Was There a Forceful Awakening??

Please note that this review contains spoilers.

I’ve said it before on multiple occasions that I am not a Star Wars fan (isn’t it odd how those of us that aren’t are almost apologetic for not being so, guess it’s the power of the force). Now do not instantly think that this statement means that anything I write will be anti the Star Wars franchise as I’ve made it clear that I completely get the love that some people have for a galaxy far far away and I also appreciate what a big deal the original three movies were not just to fans but to the world of cinema as a whole.

That said however I have just never really ‘got’ the whole thing if I’m being honest. A couple of friends of mine recently told me that if you didn’t fall in love with Star Wars as a kid then it’s a lot less likely that I will do so as an adult. This makes perfect sense really, especially when considering that my 7 year old daughter has recently sat through all six films and loved them, thus starting the whole relationship with Star Wars at the right age.

So with all that in mind I took my seat in my local cinema last night and made myself comfortable as along with my wife we settled in to watch Star Wars Episode 7 The Force Awakens. I should also point out in the interests of transparency that it was actually my wife who wanted to go and see the film for her birthday, I would have been happy to wait for the dvd to come out and would much rather have watched The Hateful 8 in a couple of weeks, which for the record looks pretty amazing.

Before I talk about the plot or the characters involved in Force Awakens I feel I should address the biggest issue that I had with this film and that was a concern I had going in having seen the multitude of trailers and the like. That concern? That FA was nothing more than a rehash of old ground covered in the original Star Wars film. That somehow they had made a sequel that was at the same time almost a remake (I hate the word reboot it makes me think of the 90’s cartoon), not unlike what Sam Raimi did with the Evil Dead 2 to give you a point of reference to what I mean. Lo and behold I walked out of the cinema 2.5 hours after I entered and could not escape the truth that this was exactly what they did.

Now before all you SW fans light your torches and grab your pitchforks I understand that these are different characters in a different part of the galaxy in different scenarios than those in the original film but there is just so much that is lifted from that first film that its difficult to ignore.

• We see somebody living on a desert planet where they lead a mundane life and have family issues

• Said individual meets a droid that beeps and clicks turns up and is trying to get back to the resistance as they are carrying important information that can help the fight against the Empire (sorry the First Order)

• The main villain wears black, has a mask and a funny voice (for some reason they seemed to be channelling Bane from DKR

• Said villain answers to a higher power who initially appears in hologram form

• The First Orders main weapon is a planet sized space station that can destroy planets, the only difference this time out is that it’s much much bigger

• Remember that sad person from the desert well they are actually a jedi, in fact they could well be the most powerful jedi in the galaxy once they get the proper training

• A father and son have an estranged relationship and there’s a confrontation on a walkway over a big drop (yes I know this was in Empire not SW but you get the point)

• An elder statesman character (Han Solo in the role of Obi Wan) ends up giving their life trying to make a difference

• R2D2 has the main information required to save the galaxy, sorry I mean find Luke Skywalker

As stated above I know that these are new characters and as such it should not be considered a rehash of what we have seen before but I just couldn’t escape the sense of de ja vu.

Speaking of the new characters how cool was Kylo Ren? He was much more nuanced than Vader ever was and showing his vunerability was fantastic. That said however I did feel let down by the end of the film as they almost chopped him off at the knees by making him a bit of a bitch and allowed him to get his ass kicked by Rey who is only just discovering her powers. Yes I get that this is meant to show that once she has control she will be the most kick ass jedi there ever was but I still felt like they undid a lot of the good that they had done in the rest of the film in regards to building Kylo Ren up as the biggest baddie the franchise has ever seen.

Speaking of Rey, whilst she was perfectly serviceable I felt a much stronger connection to Finn and thought that he was the stand out good guy in this film which is a shame as I get the feeling that we will be following Reys character more going forward than Finn who I would be much more interested in watching further.

This film also brought back the beloved old characters which worked well though everytime Leia came on screen I got distracted by the complete lack of movement in her face as she spoke, seriously Carrie lay off the botox for crying out loud. She was hardly in the film though so that worked out ok. Speaking of hardly being in the film what about Mark Hamil as Luke Skywalker? Here is the last jedi in the galaxy (or not as the case may be) who rather than helping where he can and doing his best to bring down the First Order decides instead to head off to a hidden planet somewhere to sit in a temple and channel his inner Ben Kenobi, though for me he looked a lot more like Oliver Reed. The whole thing just makes Luke look like a complete pussy as rather than face up to his biggest failing he runs away and hides under the pretence of trying to find some mystical balance or something of that nature.

Oh and whilst we are on the subject of Luke, how uncomfortably long was that shot of Rey stood there holding out the lightsabre as a token for Mr Jedi of the galaxy? It seemed to go on forever!!

Han was of course the main returnee and got to finally complete his story and make his exit from the franchise which apparently Harrison Ford has been petitioning for since Return of the Jedi. The problem with Han’s death was that in the grand scheme of things it just kind of happened. For me it didn’t feel as big or as epic as it really should have though I’m going to assume that most fans either loved it or hated it rather than just feeling meh about it like I do.

Don’t think I am anti this film though as there is a lot to like. As mentioned Ren and Finn are excellent and I was invested in both and of course there are plenty of huge battles both on the ground and in the air to get even the most cynical of people such as myself excited. FA is a perfectly serviceable sci fi flick and as such I will admit I enjoyed it. BUT, and it is a big but, I was taken out of the film everytime they ripped something off of the original movie (see my list above) and with each subsequent moment I found myself getting more and more frustrated.

I could of course go on but I have to go now and find myself a bunker somewhere so that I can hide from the SW fans who will be baying for my blood.

In closing I will give The Force Awakens 7 out of 10. I certainly didn’t hate it and those elements that were good I really liked its just that there was too damn much that irritated me and made me switch off to be able to truly say I loved this film past it being a good sci fi movie.

Now had they cast Bruce Campbell that would be a whole other story J