Benz Eye View: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens

The moment is finally here.  We end the Star Wars Marathon (until the next Star Wars film) with the one we have been anticipating.  This will be a day long remembered indeed…

Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens

There are going to be MINOR SPOILERS in this review.  Not bad enough that is going to ruin the experience, but I like to give a fair warning since everyone wants to see it for themselves.

Pros:

The brand new characters in the film are excellent.  The three new characters that deserve recognition are Finn, Rey, and Kylo Ren.  You get to know their motivations, advantages, and weaknesses for each of them.  It also great to see some of the old characters again (Han Solo, Chewbacca, etc.).  They all fill in their role nicely, even C-3PO.  They are more alive than many of the prequel characters.

There are great practical and special effects.  You can tell that some of the aliens and creatures (with great designs) are alive, and the ones that have to use puppetry seem to be living beings.  They only use CG when they have no other choice, and even they are great most of the time.

You can tell they were giving their all for this film, because the production makes this film immersive just like the Original Trilogy.  The sound effects (my favorite is Kylo Ren’s lightsaber), the costumes, the music (composed by the great John Williams), and many more tell me that they did not want to let the audience and fans down.  Not to mention the direction by J.J. Abrams is completely different from George Lucas’s, and very good at that.  His creativity and imagination is strong with him.

Cons:

Many will argue that this film treads a bit too much into the Original Trilogy.  I am not going to give the details due to spoilers, but I can see the point as there are elements that they borrowed from the original films (particularly A New Hope), making it seem a little bit less creative.

There are plenty of foreshadowing in this film.  Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope had this as well, but they were very subtle about it, and they made the audience want to ask for more.  This one makes the audience ask for what is going to happen next in the sequel.  It does not end in a cliffhanger, but it is worth noting.

I wish we get to know some of the new characters.  We get to know Finn, Rey, and Kylo Ren, but the other characters barely get enough screen time.  I like to know more about Poe Dameron and General Hux, because what they do and how they interact with others (i.e. General Hux does not fear Kylo Ren) are very interesting.  One character that got plenty of attention is Captain Phasma, because she is a female Stormtrooper officer that is not a sex appeal, but she barely gets time in the screen.  Hopefully in the next two films, we will know them better.

Overall:

On October 30, 2012, Disney announced that they bought Lucasfilm, the film company that created Star Wars, from George Lucas with $4.05 billion.  When all was said and done, they also announced that they were going to do a Sequel Trilogy for Star Wars, making everyone cheer for joy.  Not everyone was happy when they heard that one cost of that is they have to consider almost everything that happened in the Star Wars Expanded Universe non-canon.  Besides that, everyone was thrilled to see the old cast together again with a few new faces.  Today, December 18, 2015, Star Wars: The Force Awakens is released into theaters.  Was the hype worth it?  Did it overcome its predecessors (especially the Prequel Trilogy)?  Did everyone who bought their tickets early, and wait in long lines to see this movie become satisfied?  Is it the Star Wars film that everyone had been waiting for a long time?

…YES!  This is the film that Star Wars fans have been waiting for in thirty years.  I wonder what took them so long to make another one after the Original Trilogy.  They probably could have made a prequel about Darth Vader and his story of how he went to the dark side and…wait.

Oh, yeah.  I forgot.

Is Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens better than the prequels?  Of course they are better.  It kicked their butts.  Is it better than the Original Trilogy?  I do not want to get to that yet, because there are still two more films coming in our way along with the Star Wars Anthology Series.  If you REALLY have to ask, I say it may be a bit better than Return of the Jedi.  Regardless, it is great to see a really good Star Wars film again.  I would say go and watch it, but who am I kidding?  You already are, or you are just waiting for my review as confirmation.  Well, here is your confirmation.  Grab your lightsabers, and charge into a theater near you.

9/10

I did watch this film in 3-D, and the only thing that is worth it is the space battles…That’s it.  It also probably interfered with some of the visuals, so I do not recommend it.

If I have to sum up the entire review and movie-going experience, it is through this:

Well, it is done.  This marks the end of the Star Wars Marathon until the next two films and anthology films come out.  I hope you enjoyed my Star Wars reviews, and enjoyed the films themselves despite some of them being pretty bad.  Until then, I leave you with an iconic ending to the first Star Wars film.

(11/16/21 Edit: The videos are no longer available.  I am sure you know the ending anyway.)