Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

With so much hype, there is almost no way this could be an excellent film. Even going in with no expectations, the expectations based on the franchise are inherent. The story picks up a couple decades after the fall of the empire. The rebellion became the republic, and it has now become the resistance, fighting against the surging First Order. This film has the in-enviable task of holding true to the gestalt of a beloved franchise while introducing new characters and conflicts. It did the first two well, but the third fell well short. So short, in fact, that I really felt like I was watching a modern remake of A New Hope. Desert planet, junkers finding a missing robot, crazy bar with a bunch of crazy creatures, giant planet shaped planet killer, dark side master who looks like Voldemort... same conflict, same tension. Overall, while I enjoyed the nostalgia and the visuals, it really did feel like the middle book of a good series. Was this the "rebound", the necessary middle quality bridge between the old franchise and truly new adventures? We can't know until the next iteration is released and we can say if it is really novel and exciting. Until then...
3 stars (out of 5)

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