Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)

This movie is flawed, to say the least. Most of the main characters are played by novice actors, and it shows, the acting alternating between some genuinely impactful drama and lighthearted action, and cringe-inducingly misfired attempts at likewise. The script likewise alternates between bland, dry, filler, and clunky, overwrought lines where the writers were obviously trying too hard, and precious few scenes in the goldilocks zone where the script flows organically.The plot is likewise a mixed bag. On one hand, the overall plotline is somewhere between an homage and a bold-faced rip off of A New Hope- I'm looking at you, giant impractical superweapon mk3. ON the other hand, some of the character scenes do manage to rise above the issues of script and acting, Adam Driver as Kylo Ren in particular manages to portray a genuinely conflicted villain, and the scenes he shares with Rey are where their potential as actors shines through the morass. Of course, none of this justifies the ending, or rather lack thereof. I suspect that the printer jammed with only one page still to go, and the Abrams just shrugged and decided to roll with it.The technical elements of the film fare moderately better. With the original trilogy (4-6) using mostly practical effects, and the prequels using mostly CG, this film used an interesting mix, with most of the costumes and aliens being practical, the space scenes being high quality digital, and the large planet bount fight scenes being an almost (But not quite) seamless mix of the two. Abrams has become somewhat of the punching bag among hollywood pundits in recent years (though not quite to Michael Bay levels, may the force keep him far away from these sequels), but the direction of the film, such as the usage of camera angles, positioning, and the way the scenes transition and make a mostly-coherent whole out of the intermittent tone and quality beliai a fair amount of genuine talent on his part.So, why, despite my criticism, did I give it a 8/10? Consider the prequels.To call the prequel trilogy (1-3) a trainwreck is charitable. Sewer explosion would be more accurate. The acting straddled between wooden and middle-school level (you know, when the 14 year olds are just competent enough to begin vastly overestimating their thespian prowess), the script was clunky and overblown at the same time, the effects were dated within a year of their release and have only gotten worse over the years, and many characters and scenes were transparent attempts to move merchandise. But the greatest sin of all of the legion thereof they committed was simply this: They did not feel like Star Wars. The plots focus on political intrigue, in addition to being poorly done, were simply diametrically opposed to the tone of the original trilogy. Lovable characters, simple without being thinly characterized, having fun and interesting adventures through a vast universe in a backdrop of more serious war and galactic turmoil.That is where the Prequels failed utterly, and this is where Force Awakens has its greatest and most unambiguous success: It FEELS like a Star Wars movies.Nostalgia has clouded our judgement somewhat, but all of the problems and shortcomings of Force Awakens- wooden acting, clunky writing, and a plot that tended towards the cliche and absurd- were present, to varying extents, in A New Hope, not ironed out until its sequels. But the tone, the style, the limitless promise and potential of the concepts and universe, shined through then, and, after being lost for three films, has finally returned in full force. It is this quality, a sense of adventure and wonder, that is the true mark of a good Star Wars film, and it is this quality that raises The FOrce Awakens to a worthy successor to the Original trilogy, and it is this resounding success that makes its myriad, though neither egregious nor unprecedented, flaws forgivable.After the misfiring train-wreck of the prequels, I have confidence that the Star Wars franchise is in competent hands once again. If you have the time, a modest recommendation for Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Okay, before I start my rant I am just going to mention this is the seventh movie of the franchise if you watching in chronological order.So this movie is about a women who is roaming around on the planet called Jakku and we have no idea other then her name who she is? where did she come from? And whatever happened to her parents? The character is just not interesting whatsoever, she is just a Mary Sue version of Star Wars. She doesn't seem to care at all.Kylo Renn is a massive joke his face makes me puke he looks like professor snapes son. He looks more like a bully that is about to take a kids lunch money or play with someone's glasses. Also how did him and Snoke come to power. Apart from the CGI and special effects everything else about this movie is terrible. I am sorry but I don't think Disney can make a good Star Wars movie at all they more or less care about money and their political beliefs then the franchise.Also JJ Abrams, Rian Johnson and Kathleen Kenandy messed this up so badly that they ruin the whole franchise.Majority of it was just boring. If you want to watch the movie more power to you but if you really love the franchise you will be very disappointed.It does make me wonder how did this movie get an 8/10. I wonder if Disney are forcing all of the cast and crew who worked on this movie to give it a 10.Have a good day everyone and may the force be with you.

Star Wars Force Awakens ReviewThis movie sees the returns of the my favourite franchise after years of waiting since the last film Revenge of the Sith and what a return to Star Wars it is this movie is brilliant and a great accomplishment in film making what JJ Abrams has achieved isn't just a great return to Star Wars but also a great return how they used to make films with real props and real on set locations and not everything is all about CGI.However this movie isn't perfect it does have is issues the big one being it is very similar to A New Hope with their basically being another Death Star in the form of Killer Base for them to destroy which makes it feel like the film makers played it safe and didn't try anything new unlike The Last Jedi which took the franchise in a bold and interesting direction. However, let's get to things that I love about this movie the acting in this movie is amazing especially Harrison Ford playing Han Solo one last time is just perfect and a great way to bring back an old character from the original trilogy and seeing the rest of the old cast is great like Carrie Fisher playing Princess Leia and R2 and C3PO coming back aswell it was very nostalgic for me as a fan of the original growing up. But it's not just the old characters that are great the new characters this film introduces are really interesting and really well written characters my favourites being Kylo Ren and Poe Dameron these two characters are great additions to this saga and both have brilliant stories and character moment. Kylo Ren is the most interesting villain that Star Wars has had since Darth Vader in my opinion the story of how he his always trying to prove himself not just to Snoke but to the memory of Vader is really interesting and makes a very complex villain also the twist about him being Han Solo and Leia son was a great twist and one I didn't see coming love the fact that his name Ben Solo harkening back to Ben Kenobi from the original trilogy and someone who was such a massive part of all their lives nice that he was remembered.Another character that was very interesting was Rey the main hero in this film and the new trilogy in this film she being called out by the force and the mystery behind who she is and how she can do it is handled very well in this one and her relationship with Han Solo in this was very well portrayed seemed as if Han had found someone he saw potential in and could pass everything on to after he lost Kylo Ren to the Dark Side. Rey also had some great moments in the film her fight with Ren at the end of the film was really well handled and looked more like a Lightsaber Duel from the old films rather than being choreographed like in the prequels im glad they went back to that style. Also the little moments in that fight scene are really what make it different from another in the franchise for example when Kylo Ren keeps punching his wounds to make himself more angry which in turn will make him more powerful because dark side works on anger was such a unique take on a lightsabre duel and something we have never seen on the big screen before only in some books.This movie is also surprisingly funny which is different for a Star Wars movie normally the humour doesn't work i.e Jar Jar Binks in the prequels but this movie balances the humour really well and adds to the characters in the movie it also uses its humour in its nostalgic moments for example when Rey says to Han that Millennium Falcon is the ship that made the Kessel Run in 14 Parsecs and he shouts 12 I got a big kick out of that being fan of the old films.The effects in this movie are incredible and the design of the creatures are wonderful and makes it feel more like the original trilogy I personally love the design of Mass Kanata great design and such a unique character.There is also a moment in this movie that is emotional something that for me hasn't really been a think in Star Wars. However the death of Han Solo was really well handled and really emotional especially the way Chewbecca reacts to losing his best friend was the best scene in the movie.The Ending to this movie is such a great cliff-hanger we finally see Luke Skywalker and Rey goes to pass him his Lightsaber and it cuts the music playing in this scene his just perfection and finally seeing Luke after all this time was nostalgic.Verdict 9/10 not a perfect star wars like the original 3 but very well done and seeing star wars come back after so long was such a great event and this starts a new era for the this Saga on that personally love and enjoy

I watched a video on Vimeo that mocked and ridiculed this film so I borrowed the DVD from the library to see if it is that bad. It was completely true. This film is utter shambles. I cannot understand why the sequels are all universally bad and yet they keep making them. The question one supposes is why do people keep watching them. Do people have so much extra time on their hands? I am going back to my policy of not watching sequels. They are terrible.Compare this film to A New hope. The cast and crew should be ashamed of themselves. For instance, there is a guy who bought a darth vader mask at the toy store and he keeps forgetting he needs to be masked and takes it off. WOW