THATFILMGUY

Star Wars The force Awakens – review

How can you re-start an Iconic film series and produce a film better than the originals? How can you re-start an Iconic film series and not offend the pseudo religious followers of the cannon?  How can you re-start an iconic film series with a movie that is an exciting and fun and  needs  no knowledge of the previous movies?  I do not know –  but JJ Abrahams does!

Director:  JJ Abrams

Cast: Diasy  Ridley, John Boydega, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher

Occasionally a sequel is as good, or better than the original. – ‘Aliens’ and ‘T2’.  Occasionally a re-launch of a franchise really works – ‘Batman Begins’.  However, I don’t think have ever seen, both things work simultaneously and produce such a spectacular success. This is the second time Abrams has tried this. He had a bit of a practise with ‘Star Trek’ and that was pretty good, but this is simply superb.

The movie has the feel of Episode IV but with the most up to date production values. The feel is achieved by maximising live action and puppetry mixed just the correct amount of CGI and motion capture to make a fantastic but believable backdrop for an all action movie.   This feel is further enhanced by the fact the film is almost a remake of episode IV.  Actually it is more like a ‘re-mix’ using completely different artists and riffs for the main track but including extensive ‘samples’ from the originals.  It is full of humour, action and, surprises.  It provides answers to much of the pre- film speculation, but many questions remain unresolved and new questions arise.

The old cast swim serenely through and the new characters add a vibrant feel that will doubtless drag in a whole new generation of fans.  Daisy Ridley settles into her role and will become a ‘superstar’ as the new trilogy unfolds. John Boydega, Oscar Isaac,  and Adam Driver are all good and will provide a solid framework  on which to pin  future adventures.

JJ Abrams has produced a spectacular success that will ‘out-box office’ everything that has gone before and will help sell a billions toys, costumes, and branded merchandise.  More importantly (to me) he has made a really entertaining movie.

Review by: TheManInTheBlackHat