Star Wars, Episode VII: The Force Awakens

It's been a long year, ladies and gentlemen. A long year full of excitement and anticipation. Full of joy and wonderment, full of...OH MY GOD DID YOU HEAR THEY MADE A NEW STAR WARS?! EEEEEEK!!!!!!!!

Yes, just ten years since Revenge of the Sith and 32 since Return of the Jedi (if you're one of those idiots who can't accept the prequels), we're finally getting a, "sequel," trilogy that logs the events of our characters from the original trilogy, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Han Solo, as they grew older and went on with their lives. But that's not all, we've got a new set of characters. We've got new villains, new weapons, new lore, all after Disney straight up retconned the extended universe when they purchased Lucasarts in 2012. But...let's not get carried away with anger here.

The important thing to remember here is that we're all still Star Wars fans after so long, and it feels so wonderful to finally see a new Star Wars movie out in the theater. It inserts a feeling of nostalgia, a feeling of hope and happiness, into your system. When you see the Star Wars logo blast onto the screen, hear the glorious fanfare of Luke's theme filling the theatre's surround sound system, and read that glorious opening crawl text, it invokes a feeling like you've been waiting so long for this one ecstatic moment.

But, fanboying aside, how does The Force Awakens stack up? Well, quite brilliantly. The movie follows the story of Rey (Daisey Ridley), a mostly unknown girl that's living off of selling scrap down on the desert planet of Jakku. Her simplistic world is immediately rocked as she finds herself in the possession of a droid called BB-8, who leads her to former Stormtrooper Finn (John Boyega). They both team up and begin their journey to join the rebellion to fight the evil First Order, lead by Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), as well as find the exiled Luke Skywalker. Along the way they meet the familiar faces of Han Solo, Chewbacca, and the now appointed General Leia Organa, whom all assist them on their journey.

I'm kind of late on making this review, so a lot has been said about The Force Awakens. However, I might as well say it again. This movie is the Star Wars movie we've been waiting 16 years for.

Yes, that comes from someone who tolerates the prequels and even held Revenge of the Sith as his third favorite Star Wars until this movie came along. There's so much in this movie which brings back the glorious feelings that we all had with the original movies. It's got great wit, it's got humor, it has a plot that involves less sitting down and talking politics, and more, "we have to go to the place and do the thing NOW." It feels like an accomplishment to finally be able to say that about a Star Wars movie made after 1983.

I feel like most of this is down to the casting involved. I have to say it: Daisy Ridley absolutely makes this movie in her casting of Rey. She has that sort of look in her eyes that people like Mark Hamill had as Luke back in the original Star Wars, and Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker did in the prequels, only with less whiny bullshit. She seems like a character that doesn't belong on Jakku. She's a character with mystery. With purpose. And that's why I love this character so much. I'm actually anticipated to see where she goes next, and this time I don't know, unlike the prequels, where we knew Anakin would eventually become Darth Vader.

John Boyega as Finn is also a fantastic character. He manages to play it kinda close to home, being a character that's been thrust into a place he'd rather not be, who's trying to get out of it and amount to what he's been dreaming of, and while it's uncertain whether it's for the better of him or to conquer his blatantly obvious feelings for Rey, it's appreciative and rather relatable. Another character I really loved was Oscar Isaac as Poe Dameron, a rebellion X-Wing pilot who befriends Finn. His quick wit really remind me of the old days of Han Solo, and his budding friendship with Finn reminds me of Anakin and Obi-Wan's banter in Revenge of the Sith. It's all great stuff.

Taking into account the brilliant direction by J.J. Abrams and the abundance of practical effects and set pieces, it all comes together to be an excellent Star Wars film, as well as an excellent fantasy film in general. However, like any film, I do have a few complaints. The rumors are true that the story does share a lot of parallels with the first Star Wars. And while it isn't really a movie-killer for me, it still does feel like Abrams could have done something a little bit different. Going as far as changing a set-piece, removing a character, or, hell, changing Starkiller Base (a REALLY un-wanted Death Star part 3), to something different, could have made this movie just a bit more unique. And, like I said, it's not that it's really a bad thing, it just feels like there could have been more done to fix that. One other issue I have is with the character of Kylo Ren. Adam Driver does a brilliant job playing this villain, and he is menacing, but I feel that he's a bit too much like a Darth Vader wannabe. Hell, it's actively referenced in the movie that he'll never be as great as Vader, and he's even shown actually praying to the slain lord of the dark side. I really hope that Episode VIII adds some extra backstory to Kylo Ren so he can get over all that, but otherwise, it's kinda too familiar.

All these issues aside, The Force Awakens is still one of the best films of the year, probably my second favorite of them all (Mad Max still takes top spot). So, that said, I'm awarding 4.5 out of 5 starx to Star Wars, Episode VII: The Force Awakens. If you were at all afraid of seeing this film beforehand due to the threat of being too much like the prequels, then you have nothing to worry about. Star Wars is back, and it will be for a long, long time.