Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)
Certified: PG
Duration: 135 minutes
Directed by: J.J. Abrams
Starring: Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, Max von Sydow
KRS Releasing Ltd
There was so much that could have gone wrong with Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the seventh instalment in the Star Wars saga. Thankfully, it is instead a resounding success.
J.J. Abrams has delivered a film that is simple in structure and approach and is very much in the same spirit of the original Star Wars: A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. And it is miles ahead and superior to instalments I, II and III.
The Force Awakens is guaranteed to satisfy the hungry fans with its sci-fi mix of space opera, western, war movie and pulp fiction that had made the original movies so successful in the first place.
I will not go into too much plot detail so as not to ruin any surprises for the audience. The Force Awakens is set 30 years after the events of the last movie and here we find a world where the Empire has now become the First Order under the dominant hand of Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis). His imperative is to utilise all the military strength he can muster in order to eradicate all the rebels.
The Force Awakens reminds us why we love Star Wars
Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) is still young but he is highly versed in the use of the dark force and he is in thrall of Snoke and the memory of Darth Vader. He is on a quest which involves a long lost and last remaining Jedi master.
General Leia (Carrie Fisher) is also on the same mission. She decides to send Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), an X wing pilot, and droid BB8, to planet Jakku. John Boyega plays Finn, a storm trooper who is one of the elite cadre and is rebelling against the training he has received.
Involved in the mix is the youthful Rey (Daisy Ridley), a scrap scavenger who ends up finding BB8.
Veterans Han Solo and Chewbacca (Harrison Ford and Peter Mayhew) end up involved as soon the race escalates beyond anyone’s control.
The film does not depend on special effects which has led to a movie that is strewn with so many details that one immediately feels transported into the world of Star Wars. Abrams goes to great lengths to make sure his audience, newbie and veteran, get fully immersed into this fantasy world. His film evinces the original’s traits and moves on the same template.
The fact that there is a strong mix of new and old characters and actors also keeps the film in its context. In this aspect, Ford and Mayhew are simply spot on as they seem to bridge the classic movies to this new effort with consummate ease.
The film is given the chance to be majestic and imperious, especially in the swathes of cool-looking stormtroopers who may look upgraded but still cannot hit anything that counts!
The film amps up the bad guy role with Driver’s Darth Vader look crossing over with a modernist neo-fascist style that makes for a terrific villain.
In the conscious decision to follow the template of the original three films, Disney is sending out a statement and making sure that all the ingredients that the fans want and need are there from the Millennium Falcon flying at hyperspeed to light sabres looking so real.
It seems that Star Wars is back and with a vengeance; it somersaults over all the high expectations. The Force Awakens reminds us why we love the saga.