Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Spoilers Welcome

Well, we finally watched Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015). Since December, I've been obnoxiously shouting "No spoilers!" to anyone who watched it in the theater. Now that I've seen it, I wonder why I was making all that fuss.

So, I assume you guys have all seen it, and don't mind me spoiling the big reveal about Jar-Jar -- but I have said too much. Nah, just kidding. I won't say anything about the members of the original trilogy who show up. The new guys are a lot of fun:

  • Poe Dameron (Oscar Issacs): the cool hotshot rebel pilot 
  • Finn (John Boyega): Storm trooper gone AWOL. Of course, as a Storm Trooper of color, he was assigned to Sanitation
  • Rey (Daisy Ridley): Orphan on desert planet who finds a droid - remind you of anyone?
  • Rylo Kenny (?): The mysterious new Darth figure

I thought the tone and style was right in line with the grandeur and sens-a-wonder of the original trilogy. J.J. Abrams didn't put too much of himself in (a few lens flares, maybe) - we had just watched Star Trek into Darkness, so we were attuned. The parallels and callbacks were cute, not too excessive. We thought the same thing about Abrams' Star Trek movies - he gets what made the originals great, and he brings it back.

But I'm afraid some of the big emotional beats - the "Chewie, we're home" moments - didn't really do it for us. I'm afraid there wasn't a damp eye in the house, at least in our house.

Still, a good action film, and worthy member of the franchise. I still haven't seen eps 2 and 3, but I'm willing to pronounce that trilogy a misfire. If Force is any indication, I'm looking forward to the next two.

1 comment:

mr. schprock said...

I was disappointed. But of course I'll watch the next one and all others that follow.