. It has heart, the new characters are great, and the old characters
who return are done justice and handled well. I never once felt like I was
watching an actor portray a character. Everyone who was new felt real, and
everyone we remember are just like we remember, albeit 30 years older. The new
main characters, Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Finn (John Boyega) had great chemistry.
Everyone is already talking about Daisy Ridley being the standout, and rightly
so, but Boyega, who I didn’t expect much from, nearly stole every scene he was
in. Both of them were fantastic, and the new villain, Kylo Ren (Adam Driver)
was formidable, cool, and (thankfully) more than just a Darth Vader wannabe.
As far as things I didn’t like, there are very few. It felt
reliant at times on the original movies, which is understandable, but there
were a couple references that felt a little forced (no pun intended).
Ultimately, what people are going to complain about most with The Force Awakens, is it’s a remake of A New Hope, which I think is grossly
inaccurate. Is it similar? Absolutely, but the story overall definitely differs
enough that considering it a remake is just wrong. It mirrors many elements of
the original film, and one of them is the Starkiller Base, which is just
another Death Star, essentially, only it’s bigger and badder and scarier…except
it isn’t. It features very little in the overall story, and its role in the
story is a bit too similar to the original Death Star. It simply didn’t exude
the dread of the original battle station. The other problem I had was the
ending, which I won’t spoil, but I will say it comes to a natural ending, then
it has what feels like a second ending, and it finishes with a cliff hanger.
All I can say is Episode VIII can’t
come soon enough!
In the end, The Force
Awakens lives up to the astronomically high expectations and delivers the
best possible reboot to the biggest franchise of all-time. Will everyone love
it? No, and I can see a lot of hard-core fans of the original feeling it’s too similar
overall, but I think for a new generation of fans, it’s damn near perfect.
Stay tuned for my spoiler analysis!
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