Star Wars may be the myth of our era, the equivalent of Homer to the ancients. Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, and Darth Vader have achieved an existence independent of their original creators or even the time when they were born. They don’t quite belong to the fans either, because they also are discussed by “haters.”
A good sign of a cultural myth is that people react strongly to the story.
Disney bought the rights from Lucas Films, as George Lucas faced retirement knowing many fans no longer trusted him with his own stories. Disney is completing the era of “making up” for mistakes of the late twentieth century having passed on the original Star Wars and letting the creative geniuses at Pixar go.
Could the House of Mouse be trusted with the American space opera?
Yes.
(Now that I have written a paragraph or two to hide spoilers. . . be warned.)
The new generation of leadership at Disney has rebooted the series successfully. Unlike many fans, I found the prequels entertaining, if flawed, and the Revenge of the Sith has one of the best half-hours in the saga, but still they were not as fun as the originals. They had too much computer generated emotion from computer generated actors and too little joy.
The Force Awakens is a return to the original spirit of the series: it takes itself seriously, but not so seriously that it cannot poke very gentle fun at itself. New Hope was after all a tribute to some very cheesy science fiction, such as Flash Gordon. If you want more serious science fiction start with Star Trek and work your way to The Martian.
Star Wars has more in common with Lord of the Rings than Star Trek and The Force Awakens understands this dynamic. Forget the “science” . . . this is epic fiction.
What does the film get right?
The new core actors in the series are the best we have had . . . including the originals. Daisy Ridley gives her overly dramatic lines depth (take notes Hayden Christensen and Mark Hammill) while John Boyega may be the most interesting new actor I have seen in some time. His character showed the most growth in the film . . . due in no small part to his ability to total physical commitment to the part.
Finally, we are getting female characters in good roles. . . not “strong female characters” but strong roles with women. This is all good.
How refreshing to see actual old people playing old people . . .and seeing that both Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher have grown as actors since the original. The romance between Solo and Leia is mature and shows love that no longer in first flower can be just as intense. Ford is the emotional center of the film for me . . . an original Star Wars fan forced to watch a favorite character of his childhood end his career in a worthy manner. I suspect that if this is your first film . . . long, long ahead when I am long, long gone you will be watching Ridley and Boyega part the scene. They are that good.
The writing sadly is not.
Before complaining, however, let me say three more good things. John Williams is a national treasure. Nobody has ever done what he does, the epic film score, as well. The music is a strength of the film. The “scope” of the film, rural settings, is also more Star Wars and less urban. As a result, computer generated scenes can be minimized and this gave the film far more gravity and depth. There are no irritating characters, though one role did come close to Asian stereotyping.
This film will end up being my third or fourth favorite of the seven, however, because the writing is lazy. Five minutes into the film I had the sinking feeling that I knew everything that was going to happen and it all happened. This was acceptable . . . it isn’t as if I did not know how Lord of the Rings ended when I went to see the movie, but a bit sad. JJ Abrams began with an ability to reboot a series set in space with countless worlds and he retold the same story Lucas told in the first film. At times this was demeaning to Ridley’s role . . . as she was Luke . . .only a girl. Fortunately, the actor pulled it off.
The low point of the film is when they show a graphic of the Death Star and then the new weapon and the new weapon is bigger. The climax is anti-climatic. New Hope ends in joy while this film peters out. Perhaps, this is because New Hope had to stand alone while The Force Awakens is already spawning new movies. Once Ford died. . . the movie winds up, it does not end.
There are no surprises in The Force Awakens. . . but no JJ Abrams overindulging in lens flares either. This is a solid outing with a great cast. I only hope they get a writer who does not just have Luke turned into Yoda and an Empire striking back. Abrams rebooted Star Trek well only to engage in strip mining Wrath of Khan for plot. Somebody stop the writers before it happens again.
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