Editor's Note: (Warning: This review contains plot details from the film that could be considered spoilers.)
(The Hollywood Reporter) The Force is back. Big time.
As the best Star Wars anything — film, TV show, video game, spinoff, what-have-you — in at least 32 years, "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" pumps new energy and life into a hallowed franchise in a way that both resurrects old pleasures and points in promising new directions. But whereas the fundamental touchstones of George Lucas' original creation remain, in director J.J. Abrams' hands there is a shift in tone that brings the material closer to the feel of a Steven Spielberg film. Specifically, into an Indiana Jones realm, which is mostly, but not entirely, to the good.
Opening nearly everywhere in the world before Christmas, with China to follow in early January, Disney's debut as the new custodian of Lucas' baby looks to deliver nothing less than one of the two or three highest-grossing films of all time.
Read: "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" is best film since original trilogy
To be sure, any time you can speak of a film's earning potential as residing in the billion-dollar-plus neighborhood, the main story is to be more often found in the business section than on the arts pages. When the financial stakes are this high, what ends up on the screen can often be judged as much, or more, in terms of commercial calculation than creative achievement. So one of the primary satisfactions of this sharply paced and lively blockbuster is the obvious care that has gone into every aspect of the production, from the well-balanced screenplay and dominance of real sets and models over computer graphics to the casting, a strict limitation on self-referential, in-jokey humor and the thoroughly refreshed feel of John Williams' exuberant score.
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Virtually none of these virtues were managed by Lucas himself when he made his lamentable second trilogy of Star Wars films from 1999 to 2005. But Abrams has made his career thus far by honoring his masters, notably Spielberg and Gene Roddenberry, and now Lucas, and he's got the practice more or less down.
'The Force Awakens' stars at the World Premiere
British actor John Boyega, 23, has one of the film's lead roles as Finn, a redeemed stormtrooper.
The stars were out in full force December 14 at the world premiere of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens." Newcomer Daisy Ridley plays the role of Rey in the film and thrilled the crowd with her appearance on the red carpet at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles. Here's who else made the scene:
Lupita Nyong'o voices the character of Maz Kanata in the film. While she apparently isn't physically seen in the movie, Nyong'o lit up the red carpet in a metallic, shimmering full length gown.
"Star Wars" creator George Lucas posed with J.J. Abrams, right, who co-wrote and directed "Star Wars: The Force Awakens."
Many fans will recognize Gwendoline Christie as Brienne from "Game of Thrones," but she also stars as Captain Phasma in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens."
Actor Adam Driver and his wife, Joanne Tucker. Best known for his role in HBO's "Girls," Driver plays villain Kylo Ren in the new movie.
Mark Hamill -- yes, Luke Skywalker himself -- reprises his famous role in "The Force Awakens," although he's been mysteriously missing from trailers promoting the movie.
Harrison Ford and wife Calista Flockhart. Ford returns in the new movie as now-grizzled rebel pilot Han Solo. When asked by a young colleague in the movie's trailer about his character's legendary exploits, Solo says, "It's true. All of it."
Actress Carrie Fisher and daughter, actress Billie Lourd. Her iconic character, the former Princess Leia, is now a battle-weary general in the new movie.
No "Star Wars" premiere would be complete without famous droids R2-D2, left, and C-3PO, who both appear in the new film.
British actor Anthony Daniels has climbed into a robot costume to play C-3PO in all seven "Star Wars" movies.
Peter Mayhew has played the role of Chewbacca, Han Solo's Wookiee sidekick, in all the "Star Wars" films.
Actor Andy Serkis, best known for his green-screen work that brought Gollum to life in "The Lord of the Rings" movies, plays Supreme Leader Snoke, another "Force Awakens" villain.
This new droid, BB-8, is already drawing buzz after appearing in the "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" trailers.
Filmmaker Steven Spielberg and wife Kate Capshaw at the premiere. A longtime close friend of George Lucas, Spielberg was once rumored to be in the running to direct "The Force Awakens."
Old friends
The Empire looked all but dead and buried by the time its defeat was celebrated by the heroes of the Rebel Alliance (along with a bunch of funny looking woodsy characters) in Return of the Jedi in 1983. If the desire was to follow up on that story with some of the same characters and actors, the first priorities for the writers were to figure out how to use the three-decades-older Han Solo, Leia and Luke Skywalker, as well as to resurrect a plausible villainous force.
In this, one notably feels the hand of Lawrence Kasdan, who shares writing credit with Abrams and Michael Arndt but who also, significantly, co-wrote "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi" and, perhaps more significantly, authored "Raiders of the Lost Ark", the film this new one most resembles in terms of its incident and exuberance. What perhaps goes missing in "The Force Awakens", though, is the key magical element that Lucas slipped into the first three films, that of the Joseph Campbell-derived aspects of myth that may have been the secret ingredient that allowed them to connect so strongly with viewers initially.
"Star Wars: Episode VII" must and does begin with the familiar Williams musical fanfare and an informational scroll advising as to the disappearance of Luke Skywalker, the rise of the evil First Order and the threat now posed to Leia and the galaxy's good folk, who must urgently pull together as a new Resistance. In an annihilating nocturnal opening sequence, a new generation of Stormtroopers goes on an indiscriminate rampage while searching for the bearer of a map revealing Luke's whereabouts, which is secretly held by the roly-poly BB-8, a charming spherical droid that rolls smoothly from place to place and overall serves as a welcome robot reboot from the sidelined (but hardly vanquished) R2-D2.
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Battle lines are drawn and good guys and bad are readily established. Hotshot pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac, very enthusiastic), a man very much in the Solo mold, is taken prisoner by the Order, which is led militarily by Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), a man whose black mask and filtered speech make him the very picture of a Darth Vader wannabe.
Meanwhile, a Stormtrooper who comes to be called Finn (John Boyega) is so disgusted by the genocide in which he's participated that he defects to the Resistance. Crucially, Finn forms an alliance with desert "scavenger" Rey (Daisy Ridley), a self-sufficient loner with fearsome fighting and survival skills. Rey's feisty individualism, assertive physicality and often sweaty, dirty face would make her right at home in a Mad Max film, just one example of how the Star Wars franchise has been toughened up a bit by its new proprietors.
After spending most of the first half-hour introducing the two appealing new leads, Abrams and his co-writers begin deftly weaving together elements old and new. Harrison Ford's first appearance sends a real charge through the film of a sort that only a revered older star can deliver. A younger character asks if he's really Han Solo, and when Ford replies, "I used to be," he sounds a great deal like John Wayne did in his later films where he was paired with greenhorns who presumed they might be able to go toe-to-toe with the old man and maybe even step into his shoes. Fat chance of that, the older man would imply with a caustic glance or acerbic line — and Ford has now aged (much better than Wayne did) into that position of confident superiority; he can still throw off the impatient, action-seeking Solo vibe and isn't interested in acting old or particularly mature, just capable.
With Luke vanished and Leia grounded, Han Solo now has only Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew, returning) by his side, so he welcomes getting back into action with the likes of the capable Rey and Finn. If a good part of the task The Force Awakens sets for itself is the introduction and establishment of these two new characters as capable of carrying the renewed series forward, then it's pretty well succeeded; never once appearing to ask for sympathy or even to be liked, Ridley looks like she's ever-ready to take on a contingent of Hunger Games opponents, while Boyega, perhaps overplaying at first, settles in as his character transforms from robotic foot soldier to expressive and emotive man.
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And who put him there? Seriously, we need to know. We've fallen for the little guy, and this does not look okay to us. But let's stick to the picture here: Is new face Rey purchasing it from a scavenger? On a desert planet? Could it be that BB-8 is a droid some galactic villains are looking for? Wow, that sounds almost exactly like the beginning of "Episode IV -- A New Hope." Coincidence? We don't think so.
Dang. We thought evil had been defeated, but here we are again. Built upon the crusty remains of the Galactic Empire, the First Order looks like the same thing under a different name, complete with Stormtroopers, spine-chilling iconography and regimented displays of military strength. Expect surprises, though, because several key First Order characters -- including its big boss, Supreme Leader Snoke -- are still a mystery.
The running gag of the Star Wars saga, Luke first says this line as the Millennium Falcon gets gobbled up by the Death Star in Episode IV. It's then said later in the same film (by Han) and at least once in every other movie, with minor variations. Who's going to say it this time? Our money's on everyone's favorite galactic scoundrel, pictured above.
Unless you've been hiding under a rock on Jakku for the last year, you'll be aware of Kylo Ren. Played by Adam Driver, he's clearly in cahoots with the First Order, and he's up to no good. He wears an iron mask and has built his own fire-spitting lightsaber. He wants to kill Jedis. He's the ultimate bad guy, isn't he? But wait. What if Kylo isn't entirely evil? What if the Force awakens in him? Redemption is a big theme in Star Wars, and we can't imagine anyone more in need of that than this dude.
If you were expecting a fresh set of ships, fighters and vehicles, you could be out of luck. Thirty years on, the galaxy still has Star Destroyers and TIE Fighters and X-Wings. Tough economic climate, maybe? Well, we think our toys from the 1970s still look kinda fresh. But speaking of this one Star Destroyer, how did it end up buried in the dunes of Jakku? The word on the street is that we'll find out in an upcoming expansion level for the Battlefront video game.
Poor old Threepio looks like a third-hand car with a door of a different color. Sloppy repair work or outlandish style choice? Whatever the case, J.J. Abrams has
confirmed that the red arm comes from the desire to "mark time," using a familiar character to signal the 30-year lapse since the end of "Return of the Jedi." We hear that the full story of C-3PO's limb replacement will be told in a
comic book.
We could draw a hundred family trees with the theories surrounding Rey and Finn's back stories. Rey seems to attract the lion's share of speculation, maybe because she's taken a central role in the trailers. So, who is she? Luke's daughter? Han and Leia's? Is she related to Kylo Ren at all? Conspicuously, her last name hasn't been revealed. We're guessing that's because it's Solo.
Yeah, it looks cool, but it makes no sense to have crossguards on a lightsaber unless you're looking for trouble and a trip to the galactic emergency room. The Internet was set ablaze with controversy and ridicule over Kylo Ren's unorthodox design, but we can clarify this for you: The crossguard blades, called quillons, are actually "raw power vented from the primary central blade," according to a
plaque that recently appeared in a props and replicas exhibition at Disneyland. (They probably know.)
Behold Captain Phasma, played by Gwendoline Christie, whom you might know as Brienne of Tarth from "Game of Thrones." She commands the First Order's legions of troopers. And some of them are women too, as Abrams has confirmed. But not much else is known about the "Chrometrooper." We'd love to see her come to the light side.
Here's a recap. The Galactic Empire is now called the First Order, the Rebels call themselves the Resistance, and there's no trace of the Sith. Maybe they also have been rebranded? Fingers point to the Knights of Ren, an evil covenant formed after the events of the original trilogy. That's where Kylo Ren gets his name, as apparently does everyone else who's part of the mysterious alliance. Just like the Sith with "Darth." Still with us?
Actor John Boyega's character starts out as a Stormtrooper, appears to have some kind of epiphany and then embraces the ways of the Force by fighting Kylo Ren in the bushes using Luke Skywalker's lightsaber. But not everything is as it seems, Yoda once said. Except he didn't. Which proves our point. What's the deal, Finn?
This shot from the official trailer shows a lightsaber changing hands, while Luke Skywalker, talking about the Force, says, "My sister has it." The lightsaber in question looks like Anakin's, which Luke inherits in Episode IV. So who's getting it? Well, we think they're female hands. Is that Leia gaining custody of her brother's weapon? Or is she passing it on to Rey? Are there any other female characters around that we haven't seen yet?
Thirty years on, the Jedis and the Force are the stuff of legend. So much so that cynical Han Solo has to confirm, "It's true, all of it." No wonder, then, that somebody has started a cult around Darth Vader, the literal Dark Side of that legend. The trailer hints that Kylo Ren is the culprit, as he appears to say, "I'll finish what you started" over the shot above. But who knows, maybe that's just a Jedi mind trick.
She fell for a guy who famously answered her "I love you" with "I know," but by the looks of things, Solo's consoling her here, not making her weep. Family quarrels aside, though, the princess looks heartbroken in this very brief shot from one of the trailers. To us, this looks like a goodbye. And that brings us neatly into the next question ...
Some say that Han Solo will not be piloting the Millennium Falcon during the heated battle sequences shown in the trailers. If that's true, we need to know why. Harrison Ford recently revealed that he had asked George Lucas to kill off his character during the original trilogy. That obviously didn't happen, but there are rumors that his wish might have been granted this time. Then again, maybe no one will die. Or it could be a very minor character. Or could it be Luke? Right, Luke ...
And that's the big one, folks. Luke has been notably absent from pretty much all "The Force Awakens" promotional material, even though the image above, from the official trailer, appears to show his famous robotic hand. Where are you, Luke? Have you turned to the Dark Side? Are you in hiding because you're the last Jedi? We'll soon find out, but the mystery runs deep: The fate of the galaxy might once again be in the hands of Luke Skywalker.
Franchise reawakened
A looming unanswered question here is how the Dark Side, seemingly so thoroughly vanquished not very long ago, could have staged such a rapid and stupendous comeback: Just as Lucas once did, Abrams uses the template of Hitler's 1934 Nuremberg rally in his staging of an enormous gathering of the First Order's forces. At the risk of indulging in partial spoilers, its Supreme Leader Snoke is a larger-than-life, vaguely Harry Potter-ish hologram voiced with deep gravity by Andy Serkis; the full weight of this character's malignancy and dramatic power will presumably be better assessed in subsequent episodes. On the other hand, Darth Vader stand-in Ren is given a pronounced inferiority complex, a clever bad guy twist that could be taken to interesting places both in the writing and performance.
One of the most novel and appealing characters is a leathery, goggles-wearing old barfly named Maz Kanata (wonderfully voiced by Lupita Nyong'o) who, with her wise and direct talk, comes closest to approximating a new Yoda; once again, there is considerable potential in this figure. On the other hand, an old pleasure is renewed with the brief appearance of a refurbished C-3PO, once again voiced by Anthony Daniels.
As before, monumental battles enacted by enormous, obliteration-capable forces are paralleled by intimate mano-a-mano duels to the death; in this case, the climactic example of the latter is very effective and emotional, something every Star Wars fan of good standing will find entirely compelling. Beyond that, the very ending — more like a coda, really, which was filmed on the extraordinary Skellig Michael off the western coast of Ireland — is wonderful and sets things up perfectly for the next installment.
In the end, "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" feels like the work of a very capable student, one who has studied his subject so diligently and thoroughly that he knows what to do and what to avoid, is smart enough to have engaged one of the experts in the field, in this case Kasdan, to work on the blueprint, and to have ensured that another of the key contributor to the series' success, John Williams, would return again after all the years.
The franchise is indeed reawakened, and we already know when to expect several more installments.
See the original story at The Hollywood Reporter's website.
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