Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Written and Directed by J.J. Abrams. Written by Lawrence Kasdan, Michael Ardnt, and George Lucas (characters by). Starring Daisy Ridley (Rey), John Boyega (Fin), Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron).

Bottom line: Star Wars: The Force Awakens was awesome; you don’t have to be a Star Wars fan (you don’t even have to have seen any of the other movies) to enjoy it.

3.5/4

Sometimes, when I write a movie review, I struggle to find a starting point. Some movies require a little background or description to help illustrate my points. It can be a pain if the movie is bad or convoluted. It’s worse in the case of the latter because I risk giving away too much of the plot. Fortunately for me, Star Wars: The Force Awakens does not fall into these categories. I don’t have to say very much at all about the plot to recommend it to you. In fact, I don’t think I’ll even go into the plot at all for my review.

Just about everything in this movie is wonderful. John Williams is back with another solid score (though it struck me again how his scores all sound the same). The dialog was solid. The graphics and special effects were splendid. (I’ve come to associate J.J. Abrams with his sense of moderation and taste). There are little bits of fan service (that is, stuff for returning fans) but it doesn’t get in the way. New characters and worlds were introduced smoothly and blended well with the returning characters.

The weakest part of Star Wars: The Force Awakens was the two-dimensional villains. Now, don’t get me wrong, this is going to be a trilogy but they still could’ve made the villains compelling, rather than hinting at a future back-story. That said, all the other characters were perfectly fine. I especially liked Harrison Ford’s return as the dashing rogue Han Solo. It was his most vitalized performance in quite a while.

I’ve also got to hand it to the merchandising powerhouse that is Disney. Everything in this movie, from the light-sabers and the blasters to the revamped X-Wings, can be turned into something to buy. At one point, a character jumps in a Tie Fighter and says, “I’ve always wanted to fly one of these.”

“Me too,” says I. Thank goodness I can in the new Star Wars: Battlefront III for the PS4!

Han Solo shoots Chewie’s crossbow, looks down at it, turns and says, “I gotta get me one of these.”

 “Can I have one of those too, Dad? And Kylo Ren’s light-saber too!”

Does this diminish the movie? Absolutely not, I just thought it was funny to see.

Now, I was never the biggest fan of Star Wars. It’s not that I dislike them I’ve just never really liked them. That said, I loved Star Wars: The Force Awakens. I’ve seen this twice so far and it got me pumped up each time. It made me want to go on an adventure. I wanted to fly around in space ships. Heck, I wanted to just be a part of the movie making process.

At this point, just about everyone on earth has seen Star Wars: The Force Awakens but if you haven’t, I highly recommend you do. The people I’ve met who haven’t seen it explain that they aren’t Star Wars fans. I assure you, you don’t have to be a Star Wars fan to enjoy it. It’s fun if you are a Star Wars fan so you get some of the references but that’s just icing on the cake.