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This is a spoiler-intensive review. If you haven’t seen the film, please, watch before reading. So much of the movie is in the surprises. If you’ve seen it, read on and enjoy!
The JERHOW of today concludes my exploration of “The Force Awakens”
So let’s get into whether or not The Force Awakens steps too hard onto A New Hope territory, since this seems to be the biggest complaint from the “backlash critics.”
See, I think the film hitting similar thematic beats and structure as A New Hope is a brilliant decision. To me, it creates a reunion of sorts, the feeling of coming home to family. It’s comfortable. It feels right. It reinforces the best aspects of what makes Star Wars great. But it also introduces so much originality and freshness at the same time, with characters and worlds and themes and stories that never existed before. So there is both “familiar” and “new” at the same time. It completely worked for me.
When Han Solo and Chewbacca set foot inside the Millennium Falcon, which, by the way, sent chills down my spine, Han says, “Chewie…we’re home.” This is the point of this first film of the new trilogy.
If anything, The Force Awakens hitting similar beats wipes the slate clean for the next installments. Sure, on the surface, one could say both films have a “Death Star.” But in A New Hope, the entire film builds to a final 15-minute assault against the Death Star. In The Force Awakens, the Starkiller assault sequence isn’t the climax at all. It’s a mission for the Resistance, it’s an obstacle in the path of the heroes, but there’s a greater threat they have to contend with. That’s why I’m not offended the way the “backlash critic” seems to be by the fact that the Starkiller is twice as big as the Death Star and is seemingly twice as easy to destroy.
I actually got the impression the Starkiller wasn’t easy to take down. There was a reference to the fact that half the Resistance fleet was wiped out. It’s just that the filmmakers chose not to make the climax of this film about the assault itself. They are aware that we’ve “been there, done that” already in A New Hope, and while we appreciate the familiarity, this is most certainly not a carbon copy of the original.
In a sense, The Force Awakens is, indeed, a “best of” the Original Trilogy. Keen observers will notice the Force flashback/premonition montage when Rey touches the lightsaber takes us into an antechamber on Cloud City in The Empire Strikes Back where Luke and Vader fought.
The Resistance war room bares a striking resemblance to the one from Return of the Jedi. Heck, even good ol’ Admiral Ackbar makes a cameo appearance!
I’d even argue the film gives us a “best of” Han Solo.
But to classify this as simply a “best of” unfairly ignores the greater aspects of this film – the depths of story, of character, of theme, all introduced with a refreshed energy, a renewed vigor, a confident sense of purpose, and there is true originality in this.
J.J. Abrams was, indeed, the perfect director for this first installment. As we saw with his Star Trek reboot, and now with this film, he knows how to perfectly capture the magic and the spirit of the original incarnations of these franchises. These are what he grew up with, these are what inspired him to get into the movie business, these are what he himself wants to see on screen.
The “backlash critic” may complain about the lack of explanation of the political motivations behind the First Order, but the Star Wars Abrams grew up with didn’t have scenes inside senate chambers debating politics. His Star Wars hints at these topics, just subtle enough for the kids in the audience to dismiss the words as “blah blah blah blah blah,” but referenced just enough to where our adult analytical minds can probably piece together what may be going on.
The Star Wars Abrams grew up with spends more time with Luke, Han, and Leia running around on a Death Star, falling down garbage chutes and blasting their way out of danger, with lots of banter along the way.
That’s why The Force Awakens removes us from the larger implications of the primary storyline at times, and allows us to enjoy and indulge, for example, in that wonderful “smuggler” sequence with two rival gangs after Solo and hideous ranthars chasing after all of them.
What does this have to do with Kylo Ren and the First Order?
Absolutely nothing!
What does this have to do with Star Wars?
Absolutely everything!
Some say there isn’t enough “invention” present in the film. Instead of creating this trilogy’s version of a spaceship with personality like the Millennium Falcon, Abrams instead literally gives us the Millennium Falcon again.
The thing is – for 30 years, fans have been hoping and dreaming they could see the Falcon in action one more time. Abrams is one of those fans. I myself am one of those fans.
There is actually great invention present in The Force Awakens.
Abrams manages to capture the nostalgia in the look and feel of the Falcon, but he uses modern technology to bring it into today’s generation.
That’s why everything about the Falcon on screen feels the way it felt back with the originals, and yet we reach a deeper level of detail with the ship. It performs maneuvers we have never seen before.
I love the asteroid chase from The Empire Strikes Back. This was the Falcon’s defining moment from the Originals.
The sequence in The Force Awakens with Rey and Finn flying the Falcon and evading tie fighters was such a joy! Finn straps himself into the laser cannon chair and has to use that same antiquated technology that Luke and Han used back in the day. So great!
And I love that the Falcon scrapes and bounces off of just about everything in a way I had never seen before.
Kylo Ren’s unperfected flickering red lightsaber with the side burners is just as unexpected and original as Darth Maul‘s double-edged lightsaber in The Phantom Menace.
Stormtrooper outfits have been re-tooled to reflect the regime change to The First Order.
Captain Phasma is just as present and yet, irrelevant, as Boba Fett.
So don’t mistake Abrams’s love and inspiration from the originals as lack of innovation. There is plenty of newness in The Force Awakens.
If anything, his ability to seamlessly and perfectly blend nostalgic reverence with fresh innovation, the way he was able to bring back our beloved characters whilst introducing a brand new principal cast, and how he captures the spirit and energy and fun of the originals while still finding enough room for depth and exploration, should be heralded as one of the most remarkable directing achievements in our modern era.
Screenwriter, Lawrence Kasdan, who also wrote The Empire Strikes Back and Raiders of the Lost Ark, two of the best screenplays ever written, shows that he hasn’t missed a beat. With The Force Awakens, he delivers a script that is both bold and subtle, with action and heart, which has us laughing, excited, scared, and emotional.
The great John Williams has composed a masterful score that compliments all of the above. Like the film, you have to listen to the score a handful of times to really pick up on the nuances.
Like Luke, Rey has her own theme, which represents her whimsy and sense of adventure. The theme of Kylo Ren and the First Order isn’t as pronounced as The Imperial March from The Empire Strikes Back, but then again, this is an antagonist that isn’t fully realized yet. Remember, the classic Darth Vader theme we all know and love doesn’t get introduced until The Empire Strikes Back. A New Hope recognizes the threat in its music, but it hasn’t evolved yet.
Along similar lines, Williams is giving this new trilogy its own opportunity to breathe, and grow. And we have March of the Resistance. Oh my gosh, there is a superhero energy, a sense of goodness, of spirit, which simply explodes out of this truly wonderful and inspired track.
John Williams at his best.
Harrison Ford.
He is, without a doubt, absolutely amazing in this film.
He seems inspired by the material, motivated by it. There is a twinkle in his eye and an energy within him, which we haven’t seen in quite some time, but which is just vintage Ford.
This wasn’t Harrison Ford playing Han Solo.
In The Force Awakens, this IS Han Solo we’re seeing on screen.
He is alive.
Again, a credit to Abrams and Kasdan, and to Ford bringing it, but there is more richness to the character of Han Solo than we’ve ever seen before. He has the same charisma and strength and the gunslinger persona that cemented his greatness in the originals, but in those films, as he himself admitted, he was always there to support Luke and Leia on their mission, and there was never room for exploration of his own character.
While we, of course, wanted to see more of Luke Skywalker and we only get a tease in this film, I’m glad he is being saved for the next one since this frees up enough screen time for us to have the Han Solo film we always wanted to see.
There’s no coincidence that the focus on Han instead of Luke stays perfectly in sync thematically with the film, which decidedly has far less focus on the spirituality of the Force than what we became accustomed to with the Prequels, and which the originals evolved into. The Force Awakens takes a much more grounded, more earthly approach. It’s the Resistance flying X-Wing fighters into the trenches of the Starkiller. Its spaceships and laser battles at the forefront, with a taste of the magic of the Force, just as with A New Hope. Han Solo, therefore, is the perfect anchor for this film.
The moment when Kylo Ren kills Han Solo is gut-wrenching.
It was the hardest experience I have ever had in a Star Wars movie.
It was heart breaking.
It was also necessary.
There is a creative inevitability that leads us to this moment. Star Wars fans would probably all tell you that the death of Han Solo isn’t necessarily unexpected. But it doesn’t mean we’re truly prepared for it.
I’m saddened because this was the right creative choice for a variety of reasons.
Kylo Ren is hardly Vader, he throws tantrums, and he loses his battle with Rey. The story needed to show his ruthlessness, needed to give us a reason to be invested in him as the principal antagonist of the series, and needed us to truly hate him.
Well, they succeeded.
By having Kylo Ren kill his own father, who happens to be one of the most beloved characters of the series, and one of the most iconic actors in the history of cinema, he earns his right to become the Darth Vader of this series. I hate him for it. I want to see him get his in the end. I am now fully invested in seeing this happen.
As much as I hate to admit it, there’s greatness in the decision to kill off Solo.
But I tell you, I was weeping in that theater.
When Solo yells, “Ben!!!” I felt it inside me like an electric shock.
As he walks across that bridge, I was shaking my head and squeezing my wife’s hand tightly because deep down, I knew this was the moment. I didn’t want it to happen but there was nothing I could do to stop it.
Han himself knew he was walking to his death as well, which makes his decision to do so all the more powerful.
Earlier in the film, he reminds Leia that their son is lost. Leia, on the other hand, feels there is still good in him, and while Luke wasn’t able to bring him back to the light, Han, his father, might be able to. She tells him that while he is on his mission, if he does see their son, to bring him home.
There is a sense of solemn remorse in Han’s eyes at this point. He knows the effort is going to be futile. He knows his is going to be a suicide mission.
The death of Han Solo is also his finest moment.
Throughout his entire life, Solo has “evaded” in order to survive. It’s what he’s always known, it’s how he’s always done it.
As a smuggler, he never repaid his debts. Instead, he evaded, and had half the galaxy after him. It’s why the scene with the rival gangs confronting him is extremely relevant in this particular film. It’s a reminder to us of what Solo is – an evader.
He does this in A New Hope as well. He collects his reward and gets out of there before the attack begins. Of course, like Finn, he recognizes a family he never had, and goes back.
When Ben turned to the dark side somewhere between Episodes VI and VII, and his relationship with Leia deteriorated, Solo goes back to what he has always known – smuggling, and evading.
On that bridge, Solo discovers Kylo Ren, and here is the moment that is the true evolution of Han Solo. He didn’t have to yell, “Ben!!!” He could have gone the other way, avoided the danger, and told Leia he never saw him. He could have evaded to survive as he always had done.
But this was his son.
He had to try.
He couldn’t live with himself otherwise.
In the moment that Solo evolves, his moment of redemption, he is killed.
It makes it even more devastating and bittersweet for us because Harrison Ford is just so darn good in this movie. We are privileged to get to see him in action as Han Solo one more time, and simultaneously saddened by the closure this film brings to his role.
There was more to it than simply losing a great character.
The death of Han Solo signifies a true passing of the torch of this franchise to the next generation. It’s a reality check of our own mortality, a reminder that nothing lasts forever, and really does teach us to appreciate being in the moment and the value of happiness in our own lives.
When I watched The Force Awakens a second time, I got choked up all over again, this time watching Solo blast away stormtroopers knowing I was witnessing his last moments of heroic greatness.
I am equally as sentimental for Harrison Ford himself. He is my favorite actor. I want him play Indiana Jones again and five more times after that and I know that is selfish of me and unrealistic.
But we know now that he won’t play Han Solo again, and we have no idea if we’ll see him with the whip and fedora again, and so my heart is filled with such appreciation for Harrison Ford with this movie.
I’m actually getting choked up while writing this.
That jacket he wears in this film is part Han Solo, part Indiana Jones, and all Harrison Ford.
True greatness on screen.
Perhaps what I love the most about The Force Awakens is that it has a positive ending, a great message, and an incredible spirit. Just when things look bleak, the Resistance swoops in and saves the day and Rey embraces her destiny and defeats Kylo Ren. Granted, he gets away just like Vader does in A New Hope, so the war will rage, but this battle has been won, and that’s good enough for us for right now.
I’m so excited by what the future may hold with the next two installments.
Abrams has delivered to us a treasure, a Star Wars movie we have been wanting to experience for so many years now.
The director of Episode VIII, Rian Johnson, and Episode IX, Colin Trevorrow, are equally talented, and extremely different with their sensibilities. I think anyone who thinks these next installments will have a similar sense of sweet nostalgia as The Force Awakens are underestimating the creativity, and uniqueness, of these filmmakers.
J.J.’s Star Wars movie makes us feel warm and fuzzy and happy.
Personally, I have a feeling this is by design. It gets everything out of the way – our nostalgia, our longing for favorite characters of old, all the things we remember.
Now we can get on with things.
All of the fun happens in A New Hope, but the true weight of the Original Trilogy happens in The Empire Strikes Back.
I expect nothing less from Episode VIII.
The true measure of this new trilogy, the courage of Disney, and the ultimate potential of the Star Wars franchise moving forward, in my opinion, isn’t found within The Force Awakens, but rather, it’s going to be with Episode VIII.
This trilogy in the Star Wars Saga now has the opportunity to dig deep, to explore its own power, to find its Force.
Just let it in.