REVIEW BY MARK ELGIE
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away . . .
A Star Destroyer crosses the screen, chasing an unassuming looking spacecraft harbouring an important figure in the resistance. Before she is captured, she manages to entrust some vital information to an astromech droid by the name of R2-D2, who is then sent off to make sure the information contained within reaches the eyes and ears of the one who can salvage everything that the rebels have fought so hard for.
Two movies later, Luke Skywalker reconciles with his reformed and dying father, the second Death Star is blown up, and the rebels celebrate the Empire’s defeat with killer teddy bears on the forest moon of Endor.
And that was the end of it.
Or so you’d think.
Enter Disney, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens is for all intents and purposes a continuation of the story that ended with Return of the Jedi. But it is also a reinvention of Star Wars for the next generation. While it is an enjoyable ride through that galaxy far, far, away, all the older folks in the crowd will be sitting there asking themselves “Where has this been seen before?”
And then they will answer their own question, in any number of ways, but most will probably say something like “Oh. Right. The first movie.”
Without going deep into the plot or revealing any spoilers, The Force Awakens does share several similarities with the first movie in the original trilogy, A New Hope.
There’s another droid tasked with delivering information at the outset.
One of the main characters embraces her destiny and learns to use the Force.
There’s a new bad guy with a red lightsaber and a mask.
The gang comes (back) together… save for one deserter.
The Empire has a planet-destroying superweapon in their arsenal.
A mentor figure meets his end at the hands of this new bad guy.
There’s a new hotshot rebel pilot who wishes he was as awesome as Wedge Antilles.
There is a lightsaber duel between this main character and this bad guy.
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Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Peter Mayhew and Mark Hamill reprise their roles as Han Solo, Leia, Chewbacca and Luke Skywalker respectively. Ford and Fisher both continue to do good work as Han and Leia, Hamill however, has no speaking lines as Luke. Daisy Ridley and John Boyega join the cast as Rey and Finn respectively. They portray their characters well. Finn in many cases served as a good comedic foil to the seriousness that Rey brings to a situation.
Industrial Light and Magic once again handled special effects for the movie. As is always the case with ILM, the special effects were hardly anything that hasn’t been seen before in a Star Wars movie. They were believable, and as such, they did the job they set out to do. There are explosions everywhere in space battles. Whole planets are destroyed before your eyes. There was a really interesting scene early in the movie where Kylo Ren, the new antagonist, uses the Force to stop a blaster shot in midair, and just leaves it floating there, a miniature, solitary comet.
The similarities between The Force Awakens and A New Hope are undeniable. Star Wars: The Force Awakens is an enjoyable film nonetheless. The film is basically asking you to look back on the original trilogy and see the parallels. You find yourself immediately able to speculate on where the saga will go from here.
You speculate, but of course, no one can know for sure until we see the next movie. Maybe things will get remixed. Next time it will be director Rian Johnson’s turn to dabble into the goings on in that galaxy far, far away. For now, we can only wait and see where things will go, and what stories will be told.