Star Wars -- The Force Awakens
Grade: B
Much like many Star Wars fans, I had my initial concerns when I heard Star Wars Episode VII was in production. After all, Star Wars Episodes I, II, & III had left a lot to be desired, due in part to the overuse of CGI, the clean look of the CGI (my car has more scratches on it than the space ships in this film), unmemorable plotlines, continuity issues (for example, C3PO and R2D2 are unknown to Obiwan Kenobi, Darth Vader, the emperor, etc. in the original films; in the prequels they belonged to young Anakin), and unbelievably poor decisions for characterization (such as making Anakin Skywalker a baby-murderer).
Luckily there's no scratchy meteors or debris in space during The Phantom Menace
That being said, The Force Awakens feels like the real deal. From the color pallet to the lived-in feel of the costumes, the vehicles, and locals, the movie -- which was shot on the same 70 mm film as the original trilogy -- looks like the Star Wars we all know and love.
The use of practical effects, rather than the heavy reliance on CGI seen in Episodes I, II, & III, also helped cement this new film firmly in the style of the original. The characters, score, and dialogue in this film are also in line with the style of the original Star Wars.
The trouble with this film, then, is the plot. The basic premise is a familiar one -- the rebels (now the resistance) and the Empire (now the First Order) seek information held by a droid which the rebels retrieve first; then the rebels go to a nearby planet (now moon) to turn off a defensive force field, allowing their pilots to fly in and destroy the Death Star (now Starkiller Base) which is shown to have the capacity to destroy a planet (now a star system). But the similarities between past Star Wars and The Force Awakens are actually more of a positive than a negative; it makes the film feel familiar and a real part of the Star Wars franchise.
Wait...something seems familiar.... (the Death Star from A New Hope)
However, while this all happens during the film, it's ultimately not the actual plot. The droid who the main characters have been protecting is not carrying plans for the Starkiller Base, but rather a portion of an unrelated map that leads to Luke Skywalker, who has gone missing since his padawan turned to the dark side. Therefore the victory of destroying the Starkiller Base feels somewhat hollow, as it isn't the conclusion to the plot as presented to us at the start of the film.
Further, in order to wrap up the actual plot, after the rebels destroy the Starkiller Base R2D2 comes out of his dormant state to tell everyone he has the rest of the missing map to Luke Skywalker, and Rey takes the map to go to find Luke, presumably to start her Jedi training. A few minutes later, she is face-to-face with Luke, and the credits roll.
Not only is this ultimately an unsatisfying end to the film, but it is also problematic for a number of reasons. First, it means that the main plot of the film, i.e. finding Luke, is only in the first half of the movie plus an additional handful of minutes at the end. This could have easily been rectified by making the destroying of the Starkiller Base the main plot, and the rebels could have stumbled on the map to Luke along the way.
Also, after the rebels have defeated the Starkiller Base and returned to their own base, R2D2 turns on for no apparent reason after being dormant for 30 years. Had Rey returned to the rebel base after the fight and touched R2D2, thus accidentally waking him with the force, the timing would have made more sense.
More importantly, R2D2 has the rest of the map, missing only the small portion which is carried by BB8, meaning that the rebels probably could have located Luke using the portion of the map they had and Princess Leia's force powers, in a sort of galactic game of hot-or-cold.
More importantly, R2D2 has the rest of the map, missing only the small portion which is carried by BB8, meaning that the rebels probably could have located Luke using the portion of the map they had and Princess Leia's force powers, in a sort of galactic game of hot-or-cold.
As Luke Skywalker falls in The Empire Strikes Back, he uses the force to direct himself towards a ventilation shaft, saving his life.
And while we've lost major characters in Star Wars films before, this death seems particularly pointless. Obiwan Kenobi dies in order to become more powerful and help Luke ("You can't win, Darth. If you strike me down I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine"), Yoda dies of old age having taught Luke what he needs to know ("The Force runs strong in your family. Pass on what you have learned. Luke, there is another Skywalker"), Qui-Gon Jinn dies after convincing Obiwan to teach Anakin the ways of the force ("He is the chosen one. He will bring balance. Train him."), and even Darth Vader dies protecting his son from the emperor after turning away from the dark side ("You were right. You were right about me. Tell your sister you were right").
But Han Solo's last line ("Yes, anything") leaves a lot to be desired. It's not a particularly memorable line, a great truth isn't revealed, and he hasn't helped the plot's greater cause.
It may be that the line is supposed to be reminiscent of Solo's final line in The Empire Strikes Back (Leia: "I love you" Solo: "I know"), but in The Force Awakens the line lacks the same emotion and even the reveal -- as unromantic as "I know" may sound, we know he means he loves her too, something he's never outright admitted before.
Either way, the death comes too close to the success of the rebel forces, resulting in a bitter-sweet victory and a lack of a funeral (since the Starkiller Base explodes, presumably with Han Solo's body on it).
Moreover, it seems very out of character for Solo to knowingly walk into such a situation unprepared to defend himself, even if it is his son he is going to face. After all, years of debate have centered around whether Solo preemptively shot Greedo the Bounty Hunter.
Go ahead...Google "who shot first" and see what happens.
Whether he shot first or not, two things are clear: he was armed, and he did shoot. It therefore seems out of character for him to simply walk to his death, regardless of who he is walking to. Leia may have asked him to try to bring home her son, but it's doubtful she would want Solo to just give up his life in the process.
Also, unlike Obiwan's death, Han Solo's serves no purpose to the plot. After all, Obiwan is all that Luke has left, he is Luke's family, his friend, and his mentor; losing him is a great blow to Luke, cementing Luke's alliance to the light side of the force and allowing Obiwan to commune with his padawan wherever he may go. But Rey and Finn barely know Solo, and since they don't know the relationship, and Solo is not a Jedi, his decision to follow the Ren out onto the bridge unarmed seems foolish.
Worse still, Solo is not only denied a purposeful death and a hero's death, but also a time of mourning; when Chewbacca returns to the base he walks past Leia with the other pilots, Rey gives Leia a hug, and the story quickly moves on without mention of him again.
If Rey had known that Solo was Ren's father and that despite the risk Solo had kept his word and done what was right by trying to bring Ren home, had Solo tried to reason with his son while defending himself, and had Chewbacca simply walked in the opposite direction from the rest of the crowd upon their return to the base, Solo's death would not have seemed quite so meaningless.
Leia and Han Solo in the Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer
But perhaps the biggest problem with the film is there is no context for what is happening. After all, to our knowledge the rebels defeated the Empire thirty years ago, and therefore would be expected to be in charge of the galaxy at this point. In fact, on my way to see the movie I briefly considered not wearing my rebel alliance earrings, because, I reasoned, if the rebels won at the end of Return of the Jedi, and the gang is rising up again an evil power, it stood to reason that the evil power would have to have sprung up from the old rebel alliance.
This isn't the case. Somehow, despite destroying the Death Star again, and defeating the Empire, the rebels have allowed the Empire to gain control again, and build yet another giant death machine.
Which makes one wonder, where does the Empire get all its resources? Especially since the storm troopers are now "recruited" (i.e. humans stolen as infants) which means the Empire would have needed to steal tens of thousands of infants a mere five years after their defeat in order to increase their army's numbers to the size seen thirty years later in the film. And who is raising all these babies? And how did Kylo Ren come to possess Darth Vader's mask?
Darth Vader's mask in the Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer
Since Jedi can come back in ghost form to speak with other Jedis, is Ren really communing with Vader? If so, does that mean Anakin is not redeemed as we had thought at the end of Return of the Jedi? If Ren isn't being egged on by Darth Vader, then why aren't Yoda, Obiwan, Qui-gon Jinn, and Anakin trying to talk this boy into being good?
The ghost of Obiwan Kenobi speaks with Luke Skywalker in Return of the Jedi
All in all, The Force Awakens is a true Star Wars film, from the sound to the visuals, and includes some excellent scenes as well as visual and stylistic choices by J.J. Abrams (I loved, for instance the metaphoric image of Finn's helmet with blood on the forehead). While it suffers from some issues with the plot, they are not nearly as egregious as the ones in the prequel movies, and I will certainly be seeing this film again (something I can't say I've ever even thought of doing with the prequels). It is a good Star Wars film, and it is worth seeing.
Oh, and while I'm here, there's just one more thing I feel needs to be said:
Goodbye, old friend. May the Force be with you. Always.
Han Solo from the Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer
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