This is a HEAVY SPOILER WARNING for those who are yet to see the Force Awakens. If you haven't seen the film, do not read any further. If you have, then relax and enjoy as I talk about the film in spoilerific detail. Also, check out my Spoiler-free review where I give my opinion on the film with no spoilers to be found.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens Review (No Spoilers): http://movieswithmattharrison.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/star-wars-force-awakens-movie-review-no.html
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So if you've read my spoiler free review you'll know I absolutely loved my experience watching The Force Awakens. I thought it did an excellent job at paying homage to the classic Star Wars stuff we're all used to whilst giving us new characters to love and enjoy. I can't wait to see where characters like Rey, Finn and Kylo Ren go in the next instalment, set for a May 26th 2017 release date.
According to various reports, all of the main cast of The Force Awakens are set to return for Episode VIII alongside old favourites Luke, Leia, Chewie etc. However, one character which will not be returning will be Han Solo, who is killed in the third act by Kylo Ren. Despite the fact I would never have been emotionally ready to say goodbye to one of my all time favourite characters in movie history, Han's death makes sense from a logical standpoint. Harrison Ford has admitted he wanted to see Han die in Return of the Jedi, and he probably only agreed to come back for Episode VII knowing he would be killed off.
But the first time I watched that scene I physically contorted in my seat knowing what was about to happen. It was a tremendous and a truly memorable scene, giving the film a necessary emotional punch. If the death of Han Solo tells us anything, it's that no character is safe. For a science fiction adventure film in which your characters embark on journeys fraught with danger, vulnerability of your main characters is crucial. If Han can die, then there's no reason why Luke, Leia or even someone like Rey can't die in the next one.
But I think we can all agree one character we want to see die is Kylo Ren, who is officially the biggest dickbag in the galaxy. He will forever be known as the scum who stabbed and killed his father. Despite this, I think its fair to say that the writing surrounding the character of Kylo Ren was the strongest aspect of what was a very smartly constructed script. From early on, the film illustrates perfectly how he is a conflicted man, especially when he is praying to the charred helmet of his grandfather Darth Vader. The pull of the Light Side (his family), which Snoke clearly sensed, was emotionally tearing him apart and the only way to fix this was for him to strike down his own father.
Not even Darth Vader went as far to kill one of his own. Ren had no such issue killing a member of his own family. But I don't think its fair to make comparisons between Vader and Ren even though it is incredibly easy to due to their aesthetics. But, in the original trilogy Vader was a calm, collected villain who was always in control; the defined version of villainy. Ren is very young, and inexperienced. He's constantly got something to prove and strikes out in anger when things don't go his way. Combining all of these various elements makes Kylo Ren the most interesting character of the entire sequel trilogy at this moment in time. And I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that after one movie, Kylo Ren became a more intriguing character than Darth Vader. Whether he de-thrones him as the best villain in Star Wars history remains to be seen.
Another huge spoiler worth discussing is that Rey, the lonely scavenger on Jakku, is our new Jedi. And we find out she's incredibly talented with The Force via 2 excellent scenes which see her explore the extent of her newly discovered abilities. One scene synonymously explains Kylo Ren's motivations as a villain, and its one of my favourite of the entire film. We see Ren use the force to try and extract information concerning the "map to Skywalker" from Rey, but Rey starts to fight back. She uses the Force against him and finds out why Ren is so conflicted within; "he's afraid he'll never live up to Darth Vader". The acting in this scene is incredible, with both Driver's and Ridley's changing facial expressions conveying the changing nature of the situation magnificently.
The other scene in which we see Rey use her new powers involves her performing a Jedi mind trick on a Stormtrooper. For those of you that didn't know, that Stormtrooper was played by Daniel Craig. I watched the film a second time yesterday, and you can easily identify his voice once you know it is him. It's a very funny scene as well, especially when Craig drops his gun on the way out. And for those complaining that Rey's "mastery" of The Force happens too quickly, she doesn't get it right first time. In fact, it takes her 3 attempts to get the mind trick to work.
I said in my spoiler free review that the movie was a lot funnier than I expected thanks to a sharply written script which made the humour flow naturally from the characters. I also said that Finn was one of my favourite characters not just due to his path of redemption which summarises his whole character arc, but because he made my burst out laughing on so many occasions due to John Boyega's brilliant charisma and enthusiasm.
"We'll save her, we'll use the force." "That's not how the force works!". Brilliant stuff. "Here that Captain Phasma? I'm in charge! I'm in charge now Captain!". Hysterical. And whilst we're talking about the movie's humour, I can't not mention that scene with BB8 in which Finn gives him the thumbs up, which he returns using an inbuilt lighter. I don't know about you but my theatre erupted the loudest at that moment alongside many others.
I also mentioned in my original review my only criticism of the movie was concerning its narrative, which I feel borrowed a little too many plot points from A New Hope. These included the pursuit of a droid containing valuable information as well as the assault on the planet destroying base of the intergalactic bad guys. We've seen it all before. But I can understand why these plot elements are involved within this movie. It's trying to play it safe whilst introducing Star Wars to a new generation of movie goers. It also needed to appease the fans of the original trilogy and did that well with a variety of hidden Easter eggs. I say hidden, there's probably loads of articles listing every single Easter egg down to meticulous detail at this point.
If anything, the Starkiller Base gives the X wings something to fight during the finale. It also gives us more of Poe, which I can never complain about. Poe is just a person I aspire to be like, the best in his field and assured of his status without ever bordering into excessive confidence or cockiness. The movie did a great job at showcasing he is, without dispute, the best pilot in the galaxy during the scene in which The Resistance come to fight The First Order after they storm Maz Kanata's palace. There is one tracking shot which sees him take out multiple Tie Fighters shot from the perspective of Finn from on the ground. That's another thing I loved about JJ Abrams direction of this film besides the return to practical effects, the use of long, wide takes shot on real-world locations.
There is CGI in the film and a lot of people have complained about the 2 motion capture characters for their look. These being Maz Kanata and Supreme Leader Snoke. The design of these characters didn't bother me at all, and I'm very interested to see these people explored in greater depth in future instalments. A lot of mystery surrounds these two, and questions need to be answered. I can't wait to experience the answers in less than 2 years time.
Coming to the end of the film now and I feel I should talk about the confrontation between Kylo Ren and Finn and Rey. Finn goes down very easily and takes a serious hit from Ren's lightsaber. I also loved the way the triple edged saber was used to good effect with Ren burning Finn's shoulder. When Finn goes down, daddy killer Kylo Ren tries to lift Luke's old lightsaber from the snow. After a short pause, the lightsaber flings out of the snow past his head and into the hands of Rey. Cue the fanboy tears.
From there a brutal fight ensues in which Rey becomes the victor after she calms herself and utilises the force. Another complaint I'm hearing from people is how easily Rey seems to beat Kylo Ren. I don't share this opinion. The movie shows us that Rey is perfectly self sufficient and able to hold her own in fight. It also shows Kylo Ren's inexperience. Think about it, he probably hasn't seen anything like Rey since he betrayed Luke. I mean I can't imagine Snoke trained him in lightsaber combat that much. To see Rey win such a brutal fight was incredibly gratifying for me as a viewer as we finally have ourselves a female Jedi.
After the Starkiller base is destroyed and Ren defeated (but not dead) R2D2 wakes up and reveals the location of Luke Skywalker, who is hiding on a the planet of the first Jedi Temple, exiling himself due to the burdening guilt of tearing apart the Solo family. He may seem to wake up out of nowhere, but hear me out. We see in Rey's vision sequences Luke placing his hand on R2. I believe R2 wakes up because Luke somehow has control over him. R2 powers down only to power back up again when the time was right. Now that The Force has awakened within Rey, Luke revealed the path to himself for Rey to follow.
The movie ends and we get a glimpse at Luke Skywalker who makes a very brief, dialogue-free appearance. Rey shows him his lost lightsaber, and the movie cuts to credits. I'm sure many will be disappointed we didn't see much more of Luke, but the movie's marketing campaign never promised us much of Luke at all. What his brief appearance does do is make us pumped for Episode VIII, in which hopefully we will see Rey train under Luke.
And while this is going on, Ren will be training under the guidance of Snoke. There, the battle between the Light and Dark Side of The Force can recommence once again.
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Hope you enjoyed reading some of the spoilers from the Force Awakens itself. Coming soon will be Part 2 of my Force Awakens spoiler review in which I shall talk about some of the questions I have concerning the future of the Star Wars saga.
Thanks for reading, and may the force be with you!
And have a Merry Christmas!
Matt
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