Context is important to review Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The original Star Wars was an iconic movie of its time and holds fond memories for lots of people from childhood watching the movies, re-enacting the characters and playing with the action figures.
As George Lucas found out with the average (at best) prequel trilogy of the late 90's and early 00's, its better not to mess with this nostalgia (recall; bad acting, annoying characters and over-use of CGI, all still fresh in peoples memories). So it was always going to be a balancing act keeping everyone happy by providing something new and fresh but not trampling on legacy and memories.
And I think they managed it pretty well.
In the secure hands of director J. J. Abrams (why handled the new Star Trek movies very well), we have new and interesting characters in Rey (Daisy Ridley), Poe (Oscar Isaac), Fin (John Boyega) and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), all acted very well and creating a fresh dynamic in the story.
The plot you could argue is pretty formulaic and too close to the original Star Wars, but care has obviously been taken in its making with a nod to the past with revisits of old characters (Han Solo), old equipment (Millennium Falcon) and also a revisit of original production methods, such as the use of puppets in some roles when CGI could easily have been used. To Star Wars fans these small details make a difference.
A cynic would say that it is too superficial and not enough fresh ideas or depth, just a ploy to get tickets sold, but for me it was an enjoyable movie with lots of escapism and interesting scenes, great visual effects, and it really did not drag in its length.
I'm not a Star Wars buff by any means, but I for one felt more than satisfied having watched this episode.
8/10.
As George Lucas found out with the average (at best) prequel trilogy of the late 90's and early 00's, its better not to mess with this nostalgia (recall; bad acting, annoying characters and over-use of CGI, all still fresh in peoples memories). So it was always going to be a balancing act keeping everyone happy by providing something new and fresh but not trampling on legacy and memories.
And I think they managed it pretty well.
In the secure hands of director J. J. Abrams (why handled the new Star Trek movies very well), we have new and interesting characters in Rey (Daisy Ridley), Poe (Oscar Isaac), Fin (John Boyega) and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), all acted very well and creating a fresh dynamic in the story.
The plot you could argue is pretty formulaic and too close to the original Star Wars, but care has obviously been taken in its making with a nod to the past with revisits of old characters (Han Solo), old equipment (Millennium Falcon) and also a revisit of original production methods, such as the use of puppets in some roles when CGI could easily have been used. To Star Wars fans these small details make a difference.
A cynic would say that it is too superficial and not enough fresh ideas or depth, just a ploy to get tickets sold, but for me it was an enjoyable movie with lots of escapism and interesting scenes, great visual effects, and it really did not drag in its length.
I'm not a Star Wars buff by any means, but I for one felt more than satisfied having watched this episode.
8/10.