2015 Films: #23. Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens

December 18th in Baton Rouge, LA, December 24th in Chicago and December 26th in Glenview, IL. I don't want to give too much of the film away because of the huge impact Star Wars has had on our society (at the very least on me). It's still opening weekend and I feel people should see this film. Especially people of my generation who grew up with Star Wars, remember how great the original trilogy was only to be disappointed by the prequels. J.J. Abrams was tapped to direct this film after his success with the Star Trek reboots. Lawrence Kasdan, a writer from the original trilogy, was brought back and helped write this picture along with Abrams. Here's the main cast:

Harrison Ford - Han Solo
Mark Hamill - Luke Skywalker
Carrie Fisher - Leia Organa
Adam Driver - Kylo Ren
Daisy Ridley  - Rey
John Boyega - Fin
Oscar Isaac - Poe Dameron
Lupita Nyong'o - Maz Kanata
Andy Serkis - Supreme Leader Snoke
Domhnall Gleeson - General Hux
Gwendoline Christie - Captain Phasma

The original trio return as do R2D2, C3PO and Chewbacca. There are all kinds of theories as to the origins of new characters or who's the offspring of whom. Did Luke turn to the Dark Side? Why is Luke not in the poster. You name it, there's a internet fan theory about it. That's not my concern. There are some serious flaws in this film, but it's visually stunning with great action sequences. The chemistry between the main characters is reminiscent of the originals. Rey and Finn have more chemistry in their 1st few scenes together than Padme and Anakin had in 2 entire films together. This is what happens when the director shoots on location instead of in front of a green screen. Abrams and Co. didn't stray too far from the the original trilogy for their storyline.

The film takes place 30 years after Return of the Jedi. The Republic that gave way to the Empire has been reinstated but the Empire transitioned to the First Order after Palpatine died. The Old Republic gave way to the galactic empire which gave way to a new republic. The Empire didn't disintegrate after Palpatine was killed on the 2nd Death Star. Leaderless, the remnants of the Empire become the First Order, led by the Supreme Leader Snoke. There isn't too much detail on the new Republic but perhaps the First Order and Republic have an uneasy existence. However there is a "resistance" that's funded by the Republic and has been engaged in combat operations with the First Order. The First Order are aware that the Republic backs the resistance and it puts a strain on any alleged "uneasy co-existence."

I'll get right to the point, this film's plot is a mash-up of plot points from Episodes VI-IV. The First Order's Starkiller Base is really just a planet sized Death Star...

You be the judge.

Instead of having the power to destroy a planet, the Starkiller Base can destroy entire systems (which it does). There's even a line in the film during a tactical briefing where a resistance official says that it's Death Star only to be shown a comparison of the two revealing the immense size of the Starkiller Base.

The parallels to the original trilogy do not end with the Starkiller Base.

Resistance pilot Poe Dameron is sent to Jakku (a Tatooine substitute) to obtain a map to the whereabouts of Luke Skywalker (he left after attempting to restore the Jedi backfired, we'll probably get more backstory in Episode VIII). Stormtroopers under the command of Kylo Ren destroy the village and capture Poe. Poe's droid BB-8 escapes with the map, and comes across a scavenger, Rey, at a junk trading post. Ren tortures Poe and learns of BB-8. Stormtrooper FN-2187, decides that stormtroopering is not his life's calling, frees Poe and they escape in a stolen TIE fighter; Poe renames FN-2187 "Finn" for the sake of brevity. They crash on Jakku. Finn survives, Poe is nowhere to be found and is resumed dead by Finn. He encounters Rey and BB-8, but the First Order tracks them and a chase ensues. Rey leads them to a ship in hopes of escaping but it is blown up by TIE fighters, leaving plan B, what Rey refers to as "someone's garbage," the Millennium Falcon. Despite the fact that Rey is not an experienced pilot by any stretch, she manages to elude the TIE fighters and escape into space.

Eventually the Falcon breaks down (SPOILER ALERT!), and is soon captured by a much larger ship, piloted by...

Ta-Da!

After some witty repartee (I would like to add that this scene blows away any scene containing the primary characters from the prequels. Whether it's Neeson/Portman/McGregor from Episode I or Portman/McGregor/Christensen from Episodes II and III) and some much needed exposition, Han's freighter is boarded by some of his disgruntled customers (think about it, was Han ever a good smuggler?). After a brief fight, the gang gets away in the Falcon and head to Takodana to meet Maz Kanata (who owns a space truck stop that's very similar to the cantina on Mos Eisley). Maz can help BB-8 get back to the Resistance, but Finn wants to flee on his own (he reveals that he's a First Order deserter). The gang is spotted by both Resistance and First Order agents. As they split up Rey finds her way into he basement and finds a lightsaber that gives her some creepy flashbacks (including her abandonment on Jakku) when she touches and flees into the woods. The lightsaber is Luke's from Episode VI and Maz decides not to give any clunky exposition as to how she got it when asked (I'm so interested in this backstory that I would love to see a film about it). Maz gives Finn the lightsaber for safekeeping as the First Order attacks.

During the battle Han, Chewie and Finn get captured but are freed when the Resistance counter-attacks, led by the very much alive Poe Dameron. After engaging in a running blaster fight with stormtroopers, Rey is captured by Ren and is taken back to the Starkiller Base. Leia (C3PO as well) show up and everyone heads back to the Resistance base on D'Qar after witnessing the destructive power of the Starkiller Base, it's massive! Here's where they come up with a plan to destroy the base before it can recharge on destroy the Resistance (the amount of time needed to recharge coincides with the amount of time left in the film and looks suspiciously like the amount of time the Rebellion had before the first Death Star was in range in Episode IV).

The subtlety of the references (if they were ever subtle) to Episodes IV and VI end when the Resistance comes up with a plan to destroy the Starkiller Base. The plan consists of the following:

• Infiltrate the base so that the shield can be lowered allowing for the Resistance to attack (Episode VI).
• Infiltration team consisting of Han and Chewie (Episode VI).
• The base's destruction will hinge on destroying a certain area that causes a chain reaction (Episodes IV and VI).
• The Resistance attack group is made up of small one-man fighters (Episode IV, but much less that the 30 Rebel ships that avoided the Death Star's turbo lasers).
• First Order has a numerical superiority in ship to ship for the dog fight (Episode I, remember the Naboo attach on the Federation? Episode IV and VI).

Han, Chewie and Finn succeed in lowering the base's shield, throw Phasma in a trash compacter and find Rey (who was actually doing fine by herself). They also use their charges to help blow up a crucial facility that will help the Resistance attack group destroy the base (more Episode VI). During the this scene, tragedy ensues and a main character is killed (Episode IV). While attempting to get the Falcon, Finn and Rey run into Ren who's not too happy about the base blowing up all over the place and he's looking to take it out on them. Ren forces throws Rey into a tree and engages the outmatched Finn in a light saber duel. It's over quickly but as Ren attempts to command Skywalker's Episode V lightsaber to him it nearly takes his head off as it goes to...REY!? Yep, the force is strong in this one and she decides to fight it out with Ren. She actually puts up a better fight than Finn despite the fact that she totally telegraphs every move and has never used a light saber. As a former storm trooper, Finn at least has had weapons training whereas Rey does not. When Finn engages Ren, he's got that "Oh sh*t, I made a huge mistake" look on his face...

To be fair, Ren was wounded in a previous scene but there's a moment in the fight with Finn where he puts Finn on the ground, he turns around, allowing Finn to get up when he could've easily killed him. Then as Rey disarms Ren and puts him the ground, the ground breaks apart and separates them. Rey and a badly injured Finn escape in the Falcon. Before the Starkiller Base explodes, Snoke orders General Hux to evacuate and bring Ren to him.

Back on D'Qar, the Resistance celebrates, R2D2 wakes up because he has another portion of the map to Luke. Rey, Finn and R2 go out to find Luke. When they arrive, Rey goes to the top of a mountain and offers Luke's lightsaber back to him. No words are spoken. Film ends.

The film has plenty of flaws but the action sequences are awesome and the visual effects are stunning. To date, I've seen this picture 3 times and a few more viewings are probably in the future. There was also an injection of humor that the prequels lacked. That probably had more to do with the chemistry between the actors than anything else. This was a fun movie. It's better than Episode I but it's not nearly as good as Episode IV, despite the fact that it borrowed heavily from it. It will be interesting how long Abrams will stay with the franchise, he's an executive producer for Episode VIII with directing duties going to Rian Johnson. The best film of the franchise was directed by Irving Kershner with George Lucas as Executive Producer.