[SPOILER REVIEW] Better Than I Thought Possible
4.5 stars, rounded up instead of down.
while there were a few minor disappointments, (mostly Capt. Phasma not doing anything, and Chewie not sharing a moment with Leia after Han's death) i felt that it was the Star Wars movie that we all needed in order to move on to this new "awakening" in the saga. practical effects, real sets, limited green-screens, no cringe worthy cheese fest characters or jokes... not flawless, but far better overall than i could have hoped!
the opening sequences introducing Poe, Finn, and Rey were absolutely perfect! they built better chemistry between those 3 characters in the first 20 minutes than the prequels did between Obi Wan, Padme, and Anakin in 3 whole movies! while there are a host of parallels and tributes to all the previous films, both thematically and in major scenes and plot points, i feel it was not only necessary, but also very needed in this special case of a movie. no other movie in history has had this much baggage and hype to live up to.
all the characters were compelling and interesting. by the end, we understood everyone's motivations and we could envision where they are headed in the next one. we know that Luke left because he was ashamed of his failures with Ben Solo and sought for answers at the first Jedi temple. we know that Rey's parents are dead and she will be training with Luke. we know that Kylo Ren will be training with Snoke, we know that the Resistance will be working to rebuild the Republic. we can theorize about Rey making a double-sided lightsaber, and Snoke being Darth Plagueis, and what new and old characters we will see next... The Force Awakens is not a stand alone movie! there's no way it could be! it is the hinge between the past saga and the future saga to come.
that said, a few other noticeable disappointments were:
R2D2's map and BB-8's map fit together like a Blue's Clues puzzle instead of being encrypted or something that wasn't so blatant. but we're all used to droids being the McGuffins of Star Wars, so there's really no surprise there.
again, Captain Phasma being hyped out the wazoo before release, only for us to find out she actually could have been deleted from the script or played by any other actor and had the exact same effect on the plot. hopefully we get to see her again and she actually does something next time? (not that Boba Fett really did much in the OT)
the opening crawl not giving a few more details on the political situation and where we start back up on the timeline (for the people who haven't done their homework)
the "Rathtar" scene felt out of place, but it did introduce a new "Jabba-like" threat to be explored with Rey being the new pilot of the Millennium Falcon, so we'll let it pass.
that said, the characters, action sequences, and all the little subtleties add up to far outweigh the complaints imo.
Rey is far less of a "Mary Sue" than Anakin was. She did save herself initially each time, but then she got help, either from the Force, or some other character, so we can't say that she had flawless victories. everything Rey did was believable to me in the context of Star Wars and my understanding of the Force. her heritage is a mystery, not a plot hole. it's ok for us to not know all the reasons she was able to perform a Jedi mind trick (after the 3rd try). she defeated a severely injured, distraught, conflicted, and out of practice Kylo Ren after taking a moment to channel the Force. everything else she did can easily be explained with her natural talent and her well earned survival skills.
in the end, there's really not much they could have done to appease such a wide audience any more than what we got. i for one, wholeheartedly recommend Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens to anyone and everyone. it was entertaining, heartfelt, funny, intense, sad, hopeful, and more! it far exceeded my expectations, and is well deserving of it's current place in the box-office records. from what i can tell, everyone involved did their absolute best and loved it.
can't ask for more than that!
