'Star Wars' a rollicking, familiar reboot
It’s better than the prequels.
As the Internet discusses “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” ad nauseam this holiday season, fans of the franchise should be relieved the new film resembles the original trilogy and not those maligned prequels. “The Force Awakens” feels like it belongs, even if its familiarity keeps it from being a standout movie in its own right.
I saw the film Saturday, and social media made me feel like I was already way behind the discussion. Still, since newspaper readers tend to be a bit more patient, I won’t be going into plot specifics about “The Force Awakens.” You still have plenty of time to form your own opinion.
Director JJ Abrams, alongside his co-screenwriters Lawrence Kasdan and Michael Arndt, have taken great care to recapture the look and tone of the original trilogy, and much of the story reworks elements of the original “Star Wars” from 1977. The film’s second half especially leans hard into conflicts and character motivations that resemble what we’ve already seen in “A New Hope.”
From a business standpoint, Disney is smart to reboot the franchise to familiar territory. It not only eliminates the bad taste left over from the prequels, it connects the new characters of the “Star Wars” universe with the nostalgia people have for Luke, Leia, and Han.
Unfortunately, the back half of “The Force Awakens” sometimes feels as if a Disney executive is marking off items from the "How to Reboot a Lucrative Franchise" checklist. There’s some good stuff in there too, sitting alongside story and action beats that could have easily been lifted from Disney’s Marvel Universe Guide Book.
I could point to a few specific scenes, but I just can’t spoil it yet. If you’re curious, there are already hundreds of articles about it online.
When it comes to “Star Wars,” everybody seems to have a passionate opinion. I’ve read negative articles written by people who have seen the movie four or five times already. Only “Star Wars” fans will subject themselves to so many repeat viewings of something they don’t like.
Others are feverishly in love with “The Force Awakens,” to the point where every point of criticism lodged at it is considered an act of treason. Then there are the people with all the nitpicks. They like the movie, BUT (insert specific scene or character motivation here).
As someone who watches a lot of movies throughout the year, I actually love seeing such diverse reactions to a single movie. Even in a world where anyone can write about movies, there isn’t necessarily an intelligent spectrum of critical reaction out there. Very few films can inspire the kind of passionate reaction seen on both sides of “The Force Awakens.”
At this point, after a single viewing, I’m comfortable being a guy who enjoyed the movie well enough. “The Force Awakens” has a trio of terrific new characters, played with energy and wit by Daisy Ridley, John Boyega and Oscar Isaac. Adam Driver makes interesting choices as new baddie Kylo Ren, and the robot BB-8 (basically a speedier version of R2-D2) steals every scene it’s in.
While I found the inclusion of the original characters a bit problematic, I can’t deny the charisma of Harrison Ford as Han Solo. There are lightsabers, spaceship dogfights and a certain Wookiee with a temper. “The Force Awakens” checks the boxes, just like those Disney executives intended. We wanted those boxes checked, so do we really have the right to complain if it doesn’t do much more?
I’ll let the rabid “Star Wars” fans try to answer that question over the next several years and millions of articles.
Tyler Wilson can be reached at twilson@cdapress.com