I really wasn't sure if I should have done my usual vague summery of the plot with this film, like Inside Out this film is a film that's better the less you know going in, but I did one because I probably will go into some plot stuff here, it's a review after all, if you want the short version, here it is; for the love of god go see this film, it's incredible, now onto the review.
This film has a pretty dark opening, which is never bad, where you see the cruelty of the First Order, and are introduced to a few of the characters, starting with a character that really did deserve more screen time than they got. Poe is a really cool character, as well as a stupidly badass X wing pilot, he's fun and he has some really good scenes, as well as one really awesome scene pretty early on in the film, followed by more really cool stuff with another character in the film I liked. Finn is a surprisingly interesting character, given where he starts out in the film, and he gets more interesting as the film goes on, both on his own, and in his relationship with the other characters, he is also a very likable character, and his loyalty to his friends was something in particular that I really liked. Han Solo and Chewbacca return from the original trilogy, and while still Han Solo, he's a very different character to the one in the original trilogy, he has aged noticeably in the 30 odd years, not just in hair colour, but as a character, he still has that Han Solo shit-talking smuggler thing going on, but he's wiser. All the other returning characters really just play minor roles, Leia for example, who's only in a few scenes, along with the droids. Now though is when we get to my 2 favourite characters in the film, starting with the film's villain Kylo Ren, who is not just Vader 2.0. he's evil for sure, and he does some pretty nasty things in this film, but he isn't just bad, there's a visible conflict within him, an emotional battle between the light side and the dark side, and one that makes the scenes where he's less than the dark and scary bad guy really interesting to watch. A few in particular that involve Rey, who is by far my favourite character in this film, she's just really interesting, has a cool history and an interest in the fall of the Empire, particularly the legends about Luke Skywalker, she also get very interesting past a certain point, for a reason I won't spoil, and like I said, has some incredible scenes, scenes I can honestly say I loved, in fact all of these characters had such a scene, or scenes where I was just loving it, and the dynamic and relationship between them all was really fun and cool, and that made the more emotional scenes all the more enjoyable, and this film has a few of them, no joke, it's rough at times, and I love it.
Story wise this film does seem to borrow very, very heavily from Star Wars, without going into specifics it's very easy to draw parallels between this film and the original 1977 film. Do I think that's bad, to be honest, not really, because it's still a very enjoyable story which, just like the originals, is carried by it's characters, and I liked the story as a whole by the time the film wrapped. The film also had some really sweet action, typical of J.J. Abrams, and by sweet I really do mean sweet, the air battles were really fun, as were the numerous blaster battles, and the lightsaber battles, which are cooler than ever, more on that later. The action was really exciting for starters, and J.J. Abrams' directing in the action scenes was worth note, because he does it really well, it's vicious and fast but worry not about shaky cam, and worry not about choreography, which brings me onto the lightsaber battles, which are almost certainly more violent then they've ever been in previous films, the final battle in particular, that's teased in the trailers, was really fun to watch, because it didn't look like a dance like a George Lucas directed lightsaber battle, it looked dirty and grounded and painful, and it was intense to watch. Going on in this film though is more than simply action, it's emotion, something that is really strong here, like I said before, sometimes this film is pretty rough to watch, but they're by far the best scenes in the film, as they're really when the really fun and likable characters hit emotional peaks that, putting it soppily, hit you where you live, in addition to really catching you off guard, which is a huge plus for the film, a film that can give you the feels is usually a good contender for a good film.
Star Wars The Force Awakens is up there with my favourite films of 2015, for sure. Yes it's flawed, a few of the characters are just in minor roles and don't really do much, but the characters you do see a lot of are awesome, and they really make the film's more emotional side as wrenchingly enjoyable as it is. The film's story is very similar to Star Wars, but it still works well enough that you like it, and it's built on by some fun and tense action and the already mentioned feels. I'll be honest, I love this film, and it is without a doubt an absolute must watch.
No comments:
Post a Comment