A Few Thoughts on “The Force Awakens”
Or to give it its official title “Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens”. The latest instalment of Star Wars was released all around the world as simultaneously as time differences allow on 17 December 2015. I spent the day with the Star Wars theme ear worming away in my head.
I hope the marketing department at Disney (for it is Disney who now own the rights) get a big bonus cheque because they did a brilliant job in building up anticipation…occasional stills, ultra-secrecy and a few trailers (I know they are part of the Dark Side but Star Destroyers, even a shipwrecked one dashed against sand dunes are an awe-inspiring sight). There was the completely contrived but very effective scene of Han Solo, with Chewbacca, saying “Chewie, we’re home”. And everyone got emotional. Mostly importantly, the trailers assured everyone that JJ Abrams was a safe pair of hands, especially after the three prequels, which we will describe only as disappointing (when it comes to sci-fi no one cares about trade agreements; best to stick with titanic struggles between good and evil, overcoming tyranny and so on).
I saw it over the weekend and was surprised at how excited I was to see it. I almost skipped to the cinema. During the ads, which were all branded in various ways with the Force Awakens, I couldn’t help but think that not only is Star Wars a cultural phenomenon, it might also be its very own economy. It only took twelve days for it to make $1 billion.
But the lights went down and the opening strains of that best known of film themes started and the familiar yellow writing (is it arial, helvitica - when I looked for images of Star Destroyers, I also found blueprints and plans of how to build one so someone is bound to know off the top of their head what font it is) started scrolling up the screen and I was seven years old again.
I had heard that it was pretty much a remake of the original Star Wars and yes, there are similarities (spoilers ahead but you should have seen it by now). A cute droid is entrusted with super secret information which has to be kept from falling into the mits of the bad guys, this time called the First Order which sprang from the remnants of the defeated Empire. There’s an orphan on a desert planet who happens upon the droid and decides to keep it. There's a cantina where the clientele come from all reaches of the universe. The First Order has built another planet sized weapon but this time it is called a Star Killer (the name not quite as evocative as Death Star), not a Death Star and it is actually made from a planet. The orphan, Rey (played by Daisy Ridley, whose life will never be the same again after this movie), turns out to be gifted not only as a pilot but also in the ways of the force (or “force sensitive” as it is now known, according to the couple of online discussions I read). There’s an elder who is considered a myth. They have to destroy the Star Killer by knocking out the shields and blasting away at a vulnerable spot (do the weapons designers ever learn??). And yes, someone important dies in the attempt.
But there are no original stories, and it is all in the telling and they tell this story well. There is an amazing sequence where Rey, the gifted orphan of uncertain parentage, flies the Millenium Falcon through a scrap yard of old space ships, including the aforementioned Star Destroyer. The writers have also set up a couple of interesting characters: It starts with a stormtrooper, Finn, having doubts about being a soldier. The villain of the piece, Kylo Ren (played very well by Adam Driver), is an angsty, tantrum throwing teenager (or maybe early 20s) who, unlike Darth Vader, is yet to master his emotions and therefore is not quite as adept at using the Force as he thinks he is.
Much as been made of the attempt to make the cast of this reboot less white male and it was doing well until the scene in the War Room at the Resistance base, where General Leia Organa is the only woman at the table and barely speaks while the menfolk are talking about battle strategies. But when Rey grabbed the light sabre and fired it up to fight Kylo Ren, I wanted to punch the air.
There’s plenty to enjoy and it successfully sets up many questions to be answered in the upcoming sequels: Why did Ben/Kylo Ren go off the rails? Were Han and Leia bad parents? And why did they split up? If there are no longer any Jedis, why is Rey "force sensitive"? And who are her parents (my guess is Luke is her father, making her and Kylo Ren cousins)? Why can’t the Rebel Alliance/Resistance defeat the Empire/First Order once and for all? What is Snoke’s story and am I the only one who immediately thought of the Wizard of Oz when I saw him? What is it about space that necessitates elaborate hairdos for women? Will Finn and Poe get together in the next movie? Doesn’t Oscar Isaac have the most bedroom of bedroom eyes?
I’ll give it four out of five stars (because there were some plot holes) and look forward to the Episode VIII.
I saw it over the weekend and was surprised at how excited I was to see it. I almost skipped to the cinema. During the ads, which were all branded in various ways with the Force Awakens, I couldn’t help but think that not only is Star Wars a cultural phenomenon, it might also be its very own economy. It only took twelve days for it to make $1 billion.
But the lights went down and the opening strains of that best known of film themes started and the familiar yellow writing (is it arial, helvitica - when I looked for images of Star Destroyers, I also found blueprints and plans of how to build one so someone is bound to know off the top of their head what font it is) started scrolling up the screen and I was seven years old again.
I had heard that it was pretty much a remake of the original Star Wars and yes, there are similarities (spoilers ahead but you should have seen it by now). A cute droid is entrusted with super secret information which has to be kept from falling into the mits of the bad guys, this time called the First Order which sprang from the remnants of the defeated Empire. There’s an orphan on a desert planet who happens upon the droid and decides to keep it. There's a cantina where the clientele come from all reaches of the universe. The First Order has built another planet sized weapon but this time it is called a Star Killer (the name not quite as evocative as Death Star), not a Death Star and it is actually made from a planet. The orphan, Rey (played by Daisy Ridley, whose life will never be the same again after this movie), turns out to be gifted not only as a pilot but also in the ways of the force (or “force sensitive” as it is now known, according to the couple of online discussions I read). There’s an elder who is considered a myth. They have to destroy the Star Killer by knocking out the shields and blasting away at a vulnerable spot (do the weapons designers ever learn??). And yes, someone important dies in the attempt.
But there are no original stories, and it is all in the telling and they tell this story well. There is an amazing sequence where Rey, the gifted orphan of uncertain parentage, flies the Millenium Falcon through a scrap yard of old space ships, including the aforementioned Star Destroyer. The writers have also set up a couple of interesting characters: It starts with a stormtrooper, Finn, having doubts about being a soldier. The villain of the piece, Kylo Ren (played very well by Adam Driver), is an angsty, tantrum throwing teenager (or maybe early 20s) who, unlike Darth Vader, is yet to master his emotions and therefore is not quite as adept at using the Force as he thinks he is.
 |
| Still impressive |
Much as been made of the attempt to make the cast of this reboot less white male and it was doing well until the scene in the War Room at the Resistance base, where General Leia Organa is the only woman at the table and barely speaks while the menfolk are talking about battle strategies. But when Rey grabbed the light sabre and fired it up to fight Kylo Ren, I wanted to punch the air.
There’s plenty to enjoy and it successfully sets up many questions to be answered in the upcoming sequels: Why did Ben/Kylo Ren go off the rails? Were Han and Leia bad parents? And why did they split up? If there are no longer any Jedis, why is Rey "force sensitive"? And who are her parents (my guess is Luke is her father, making her and Kylo Ren cousins)? Why can’t the Rebel Alliance/Resistance defeat the Empire/First Order once and for all? What is Snoke’s story and am I the only one who immediately thought of the Wizard of Oz when I saw him? What is it about space that necessitates elaborate hairdos for women? Will Finn and Poe get together in the next movie? Doesn’t Oscar Isaac have the most bedroom of bedroom eyes?
I’ll give it four out of five stars (because there were some plot holes) and look forward to the Episode VIII.
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