The Force Awakens

So I have kept quiet as long as I can, because I know this will not be a popular view but Star Wars VII The Force Awakens is OKish. Visually it was entertaining even when some of the CGI still had the space craft, in some scenes looking like children’s toys hanging from strings Thunderbirds style.

The nods to the original Star Wars trilogy , Episodes 4-6, were great, including re purposing dialogue and recreating replica scenes. The final movie was clearly edited with the reaction of the large crowds expected in the opening week in mind. The true die hard Star Wars fans were sure to be in attendance and most likely clap and cheer at key moments. Many of these moments is seemed as the movie paused for allow for this reaction. The most obvious scene being the first appearance of Han Solo and Chewbacca when they entered the Millennium Falcon.

Harrison Ford’s reprisal of Han Solo was superb bringing back the swagger and irreverent humour – the definite highlight of the movie. I am however somewhat concerned for Mr Ford, whose trademark lopsided smile is increasing in its lopsidedness. It will not be long before his smile is vertical. Perhaps that is why they had to kill him.

As much as the Star Wars universe is VERY closely related and a little incestuous it is all for gender equality. The captains of both the Resistance and the Stormtroopers are female. Rey was also undoubtedly a hero of the story.

Race equality is still to be achieved. Finn, possibly the only black person in the galaxy does become a hero by leaving the First Order, helping the rescue key characters and providing critical intelligence – the type only a janitor could have – about the First Order’s military objectives, tactics and defenses. The franchise is caught in a now outdated notion that good (The Republic) is white and bad (The First Order) is black. It does get confusing when the black man dressed in a white Stormtropper uniform leaves the dark side by stripping off the uniform to reveal black undergarments as he joins the white side.

The movie will also prove to be a merchandising gold mine with the invention of new space craft – my favourite being Rey’s flying USB stick, and the return of old craft and new characters including a new bleep boop droid that has much more emotional responses and is surprisingly difficult to capture there are plenty of costumes and figurines to be sold.

One of my favourite new characters is Maz Kanta who is helping the resistance and yet hides Luke Skywalker’s light saber from them. Voiced by Lupita Nyongo, this character appears to a Jim Henson style recreation of Miss Schlowski, the principal from Kindergarten Cop.

The story is riddled with plot holes and leaps in logic some even bigger than the corridors of the Finalizer and which were large enough for a dog fight involving multiple star fighters and tie fighters. What happened to Poe after crashing the Tie Fighter? How come Kylo Ren, Head of the Knights of Ren so bad with a light saber and not much better with his use of The Force? How did the Millennium Falcon fly so easily having been considered junk and therefore unused for decades? Is Rey actually a savant, having learned to speak Wookie , control The Force and fight with  a light saber all without any training?

For me the must frustrating issue was the inconsistency of the power of a light saber. In previous episodes just one touch could completely sever a limb. In the battle between Finn and Kylo Ren and then Rey and Kylo Ren they felled trees in one moment and barely singed clothing the next. Finn’s head should have been severed when struck on the face instead he survived with only a burn mark that did not even blister.

Over all it was a 135min, $200million teaser for Episode VIII. Good light entertainment for a lazy Sunday afternoon.