Unless you've spent most of the last couple years trapped in the Old West because of a mishap with your time machine, you know there was a new Star Wars movie released this past weekend. Odds are, you've already seen it too. After the debacle with the prequels, there was a sort of nervous optimism going into this film. The hype was strong with this one. Indeed, it broke records and probably will continue to do so. But is it any good?
Full disclosure: I have a rather unpopular opinion of it. I've often been accused of simply being "contrarian," but that's not really the case. (I avoided any and all talk of this film before going into it, so I had no idea what other people thought of it until after I watched it and formed an opinion.) Still, I will admit that I'm going to be a minority here, and that anything critical or negative I have to say about it is something few people I've spoken to shared.
Let me structure this as a compliment sandwich, starting and ending with things I really liked, and stuffing it in between with some of criticisms or things I wasn't crazy about.
As an aside - these are all pretty overarching praises and criticisms. You won't find spoilers. Indeed, none of the specifics I touch upon briefly are things you won't find in the trailers or even on the poster.
The first thing to discuss is the characters. Yes, as was noted in the trailers, some of the original cast are back. If you really felt the desire for old Han Solo, here ya go! To his credit, Harrison Ford is a professional and doesn't phone it in at all! Personally, I was never really interested in seeing anyone other than old Luke Skywalker, but Ford was a delight to watch.
However, the strength of the movie isn't on the returning cast members. Instead, it's on the new characters, to whom the torch is being passed. The primary group here would be Rey (Daisy Ridley), who is something of a Han Solo/Luke Skywalker hybrid, Finn (John Boyega), who is something of a Han Solo/Luke Skywalker hybrid, Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), who is something of a Han Solo/Luke Skywalker hybrid, the much publicized BB-8, who is the new R2-D2, and finally, Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), who is the primary villain.
These characters make up the core of the film, and on the most part, they're every bit as strong as the original crew of characters. Yes, I jokingly mentioned that pretty much all of the heroes are like a Han Solo/Luke Skywalker hybrid, but that actually isn't a bad thing. It makes them feel like more ranged characters, instead of fulfilling a singular function in the narrative, like the archetypal characters of the originals. It's a good way to go, really. Each character can fulfill several narrative functions, and you can see why any one of them might be someone's favorite (versus earlier movies where everyone wanted to be Han Solo and never anyone else.)
Admittedly, the more I reflect on Kylo Ren, the more I like him as a villain too. His story still has much to be revealed, so we don't really know him too well, but he's already ten times more interesting a character than Darth Vader was. Note: I'm not saying he's as good of a villain! It's too early to call. And certainly, he isn't as iconic right off the bat. (Actually, he looks like he came off the set of G.I. Joe in his design.) However, there are already so many more layers and much more complexity to him than Darth Vader ever had.
To be sure, the strength of Star Wars is in its characters. The stories are always kind of dumb or filled with plot holes or elements that just don't make sense. That extends to The Force Awakens as well, of course. I don't think the characters are strong enough yet to make the film "good," but they are certainly good enough that, for any and all criticisms I have, I'm interested in the rest of their story.
The problem with this film is a bit two-fold. First, it's construction is fundamentally different. See, so much of why things work in the original Star Wars is in the entire conceit of the film. It was designed to conjoin elements from tons of other works; smashing them together into one kind of cheesy, overly simplistic serial story using rather archetypal characters. If you can't buy that concept, there's a good chance you won't like the movie at all. It will come off as too dumb or nonsensical and the characters too generic.
Here, the film isn't trying to do anything like that. Instead, The Force Awakens spends much of its time trying to hit the same exact beats as the original trilogy. J.J. Abrams has basically made a "Greatest Hits" Star Wars movie, just with more interesting characters. More or less, he just spends too much time reminding everyone of the original trilogy. It practically hits every major plot point of the originals. The final action sequence is the end of Return of the Jedi, with some Empire Strikes Back sprinkled in for good measure.
That's probably my biggest gripe with the film overall. I know it sounds counter intuitive, but I wanted it to be a little bit more original and different. The cast is great, but everything else is just more of the same. The First Order is the Empire, without actually being the Empire. The Resistance is the Rebel Alliance without actually being the Rebel Alliance. BB-8 is R2-D2. The Starkiller base is the Death Star. They've got their Yoda stand in. They've got their Boba Fett stand in. They've got their Mos Eisley rip off. They've got their young protagonist destined for something greater stranded on a desert planet. They've got their trench run. They've got their Emperor. They've got their Tarkin. They've got their Leia senses something bad moment. They've got their hero runs off to take care of himself, but returns because he really is a good guy moment. There was a moment I even thought for sure they were about to give us a Porkins stand in too!
The beauty of the original Star Wars is how it was derivative of a ton of other things, creating a unique amalgamation in and of itself. The trouble with The Force Awakens is that it's just hyper-derivative of its own franchise. Which might be pleasing to many fans, of course, but isn't exactly what I was hoping for myself as a fan. Because of this super repetitive structure, I found it utterly predictable - including the big "reveal" as well as the "moment" that everyone is sure to be talking about. For me, hitting all the familiar Star Wars notes just made it drag and feel a bit boring.
The other main problem I have with it is a bit of a larger-scope problem with how Hollywood goes about making movies lately. It felt like so many key plot and character elements were specifically left out to leave people hanging for the next film. I'm all for some open ended elements. It's not like the original trilogy avoided those things itself. But typically, those were presented in a way that suggests, "What's going to happen next?" and less like a "What is actually going on in this movie you're watching right now?"
Basically, I'm not a fan of making blockbusters in the same way they make television shows. Needing to get to the next episode to understand the one you just watched works for television because you get the next episode in a week. In the case of season finales, you get the next piece in the span of a few months. We're literally going to be waiting a couple of years before we can really even tell what is happening in The Force Awakens.
It might be a little unfair to pin that on Abrams, but given this is the guy who made his name in episodic, keep-'em-confused television shows, I'm going to...
I will conclude the compliment sandwich by discussing the lightsaber battle. They nailed it, in my opinion. I totally get why some feel the overly choreographed fight sequences were way cooler. They're faster, and have more of that "cool" factor to them. In context, it even makes sense why the fights would be more skilled in the prequels, since those were all very well trained Jedi or Sith. They're highly trained with lightsabers, and with the Force. Come the time of the original trilogy, no one really has that. Vader is older and mostly machine. Luke is young and doesn't really have anyone he can spar with for practice. Even here, it's not like anyone really has all that much training with a lightsaber.
There aren't any twirls or jumps or flips or anything like that. Instead, we get these exhausted and heavy swings. There is a sort of weight to the lightsabers again. It really did feel like people fighting for their lives! Even though the finale is just a complete rehashing of Return of the Jedi, it does increase the sense of urgency with the heroes, who are fighting to survive.
To be completely honest, I also really enjoyed the fights with the space ships, even though they don't often occur in space, nor do they get the focus they deserve, really.
All in all, the structure of the film, and just how much time it spent trying to remind us of the original trilogy just bogs it down a bit. Some nods are welcome, and some references are needed given the nature of the story, but it really felt like they didn't need to just copy and paste the trilogy into one film. I found it a bit dull and dragging as a result. Similarly, I don't exactly appreciate how the film basically answers no questions, instead functioning more as a step ladder to the next film. Again, some of that is fine, but I'm not into the whole "sacrifice this movie now so you go see the next one later" thing.
But, as far as I can tell, I'm on a pretty deserted island on this one. Some have said they can see where I'm coming from, even if they don't agree, but the end result is that everyone disagrees with my take. Contrary to popular belief, I am not just simply a "contrarian." And by no means am I a "hater." (That doesn't even make sense! Why would I be a "hater" towards Star Wars just for the sake of it? I love Star Wars!) However, it does seem that no one else has a problem with some of the things I found problematic.
Basic point being: you'll probably totally love it, where I just found it ok. Didn't love it, but it didn't turn me off to the franchise either, which is something only Attack of the Clones did. (I never saw Revenge of the Sith in theaters because I thought Clones was so bad, I stopped caring about that movie series.)
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