THE FORCE AWAKENS
New Star Wars a tour de force
STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS
★★★★★
Starring: Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Harrison Ford Director: J.J. Abrams Duration: 135 minutes
You WILL like this movie. No, that’s not some kind of Jedi mind trick, accompanied by a vague wave of the fingers. It’s a solid prediction, grounded in — well, in 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 in keeping with 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 the actors could sometimes literally trip over them. To quote Han Solo, it feels like we’re home.
Abrams even rights a few 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 midi-chlorian 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. Or 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-3PO saying: “It’s all right, you can trust them. They’re our new masters.” But the studio has 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. 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-to-be-here wonderment.
Early on, we sense this young woman is scarcely more than a child, but she steps up nicely. 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 — but 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 launch this new chapter.
As to parentage, I will say only two things: There is still no hard evidence Chewbacca has an Ewok cousin on his mother’s side. But there’s proof fighting abilities can transfer from one generation to the next: The climactic battle scene features a character who can only be Porkins Jr., latest in a long line of plus-size pilots bravely fighting the good fight.
A 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. There’s even a gonk droid.
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 nearsighted but infinitely wise Maz Kanata or even Supreme Leader Snoke, whose punishments to disobedient underlings no doubt combine smiting and snookering.
I haven’t revealed the scene that took this fan’s breath away, or the one that brought tears. Consider this review a map. Go, and may the Force be with you.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens opens on Friday, with some screenings on Thursday.