It’s been a long wait. DAVID ADAMS watches Star Wars: The Force Awakens…
Star Wars – Episode VII: The Force Awakens (M)
In a word: Reborn
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OLD FRIENDS AND NEW: Newcomer Finn (John Boyega) finds himself in hot water with Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) and Han Solo (Harrison Ford) – a state they’re used to. “This a return to form for Star Wars – director JJ Abrams manages to recapture the tone of the original trilogy and to seamlessly meld in the new characters…(But) if there is a weakness, it’s the narrative which seems set to repeat, snatching away, at the end, any chance of surprise. We know Abrams was a fan of the original – but perhaps he charted this course a little too closely.” |
Everything old is new again. Or at least it is in the Star Wars world. And that’s one of the biggest strengths of The Force Awakens, the latest film in the franchise, but it’s also its biggest weakness.
The film kicks off more than a couple of years after the defeat of the Empire in Return of the Jedi (Episode VI) and the jubilant atmosphere at the end of that film – that all was once more right with the universe – has proven somewhat ill-founded.
Much has happened since, both at a galactic and individual level. Taking the big view, a new evil force has arisen out of the ashes of the Empire, known as the First Order, and, of course, where evil flourishes there are those who would resist – the Rebel Alliance has come again, this time as the Resistance.
At the individual level, as expected we’re reunited with the stars of the original trilogy, none of whom have found life plain sailing since we last saw them. Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), is now General Organa and a leader of the resistance, Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Chewbecca (Peter Mayhew) have returned to their old ways and no-one has seen Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) for years. R2D2 and C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) also rejoin the gang eventually but it’s really the newcomers who really breathe new life into the series.
We’re introduced early on to ‘Finn’, a conflicted storm trooper played by John Boyega, who, thanks to meeting Resistance pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), is soon battling on the side of good alongside the real star of this show – Rey (Daisy Ridley), an urchin from the desert planet of Jakku waiting vainly for the return of her family. Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), the new chief bad guy and Jedi arts practitioner, initially brings some real menace to the role but is perhaps unmasked a little too early. And then there’s the feisty new BB-8 droid who, like those who have gone before, brings some good-natured mechanical life to the story.
This a return to form for Star Wars – director JJ Abrams manages to recapture the tone of the original trilogy and to seamlessly meld in the new characters. The variety of creatures that we’ve become used to is there along with the sweeping CGI vistas of new worlds. And there’s also the moments of light-heartedness, the thrills and the suspense that we first saw in Star Wars: A New Hope (and they’ve done away with some of the silliness we saw in the prequel trilogy). If there is a weakness, it’s the narrative which seems set to repeat, snatching away, at the end, any chance of surprise. We know Abrams was a fan of the original – but perhaps he charted this course a little too closely.
That said, there’s plenty of nostalgia here for fans of the original films (some of the gags will sail over the heads of those who haven’t seen them) but it’s also not a bad place for some new to the franchise to jump in at. Looking forward to Episode VIII!
