It's been awhile, right?
I've seen a flood of positive reviews for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. A plethora that kept me antsy for at least 48 hours prior to my midnight screening last night. As someone who grew up on these films, who drew creative inspiration from the legend of Luke, who despised the prequels for their lack depth and as a dreamer who had a ton of hope for JJ Abrams' reinvigorative process and overall, passion, TFA ends up being more mimicry and imitation, a clunky basket, and much less the stamp of authority and signature that JJ could have taken (direction-wise) - one that could propel the franchise in a contemporary direction, while paying just tribute to the property's film canon. In short, the Internet's paid way too much lip-service to the master of the new-age geeks; and this, coming from a diehard fanboy who's actually willing to let the Expanded Universe rest with Palpatine's soul.
Don't get me wrong. There are a lot of elements from the originals that JJ adopts here and pleases with. As he did with Super 8 aka his Spielberg love-romp. But again, it's just too much homage which robs the script (and Kasdan's) of a life of its own. It tries to sate too much of the style of old (note: it does a decent job) as it unravels clumsy coincidence after coincidence, yielding a series of adventures - which we're all too familiar with. That said, there's no real intensity or dire sense of urgency in a film that teased such. First off, the plot feels like it strips the core of the originals and throws them together, hoping that a great cake will bake in the oven. Hidden protagonists. Secluded ghost-chases. Etc. There's a lot of backstory that should have been filled in but rather than plug the gaps, I'm sure Disney left them out to milk sequels and prequels, but hey...that's business. Things like The First Order, Kylo Ren + his knights + origins + weapons, Snoke and a few other protagonists are lost in the mire because you're left wondering where's the motivation. What drives them? Is everything just blunder after blunder which fits them all together like a puzzle? A lot of this film feels like a comic that's jumped ahead after a major event and now, you're waiting for the flashbacks, which are really lacking and are few and far between. With such a huge time gap, you need to be informed here. And where the plot fails in originality, TFA doesn't even bridge the gap with its own spin because again, it rips directly off the predecessors and fails to achieve an identity or authentic voice. The cast, however, is much more positive. Daisy Ridley (Rey) has an intriguing backstory (which also needs more insight but it's one you're willing to let slide) as she fills each scene with tension and is quite evocative in doing so (a la Kiera Knightley meets Nat Portman meets Emma Watson). John Boyega's Finn, though, feels more like Donald Glover and as with his character's direction and reasoning, he somehow feels jacked with too much levity and isn't taken seriously at all -- bar his deus ex machina moments toward the finale. Not surprising given the entire Stormtroopers' mold as well as that of Snoke, Phasma and Domnhall Gleeson's Hux -- all panning out as robotic and short of real emotion. These things tethered you to the likes of Darth Vader and Maul -- linking to your empathy and spectrum of emotions but in this film, there's no dread amid a bunch of forgettable villains. And again, the lack of backstory hurts. But hey, seems that they're following Marvel's cinematic formula here. Let me not digress...
Harrison Ford's Han and Carrie Fisher's Leia however, are on point, which lead into a huge downfall -- Kylo Ren. I can't spoil much of this dynamic here but while not fleshed out that much, it's a very smart twist to the tale of Ren, but one that you saw coming miles away. While some major characters stay latent in TFA, Adam Driver was hyped to steal the show but his voice, facial expressions and overall, disposition (unmasked) are not imposing at all. A huge step down from all the villains in the franchise so far, compounded by weak lightsaber battles with inexperienced opposition that somehow hold their own against the big bad wolf. The climax flails just as much despite some most welcomed yet highly predictable curve balls. The highlights, apart from Ridley, are down to the cute, lovable BB-8 and the spectacle of all air-fights. The Millenium Falcon sequences are thoroughly engrossing as Abrams tries to find middle ground with substance and style. Visually, he does the job. Fantastically so. The practical-FX creatures and CGI are up to scratch, which doesn't shock as JJ usualy nails that aspect of the job. And he continues to let solid performances circumvent weak writing so in that perspective, he does churn out much more than how badly it could have gone. But despite sounding harsh, my high expectations would let this slide as a holiday blockbuster and a decent reintegration into the masses. It's not superb but TFA isn't that bad. I just wanted more. They struggle with fresh ideas (not to be mixed up with new characters), pull bits and pieces of the Expanded Universe while juggling a history that's no doubt as daunting and intimidating as can be. But TFA feels like it always wanted to leave too many questions dangling so that you'd have to come back in the future. Fair. But I feel there's too much compromise here as they left out a lot of integral information that needed immediate answers to set this particular story in motion. This doesn't even boil down to Jedi or Sith, but an intergalactic New Hope wannabe that trudges into Star Trek territory (the reboot) and Guardians of the Galaxy waters.
Overall, watchable and enjoyable. But nowhere near the masterpiece of the originals (which I won't rank because they're too awesome for ranking). Maybe, with the rest of this new trilogy TFA will make more sense as part of a bigger, more cohesive picture, but as of now, as a flair-y standalone, it's nothing more than a decent popcorn flick that lacks the mysticism of the past.
GRADE: B