Star Wars: Episode VII - 
The Force Awakens

Release Date: December 18th, 2015
Running Time: 135 minutes
Directed by: J.J. Abrams
Written by: J.J. Abrams, Lawrence Kasdan, Michael Arndt
Starring: Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, Harrison Ford, Peter Mayhew, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Lupita Nyong'o, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Gwendoline Christie, Max von Sydow

SPOILER ALERT—DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE FILM AND DO NOT WANT TO KNOW ABOUT SOME KEY DETAILS

As a lifelong fan of the series, I had Star Wars fever leading up to the release of The Force Awakens, and rewatched all other six episodes in anticipation. I was excited going to see it on opening day, and largely satisfied when I left the theater. But after viewing the film a second time and thinking about it for awhile, the less I like it. The Force Awakens is way too much like Episode IV. It hits nearly every narrative element of the original movie beat by beat, feeling like part remake and part reboot more than an actual sequel.

This is perhaps a pitfall of Lucasfilm now being a subsidiary of major corporate entity Walt Disney Studios, as opposed to when it was still owned and run by George Lucas as the most successful independent film production company of all time. If Lucas hadn't sold the franchise rights to Disney, The Force Awakens writer-director J.J. Abrams might be accused of plagiarism. After its release, Lucas commented that Disney wanted a retro movie, a duplication of the original film to serve the audience's sense of nostalgia. He said he didn't like this, that he tried to make every Star Wars film different from the previous one. And I agree, The Force Awakens is way too similar to Episode IV—straight up copying it in many respects. I heard a joke about this new trilogy: Episode VIII will be called The Force Hits the Snooze Button, and Episode IX will be The Force is Late for Work.

But even with this episode's frustrating elements, Star Wars is a well-established series with such a vast universe that there are still enough compelling aspects to qualify a level of interest. There are curious new creatures, worlds, and characters, in addition to some of the old characters from the original trilogy. It's a nostalgic joy to see Harrison Ford as Han Solo, Carrie Fisher as Leia, and Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker again. And original Chewbacca actor Peter Mayhew returns underneath the Wookiee suit, as does original C-3PO actor Anthony Daniels in the droid suit. To watch them reprise their roles after so long is no doubt a sentimental pleasure for any diehard fan. And composer John Williams returns with a score containing all the familiar musical themes, plus new ones.

But there are too many obviously derivative qualities of the first Star Wars movie for this entry to be considered really good. The new characters aren't that new, embodying the same archetypal roles from the original trilogy. A big part of Star Wars' success is how it's captured character archetypes and mythological story elements from throughout history. But there's a significant difference between a story being universally appealing because of such qualities, and being riddled with clichéd, blatantly imitative elements.

On the upside, Daisy Ridley is excellent as the new protagonist Rey, portraying her with a perfect balance of heroic courage and confused vulnerability. She starts out as a lowly machine parts scavenger on desert planet Jakku, which looks just like Tatooine. The Force is ridiculously strong with her despite having had no training with it, and she has no knowledge of her ancestry except for a distant memory of being taken from her family as a child—implying that she's a secret descendant of Luke or Leia (or Obi-Wan?). Rey is thrust into an outerspace adventure of galactic proportions, discovering a grand destiny in the stars, when she unwittingly comes into possession of BB-8—the droid everyone's looking for. BB-8 is programmed with secret information that both the rebels and the First Order (the new Empire) seek. This is all too similar to Episode IV when Luke comes into possession of R2-D2; another small, cutesy droid who speaks only in bleeps and blips.

The Empire is now called the First Order but is otherwise the same; an oppressive military regime seeking to kill the last known Jedi (Luke, who's gone into hiding). Its leader Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), a wannabe Darth Vader, dons a mask and cape similar to his idol but has his own distinct personality; an emotionally tortured bully with a spoiled brat disposition, he throws Force tantrums when things don't go his way. Ren answers to the powerful dark side master Supreme Leader Snoke—just like Vader and the Emperor in the original trilogy. And there's Maz Kanata, a millennium-old little troll with Force knowledge. For some reason Maz is the caretaker of Luke's first lightsaber—the one that was formerly Anakin's, that Obi-Wan picked up from the ground after defeating him (in Episode III), gave to Luke years later (in IV), and then was presumed lost when Vader cut off Luke's hand that held it (in V). Hopefully more about Maz and how she came to have the saber will be revealed in the next episode, but for the moment the parallel of her character to Yoda is just another all-too-obvious rehashing of elements from the original series. Maz also runs a cantina populated by an assortment of aliens, like the one in IV.

Other new characters are Resistance pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) and Finn (John Boyega), an escaped stormtrooper who joins up with the Resistance. The two frequently engage in corny dialogue, developing an immediate comradery that treads into bromance territory. Isaac has proven to be one of the greatest actors of his generation, and does his best with the limited material he has here, but the character is ultimately one-dimensional. And newcomer Boyega engages in some of the more cheesy attempts at humour the series has seen. I'm all for comic relief, as has always been part of Star Wars charm, but at times they try a little too hard here.

The Force Awakens effectively emulates the look and feel of the original trilogy, with endless references to the first Star Wars film. And too much so, to the point that many details feel contrived to remind fans of the original foremost, and less to serve this new story. For example, when Rey and Finn steal the Millennium Falcon, they randomly run into Han Solo and Chewbacca, now helming a different ship, in the middle of outerspace. Of course we want those old characters to return, but their reintroduction is thrown together here with no rhyme or reason except to expedite their arrival into the movie.

Events from the previous films are ignored, casting the whole saga in an entirely different, more negative light. Even though Episode III ends in total gloom with Anakin turning into Darth Vader, the Jedi being killed off, and the formation of the Empire, we nonetheless know from Episode VI that everything turns out all right in the end. Anakin kills the Emperor, saves his son Luke, and fulfills his destiny as the chosen one who brings balance to the Force. The Rebel Alliance destroy the Death Star, defeat the Empire, banish the Sith back to the Netherworld, and restore peace and freedom to the galaxy. But that's all meaningless according to the state of affairs in The Force Awakens, because balance hasn't been restored and things are worse than ever. There's a new Death Star even deadlier than the first one, as it can (and does) blow up five planets at a time rather than one. The Death Star was a moon-sized machine but this "Starkiller Base" is a whole planet modified into a weapon of mass destruction. And just like the Death Star, there's a small target on Starkiller Base that will annihilate the whole thing if fired at.

As it turns out, Ren is in fact Vader’s grandson—the son of Han and Leia. He kills his father Han Solo by lightsaber (with Rey helplessly watching from a distance) just as Darth Vader killed Obi-Wan Kenobi, who was previously a father figure to him (with Luke helplessly watching from a distance) in Episode IV. While the death of such an iconic character as Han Solo is unwelcome to say the least, Harrison Ford has long wanted out of the franchise, saying he thought his character should've died in The Empire Strikes Back. At first I thought this was no kind of way for the legendary Solo to go out—by the hand of his evil punk of a son. But if it had to be done, I guess it's best to happen this way, sacrificing himself for the higher cause in his attempt to turn his son back to the light. So this plot point does make some kind of sense as an inversion of Luke redeeming his father by not killing him in VI, whereas Kylo Ren does kill his father.

Maybe the film's message is that history repeats itself. It's implied that the universe was in peace for much of the thirty years prior to this episode, but the darkness has returned—and even stronger than before. But this doesn't fit with the idea of Jedi as guardians of peace and justice. How can they be considered very powerful at all if the Sith—which there are only ever two of at any one time—kill nearly all the Jedi off every generation? Then eventually one or two more Jedi emerge to find and train others, until the Sith again kill them all and rule the galaxy in a shroud of darkness. Interesting details the prequel trilogy introduced are that the Sith had been extinct for one thousand years, and there are only ever two. But now we're shown that the dark side has returned to spread evil once again—so what's going on? Snoke and Ren are Sith, no? Master and apprentice? So, where did they come from if the Sith were eliminated in Episode VI?

I initially assumed that Snoke—a giant about ten times the size of a normal human—is a hologram projected from his actual location elsewhere. But maybe Snoke's image is not a broadcast but rather his ghost—like Obi-Wan, Yoda, and other dead Jedi commune with the living from the Netherworld of the Force, and Qui-Gon Jinn is said to do in Episode III. If this is true then perhaps Snoke's alternate identity is Darth Plagueis (as internet rumours have speculated), who Palpatine describes when recounting "The Tragedy of Darth Plagueis" to Anakin. Palpatine says Plagueis was so powerful that he was able to create life (as the midi-chlorians are thought to have done with Anakin) and likewise "cheat death" and achieve immortality. It's hard to tell if Snoke is a ghost or hologram because he's CGI, in shadow, and vanishes in a shimmer of blue light as both ghosts and holographic projections do. How does this all fit with what we know of Sith? Can a Sith master operate from beyond the grave and take a living apprentice like Kylo Ren? Has Snoke brought himself back to life in physical form, and is communicating via hologram? And why appear so big in stature? In any case, many questions are raised—which isn't entirely bad—but it leaves a lot riding on answers expected to come in future episodes.

More questions abound regarding the map to Luke's hideout location. BB-8 possesses only a part, and late in the film it's revealed that R2-D2 has the rest. R2, however, is in low power mode—effectively turned off—throughout most of the movie, and inexplicably awakens at the end. Why R2 wakes up when he does remains unexplained. Does Luke orchestrate it? Is he controlling R2 with the Force from afar? Otherwise how did R2 come to have the map, and how did Lor San Tekka come to have the missing piece before giving it to BB-8 at the story's outset? Whatever the case, it all leads to an ending with perhaps the single best scene in the movie. What has Luke been doing while hiding out on that planet? Has he lost all hope, or has he been meditating, communing with the Force, and preparing to make a comeback? The act of the elder Obi-Wan handing young Luke the lightsaber in Episode IV is reversed here as young Rey reaches out to hand elder Luke the lightsaber. But Luke doesn't take it, and the movie ends. This action is a symbolic bridging of the trilogies, with the young generation asking the elder, defeated Jedi to teach them the ways of the Force. It's safe to assume Luke will eventually take the lightsaber, train Rey, and join the fight—which is cool on one hand, but also perhaps too closely resembles Obi-Wan training Luke.

With its unanswered questions The Force Awakens seems intentionally crafted to leave audiences in suspense, as far more is introduced than resolved. It's an obvious cliffhanger entry, apparently designed foremost to make money, keep audiences coming back to the series, and please the more nostalgic fans. But I'd prefer the filmmakers focus on the narrative quality, on telling a good story, and expanding the Star Wars mythology that so many have come to love.

Some people flipped when Lucas sold the Star Wars rights to Disney, lamenting the end of the franchise. But at the time I actually defended the move as I heard the deal included Lucas's story outlines for Episodes VII-IX, and his longtime producer Kathleen Kennedy was to remain president of the Lucasfilm division. So I thought Lucas had made sure his people were in there to oversee the proper execution of his vision. Alas, Disney and Abrams ended up completely disregarding Lucas's notes—possibly in reaction to the growing hater bandwagon of the prequel trilogy. While far from flawless, the prequel films enriched Star Wars metaphors and mythology—particularly around the Sith—and left me with more to think about than the original trilogy or The Force Awakens.

During the six years that the prequel episodes were released (1999-2005), reactions varied. But in the decade after Episode III animosity towards the prequels grew to a ridiculous degree, especially after Lucas sold the franchise in 2012. Then the hate seemed to amplify after Episode VII was announced, and in the year prior to its release. My theory is that Disney cultivated this ludicrous level of prequel-hating, influencing public opinion to one that would condescend to the different approach Lucas took. Once they decided the direction they were going with the new film, Disney probably covertly infiltrated the Star Wars community, bombarding every fan website, blog, and chatroom with anti-prequel rhetoric, promoting the narrative that the prequels were downright awful and accelerating a desire to return to the original movie's look and feel—thus securing Episode VII's monetary success. People tend to go with the crowd, so once word was out that the prequels sucked, they relished a return to the original film's style and ate up The Force Awakens without second thought. Or maybe people just largely disliked the prequels, and Disney catered to this in shaping the new film. Either way, Disney's choice worked, financially, since The Force Awakens has grossed over $2 billion (as of May 2016).

But it's disappointing that Disney threw out Lucas's notes and made their own copycat stuff up. Since the originator is no longer involved, comparing any new Star Wars film to the first six would be like regarding Ruth Plumly Thompson's series of Oz sequels with the same consideration as L. Frank Baum's fourteen original books. Or like viewing Terminator: Genisys (written and directed by god knows who) with the same interest as James Cameron's The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day—it just can't be. Also, Disney is releasing each episode in this trilogy two years apart with standalone spin-off films in between—so there'll be a Star Wars movie of some kind out every year for at least the next several years. Seems like it might become not too special or highly anticipated anymore. With a different writer-director on each film, the franchise is already lined up to become overkill with way too many people's hands all over it.

Still, I guess I'm ultimately glad that more Star Wars movies are being made since Lucas claims he's too old to do anymore. Plus, the first film of each previous trilogy was the weakest so I'm hopeful the series will improve with Episode VIII, to be written and directed by Rian Johnson—arguably a more interesting filmmaker than J.J. Abrams. I like some of Abrams' works, but he's essentially a mainstream, crowd-pleasing filmmaker. His previous writing or directing credits include such populist fare as Armageddon (1998), Mission: Impossible III (2006), two Star Trek prequels (2009 and 2013), and the television series Lost (2004-2010). Before I saw The Force Awakens I thought Abrams seemed a good choice in terms of being capable with special effects and big budgets. And he is that. But now I see he's maybe not as good at original storytelling. Rian Johnson, though, while having fewer credits than Abrams, has made some interesting movies more on the stylized and creative side of things; his debut film Brick (2005) is uniquely weird, and more recently Looper (2012)—his first special effects-laden, big budget science fiction feature—has many positive qualities as well. So I'm hoping Johnson's next Star Wars installment will be an improvement over this one.

And Episode IX, scheduled for a 2019 release, is slated to be written and directed by Colin Trevorrow, who's made only two feature films to date (although three more in addition to Star Wars are currently in various stages of production). His first film, Safety Not Guaranteed (2012) is a fantastically quirky, low-budget science fiction comedy, and his second is Jurassic World (2015) which apparently holds the record for the biggest opening weekend moneymaker of all time. So, Trevorrow has one great low-budget film to his name and one huge blockbuster—his worthiness for Episode IX remains a question mark. Let's just hope it doesn't earn the nickname The Force Goes to Sleep.
Rating (out of 5): ★★★
• Nik Dobrinsky / Boy Drinks Ink
May 4th, 2016