Star Wars: The Force Awakens Review

force awakens

Before I get into this, let me say up front that I have no intentions of discussing The Force Awakens without some spoilers. If you haven’t seen it yet and you enjoyed the original films in any way, GO SEE THE FORCE AWAKENS NOW!!! It’s a terrific movie and a great piece of fan service. And if you somehow haven’t seen the original Star Wars trilogy, then that’s a huge cultural blind spot and you should really seek them out and see them anyway. THEN see The Force Awakens. And do what you can to not spoil anything for yourself! This film plays much better if you are discovering the characters and the story for the first time, so stop reading this review and come back when you’re done.

Still here? Seen The Force Awakens? Okay, let’s talk.

I was skeptical going into The Force Awakens, in part because of the reservations a lot of early viewers reported. The obligatory “OMG I JUST SAW A NEW STAR WARS MOVIE!!!” mania was often followed with brief mentions that the plot wasn’t very good, or that the film wasn’t too original. Reading between the lines, it sounded like a film that was really just okay, something that would be carried by the hype until everybody decided it was overrated.

But as soon as the movie actually started, all doubt was swept away. From the title crawl’s first sentence, “Luke Skywalker has vanished!”, I was hooked. The familiarity with the world and style had its nostalgic value, but so many things had changed that simply catching up again was exhilarating.

J.J. Abrams and his writers (including Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi writer Lawrence Kasdan) deserve credit for not babying their audience or over-explaining everything. Like in the original film, we follow new characters as they’re introduced, and the shape of the narrative doesn’t become obvious until roughly an hour in. There’s a sense that the creators trust the audience to go along for the ride, provided that they’re enjoying themselves in-the-moment.

It is in this sense, on a scene-by-scene basis, that J.J. Abrams deserves the most credit. The Force Awakens simply FEELS like a Star Wars film. The script is far less dry than the prequels, and the attempts at humor land much more frequently than they miss. The dialogue is no longer an awkward mess, and while it’s less cheesy than in the original trilogy, it fits the spirit of those movies. Stylistically, Abrams incorporates far more practical elements than in the prequel trilogy, but still relies on CGI for a significant number of creatures and effects. That he manages to make both styles of effects work together so seamlessly is easy to overlook, yet tantamount to the film’s success. In this way, Abrams succeeds in modernizing Star Wars where Lucas failed 10-16 years go.

Another concept that Lucas pioneered with the prequel trilogy but is performed more effectively here is the idea of “rhyming” the film with the originals. Whereas Lucas “rhymed” the movies by improbably shoving original trilogy characters like C-3PO, R2D2, and Chewbacca into moments in which they shouldn’t have been, Abrams instead adopts various plot elements and story beats from A New Hope and recontexualizes them for The Force Awakens. A stolen plan embedded in a droid, a desert planet, a rebellion, a character disguising himself as the enemy, a powerful family lineage, the death of a previous-generation character, an attack on a massive super-weapon…so much of it is here.

However, despite what you might hear from fans and critics on the internet, The Force Awakens IS NOT a carbon-copy of A New Hope. These elements are all present, but tweaked and remixed to provide for a brand new story. It’s not as if they just threw darts at plot points to decide where to assign them, either. The changes they make to the characters and formula allow the filmmakers to approach the core concepts of the series from completely new angles.

Take, for instance, the temptation of the dark side. This is the core conflict of the first six films, with Anakin ultimately giving into its temptation and Luke denying it. In those films, it is suggested that the dark side is a part of both Anakin and Luke’s nature, but it is our own free will that allows us to keep with the light side. It’s a conflict of our inherent nature and our willpower, where only the strongest can prevail.

While the original trilogy sticks to this palette of nature and willpower, The Force Awakens adds “nurture” to the mix and muddies the water when it comes to the pull of the dark and light sides of the force. The conflict of nature vs nurture exists most strongly in new character Finn, a stormtrooper who was raised by the First Order (essentially the equivalent of the Empire in this new world) to not question their motives and actions. However, it is not in Finn’s nature to be cruel, so he deserts them. It’s not presented as an act that comes from Finn’s will power (which the movie suggests is not especially strong) but a near-inevitability; Finn simply can’t exist in the environment he was born into.

The film’s counter-argument to Finn is Kylo Ren, the former Ben Solo. Despite being raised by two of the previous trilogy’s most popular heroes and trained by none other than Luke Skywalker himself, Ren is with the dark side. Something about his childhood, possibly Han Solo’s neglect, caused him to shun the light side and fully embrace the dark. However, as we see at multiple points, the dark side IS NOT in Kylo Ren’s nature. For the first time in the series, the pull and “temptation” of the light is introduced as well. Remaining evil is a constant struggle for Kylo Ren, who violently lashes out to strengthen his ties to the dark side and even dabbles in masochism to draw power from his own pain.

In addition to adding dimensions to the most elemental of struggles, light vs dark, this twisting of conventions makes for a far more compelling villain. Unlike Vader, Kylo Ren isn’t simply a good man who gave into his darker impulses. When Kylo kills Han Solo, it’s an extraordinarily willful act. The fact that such evil does not come naturally to him makes his villainy more despicable and more complex.

Finally, I would be remiss to not say anything about Rey, the real protagonist of the film. She’s an incredibly likable and willful character, and gets to inhabit the roles of all three original trilogy leads at different points of the film. She starts out in Luke’s position, living on a desert planet far removed from the war, then shifts into the Han Solo role, flying the Millenium Falcon and escaping the planet. Then, she gets briefly kidnapped, but escapes and proves to be just as awesome and self-sufficient as Leia in her original Death Star escape.

If anything, her character can be a little TOO perfect at times. In addition to learning to pilot the Millenium Falcon in little time and picking up on advanced force techniques without training (due to an aptitude for the force which will likely be explained in Episode VIII), Rey doesn’t have much in the way of a real flaw. There’s ostensibly the idea that she wants to return to Jakku (the desert world) to await the return of her parents (who she doesn’t remember), but this is poorly explained in the movie and was likely included to give her some sort of internal conflict. Compared to Finn, whose cowardice is both a key weakness and an instrumental part of his seemingly-heroic acts, she comes off as a little thin. Awesome, but thin.

I understand the reservations that many have about the film, and its reliance on what worked in A New Hope. But I think that what J.J. Abrams and the creative team behind The Force Awakens have accomplished here is far more complicated than that. They’ve brought the most popular film franchise of all time back to its former glory, paid respect to its original structural underpinnings, and created a brand new arc with a terrific set of characters that can sustain the story going forward. The Force Awakens is a phenomenal addition to the series, a more complex movie that still feels completely at home with what has come before.

22 thoughts on “Star Wars: The Force Awakens Review

  1. A NOTE ON COMMENTS: Consider this a spoiler-zone! Since the review itself contains spoilers, this section is an open-discussion on anything in The Force Awakens!

  2. Great review. I still hate JJ Abrams, though. Haha. But this was a pleasant surprise if a movie. I kept my expectations for this movie rock bottom, in no small part to the fact that JJ “killed Star Trek” Abrams was at the helm. But so much of it just worked. It felt Star Wars. And the starfighter battles alone were probably worth the price of admission for me. And Rey as a hero is awesome for me. And I hope the story focus continues to hone in on her growth. She is easily my favorite new character, but Finn and Poe are great too.

    Kylo Ren, to me, is probably the weak link. But hopefully we get to see his ark expand a little more gracefully than the awkward mask removing tempertantrum moments we got.

    1. Yeah, I really want to know more about all of the characters, but that’s sort of what I love about it! Unlike the ciphers in prequel trilogy, I actually LIKE these people, or at the very least I’m intrigued by them. I WANT to spend more time with them.

      I’m also more positive about Abrams than you, though. His Star Trek does miss the point of the franchise, but as somebody who was never that big of a Trekkie, I enjoy it. If anything, his Trek was a good indication that he was right for Star Wars. He was pretty open about bringing what he loved about Star Wars to the Trek universe, which he was never particularly interested in.

      1. I might be a little more into Trek than you, I suppose. As in Star Trek > Every Single Franchise Ever. Captain Picard > All Fictional Characters in All Media.

        Haha, so you can see why I’m bitter. And why I am just a little dead inside when it comes to having hype about ANYTHING close to a reboot or reimagining of a beloved franchise. But my low expectations served me well here. It was far better than the horrible turd I was prepared for it to be. It was an actual good movie. And you’re right, I’m excited to learn a lot more about these characters. It’s better than the prequels… and for me, that means a lot. Because I actually like the prequels and do not share the same hatred many do of them. I understand lots of the criticisms, but they aren’t as big of a deal breaker for me. Also, can JJ release any piece of media without a torture scene? Just once, thanks.

        But yes, my favorite behind-the-scenes-y aspect of the new movie has to be that we now have a female lead protagonist who subverts all the troubling background roles women in the Star Wars universe have been put into by the first six movies.

        1. Haha I had never thought about the JJ Abrams/torture thing, but you’re totally right. Even Mission Impossible 3 sort of had a torture scene. I guess Super 8 would be the exception?

          I don’t really agree about the female characters in Star Wars movies, though. Rey’s awesome, but so was Leia. I rewatched the other movies with my fiancee as a lead-up to The Force Awakens, and that was the most surprising thing for her: Leia is an incredibly active character. She’s the defacto leader after they break her out of her cell on the Death Star, totally in charge on Hoth, and the key figure in the plot to rescue Han in Return of the Jedi. It’s unfortunate that the Slave Leia outfit is so iconic, but even in that situation she ends up strangling Jabba herself.

          The background female characters are surprisingly significant, too. Even in A New Hope, the Chancellor who outlines the attack on the Death Star is Mon Mothma, a woman. For a film released in 1979, that was hugely progressive.

          Still, it’s cool to see a woman as the primary protagonist in one of the most successful blockbuster movies of all time. I’m really looking forward to what they do with her in Episode VIII.

          1. The way Lost handles torture is outright obscene, in my view.

            Don’t get me wrong, I love Leia. And you make valid points across the board about Mon Mothma and Leia. And as someone who immerses themselves into the Star Wars universe I feel the presence of these female characters even when most people don’t even know who Mon Mothma is or only remembers Leia as the damsel in distress in either a white gown or as a slave in a metal bikini… but it’s hard to argue that the focus of the original films is not on what the male protagonists are doing to stop evil male antagonists. With our one female hero being off camera or simply a driving force for our male heroes in all the really big moments of the franchise.

  3. Yeah, but I’m not sure you could really say that the new movie’s that much different, other than the fact that the woman is in the Luke Skywalker position. It’s still heavily male-dominated, but hey, it’s something!

    As for Lost and torture, yeah, they kinda botched that. Haha. Sayid goes off because he’s ashamed with what he did, then kind of forgets about it after meeting Rousseau. That aired during the post-9/11 era, when every single show felt like it had some kind of obligation to weigh in on torture. I’m glad that period’s over. Can’t attribute that particular plot point to Abrams, though. While he helped craft the first season mythology (like the island, the monster, and the hatch), he stopped being involved in the show after directing the pilot. So you can attribute the torture stuff to poor Damon Lindelof, who probably gets enough shit about Lost’s weaker points already.

    1. Besides Captain Phasma as female Boba Fett, you’re right. But replacing Luke with a woman is still kind of a big deal. I’m just very excited to see what they come up with next. Actually, I’m just excited to see THIS one again haha.

      1. Me too! It’s too bad tickets are hard to come by in LA, because I’m really looking forward to a second viewing.

  4. I agree with your entire review. I’ve now seen the movie twice, and thoroughly enjoyed it both times, liking it possibly even more the second time around. That said, I did notice that they have plenty of hints toward spin offs to come (How did Poe get so damn good? What about this crew that Han ran with and used to be bigger? How about Leia’s friend who gave Poe the info at the beginning of the film? He’s known her since she was royalty, so there’s got to be a lot of history there). Disney is going to make bank on this franchise, and I think I’m okay with that.

    One thing you mention, and I agree with, was how quickly Rey picks up on the force. Like, no training needed here… Luke was basically a chump when he started, and still wasn’t even that great by the end of Episode VI. I’m interested to know more about Rey’s background, but more importantly, why was Finn so good with the lightsaber? I’ve heard the complaint from others, and I initially thought it was odd, too. But after my second viewing, it’s actually quite clear that he’s actually not very spectacular.

    First, he couldn’t even hold his own against a storm trooper with a sort-of, light bayonet. Chewy (or Han? I can’t quite recall) ends up shootin’ the guy for him. When he ends up facing Kylo, and seemingly holding his own, it’s actually pretty clear that Kylo is just messing with him and having a little fun. Kylo’s whole thing is his crazy amount of insecurity, so any chance to feel powerful, he’ll surely partake in. When Kylo clearly slips up and lets his guard down too much, he quite quickly and angrily dispatches Finn. So yeah, Finn’s not actually very good at, well, anything yet. But he’s fun, so we’ll keep him around.

    Back to Rey being quick to pick up on the force, though. I think it’s primarily for story driven reasons (we’re all familiar with the force, and don’t need three movies of training), technological ones (special effects are better, so we can make the force more badass), and entertainment reasons (because fun) that, generally speaking, this new trilogy makes it clear that the force is stronger than ever before. And possibly not just the force… Everyone’s, in general, more capable. Han doesn’t have to look where he’s shooting and still takes down storm troopers, Poe can not only gun down multiple tie fighters without effort, but also multiple ground forces, precisely and from the air in his x-wing, at 100% accuracy, and Leia can sense Han’s unfortunate moment from afar (yeah, I guess she’s force sensitive, okay). Maybe the force is in us all… Aww…

    If the regulars are going to be this good, then the force has gotta up the ante a bit. Kylo can stop blaster lasers in mid-air and read minds, and Rey’s already at Episode VI Luke status. Even more reason to be excited for Episode VIII… We’ll get to see just how badass Luke is 30 years on. Unless of course he’s now a non-violent Buddhist monk type… But even with that being the case, they’d still find some way to get him to fight again when they really need it the most.

    Then we have the real hero of the film, BB-8. I don’t think I need to say anything there. He’s just adorable and awesome and has that find lighter thumbs up that everyone loves.

    Also, Rey fights with and carries a staff. Maybe we’ll see a dual light saber in blue? Or maybe she’ll get a new color like white or something. Everyone loved the white ranger, after all…

    Oh, and Lord Snoke is the Wizard of Oz, and Jar Jar’s clearly behind the curtain.

    1. Haha the ol’ “Jar Jar is a Sith” rumor is still alive! A lot of fans were actually speculating that Snoke was Darth Plagueis, but I don’t buy that myself. Lucas denied the whole “Plaguies was Palpatine’s master” thing, and I doubt J.J. Abrams wants to heavily reference the prequel trilogy.

      Going up your post from the bottom: It’s sort of surprising I didn’t get around to mentioning BB-8 in this review. I loved the little guy, and cracked up at the “thumbs up” moment. Really clever, instantly iconic design.

      I think the amping up of the force was probably a necessity in this one, given that it’s modern and has to one-up the originals in some way. I like how they handled it, though. It’s not that the characters are significantly more powerful than in the originals, but the presentation is a lot better. I love how viscerally they portray Kylo Ren’s force pull/choke, for example.

      Like I mentioned in the review, I’m with you on Rey, who’s an awesome character but picks things up a bit easily. I’m hoping that Episode VIII gives some more reasoning to her force sensitivity, and also hope that it’s not quite so simple and obvious as “Luke is her father.”

      As for Finn, he didn’t strike me as force-sensitive or too powerful. Like you mentioned, he lost to a stormtrooper, and when he fought Kylo Ren, Ren was already injured by Chewie’s bolt gun. But I do like that they made him SOMEWHAT effective against Ren by tapping into what is likely the dark side of the force. Luke had to curb his anger and aggression to keep from falling in with Vader, so having one of the “heroes,” somebody who’s an innately decent person, still give in a bit to the dark side is a cool way of complicating things. I’m really curious to see what they do with Finn, because his arc is still a mystery to me.

      I noticed a lot of little tidbits that remained unexplained, too, and there’s a part of me that hopes they leave some things vague. The original trilogy did that very well, with one-off references to things like “the Clone Wars” or the “Kessel Run” which made the universe feel bigger than what was onscreen. Hopefully this trilogy will be better than the prequels about demystifying things, but some extra info with the major characters would be nice. Especially regarding that “friend” from the beginning, who’s obviously important.

      1. I don’t know that BB-8 was doing a thumbs up…
        In that moment he had been coerced into giving up information and lying to someone who had helped him. I think of it as a middle finger at Fin saying… FINE, I’ll go along with this… jerk.

        Either possibility is funny though.

    2. Rey did pick up force abilities REALLY well…

      Here’s my rationale. She was dropped off on Jakku at a very young age (after the battle of Jakku) and she has clung to the rumors/myths/stories about the Jedi, and the Force, and the rebellion. That’s why she was so eager to talk to Han. To confirm that belief. She has the power of the force and it has been her ally most of her life, keeping her sustained. But she wasn’t thrust into using it until now. But her connection to the force and her knowledge of and fascination with the rumors about the Jedi result in her picking them up quickly. Especially regarding her natural talent with technology and equipment. Just like her grandfather Anakin.

      That’s right I’m saying it. She’s Anakin’s Granddaughter, and Luke’s Daughter. The question is why would he leave her on Jakku? Perhaps it wasn’t him who left her. Maybe it was her mother. Maybe Luke doesn’t even KNOW he has a daughter.

      There is a novel that was recently released just a few months prior to the release of The Force Awakens. It links the end of Return of the Jedi with The Force Awakens. (I’m summarizing hearsay from memory) There’s a major battle that happens between the crumbling Empire and the growing Republic/Rebel Alliance over the planet Jakku a number of years after Return of the Jedi. Without the guidance of a powerful and intelligent commander the Imperial fleet is disorganized and defeated. The decisive moment in that battle is when the lead star destroyer is subversively boarded and a number of ship systems are disabled by a small group of rebel commandos and their commander. One of the systems disabled is the self-destruct sequence. The rebel commander and his team take the ship, and the Imperial commander (a woman who secretly has a relationship with the Rebel Commander) upon discovering the self-destruct disabled, she decides to crash the ship into the planet Jakku in order to follow protocol of not allowing the capture of an imperial vessel. That is the ship we see in the Force Awakens on the surface of Jakku. The ship that Rey has been digging through for most of her life.

      I believe that the Rebel commander in that battle is Luke Skywalker, and the imperial commander is… well, we’ll just call her MJ for now. 😉

      Also mentioned in the book is Skywalker’s mission to capture a seedling from a highly force sensitive tree that was in the Jedi temple (on Coruscant I think?). Any way he plants the seed in the backyard of Poe Dameron’s parents’ home. So Poe has grown up around a powerful force-tree. It’s probably the reason he’s such a skilled pilot – hopefully more?

      Anyway, my theory is that MJ while not joining the rebellion, does have an intimate relationship with Skywalker, and winds up having a kid without him knowing it. She leaves her daughter on the planet Jakku.
      My powers of speculation end there.

      Thoughts?
      (So glad to finally chat about this. Keeping the spoilers away from people has been stressful).

      1. Nate – Interesting theory. Of the “Luke is Rey’s father” possibilities, it’s one of the better ones; I’d rather Luke NOT be aware than immediately tell Rey in the next movie “yeah, I’m your dad.” Then again, being a Jedi Knight, he’d probably recognize the connection right away. So it might not make sense dramatically.

        I’m honestly not sure about the “Luke is Rey’s father” thread in general. It just seems a bit too…obvious? Not your theory, but the connections in the movie. Like his lightsaber giving her visions, and her force sensitivity, and that there’s already another Vader-grandchild in the movie. I wouldn’t be too surprised if it really was that simple, but if they WERE going that route, I think revealing it in this movie would have been the smarter, more satisfying route. Waiting two years only to discover what everybody assumes is the case would be a bit of a let down.

        It WOULD be interesting if they went the “commander affair” route, though, just because it would be drawing from the (new) expanded universe more than the original trilogy ever did. But given how much more collaborative the new universe is anyway, I wouldn’t completely put it past them.

        Thanks for sharing!

  5. Your review is pretty much what I left the theater with. Unlike how I felt about his adaptation of Star Trek, Abrams did a spectacular job here. I’m not of the opinion that everything he touches is the best but despite many people’s (legitimate) complaints about the prequels, the one thing Lucas didn’t do that might’ve saved them was give them directions to grow out of. I heard from someone that Abrams won’t helm any more, but he’s given creative directors a lot to work with. Less creative ones will most likely see the surface of copying the originals and try to recapture nostalgia a second time with the next one(s), rather than try to take the opportunity given to them to make something brand-brand new, with as few elements of the originals as necessary.

    1. Side note: My only real unanswered hope for the series is that Finn eventually becomes a Jedi. No reason he and Rey both can’t. For lack of any desire to be delicate about it, they can bang, be friends, and find themselves as individual badasses. I liked that Po and Finn have the potential for buddy-shenanigans and silly person banter for the rest of the series. Real classics in the making if they keep this level of not-spoon-feeding up! That was probably the biggest contributor to my satisfaction with the story telling, and one of only three major complaints I have with the prequels.

        1. And and and… Rey is involved in a love triangle that leads Finn and or Rey to toy with the dark side when someone doesn’t get their way… but Poe locks his S-foils into attack position with Finn and Luke channels Old Ben Yoda to keep his daughter Rey from embracing the dark side and it’s all happily ever after. The end.

      1. Jeremy: I’m also interested to see what other directors do with the sequels. Rian Johnson (director of Brick, Brother’s Bloom, Looper, and 3 of the best episodes of Breaking Bad) is doing Episode VIII, and I expect him to knock it out of the park.

        As for characters: I’d be fine with Finn becoming a Jedi, but I’d be fine with them not doing that too. I really like how there isn’t really a clearly-charted trajectory for his character. Looking forward to Poe playing a larger role in Episode VIII and IX, too. Oscar Isaac is just so damn charismatic.

    1. Or better yet, what if he came back as CHEWBACCA IN THE PAST?!?! The “Solo” name was always a clue that he was secretly only accompanied by himself, and the whole thing is basically that movie Fluke but with time travel and Wookies! HOW DID I NOT SEE IT BEFORE?! #spiritanimal

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