Why I give Star Wars 4 stars

‘ This will begin to make things right’

You can’t review a film like Star Wars: The Force Awakens in the same way as you would Citizen Kane. One is a timeless classic, breaking new ground in filmmaking, built around a simple, delicious secret not to be revealed. And the other is Citizen Kane.

I’m kidding, but there is a sense in which Star Wars: The Force Awakens is critic-proof. People will go (or not), no matter what gets written about it.

But the critic speaks to one reader at a time. And for this critic, and presumably for a large number of readers, Star Wars remains not just a movie event but a life event. In the summer of ’77 we came across characters that, like it or not, have changed our language, our culture and the future of filmmaking.

The Force Awakens gets my four stars and two droidthumbs up for engaging fans at a heart- and- soul level. See it or not, but think of this review as a statement — free of all but the gentlest spoilers; there’s a war, there are stars — from one who was touched by a film 38 years ago and found this one just as touching. Does that sound like you? Read on.

You WILL like this movie. No, that’s not some kind of Jedi mind trick, accompanied by a vague wave of the hand. It’s a educated prediction, grounded in – well, the Force if you must know. And don’t tell me the Force doesn’t work that way.

From the opening crawl of The Force Awakens to the final reveal, director and co-writer J. J. Abrams (whose initials do NOT stand for Jar Jar) has crafted a saga that pays homage to the look, the tone, the drama and the humour of the original.

It feels like they shot the Jakku scenes not in Abu Dhabi but on Tatooine, CG’ing out that pesky second sun. It feels like they scattered props from the original trilogy through the sets so that the actors could sometimes literally trip over them. To quote Han Solo, it feels like we’re home.

Abrams even rights a f ew wrongs of the second trilogy. As one character says of the Force: “It moves through and surrounds every living thing.” I wouldn’t be surprised if we never hear of those annoying, Force- bestowing midichlorian microbes ever again.

Also, not a taxation dispute or trade- route quarrel in sight! Yes, somewhere in that galaxy far, far away, someone is paying way too much HST on their Bantha fodder, but this is not that movie for that. To quote the first line of spoken dialogue: “This will begin to make things right.”

Disney now owns the franchise. You can almost hear C- 3P0 saying: “It’s all right, you can trust them; they’re our new masters.” But they’ve been awfully strict about embargoes and spoilers and whatnot, all but promising a Vader chokehold to critics who reveal too much.

So, what can safely be told? Let’s give you the first four words of that crawl: Luke Skywalker has vanished. We knew as much from his absence in the trailers, and from that survivalist beard Mark Hamill was sporting when he arrived in Ireland, where the movie was filming last summer.

So let’s find him! This quest effectively introduces Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), the best fighter pilot in the Resistance, and his trusted companion, BB-8. This is the droid everyone is looking for, both in the movie and under the tree this Christmas.

Next up, Finn ( John Boyega, Attack the Block), a. k. a. FN-2187; a number fans may remember hearing somewhere before. An ex- stormtrooper, unable to stomach the kill- everything mentality of the First Order, he goes AWOL and loses the white armour, which other Star Wars movies have shown us is just a magnet for laser fire anyway.

Also, a scrap- metal scavenger named Rey, played by Daisy Ridley, who not only creates sparks with Boyega – their “Come with me/Don’t go” moment is a beauty – but also functions as the heart and soul of the new movie. She looks fearful when she should, and fearsome when she can, but her neutral face is a kind of happy-tobe-here wonderment.

Early on we sense that this young woman is scarcely more than a child, but she steps up nice- ly. If Star Wars produced a generation of wannabe Lukes and Hans, The Force Awakens will give something more than a weird hairdo to which the other sex may aspire.

You want old faces? You got ‘em! Han Solo (Harrison Ford) has a big part to play, having matured from wise guy to wise man – though it’s important to note that he’s still in debt to some shady characters, and he still has a bad feeling about this. He also delivers useful exposition and even a bit of acting advice to the easily excitable Finn. Leia (Carrie Fisher) and the droids are also on hand to help get this new chapter off the ground.

As to parentage, I will say only two things. There is still no hard evidence that Chewbacca has an Ewok cousin on his mother’s side. But there is proof that fighting abilities can be transferred from one generation to the next. That’s right; the climactic battle scene features a character who can only be Porkins Jr., the latest in a long line of plus- size pilots bravely fighting the good fight.

A brief note on nomenclature: The Rebellion + 30 years = The Resistance. The Empire + 30 = The First Order. And Chewbacca + 30 = the same old Chewbacca, which is the secret to the success of The Force Awakens; it’s warm and fuzzy and familiar in all the right places.

Not that it won’t surprise. I haven’t even mentioned the villainous Kylo Ren, the Disco- ly named Captain Phasma, the snarling General Hux, the near-sighted but infinitely wise Maz Kanata or even Supreme Leader Snoke, whose punishments to disobedient underlings combine the worst aspects of a smiting and a snookering. I haven’t revealed the scene that took this fan’s breath away, or the one that brought tears.

If you want to know more, consider this review a map. Use it. Go, and may the Force be with you.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens opens on Dec. 18, with some screenings on Dec. 17. ∂∂∂∂

Director J. J. Abrams has crafted a saga that pays homage to the look, the tone, the drama and the humour of the original