Even if it was horrible, it's only competition over the weekend was the fourth Alvin and the Chipmunks movie, and a decent batch of Oscar bait in the final weeks of the year (and of course these types of movies are always hit and miss with audiences). I think it's safe to say that large box office numbers were a sure thing for Episode VII.
In a sense, that may have been a bad thing. The brand is so pervasive and iconic that for a Star Wars movie to fail it would have have to be absolute garbage to bomb; so that means that any cast & crew working on this movie would not feel forced by public pressure to make a good movie. If this was always the case, there wouldn't be so many bad adaptations in the bargain bin.
But I knew, I always knew, that this movie would be, at minimum, a good, entertaining movie. There was just too much love and talent behind this project for it to turn out awful.
The people who made this movie clearly know and love Star Wars as much as everyone who first watched it in theatres, and have re-watched it endlessly on home video. Just how good is Episode VII? Can it truly stand up to the original trilogy? Well, I could just say "Yes, absolutely" and end this post here, but I think something as momentous as a new entry in the Saga was merits a bit more analysis.
Warning: SPOILERS AHEAD! Read the review below at your own peril.
Let's start off with the characters. I just love Finn, I really do. It's such a great concept: a Storm Trooper turning good. It gives us something familiar and new ar the same time, while adding more complexity to the opposition. Not only is having Finn take part in a massacre in the opening scene,(and having his friend die as well) make us immediately sympathize with him, it also gives us more insight into the bad guys, that they will do anything to restore the Empire, Most of these soldiers are no longer just faceless, fanatics doing these evil things just because they're the bad guys. There's mention of behavioral modification and outright brainwashing; so now the soldiers we see on screen fighting for another Evil Overlord may not be doing it of there own free will. In retrospect, it makes the Storm Troopers, one of the most famous mooks in all of fiction mind you, into tragic villains. That's some good writing.
Finn's defection from the First Order is handled a little quickly, but his gradual transformation into a hero is done extremely well. John Boyega has definitely earned an Oscar nomination. When he's panicking, it doesn't feel over-the-top or annoying, you really feel for him. He delivers all the dialogue believably. And when he takes up the lightsaber and faces down Kylo Ren near the end of the film, it's easily one of the biggest highlights of the whole thing for me. Hopefully he'll get out of that coma real soon.
Ok, I need to et this issue out get this out of the way before I go further.
Rey is NOT a Mary Sue. A Mary Sue is a flawless character who overshadows everyone else in the story. This is as much Finn's and Kylo's movie as much as hers. Yes, she's smart, competent, and seems to know everything about starships. But we don't know enough about her backstory to explain how she seems to so good with ships, but we get a good sense that she's had to take care of herself in a harsh environment for a long time. And if the OT has taught us anything, having access to the Force gives you a lot abilities normal people don't have. Once again, great character, great performance by Daisy Ridley.
Kylo Ren. Boy do I have mixed feelings about him. When he's doing his Darth Vader impression, he comes off as very badass and intimidating. But when the helmet comes off, er, well...
He's literally a Darth Vader wannabee, a guy who is literally obsessed with Darth Vader and carrying on the legacy of the Sith. Once you see what he looks like and it's revealed exactly who he is, let's just say a lot of cool points get deducted, and a lot of questions are raised. It's like watching a teenager who starts listening to death metal because he's in a rebellious phase. It doesn't help that he looks like an effeminate GQ model and throws temper tantrums like a six-year-old fat boy. Lame!
Ok, his tantrums are funny, but if the rumors I've heard are true, that he's supposed to represent hardcore Star Wars fanboys, that's not exactly the best approach to take with this character in my opinion.
But I will give him this. Once he kills Han Solo, you will definitely want to see him get his ass kicked, and his turn to the Dark Side get a lot more interesting from this point as well.
Yeah. Han's dead. Deader than Obi-Wan (RIP Mr. Guinness). No more Star Wars for Harrison Ford, I guess. Damn.
Really, to be honest, Po is by far the weakest character of the new trio. Sure he's awesome, but all there is to him right now is "cocky hotshot pilot". Hopefully he'll be more fleshed out in the coming sequels.
It was great seeing the old cast again. Ford and Fisher renew their great chemistry, and Mark Hamill has got to have the biggest build-up to a cameo in film history. It feels disappointing, yet appropriate, at the same time.
The other characters don't leave much of an impact. General Hux is basically a younger Tarkin (who admittedly gets to deliver a great speech near the end , Phasma gets barely any screen time, and Snook's character model needs work.
The action in this movie is amazing. That may have quite a bit to do with having a very large budget to work with, but it's more than that.
For example, every time you see someone getting hit with a blaster bolt, people don't scream and fall over dead with a burn mark on their armor; they get knocked back as if they've been hit with a cannon ball. During the big lightsaber battle in the forest, you see Kylo Ren cutting down trees with ease. The CGI is used beautifully to enhance the practical effects, and it all works together really really well. The grand finale includes all the "Star Wars Best Hits". Explosions, light saber duels, starship dog fights, and one final really really BIG explosion to cap it all off. Words cannot describe the joy I felt watching the finale, but maybe this might:
Another thing that's great about the movie is the world building. There are so many details both big and small that make the world feel real and relatable. For example, we first see Rey scavenging from the "ruins" of a Star Destroyer that is half buried in the sand. We also see her cooking the Star Wars equivalent of an instant meal. It's the combined effect of all these elements that make the places we see feel truly lived in. That shot of the Star Destroyer also an ingeniously clever way to subtly show the audience that not everyone has automatically benefitted from the Rebel Alliance winning the war
Now, on to the flaws. Yes, sad to say it, but the movie has flaws.
Let's see if any of the following this sounds familiar to anyone else:
Princess Leia helps a resistance movement to defeat the evil Empire. Our main hero, who lives on a backwater desert planet, stumbles across a droid carrying an important message for the "rebels" , and over the course of the movie our hero(ine) realizes she can use the Force. She is escorted to the rebel base by Han Solo. The heroes must stage a last ditch effort to destroy the superweapon (which of course has one important flaw in it's design). The hero fights a Sith who has personal ties to three of the other characters. This Sith also kills her mentor figure about halfway through the movie. The superweapon is ultimately destroyed in the final battle by an X-wing pilot in a big bright explosion, the villains retreat to fight another day, and there is much rejoicing as John Williams' score plays over the closing credits.
When the critics say that this is a remake of A New Hope, it's not much of an exaggeration. A few important plot details are changed around, the death of Han is given more of a tragic gravitas than Obi-Wan's death, and the three leads are definitely their own characters. Finn is a new concept for the franchise, Po is fighting for a cause from the beginning, not just himself, and Rey's backstory is implied to be much darker than Luke's, and let's face it, she comes across as more mature than him too. Plus, there is no annoying C3PO character to take away from BB8's awesomeness. Yeah, sorry,, never liked the protocol droid. I know he's supposed to be comedy relief, but he's just so damn annoying throughout every. single. MOVIE! Argh!
Ahem, anyway, moving on...
J.J. Abrams and Lawrence Kashdan borrowed so much from the OT that you get the feeling that they were almost desperate to please the fans (who could blame them?) Let's be fair, it's not like A New Hope is that original either. It takes the Hero's Journey, probably the oldest known plot in the world, and puts it IN SPAAAAACCCCE! What made Star Wars feel groundbreaking when it first came out was more the visuals and concepts it introduced to pop culture, but definitely not it's story.
Another big flaw of the plot is that it relies a lot on coincidence. What are the odds that Finn and Rey stumble across the Goddamn Millennium Falcon right when they need it? What are the odds Finn knows exactly how to break into the new Death Star and it's one weakness? What are odds that as soon as Rey realizes she's Force sensitive, she can use the Jedi Mind Trick to escape the cell with just one guard posted there! It gets to be a bit too much for me at certain points in the movie.
It's up to you whether you like the pacing. Like I said, Finn's defection happens too quickly, but other than that it feels fine to me.
What we have here with Episode VII is sort of a miracle, like the first Avengers movie. So many ways it could've gone wrong but didn't. It's still too early to tell where the story stands in cinema history (the box office numbers are another matter), but I think it's safe to say that is an extremely entertaining movie that I would love to watch again (and again). The new characters are written and performed so well that I can't wait to see what happens next. The fact that the sequel is being handled by a very talented director just makes me that much more excited. This movie reminds why we all fell in love with Star Wars to begin with. The action, the characters, the visuals, the action. It all comes together so beautifully to re-create something we all thought could only happen once.
The galaxy isn't far far away anymore. It's closer to us now than it's ever been before.
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