Okay, I'm not an expert critic. Just an "aspiring" filmmaker, with a dual love for Film & Star Wars. In recent memory nothing hyped this much has delivered in such a way. Made it look easy , Mad Max was GREAT and a surprise. Jurassic World was nice had the nostalgia factor, J.W. score, but lacked Spielberg's vision & whimsy (JJ's Direction was more Spilberg to me ).It's surprising a movie Disney only made for money was given such care. This is my favorite film in maybe 5 years so I'm going to romanticize the hell out of it. In my first "article" I'm going to list why I loved this fitting sequel to the classic legend.
1.) THE CHARACTERS (What Matters In Star Wars)
POE:
First off the iconic yellow scrolling letters inform you he's awesome, and not to be [frick]ed with.
They don't tell you how witty he is, which wasn't classic Han Solo roguish humor. A new JJ Star Trek vibe. I eventually warmed up to it and accepted him to be a cool confident type, who can back it up by being the best they have. I was the only one laughing when Kylo froze him & had those 2 Stormtroopers casually walk over and gut check him. Love Oscar Isaccs in everything, but I'm not going to talk much about performances. They were for the most part, as good as the original trilogy.
Uncanny enough that you stop watching actors on film, and it just becomes characters partaking in the "Star Wars" for 2 and a half hours.
BB-8:
Not the next Jar-Jar, no Threepio or Artoo either. They didn't try to force him/her? either. They gave him a nice role in the plot, and a implied backstory . Friendship with Poe made sense, his interactions with the rest of the cast was great. He wasn't pushy or sassy like the other droids. He seemed to be reasonable. Not useless, one thing I loved was those grappling hook things he used. That's the kind of stuff I like. Gadgets that not only make for a neat scene, but would make sense in the design of the character. That "Thumbs Up" scene, instant classic couldnt keep from laughing.
Finn:
Loved the way they went with him. He's a righteous
hero, who's need to help others outweighs
his capability. The contrast between him & Rey lends itself to a great dynamic especially their first meeting. Love the dialouge they gave to show aspects he's more knowledgeable in. He even saves Rey because he identifies the Tie Fighter sound, which was pulled off in a nice sequence. Out of all the
main characters, his motives, and traits are probably the most traditionally heroic. John Boyega's way he'd flip his tone, and attitude. Seriously or as a cover, was impressive.
Rey:
Literally the opposite of Luke Skywalker. Is a girl. Wants to stay on her home planet. Drinks clear red stuff instead of blue milk. Actually cares about her parents. She isn't a whiny farm kid that needs to be transformed,but she still got good at the force a little too fast. They reveal her to be a badass without shoving it down our throats. They're crafting her into a possibly iconic protagonist. She's trained with many skills, but chose to aply them in smaller ways or just as a means to survive. They just never fleshed it out enough to latch on to. We'll obviously get more in future Episodes, but it felt like they were playing her close to the chest for some reason. Maybe an "I, am your father" like twist?
First off. Hell yeah, Han Solo named his kid Ben. Second, I LOVED Adam Drivers performance. He was
the beacon of this film for me. They immediately makes his power felt. He displays the powers to freeze people with the force, knock them out with the force, extract info with the force, and do the classic Vader laser hand block, but keeps it going while focusing on other matters. That's a bad guy. Then on the other side of him. He's desprate to prove he's as good as Vader, hope we the psychology of his fallout with Luke. Personally, I love the mellodramatic serial, and fantasty influences that give us a tortured villain like Vader before him. The fantasy element also gives us our "Wizard" with Snoke. Now that Kylo completely gave over to the darkside. What do the 2 have planned, he's probably on his way to a "Darth" title?
Han & Chewie:
We get some of the best back and forth of the whole saga from the original odd couple.
Then there's "the thing". I knew the end before the credits rolled, they managed to give him a fitting end. The story significance was worthy of the moment, wasn't just for a quick reaction. The scene was shot beautifly, JJ & his DP were at their best. Very iconic imagery. The turn from light to dark, the red glow, and that little hint they give you. Anyone else groan when Han said he was going to "fix the generators"?
Carrie Fisher said alot of exposition.
Then At The Last Second
THE RETURN OF SEXY SKYWALKER!
"You're telling me you don't see Luke until the end...that's stoopid."
- Someone who was wrong in 2015
2.) STORY
I get to say the thing I couldn't after watching the prequels, "It was EXACTLY what I wanted from a new Star Wars film." Fantasy with a lived-in sci-fi backdrop. Continued the saga, and made it's own path. Characters you rooted for, motives you related t. Logic that was easy to comprehend. Dialogue that explaind everything in the simplest smoothest way possible. An example of a well crafted line is when Finn says something to the effect of "I'm just a Stormtrooper taken from a family I'll never know. Just like all the others.". We're given our first backstory for him, also it explains The First Orders new recruitment process for Stormtroopers. That could have been 2 long, and boring exposition scenes in someone elses hands. That's an example of how efficent the storytelling is. Most jokes hit, not in that Marvel Movie "Should we be joking now" way. Funny in classic Star Wars terms, not too self aware. One complaint is the structural similarities it has with the previous films including the finale, but like a GREAT man once said "It's like poetry. Every stanza rhymes with the last one."
3.) DIRECTION
JJ Abrams Job As Director Is Best Summed Up As So:
There Are No Slide Transitions,
He Breaks Up Han Solo & Princess Leia,
He Makes Their Offspring Evil,
He Has Said Offspring Kill Han Solo,
He Doesn't Have The Hero Use A Lightsaber Until The End,
Before The Credits Luke Skywalker Finally Appears For About...49 Seconds,
And Doesnt Say A Word.
He Knocked It Out The Park.
That's my thing.
Wait! One More Thing If You Read That, Or Just Skipped To Here. On A Personal Note.
My favorite Star Wars character is C3PO. My favorite Star Wars scene is when C3PO interupts Han & Leia's first kiss in "Empire". The First time we see Threepio in The Force Awakens it's a remake of that scene. I loved the fact that in that theatre, possibly the world, no one else could feel the same joy I did watching that scene.