Click on image to see poster full-size.

Right off the bat, don’t worry, I’m going to avoid posting any major spoilers here. I feel like it’s only fair to address a few things up front before getting into this review. First and foremost, a note to folks who may not have visited this site before… yes, this webpage is called Bigfanboy.com. And it’s called that for a variety of reasons. When I started this site in December of 2004, I wanted a short and simple name that encompassed the idea of a place you could go to read movie reviews, news stories about pop culture, and see interviews with industry professionals. I consider myself a “big fan” of all those things, and it was a nickname I always thought was kind of fun. Sometimes it has worked against me, as in certain instances with movie studios they likely don’t place as high of a respect level on someone who writes for a site with a name like mine. Heck, I wouldn’t doubt it if I got crossed off a few interview lists just because they saw “Bigfanboy.com” on the request and thought the worst. But look, I’m 41 now, and I’ve learned how to look at things objectively and put my fandom aside when necessary. That said, I’m also able to enjoy things when they’re fun and done well, even if those things don’t meet all my expectations or desires. I bring all this up because inevitably someone online will make a snarky comment like “Well what do you expect from a website called Bigfanboy.com?” So if you can get past the moniker we use for this page, I hope you’ll be able to read this review as one coming from a respectable film critic… who also happens to love geek stuff. One last bit of history about me – my first conscious memory is seeing STAR WARS in a movie theater in 1977. I was just a 3-year-old at the time, but I vividly remember C-3PO and R2D2 walking through the desert. I also fell asleep during that film… but hey, I was 3. As the years went by, not unlike many folks out there my age, I became a lifelong fan of the Lucasfilm legacy. I used to own several of the action figures and toys, watched the movies countless times, waited in line for the Special Editions, and of course the Prequels (for better or worse). I’ve even been fortunate enough to work with pretty much every surviving actor of the original films by way of the convention circuit. I’d be lying if I didn’t say that last part has desensitized me a tad toward the franchise, to the point of where now I feel like I can truly look at anything new objectively and judge it for what it is. Still, it’s been hard to contain my excitement for STAR WARS: EPISODE VII – THE FORCE AWAKENS, which continues the story the original trilogy began all those years ago, and has the added bonus of featuring the original cast members. George Lucas has stepped aside and J.J. Abrams took the director chair here, which feels appropriate as J.J. has proven himself as a capable and highly successful filmmaker, and many feel (especially after the Prequel trilogy) that George may just not be the right man anymore for the very franchise he created. With fan expectations at an all-time high, can this latest effort in the STAR WARS legacy possibly live up to all the hype?

Now for the plot synopsis – if you don’t want to know ANYTHING about the story, just skip this paragraph, but I’m not revealing any major spoilers here. Like every STAR WARS film we open with the title crawl, which catches us up from where RETURN OF THE JEDI left off. Luke Skywalker has “vanished” and a new variation of the Empire has risen up called The First Order. General Leia (Carrie Fisher) is leading the Resistance in a fight against the evil First Order, who are led by the Darth Vader-esque Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). The post-crawl story opens with Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) receiving a vital piece of information that will be very valuable to the Resistance. He hides it in his round ball droid BB-8, who escapes just before Poe is captured by First Order troops. Ren orders his soldiers to wipe out innocent people in the village where Poe was caught, and one Stormtrooper in particular named Finn (John Boyega) realizes during this mission (his first) that he can’t go through with the brutal orders. Finn helps Dameron escape, and the two crash land on Jakku, a desert planet filled with poor scavengers. It’s here where Finn meets Rey (Daisy Ridley), a female scavenger and pilot who is tougher than she looks. With Ren hot on their trail, these two escape the planet and meet up with Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew), who do their best to find out what The First Order is so anxious to obtain. They also discover that Ren and his troops have a new monstrosity called Starkiller Base (a much larger variation on the Death Star capable of destroying entire planetary systems), which they Resistance must figure out a way to bring down. Everything I described here, for the most part, takes place in the first 30 minutes of so, and I’m still leaving out major details. Okay, basic plot synopsis over.

One of the things I remember saying about the Prequel movies was that they looked like STAR WARS and sounded like STAR WARS, but just didn’t feel like STAR WARS. The charm, humor and endearing characters were gone, replaced with emotionless Jedi lead characters and overly-political plotlines. Most of the missing elements from the Prequels are back in THE FORCE AWAKENS, and the mix of new and old characters is refreshingly fun and effective, but there’s still a sort of odd tone with the film that makes it feel a little off. Granted, J.J. Abrams has a different style when it comes to shooting, so I’m not surprised it looks different than what George Lucas put together previously, but there’s just a weird unfamiliar quality here I can’t put my finger on. Some sections feel more like THE LORD OF THE RINGS movies than a STAR WARS film – not necessarily bad, just different. Perhaps the most refreshing aspect of this installment is Abrams bringing back the use of practical sets and prosthetics for creatures, giving the scenes a more realistic and organic touch. Again, one of the big problems with the Prequels was the heavy use of CGI, some of which hasn’t aged well. THE FORCE AWAKENS is not without CGI, but uses it more sparingly and in some cases it’s practically invisible. When we see the Millennium Falcon, it’s full-size and real, right there where you can tell the actors and truly interacting with it. Stormtroopers are real guys in costume, not CGI clones. Even some of the base corridors are obviously practical sets built with precision, again pleasing and realistic to the eye.

The performances are a mixed bag but mostly great. John Boyega is far and away the strongest of the new actors, stealing every scene he’s in, and shining with a presence that should make him an instant big screen star. There’s a strong endearing quality to his delivery that finds him all at once sympathetic, tough and easy to relate to. He’s so good he actually elevates a rather one-note character into something truly fantastic. I really liked Boyega in the criminally under-seen ATTACK THE BLOCK, but this role is much more of a star-making performance. Expect to see Hollywood take notice of the young actor rather quickly after this opens. Daisy Ridley feels a little more green, which is to be expected since this is her first film role. There’s a nice mystery to her character that keeps the audience guessing, and she is a nice and strong female lead for the story, but there are times where you can tell she’s a little unseasoned, especially next to the other more experienced actors. That’s not to say she’s bad, just someone who needs a little more time and experience to fit comfortably in this character. Adam Driver has a challenging role here, playing the bad guy of the piece who spends most of his screen time behind a mask with a electronically deepened voice, but he gets some very human moments as well, and it’s there were he really shines. One of the most under-developed characters is oddly enough the most seasoned of the new cast, in Oscar Isaac, who as Poe Dameron feels a bit underdeveloped. In many ways he seems to exist only to carry the X-Wing pilot side of the story, perhaps becoming a more prominent and important character as the story continues in future films. Harrison Ford plays Han Solo a little over the top here, more comedic and exaggerated than many will remember from the original trilogy. He has some great lines, and is one of the better characters for the purpose of exposition, but this Han feels a bit different… kind of like the filmmakers tried to emulate the Star-Lord character from GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY more than the Solo we all know and love. Carrie Fisher is used sparingly as General Leia, but finds some magic in her scenes, especially in moments where her and Ford share the scene. Lupita Nyong’o plays a fun motion-capture role than is sort of a female answer to Yoda, a character I think could have been used even more. And one of the very best characters in the film isn’t even human, as the little ball droid BB-8 will instantly capture your heart, and will undoubtedly become an iconic sci-fi favorite for years to come… he’s just so darn cute.

There’s some characters who don’t quite click as well as the others, such as Andy Serkis as the mysterious Supreme Leader Snoke (an odd CGI character that never quite clicks), Gwendoline Christie as a chrome-plated Stormtrooper commander named Captain Phasma (who really doesn’t do much outside of looking cool), Domhnall Gleeson as General Hux (a sort of nervous answer to Peter Cushing’s character from the original film), and Max von Sydow who sadly is little more than a wise old cameo role at the beginning. Chewbacca (played by original actor Peter Mayhew) could have used a few more glory moments like the original trilogy had, but it’s really great to see him back with Han, and he also gets some of the most sympathetic scenes in the movie. C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) is used surprisingly little here, and there’s a rather specific aesthetic in his appearance that for some reason is never explained.

Abrams injects a lot of fan service moments that will likely lead to some deserved cheering, and finds a great balance of humor and intense action. This is also a little darker than what some fans might be expecting, giving the story a more serious tone. There’s still a lot of humor and fun, but this doesn’t feel as family-friendly as some might be expecting. It’s also at its core a thinly-veiled remake of the first movie, emulating several story elements and characters almost to an exact formula. This worked out well for JURASSIC WORLD, which basically was a remake of JURASSIC PARK only with an open park, and clearly that was a smart move for the studio. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention John Williams’ excellent score, which features less memorable original themes than the last few films had, but compliments this outing nicely. My favorite cue is actually the final piece of music in the film, which accompanies a very important moment… it’s also a theme that I believe doesn’t appear anywhere else in the movie. As the first part of a new trilogy, EPISODE VII does a nice job setting up the events to be carried through in two more outings, but it’s also careful not to play things too heavy for a beginning chapter. I enjoyed THE FORCE AWAKENS a lot, but it never seemed to wow me, though granted our screening was filled with somewhat serious film critics. I’m seeing it again Thursday night with the fans, and I imagine the reaction and effect of the presentation will be considerably different. For the moment, if I had to rank this among the other STAR WARS movies, I’d probably put in on par with RETURN OF THE JEDI, if not just behind it. After the Prequels seemed to steer away from what we all fell in love with, this is definitely a step back in the right direction, though still needs more road to reach its desired destination… but what a ride.

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