Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)

 

The makers of Star Wars, Episode VII: The Force Awakens had a difficult task to achieve: they had to revive a beloved franchise that had been tainted by a lackluster second trilogy, returning the story to the well-respected roots of the initial trilogy from the 1970s and 80s and creating a transition to a new narrative with different characters. Attempts to create such a bridge could easily offend the fanboys, who love the first three films with an intensity that borders on the pathological, so if this seventh installment treads some familiar territory on its way to introducing the characters who will likely dominate the new series of films, that merely allows viewers an easy opportunity to tap into the mythology originally created by George Lucas four decades ago. Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) are here to create a sense of nostalgia as they search for Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker, who has disappeared but could provide valuable assistance in combatting the First Order, the villainous replacement for the Evil Empire of the earlier movies. Even the Millennium Falcon, Han’s famous spaceship, and his co-pilot, Chewbacca, appear, as do C3PO and R2-D2 in smaller roles. However, we need to establish a new set of heroes, so the hotshot pilot this time is Poe Dameron (played by Oscar Isaac), and he is joined in the Rebel battles by Finn (John Boyega), a disenchanted Stormtrooper mourning the death of his friend and undergoing an existential crisis, and Rey (Daisy Ridley), a junk scavenger who finds a message in a droid, the adorable BB-8. You’ll notice the parallel between the storyline here and that of the first film, Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope, when you realize that BB-8 carries information on a new weapon developed by the First Order. Unsurprisingly, the new weapon is very much like the Death Star of the earlier film, only much larger. There’s even a moment when the two are compared to each other to show that the new one is a bigger, better weapon. In order to figure out how to blow up the weapon, the information in BB-8 needs to get into the hands of the Rebel leaders, and the complications that delay that from happening make up the bulk of the narrative this time. I rewatched the original trilogy with The Boyfriend before going to see Star Wars, Episode VII: The Force Awakens in theaters. He had never seen the original films and was only familiar with the second, lesser trilogy, but he found the new “episode” to be a thrilling addition to the canon. I did as well, particularly because this film creates a diverse universe of characters such as Poe and Finn, played by a Latino actor and a black actor, respectively, and it makes Rey, the lead female character, a strong, central part of the story. It was also lovely to see Ford and Fisher back in their iconic roles, and their inclusion allows for the introduction of their son, Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), who wants to be the new Darth Vader, making the theme of determining the significance of one’s genetic heritage a central part of the story here, just as in the original trilogy. While you might think that these links between the earlier films and this sequel would make for a boring experience at the movies, what happens instead is a combination of admiration for the ability of the filmmakers to interweave what lovers of the Star Wars films have always expected with a new, exciting cast of characters who will keep our interest and attention as they become more of a focus in later films.

Oscar Nominations: Best Achievement in Film Editing, Best Original Score, Best Achievement in Sound Editing, Best Achievement in Sound Mixing, and Best Achievement in Visual Effects