2015
Directed by J.J. Abrams
I have been putting off watching the new Star Wars. I'm hesitant to embrace this kind of fan service. I've been hurt before (btw my church does not recognize The Cursed Child as canon). It's like they think doing something as simple as reworking a quote from the original will send the fans into raptures, forgetting the fact that we all liked the thing in the first place precisely because it was like nothing we have seen before. But hey, it's on The List. As The List goes, so goes my nation.
The galaxy is once again being threatened, this time by the First Order. Kylo Ren (think Darth Vader with a slightly different outfit) is trying to locate Luke Skywalker, who has gone into hiding. A resistance fighter, Poe Dameron, obtains a map to Luke's location, but he is captured by Kylo Ren and tortured. Poe's droid, BB-8, escapes with the map and meets Rey, a scavenger. A stormtrooper, Finn, has a crisis of conscience and helps Poe escape. Rey and Finn team up with Han Solo to try to stop the First Order from destroying the galaxy. Man, for such a simple story this sounds kind of complicated in summation.
This reminded me of a video game re release, where story is essentially the same, but the weapons are slightly improved and the developers give you more avatars to work with. I did appreciate that there was more diversity in the cast (how does that work exactly? Does each race have its own planet?). The movie is too weak to stand on its own; you have to tolerate much nudging and winking. Yes, I remember you saying "we've got company." Yeah, I got the reference the first time, you didn't have to say it again.
All that being said, it is a fun, suspenseful movie. Compared to the prequels, this is Citizen Kane. Still, if you love something, shouldn't you let it go?
RATING: ***--
Interesting Facts:
John Williams received his 50th Oscar nomination for this film.
Had 13 producers.
RIP Carrie Fisher.
Yes. I agree with all of your thoughts. I had to see it, because of course, they made it for us--all the people who loved the other ones. Not very good. Your review made me smile.
ReplyDeleteThere are going to be more Star Wars films, including this one, for the same reason that Coca-Cola are going to brew more bottles of their sugary drink tomorrow and the day after. It's a product that sells, so why on earth would they stop making it?
ReplyDeleteThat's a bit of an emotional hurdle to get over for film purists like ourselves, but once we do I think that this wasn't bad. It's solid, few obvious flaws, cast and crew all do their jobs well. Yes it's a rehash of the original and George Lucas disapproved because he felt that each new film should try to be something different, but I'd say it was a sensible and necessary strategy. After the disconcerting failure of the prequels where most fans lost faith in the whole thing, the most important job of this new reboot was to get back on track, establish a solid base and reassure fans of the originals that this was something that they could recognise as Star Wars. Back to basics, if you will.
Fair enough, I say, even if it probably went a bit too far and at times felt more like a remake than a sequel. If the next one is the same then that's a problem, but I'm expecting it to start to branch out a bit more. We shall see.
Not a list film, quite frankly. Just one of those they add to the book to sell more copies but remove again a year or two later.
This is like Episode IV reprise and the worst thing is that it looks like Episode VIII is going to be Episode V reprise with "I'm your father" wink included.
ReplyDeleteTrue, it's more entertaining than the prequels but at least these were based on original stories. And, seriously, "certain character" deserved a better treatment than it gets.
I agree with the above, mostly. I do not see why we needed a remake of episode IV and for me that is where it starts and ends. This looks more like an anniversary reunion than an actual new series.
ReplyDeleteBtw. Greetings from Thailand.
TSorensen, you're in Thailand? That's awesome. I think we all agree on this one. The next one might be decent. I guess Harrison Ford is systematically remaking all his old movies.
ReplyDelete