Star Wars: The Force Awakens (J. J. Abrams)

I have to admit that I didn’t become a Star Wars fan right when I had my first contact with Lucas‘ universe. I watched random bits on TV as a young boy and was curious about it but not fascinated, as some of it disturbed my then young innocent yet enquiring mind. From the cute weirdness of the Ewoks to Chewie‘s bizarre communication and especially Jabba‘s blobby ugliness, I remember finding all of it a bit strange and, without much questioning, I returned to my Sesame Street episodes and Tom & Jerry cartoons.

It wasn’t until I was an open minded young teenager that I started understanding what the hype was about. I watched the remastered versions of the original trilogy at the cinema and was impressed by the vastness of the universe created, captivated by the simple yet complex battle between good and evil and absolutely amazed by a certain character dressed in black.

Later I watched the 3 prequels as they came out and was able to somehow enjoy them mainly to follow the build-up to what I knew Anakin Skywalker would become. After watching the complete saga a few times, I felt that the respect I had for the Star Wars universe was even greater and, as a movie lover, it became something I started to cherish more and more with time.

It was in that spirit that watching the first trailer of The Force Awakens brought tears to my eyes and, for the first time in many years, I felt like really looking forward to next Christmas, which would arrive one week earlier.

What’s good

It is a true Star Wars movie. J.J. Abrams and his team were able to perfectly capture the essence of the original Star Wars trilogy in Episode VII. I felt that everything was true to its origins and it was able to amazingly transpire the same exact feeling decades later.

It is a perfect homage to its predecessors. Important aspects of the previous films are here portrayed with the affection they deserve and happily we were able to see the original actors returning the beloved characters to life once again. Every time an old character, vehicle or reference was shown on screen I couldn’t contain an emotional smile.

It is by far the best looking and sounding Star Wars. As expected, the technological progress allowed this movie to be technically brilliant and never did the X-Wings, Tie Fighters, and the Millenium Falcon look so gorgeous on the big screen. At the same time, none of these look shiny and new and the portrayal of a galaxy in war is again faithful to the original concept, which reveals attention to detail.

The action is well filmed and more fluid than ever. There is not a dull moment in the movie and the action sequences are frenetic though beautifully detailed. The lightsabers and laser guns look and sound great, to the point of nostalgically cut through the fans amygdalae.

The story follows the same structure as the original Star Wars. A dramatic sequence of events between a family that dominates the galaxy (or The Force) and the start of the perfect legacy  on both sides of It. It’s arguable that the structure is very similar to Episode IV’s, but it’s a fact that every single Star Wars also ends in a lightsaber battle and that was never a bad thing.

The script is probably the best of the entire saga. It is entertaining and capable of delighting the audience with moments of simple but clever humor and also emotional drama.

The new characters are very appealing and follow the classic legacy. Finn (John Boyega) is a kind of Han Solo, in the way he brings great part of the humor to the movie, and Rey (Daisy Ridley) reminds me of a Luke Skywalker of sorts, in her passion and natural blessings with The Force. At the same time, I found the villains also very charismatic. General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson) is a stronger and more tyrant version of previous ones (lovely suffocated by Vader) and Snoke had a mysterious presence and appeal similar to Thanos‘ in the Marvel Universe (in particular the Avengers movies).

Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) – deserves his own paragraph – was brilliantly able to portray Anakin’s / Vader’s long internal struggle between good and evil in the half-dozen scenes he was in the movie and even added extra drama to the story, in feeling the pressure of succeeding the fantastic Darth Vader (which is like a projection of what may happen with the actor and creators themselves and the difficult job of trying to top one of the best characters in the Universe).

BB8. Super cute, super cool, super funny. The best-seller in movie memorabilia this Christmas. Enough said.

The actors’ performance was very good. It was without a doubt the most well-acted Episode the saga so far and, with no disrespect, every character seemed more charismatic in this movie than ever before.

John Williams’ soundtrack is as epic as ever. Chills to the bone, tears to the eyes, no words.

Breathtaking cliffhanger. The movie builds up to this moment and the end of the movie is epic and the perfect teaser to the following Episode of the saga.

Whole families in the cinema. I watched the movie in the evening and there were entire families with people of all ages passionately reacting to the scenes as if we were watching a football match. It was a great and emotional thing to experience and I believe that Disney did a great job promoting the movie (and bringing back the hype).

What’s not so good

“Haters gonna hate”. Although I felt that Star Wars’ popularity has increased massively since the movie’s announcement and despite the fact that liking Star Wars is now “hip” and “being a geek is the new cool”, I feel that people that genuinely don’t like Star Wars won’t change their minds with the seventh Episode. It is made by fans, for fans and it incorporates everything that was loved through the years.

I found the whole experience of watching the arrival of a new Star Wars magical. It made me better realize how important this saga is for the entertainment world and the fact that it is now considered a family film is somehow strange but delightful at the same time. In terms of the movie itself I consider it at least as good as the original trilogy with much more enjoyable special effects, script, acting and overall film quality. For Episode VIII wait I cannot.