Movie Review: Star Wars The Force Awakens

NO SPOILERS!! However, I did not like the movie so turn back if you're looking for a fluff fest.

I love Star Wars and I really wanted to love The Force Awakens. Unfortunately, things didn't work out that way. I know I'm presently in the minority. However, I believe this to be a temporary condition resulting from the "honeymoon phase" most people are currently in regarding this film. Time will show this film for the flat, forgettable work that it is.

Let me step back and attempt to "start" with some positives despite having already set a negative tone. The movie looks beautiful. The visuals are top notch without question. There are some fun new designs and epic scifi imagery. I also respect the decision to incorporate cool looking practicle effects. Also, Harrison Ford did a solid job reprising his role as Han Solo.

PLOT : The plot is simply not good. There's no buildup and no real reward to be found. The pacing is poor. So much is crammed into a short period of time that plot lines and characters have little chance to truly develop. The coincidences that bring the heroes all together require unreasonable levels of suspension of disbelief. Scenes intended to have emotional impact fall utterly flat due to the lack of character development and often mediocre acting. There's an over abundance of ham-fisted fan service.

CHARACTERS:   

As I said, character development is severely lacking. We learn little about the new characters we are introduced to. Their motivations are often unclear at best and there actions make no sense. Let me talk about Fin (sp?) for a moment. How does a man raised to be a soulless killer instantly become a conflicted average dude looking for a girlfriend and a football game to watch. Fin says in a recent trailer something along the lines of "you know nothing about me". This is so true and remains true for the entire film. He is super boring and one dimensional. He acts like "some guy" who woke up to find himself in the Star Wars universe who gets to go on all the cool rides and play with shiny things. Not the actor's fault, poor writing. I have similar criticisms of Poe and Rey. Poe is pointless and beyond boring, no idea what is supposed to be appealing or interesting about him. Rey is a somewhat interesting character but again we learn so little about her that it's hard to care. Kylo Ren is kind of cool for a little while but quickly degenerates into a impotent seudo-villain, a piss poor Darth Vader substitute. Not to kick a dead TaunTaun but he's also super underdeveloped and I couldn't care less about his inner conflicts or his eventual fate.

Relationships between the characters also seem forced, heavy handed. Their interactions are clunky and lack any real humanity. "Forced" is a perfect word to sum up my feelings about much of what happens in this film, I'm not ignorant to the pun opportunity there either. Forced emotion, forced humor, forced fan service etc etc. OK I originally wrote that these characters are "weak sauce", I want to retract that. That was juvenile. That being said, I welcome anyone to explain to me the subtleties and complexities I'm missing in these characters. I understand it's the first film in a series and much remains to be explained in the sequels but I shouldn't have already lost interest.  

FINAL THOUGHTS:

I'm revisiting this post once again to add a little positivity. My initial writing was really negative. I was kind of pissed. The movie looks great and has its moments. I did not hate every second of it. I was genuinely enthralled for the first 15-20 mins, excited about every new inch of the new Star Wars universe/saga that was unfolding before my eyes.I wish this feeling had continued as the film went on and when I finally left the theatre. Also, I enjoyed some of the "fan service" I mentioned earlier, there absolutely should be some fan service in a film like this, I just feel it could have been handled better. Side note, I hope the little kids going to see this really enjoy it, I'm sure they will and that's a good thing. I was one of those kids once. I'm an older cranky fan now and my opinions are simply that, my personal opinions/reactions/feelings.     

My biggest gripe...This movie lacks heart, soul, spirit. It's cold, flat. It contains dumb humor that doesn't fit the Star Wars universe. Every "emotional" moment is terribly executed, rushed, heavy handed. Forgettable action sequences abound. It's fun to look at but there's nothing beneath the surface. It strikes me as an extremely high budget fan film. Star Wars deserves better.

I wish to alter the conclusion of my critique a bit too. I originally lashed out at fans who were relishing the fact that George Lucas was not involved in making this film. I realize a lot of that stuff came across as an attack and disrespectful of others opinions and that's the last thing I want to do here. Like I said, I was a little ticked when I initially wrote this thing. However, I stand by my closing words regarding George Lucas and Star Wars: The prequels are not great and the Special Editions have some truly terrible moments but at least Lucas really loved these characters and this universe. They weren't just toys in a sandbox to him.

I'll see this film again at some point and perhaps my view will change.  Will it change for the better? That remains to be seen. I'm not closed off to that. I'm still a Star Wars fan and I'm looking forward to seeing what new stories various creators choose to tell in this exciting universe.   

-Tom