January 2016
STAR WARS REVIEWS
Star Wars: Exciting and New
Thirty years of intergalactic civil war has reduced numerous planets to rubble. An orphaned scavenger lives in a brutal environment
where shelter and sustenance are the trash of another forgotten battle. A dehumanized boy soldier forced to salughter innocents, flees
with a new name/false identity, seeking freedom, carrying crippling
fear. These are your reticent heroes in The Force Awakens.
Rey and Finn are reluctant inheritors of Skywalker’s galaxy that
he’s abandoned as the film begins. Kylo Ren’s murder of his father,
Solo, echoes in his words to Rey: it’s just us now. As Rey proffers
his abandoned lightsaber to a greying Skywalker, in his serene
refuge (hiding place?), she’s demanding he take responsibility for
this world he’s created. The “awakening” might be the reluctant
messiah being stirred to duty. Hence, Rey waits for him to come
to her, as the film ends.
It’s also Anakin’s lightsaber; his assertion to Padme that the
Republic is ineffective and a strong ruler essential is The Order’s
The Sound STC • Vol.2 Issue 01
mantra now. “The best lack all conviction (Solo’s a smuggler again)
while the worst are full of passionate intensity” (Supreme Leader
Snoke, gargantuan in holographic glory). Nothing new under the
sun, sins of the father visited upon the child. Forgive the quotes,
but we’ve been here before: planet detroyers, bots with crucial messages, desert orphans with great hopes, and father/son estrangement ripping galaxies apart.
J.J. Abrams has produced some of the best sci-fi in recent memory (Fringe, Lost and even Super 8 – its childlike joyful nostalgia
is a factor here). His ability to inject our reality into his mythos is
sometimes heartfelt, sometimes funny (Han and Leia’s regrets re:
Kylo mimic parents with children that are their ideological opposite), but is successful nonetheless. Abrams makes the familiar new,
and the new familiar.
— Bart Gazzola
Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens
Star Wars is back. That’s the general consensus, and I’m in agreement.
Here it is briefly. The movie is great, not without flaws, and captures the aesthetic of the original
trilogy. This is clearly the film that fans and moviegoers have been waiting for as a palette cleanser
since the considerably disastrous prequels. The action scenes are incredibly shot and edited and,
most importantly, The Force Awakens, with its practical effects and locations, feels real. There is very
little CGI enhancements that draw attention away from the story or characters, easily immersing
the audience into the world of Star Wars.
Thirty years after the victory over the Empire in Return of the Jedi, the new villainous organization known as the First Order has creeped into power. Driven by Kylo Ren (Adam Driver)
and General Hux (Domnhall Gleason), the First Order is leading a campaign to remove the
Republic and its Resistance fighters, led by our old friend Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher). However, Leia is leading her own quest to end the fight, where we’re introduced to some of our
new characters, including ace XWing pilot Poe Daemeron (Oscar Isaac), exStormtrooper Finn
(John Boyega) and a scavenger from the planet Jakku, Rey (Daisy Ridley). On their way to
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working with the resistance they run into Star Wars
regulars Han Solo and Chewbacca and continue the
fight against the First Order.
The Force Awakens is great spectacle. There is no unnecessary dark grittiness, nor is the film too light in
tone or overly slapstick. The Force Awakens is, first and
foremost, a piece of entertainment and, wisely, director J.J. Abrams and writer Lawrence Kasdan who also
wrote Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi choose
not to take the material too seriously but also aren’t
too earnest about the whole affair, striking a perfect
balance in tone.
Kasdan and Abrams balance that tone with the wellrounded characters, new and old, that they have created.
In Lucas’ prequel trilogy, the characters of Anakin, ObiWan, Mace Windu and others felt more like vehicles to
advance the plot and lacked much in the ways of depth
or dimension. Early on in The Force Awakens, even a
supporting character like Poe Daemeron injects a bit of
personality and humour into the story, more than Lucas’
drier writing was able to do. The overarching plot is
secondary to spending time with the characters the we
love and grow to love throughout the movie.
If there are flaws with the film it’s because of, as with
Jurassic World earlier this year, some blatant fan service.
The plot is very derivative of the original trilogy, to a
fault, and no effort is really made to hide this fact. On
the other hand, Star Wars has always borrowed from
classical mythmaking traditions, and wearing the original trilogy on its sleeve is endearing. Whether it feels like pandering or loving tribute is up to the
individual viewer and how much of an “apology” they were awaiting. Had The Force Awakens come
out, as is, immediately after Return of the Jedi it would be interesting to hear what the response
would be, but my guess is that it may have been much more negative.
The Force Awakens is what it needed to be. It’s a return to form for the franchise, but also a return
to formula. The resounding success of that tactic will be more opinion than fact, as fans of all types
will respond to The Force Awakens differently, as their relationship to the franchise accords.
I liked The Force Awakens a lot, but in all honesty my expectations were higher. Once it started
though, the tone was set and I was able to understand what Abrams and crew were going for and I
took a more fun ride than I expected. It was fun, the story was exciting, even if derivative, but the
experience was the most important part. When I left the theatre I felt like I’d actually seen a Star
Wars movie and I wanted to see more.
— Paul Sawchuk
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