Star Wars: The Force Awakens - A Familiar Galaxy, Reawakened
A successful imitation of the first “Star Wars,” complete with new protagonists and cutting-edge special effects.
Following a tragic incident involving one of his students, Luke no longer feels worthy to train Jedi and vanishes into the cosmos. All attempts to find him are unsuccessful. Finally, Leia, now a general in the Resistance, discovers a lead that might lead her to her brother and sends her best pilot, Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), to investigate. Meanwhile, a young stormtrooper of the First Order (John Boyega) – a soldier of the Empire’s successors – decides he will no longer shed innocent blood. He plans an escape from his base. Fate soon brings Poe and the stormtrooper together, and they end up on the desert planet Jakku, where a scavenger named Rey (Daisy Ridley) has come into possession of a droid carrying a map that Leia desperately needs.
Before J.J. Abrams was appointed director, the producers considered David Fincher, Guillermo del Toro, and Brad Bird.
When director J.J. Abrams and Disney embarked on creating the seventh episode of “Star Wars,” they faced a choice. They could strain themselves, devise an original story, and hope that audiences would embrace it as warmly as they had the very first “Wars.” Alternatively, they could take the path of least resistance and clone “A New Hope,” a film already proven with audiences and showered with praise. Guess which path they chose when they decided to spend $200 million on the film and declare it the main release of 2015.
Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher had to lose considerable weight to fit into the roles of the aged but fit Luke and Leia.
Yes, you understood correctly. Much like the Soviet leadership, which once decided it was safer to copy the American atomic bomb than to allow Kurchatov to independently construct a superweapon, Disney commissioned Abrams to create a copy of “A New Hope.” And he delivered. Of course, it’s not exactly the same film, but the plot parallels could fill several paragraphs. The main character (heroine) from a desert planet, a droid with a secret message, a sinister and powerful masked enemy, an escape on the “Millennium Falcon,” a space cantina with a bizarre clientele, an acquaintance with a famous old man from a previous era, imperial imprisonment and escape, another “Death Star,” a desperate attack by fighters, a climactic lightsaber battle… It seems the film’s writers checked every step with Lucas’s plot plan and only occasionally dared to deviate from it.
A Nostalgic Return to Form
Of course, it would have been better if the authors had come up with an excellent new story. But such artistic feats are hard to order. As it is, at least they imitated a superb picture, and their canvas turned out more than successful. Especially from the point of view of a seasoned fan who rejected the prequels and longed for “those ‘Wars.’”
No ridiculous Gungans or laughable Ewoks, no trade negotiations or senatorial machinations. Instead of political passions, there are human passions in the frame. Each of the main characters has their own desires and experiences, and when they clash, sparks fly from the screen – sometimes verbal, sometimes real, from blasters and lightsabers. The picture spends a lot of time with the new characters (especially the former stormtrooper Finn, Rey, and their order’s enemy, Kylo Ren), but it doesn’t forget the veterans. First of all, Han Solo, who doesn’t just drop in to warm himself by the fire but turns out to be one of the central characters and, according to the tradition of the cycle, adorns many scenes. Unfortunately, none of the newcomers reach the charisma of Harrison Ford, but in “The Force Awakens,” this is not a problem. Why look for a replacement for Ford when the superstar is on the arena all evening?
Strengths and Weaknesses
On the other hand, the more precisely “The Force Awakens” follows the plot plan of “A New Hope,” the clearer it becomes that Lucas’s film is stronger. For example, the climactic starship attack on “Death Star 3.0” cannot be compared not only with the assault from “A New Hope” but also with the assault from “Return of the Jedi.” No special effects can replace the luxurious intrigue created by plot questions like: “Will Luke hit the tiny exhaust port?” “The Force Awakens” doesn’t ask such questions, and the attack boils down to chaotic firing at a huge “weak spot.”
Conversely, when the film decides on a radical departure from the original, it usually enhances it. For example, Kylo Ren is not a copy of Darth Vader and not a veteran of the Dark Side but a young character who recently served the Light. This gives him a psychological complexity that Vader lacked in “A New Hope.” True, this also weakens him as a villain. But the film was not supposed to make Kylo the scariest and most dangerous being in the Galaxy. He has a mysterious mentor, Supreme Leader Snoke of the First Order, who is clearly stronger and harsher than him. Therefore, it was enough to make the guy a villain whom you want to despise and hate. And the authors of “The Force Awakens” succeeded in this with flying colors. Mental complexity does not prevent Kylo from doing things that make you want to do something equally nasty to him.
With the two main characters, Finn and Rey, the situation is not so brilliant. Rey is annoying because everything comes too easily to her. She masters in seconds what others learn for years. On the other hand, Rey is the perfect feminist heroine who travels with men but doesn’t need their help, even when she gets into a tough spot. This is not Leia with her “Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi! You are my only hope!”. Rey doesn’t have any skeletons in her closet, and she is used to helping herself, and if necessary, even saving others.
In turn, the film treats Finn strangely. The film either puts him forward as the main character or pushes him into the background, as if it is ashamed of its risky decision to put a guy with John Boyega’s face in the center of “Star Wars.” In general, there is something in “The Force Awakens” that resembles the elections in the American Democratic Party. On the one hand – a black man, on the other – a woman. Who is more important? Who is more politically correct? A puzzle! Fortunately, the film’s fascination hardly suffers from these fluctuations. And, by the way, in the role he was cast in, Boyega is 100% in his place. All fears about him turned out to be in vain.
Final Thoughts
What else is worth mentioning? The non-stop drive, the most convincing grandiose special effects, the most picturesque real and drawn landscapes, the powerful start and dramatic culmination (the attack on “Death Star 3.0” is only a small part of it), the appropriate and funny humor in the middle of the picture, the abundance of “fan service” for viewers who know the previous series of “Wars” by heart… And the fact that when the characters take up lightsabers, their fights look like real fierce battles, and not like the sterile, soulless perfect fencing of the prequels. Two and a half hours of such a movie fly by unnoticed.
There are reasons to criticize “The Force Awakens,” and some obvious problems have already been named. But the film has far more advantages than disadvantages. And if this is not the “Star Wars” we wanted, then it is the “Wars” we deserve. After all, no one would clone “A New Hope” if the original blockbusters were on average more successful than sequels and remakes!
Undoubtedly, “The Force Awakens” is worth watching – visually, it is one of the most impressive blockbusters of its time, and the film captures the spirit of “those” “Star Wars” that we grew up with. On the other hand, a comparison with the recent “Jurassic World” suggests itself – it is a very thorough and “scrupulous” film, which nevertheless is too strongly tied to its progenitor, therefore it does not “expand” or “supplement” it, but only performs an encore of someone else’s number. It performs, however, brilliantly.