Hello and welcome back to another movie review! This week we'll talk about the hit blockbuster of December 2015, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens! Its a little over due since I wasn't able to see it near to the day of its premiere, but, in retrospect, this way you might avoid any serious spoilers if you have already seen the film. For those who haven't, I will try to reveal as little detail as possible. Let's begin, shall we?
First, let's talk about the story. All Star Wars fans will know where the movie series left off before the premiere of Episode VII. The Resistance has just triumphed over the empire and victory went to the galaxy. However, with time and where the film's story begins, a new dark organization named the First Order rises out of hiding and begins its domination of the galaxy. Later on, our hero Luke Skywalker disappears, and the siege of the First Order grows stronger with his absence. The movie, to sum it up, is about trying to find Luke before the First Order does in order to seek Luke's aid in fighting off the First Order and to train the new Jedi that the Force has chosen. The plot of this movie may seem pretty basic, but while watching the film there are many details to unravel. This is something I absolutely loved. Within the plot lies even more stories. There's the story of our heroin, Rey, the story of our villain, Kylo Ren, the story of how and why Luke disappears, and the story of the Stormtrooper turned Resistance fighter, Finn. So much more lies within the plot, which makes it thicker than expected. This could only mean that there will most definitely be more films to come. This had everything. Action, drama, a bit of old romance, and adventure, of course.
Next we'll look at the graphics and design. Unfortunately, I didn't have the pleasure of seeing the movie at its absolute best, which is in the theater. But, just watching it on my laptop, it was still a marvel to look at. There were so many elements to the graphics and design that were just perfect. The best thing about them was that they still kept true to the previous films even though they were much more advanced. The look, design, and structure of all the ships, weaponry, and screens look just like they did in the old movies, but the definition was definitely increased. This makes it feel like home, especially for all the long time Star Wars fans. Some of the aliens in the movie were made with just a bit more detail than in the previous films. But the ones who had more speaking screen time definitely got a professional graphics makeover. They were only a handful, so they didn't feel out of place in the film. I think this was done, because their lines were very crucial to the plot, so they had to show more emotion and facial expressions than the others in order for the meaning behind their words to really show. But all in all, the whole thing was beautiful. It felt right at home with the other movies, which is something that doesn't happen when there's a huge gap between two films of a series.
And now, for the characters. I'd like to begin this segment with saying that you will absolutely love this movie, mainly because of seeing some old faces. We get to see the original gang again! Han Solo, Leia, Chewbacca (of course), R2D2, C-3PO, and Luke Skywalker. Han Solo and Chewy had big roles in most of the movie, so we get to see the original adventurers doing what they do best. The rest of the gang had smaller roles, Luke especially, but important and essential all the same. Now, the new faces we welcome are those of our main protagonists, Rey and Finn, and our main antagonist, Kylo Ren. Rey is a scavenger on the planet Jakku and unknowingly finds herself wrapped up in the battle between the Resistance and the First Order when she comes across the droid, BB-8, and helps him to find his master, the Resistance's best pilot Poe Dameron. Her story consists of longing. Rey longs to see her family again, after they left her on Jakku when she was a little girl. She soon discovers that her sense of longing never was for the family that left her, as they were never coming back, but it was for something much deeper that she never chose to recognize. It was the Force that was calling out to her. I quite liked Rey as a character. She was filled with longing, a sense of righteousness, very intelligent, and was a kind soul too, which made her a character that possessed a lot of strength. The actress that played her (Daisy Ridley) did so brilliantly. I know because I saw everything I just told you. While accompanying BB-8 in the town on Jakku, they both encounter Finn, a former Stormtrooper. Finn, formally known as FN-2187, decided that he will not kill for the First Order and escapes with the help of Poe Dameron, who was held captive for interrogation. He crash lands on Jakku and is recognized by BB-8 because he was wearing Poe's jacket after thinking he died in the crash. Finn was a Stormtrooper, who are clones made and brainwashed only to obey their commanders, but he was unique with the will to disobey orders, which branded him a traitor. Finn's sole desire was to flee the system and escape once and for all from the First Order. But, he had a hero in him that was brought out by the desire to keep his friend, Rey, safe. Finn as a character showed a lot of courage because he had so much fear. Despite his fear of the First Order and his urge to flee, he chose to conquer it by heading to rescue Rey from the grasp of Kylo Ren, and even taking Ren on in a duel, despite having no Jedi powers. What I saw from Finn was courage, tenacity, loyalty, and a sense of morality. John Boyega playing Finn was definitely worth watching. And finally, we see Kylo Ren, the villain of this story. Ren was drawn into the dark side of the Force and sought out to succeed his predecessor, Darth Vader. But he was being torn in two directions constantly, because there was still light in him. This caused him a great deal of pain. And he was struggling to destroy his past and fully embrace the dark side. I could tell that he was always in pain. It was shown by Adam Driver, who played Kylo Ren, with a certain expression that was revealed whenever Ren took his mask off. There was plenty of pain, frustration, and anger in his eyes, and that deserves a round of applause.
So, ladies and gentlemen, Star Wars fans of all ages, putting into account all of the elements we just discussed that went into the movie, I give this a rating of 9.5/10. Which means I highly recommend it for a good movie night. I most definitely cannot wait for any more Star Wars movies because I'm itching to know more. And I hope we won't have to wait as long as we did for Episode VII.
So that's it for this week! Possibly. I've missed two Thursdays which is why this review is going up on a Sunday. But I'm working on something to publish for this Thursday so please stay tuned to read! I hope you all enjoyed reading my thoughts on Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, and if you really liked it, please like the Facebook page, subscribe to the blog to be told when I publish anything new, leave a comment here on the website or on any of my social media links (available in the bar on the top right), and do let me know what you'd like to read next.
Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed, and I will see you next Thursday! Hue Mann, over and out!! ;)