2015 Films: #29. The Big Short

This was the 2nd film in the New Year's Day double feature. Based on Michael Lewis' 2010 book of the same name about the 2007-08 global financial crisis that came about due to the the unstable mortgages and credit bubble. The film received an 87% on Rotten Tomatoes and is directed by Adam McKay containing an all-star cast. McKay is probably not the director you would expect for this type of film but he does an amazing job of telling the story of the people who were able to discover that the traditionally rock solid housing market is unstable due to subprime loans. The bubble is predicted to burst in the 2nd quarter of 2007. By betting on the housing market's collapse, the short bettors stand to win big.

McKay puts the moments leading to the crisis in order and how the signs were there but no one wanted to see them because of the money being made. The systematic fraud of everyone involved from mortgage lenders to rating companies to giant banks were all culpable. There's a line that stuck with me, when the cast goes to Vegas for a bond convention, Ryan Gosling's character says to a group of investors, lead by Steve Carell, that "you guys bet against stupid money. It's time to see how stupid that money is." Carell and is group are appalled by the greed of the big banks and their contempt for their customers (they know they're selling a terrible product). Sure enough, the bubble bursts and it's not a housing crisis in America but the effects are global. A global financial crisis.

It's hard to explain the plot of the film without getting way to technical about credit default swaps or CDOs. The film is near brilliant. McKay sometimes takes a whimsical approach but he drives it home what effects when a family who pays their rent on time becomes homeless because their landlord didn't pay the mortgage. He also has the actors "talk" to the audience about how facts were changed slightly for drama and uses celebrity cutaways for the more mundane financial details, like using Margot Robbie to explain subprime mortgages.

The acting is probably some the best in any film with an ensemble cast such as this. There were no bad performances, everyone brought their "A game." The standout performance had to go to Steve Carell. He stole everyone scene he was in. He should get a nomination come Oscar time and this is probably one of the 3 best films I've seen this year. The Big Short is a must see film.

The subject matter of the film is hard to take sometimes. To me, the big banks all acted like one large criminal organization. This was a criminal conspiracy that went unpunished. They were all guilty of a litany of abuses, got away clean but managed to get a tax payer bail out. For other great films about the crisis check out the following...

2015 Films: #28. The Danish Girl

January 1st in Chicago, IL. This picture is loosely based on the life of Danish painter Einar Wegener who is one of the first people to undergo sexual reassignment surgery in the late 1920's to become Lili Elbe. The source material was a book of the same name written by David Ebershoff in 2000. The film is directed by Tom Hooper (King's Speech) and stars Eddie Redmayne as Einar/Lilii and the beautiful Alicia Vikander as Einar's wife Gerda Wegener.

The film opens up in 1926 Copenhagen, Einar is a successful landscape artist and Gerda is a struggling portrait painter. They are a very happy and loving couple but haven't been able to start a family. They're invited to an artists party but Einar doesn't want to go. Gerda suggests dressing up as a woman to have some fun. Except Einar kind of enjoys it. This puts a bit of a strain on their marriage. Slowly Einar becomes more immersed in the identity of "Lili." It actually solidifies when Gerda begins sketching Einar as Lili and becomes a sought after painter and goes to Paris. In Paris, Einar seeks help for his "ailment" but the "treatment" suggestions are horrifying to say the least. Gerda is able to locate Einar's childhood friend Hans (Matthias Schoenaerts) and enlists him to try and help Einar.

Einar accepts that he is a woman trapped in a man's body and completely discards Einar and becomes Lili. Her only choice is to have a series of dangerous procedures of sexual reassignment surgery. Gerda stays with Lili and they remain devoted to each other. After the first surgery, Lili starts her new life in Copenhagen and gets a job at the perfume counter at a department store. She decides to have the 2nd procedure to complete the transformation and dies in the arms of Gerda due to complications.

This picture is art house fare and is definitely not for everyone. Redmayne is very good as Einar/Lili and I wouldn't be surprised if he gets a Best Actor nomination. Vikander is brilliant as the wife who stays with Einar/Lili until the end (even rebuffing the subtle advances of the very handsome Hans, though to be fair Hans could see that Gerda was very distraught and wanted to comfort her). Lili draws strength from Gerda throughout the process. Hooper does a really good job of setting in motion the events that change Einar. First he stands in for Gerda when her model is unable to attend a sitting and he realizes that enjoys wearing the silky nylons. He then takes a liking to a night dress that Gerda wears to bed. There's a scene when the two are getting amorous and Gerda discovers that Einaris wearing the dress under his clothes. She goes with it and they make very passionate love. I did think it was weird that the answer to Lili's problems would be found in late Twenties Germany of all places.

This is a fine film with some great performances and some excellent cinematography and color usage. Hooper and his production team do a great job with sets and costumes. This is an all-around good film that received a 71% on Rotten Tomatoes but I though it was a little better than that. 

2015 Films: #27. Chi-Raq

December 30th in Chicago. This is the latest Spike Lee Joint about the violence on Chicago's South Side. The film is actually based on Aristophanes' classical Greek comedy, Lysistrata. The play was set during the Peloponnesian Wars where the women of Sparta and Troy withheld sex from the men as punishment for fighting the war. Lee takes the same premise and puts in modern day Chicago. Lee and co-writer Kevin Willmont wrote the dialogue in ancient text. That means a lot of iambic pentameter. Very Shakespearean (or what I would consider Shakespearean). Here's how the cast breaks down:

• Nick Cannon as Chi-Raq, Spartan gang leader
• Teyonah Parris as Lysistrata, Chi-Raq's lover
• Wesley Snipes as Cyclops, Trojan gang leader
• Angela Bassett as Miss Helen, Lysistrata's neighbor
• Samuel L. Jackson as Dolmedes, The Narrator
• John Cusack as Father Mike Corridan, local priest who preaches non-violence
• Jennifer Hudson as Irene, Cyclops' lover
• D.B. Sweeney as Mayor McCloud, Chicago's Mayor
• Dave Chappelle as Morris, local strip club owner
• Steve Harris as Old Duke, leader of non-gang affiliated males
• Harry Lennix as Commissioner Blades, Police Commissioner

The film opens at a club where Chi-Raq is performing and violence erupts with a member of both the Trojans and Spartans are shot. Later that night there is an another attempt on Chi's life at Lysistrata's home. Chi retaliates but Lysistrata's home is damaged by a fire. The next day a young child is killed in the streets by a stray bullet. The girl's mother pleads for someone to step forward but nothing happens. Lysistrata is forced to stay with her neighbor, Miss Helen due to the damages of her home. As they talk about the violence in the neighborhood Miss Helen mentions that the power to end the violence lies with the women of the gang members. She cites a modern example a sex strike in Nigeria that produced positive results. Lysistrata begins to recruit her own friends and makes a plea to Irene and her crew (negotiations take place over wine, given). They realize that in order for this to work, they need to get all the women in the neighborhood to comply. Soon the sex strike takes hold and goes city wide.

Things come to a boil when Lysistrata and her army take over the National Guard Armory. The Mayor dispatches Commissioner Blades to lay siege to the armory and bring a settlement. The women won't budge and finally amnesty is offered by Lysistrata just wants peace. In order to end things, there will be a final "sex off" between Chi and Lysistrata, first one to finish loses. As the two are about to get amorous, it's all a ruse to get Chi and Cyclops to settle their scores and call a truce. Cyclops does just that, realizing that the cycle of violence is senseless. It's later revealed that Miss Helen's daughter was killed by Chi's father years ago. Chi breaks down confesses that he was the one who accidentally shot the young girl.

Teyonha Parris absolutely owns the screen and commands attention. Her performance was nothing short of masterful. Nick Cannon was surprisingly good as Chi-Raq. I was not expecting that solid of a performance from him at all. Samuel L. Jackson kept things going as the narrator. It's hard for me to imagine how difficult it was for the actors to deliver the dialogue, especially of they're not classically trained. Strong performances all around. There are some lighthearted and even funny moments but it never loses sight of the central theme, Chicago gun violence is an epidemic that needs a cure. Lee pokes fun at our country's gun culture by referencing Sandy Hook by saying, if white school children that get gunned down doesn't spark a wave of gun control then nothing will.

In my opinion this was a poignant film that made me think about our violent culture and our country's love affair with guns. To me it's deplorable. I understand that Spike Lee's films don't always have a mass appeal and the way the film is delivered is not for everyone but it's worth seeing. It's available On Demand or to stream if seeing it in a theater isn't an option. Once again Spike is able to make a film on a subject that people don't like to talk about. Chi-Raq may not be the return to form from his hey day (his films from 1988-1995, some of his best work) but it's a solid film.

2015 Films: #26. The Hateful Eight

December 29th in Chicago, IL. This is the 8th film from writer/director Quentin Tarantino. Shot in 70mm format, which in a digital world is a throwback to the old days that helped shape him. Tarantino doesn't venture far from the things that made him famous; strong dialogue, great soundtrack, great score, Red Apple Cigarettes, coarse language and violence. As usual, Tarantino assembles a top notch cast of actors for this film. There are Taratino veterans like Samuel L. Jackson (6 films), Zoey Bell (5 films), Tim Roth (4 films), Michael Madsen (3 films), Kurt Russell and Bruce Dern (2 films each). He's even got pretty boy Channing Tatum as his newcomer and Jennifer Jason Leigh as the career resurrection. Here's the character line-up...

L to R: Major Marquis Warren, John Ruth, Daisy Domergue, Sheriff Chris Mannix, Bob, Oswaldo Mobray, Joe Gage and General Sandy Smithers. Not pictured, Tatum. He's not quite as hateful as the others.

The film is made up of six chapters and of course, they're not quite in chronological order. Things open up in a post Civil War Wyoming blizzard. A lone stage is driving through the storm and is barely ahead of it. The stage runs into Major Warren, who's own horse died while transporting 3 bounties for collection in Red Rock. John Ruth booked this stage and is very wary of strangers, especially those out in a brutal blizzard. Ruth is transporting Daisy Domergue to Red Rock for a date with the hang man and a $10,000 bounty. No one is going to get in his way. Inconceivably, Ruth and Warren know each other and Ruth reluctantly let's him. Daisy isn't thrilled with this since she's not a big fan of Black Civil War veterans regardless of rank. The goal is to get to Minnie's Haberdashery, a kind of 19th century truck stop, and wait out the storm.

As the storm is catching up to them (they're making good time on the seemingly plowed road), they run into another horseless traveler in the form of Chris Mannix. Mannix claims to be en route to Red Rock to become it's sheriff. Ruth is a bit skeptical because he knows Mannix by reputation; a member of a guerrilla Confederate militia that kept fighting after Appomattox. Of course, Mannix happens to know Major Warren by his reputation and the ride to Minnie's is a bit uncomfortable. When they arrive at Minnie's the blizzard is only getting stronger. They're greeted by Bob who was just hired by Minnie. The same Minnie who just happens to be with Sweet Dave visiting her mother. Since Major Warren is a frequenter of Minnie's, he's instantly suspicious. Waiting inside Minnie's are fellow travelers Oswaldo Mobray, Joe Gage and General Sandy Smithers, a "retired" Confederate general.

Once everyone gets together, it turns out that Mobray is a contract hangman who is also on his way to Red Rock. Joe Gage doesn't say much of anything and General Smithers is looking for his son. As fate would have it, Warren and Smithers know another by reputation and the tension ratchets up a bit. setting in motion a deadly chain of events.

Since the picture was shot in 70mm format, there are no trailers, just a 3 minute overture and there's an intermission in it's 167 minute run time. Tarantino had legendary Ennio Morricone compose an excellent score and got great acting out of the cast. The picture plays out as a bloody "who done it." By chapter four, you've got a good idea of what's going on and more light gets shed on the plot during the backstory in chapter five but Taratino doesn't disappoint with the ending.

Tarantino does a good job of building the tension and making the audience get a feel for the claustrophobic conditions of the room (the Haberdashery is just one large room). The dialogue is witty and spot on. There's even some modern day critiques of American society. Warren mentions to Ruth that Black people only feel safe when white people are disarmed. Smithers tells Mannix something to the effect that being armed, keeps black people scared and white people safe. I thought that was a nice touch considering current events.

I rate Tarantino as a must see director. If you enjoy his work then please see this film in the theater. It is worth it. It's also worth mentioning,this is not a news flash by any stretch, that Tarantino's films take place in the same universe. It should be interesting to see how that pans out in any of his future work. It's hard to rate this picture against his filmography due to the fact that Tarantino seems to always make a solid film. This picture is no different.

2015 Films: #24. Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation

This was an iTunes rental that I watched on a flight from Baton Rouge to Chicago on December 21st. This installment marks the 5th installment of the Mission: Impossible Franchise with a 6th film to begin production in 2016. The picture was released on July 31st and took in over $55 million on its opening weekend and to date has grossed more than $682 million worldwide. Christopher McQuarrie wrote and directed this installment (he's worked with Cruise before) that has Cruise,  Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg and Ving Rhames returning to their roles. Rounding out the is Adam Baldwin as CIA Director Alan Hunley, Rebecca Ferguson as femme fatale Isla Faust and Sean Harris as the main villain Solomon Lane.

After nearly 90 seconds of opening logos, the film opens with Ethan and Benji trying to thwart a takeoff of some stolen Russian warheads. While Brandt is in a Senate hearing about the fate of the IMF program. The IMF has been without a Secretary for a few installments and the CIA Director Hunley is hot to shut the program down and roll it into the CIA. Hunley feels that the IMF operates without rules or accountability and any success is just luck. After the mission, Hunt is in London for his debrief and it captured. Hunt escapes and warns Brandt but Brandt informs him that the IMF has been disbanded. Hunt goes dark since he is now a wanted man.

Hunt ends up in Vienna and recruits Benji to help him (Benji has to undergo weekly polygraphs to prove to Hunley that he doesn't know where Hunt is) and they thwart an assassination attempt on the Austria Chancellor. While doing heroic stuff, Hunt runs into a mysterious woman, Isla Faust, who helped him escape in London. She informs him that she too is undercover and that they're both after Soloman Lane (the leader of the Syndicate, a global criminal organization that is the anti-IMF). Ethan throws her from the car to keep up appearances. However, the bad guys had a backup plan and blow up the Chancellor as he is taken away from the opera house. Ethan is in big trouble now. Brandt gets Luther and they go to help Ethan.

The gang ends up in Morocco where Ethan and Benji meet up with Faust to break into Lane's vault where he keeps some over complicated something that's bad for the world's spies. Of course the break won't be easy as it requires a ridiculously over complicated plan that relies heavily on incredible timing. Ethan nearly dies and Isla resuscitates him, only to steal the file or whatever and take off. The obligatory car/motorcycle chase through the very narrow and winding streets of Casablanca ensues. It's a cool scene but I there wasn't moment where the outcome was in danger. Ethan and Benji survive a horrific and unsurvivable crash and Isla gets away. Or does she? Ethan grabs a bike from a henchman who was going to kill him but was he himself killed when Brandt runs him over. Then Cruise gets into the contractual motorcycle chase but Isla does get away this time.

I can see where one could become distracted in a pursuit.

The finale takes place in London and it involves disguises, misdirection and some cool high tech stuff. Good guys win. Back in the States Hunley is named the new IMF Secretary.

The plot is straight from the 1st installment. Ethan is deemed a bad guy by the CIA and has to pull an elaborate heist in order to draw out the bad guys. He does the same thing here. How the film got a 93% Rotten Tomatoes rating is beyond me, It was fun to watch, the gadgets are cool,the visual effects were great and the stunt work was incredible. Much like the IMF themselves, the filmmakers used misdirection to cover up a an old plot. Cruise rides a motorcycle without a helmet, again and he ups the ante on the stunts by hanging from an airplane...

Give credit where it's due, Cruise does his own stunts and they get more dangerous (this is what you can achieve when you reach the level of Scientology that Cruise has). Cruise wants his films to succeed, or least make a lot of money, and he does all he can to make that happen. Another film where you're getting the same film as a previous installment. Since they don't call this film Mission: Impossible 5, there are moviegoers that may not have seen the original. Add the fact the original came out in 1996 and feel free to press repeat. Plus it seemed that they were desperate to beat Spectre to the global criminal organization thing. The Syndicate, that was unoriginal. Even Solomona Lane looks like Mr. White...

Mr. Lane, 

meet Mr. White, you guys should work together.

To be fair, the Spectre groundwork was being laid in Casino Royale in 2006. The scene where Ethan discovers the Syndicate is at an opera house in Vienna.Bond discovers Quantum, an offshoot of Spectre, at an opera. Both Ethan and Bond kill bad guys at the opera and then get blamed for killing someone. So the film is guilty of stealing from other franchises as well as its own. 

2015 Films: #25. Creed

December 23rd in Chicago. The 7th film of the Rocky franchise that has spanned nearly 40 years. In this installment Rocky takes a back seat to Adonis Johnson (Michael B. Jordan), the illegitimate son of former champion Apollo Creed. The film opens in a juvenile detention center where a young Adonis is in a fist fight with a much larger kid. Enter Mary Anne Creed (Phylicia Rashad) who informs Adonis she knew his mother and was married to his father, Apollo Creed.

Zoom to present day, Adonis quits his lucrative job a securities firm to pursue a boxing career (he's been fighting in Tijuana) much to Mary Anne's dismay. After getting turned down at LA's Aldephi Gym, he packs everything up and heads to Philadelphia to train with the only other "family" he has, Rocky Balboa. Rocky is reluctant to train Adonis but changes his mind after a quick guilt trip down memory lane. Rocky sets Adonis up at a local gym and after a few minutes of onscreen training, Adonis gets his 1st fight as "Hollywood" Donnie Johnson against the son of the gym owner where he briefly trained. After the fight it gets leaked that Donnie is Apollo's illegitimate son (Donnie wanted to forge his own legacy and wasn't keen on using the name).

The win leads to a fight with light heavyweight champ Ricky Conlan (Tony Bellow), who's facing a 7 year bid on a weapons charge and botched a previous fight by breaking the jaw of his opponent at the weigh in. While training for the fight, Rocky is diagnosed with cancer (surprisingly it's not a brain injury) but refuses treatment because Adrian went for treatment and she died. Donnie finds about it and confronts Rocky but the two have a falling out. Donnie then gets into a fight with the headlining act for his girlfriend's band (for the sole reason of showing that he's a hot head) but eventually makes up with Rocky while in his holding cell.

The conditions of the Conlan fight are that it will take place in Liverpool and Donnie has to change his name to Creed. The fight itself plays out like Balboa V. Creed I, overmatched underdog stays in the fight, keeps it close, loses the fight (barely) but wins the crowd at the end. The kid has arrived. Back in Philadelphia, Rocky is undergoing chemo and he and Donnie go up the steps of the Art Museum.

This film started production in January of this year and was released on November 25, 2015. For such a short timeline between production and release, this was a pretty good film but it's not 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes good. The film is essentially a 2 hour long Nike commercial. That's another thing, the picture has a 133 minute run time which is about 20 minutes too long (they definitely didn't need the fight scene at the club but it set up the Donnie and Rocky reconciliation which could've been done another way). Too many unneeded scenes. There are some funny moments and there's a connection between Donnie and Rocky. I thought it was a bit cliched to open up in a juvenile hall. I just didn't like that stereotype. Ryan Coogler wrote and directed this film and did a very nice job of keeping the film moving and telling a coherent story. My only issue with the story is that I find it hard to believe that Adonis would give up his life as a securities broker to become a boxer. It usually doesn't happen that way. This was Coogler's first major motion picture after he wrote and directed 2013's Fruitvale Station. Coogler looks to be a director that people should keep their eye on in the future.

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.