THE FORCE AWAKENS REVIEW

THERE WILL BE SPOILERS!!

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last 18 months, you’re more than likely aware that a new film, which would start a new Trilogy of Star Wars films was being made. If you didn’t know that brace yourself: A New Star Wars movie has been filmed and is in fact currently out in nearly every theater in the world.

Now, before we start this movie review, let’s just get this out of the way. This film is decent. Not amazing, but decent. It’s extremely fun, and watching it you’re instantly reminded why you may have loved the fourth, fifth, and sixth episodes of the series. I’m also reminded fairly quickly after viewing this film twice now, that the reception wouldn’t have been nearly as positive if not for the fact that besides Episode Three: Revenge of the Sith, all of the Prequel trilogies were terrible. Episode One was marginally void of logic, but the idiocy really prevailed during Episode Two: Attack of the Clones.

Ok, moving on from rambling, let's talk Episode Seven: the Force Awakens. First off, the visuals are utterly captivating and offer not only a genuine but also a very much anticipated look at the world in the decades after Return of the Jedi. Han Solo is there, as is Leia, Chewie, and various other characters. More or less, all of these moments play well with the audience, but only in brief sections do they actually further along the plot exponentially. Thankfully the film wisely puts most of its focus onto new characters, which will obviously push the story where it needs to go in further Episodes.

Rey, and Finn(John Boyega) appear early, and while I wish severely that Finn would have been killed by Kylo Ren(Adam Driver), Rey, played wonderfully by Daisy Ridley and Kylo own this movie. Both of them are supremely awesome in their roles, and if the fights between the two are any indication, the next films will only expound on that, as the two characters continue to grow in their fighting skills.

Driver’s Kylo Ren is especially interesting. I’m gonna hope everyone reading this has seen the film, but if not you’ve been warned twice now. The Reveal of Kylo as the son of Leia and Solo is awesome, and well done. For everything that happens after that, i.e., the Death of Solo, the initial play of him being Vader's grandson is a well formatted reveal, and it really gives the story the conflict of family that makes the Star Wars galaxy and stories so easy to get into.

Another thing about Kylo Ren: Driver isn’t only perfect for the role, but it’s such a wave of fresh air to see a villain who’s not only unsure of himself, but who is clearly working the road in order to get his skill set where he feels he should be. The Freak out scenes are perfect, and make the character more relatable, which is in stark contrast to trying to understand Vader and Maul from previous movies. Ren is struggling in this film, but with the killing of his father and his dark fate seemingly sealed, I fully expect to see a confidently solid, powerful Sith Lord arrive strong and prepared to devastate in Episode Seven.

Now, while the movie is fun, the plot holes are boundless like the depths of a Sarlacc and while you can dismiss them in the frenzy of the first viewing, these holes are much more difficult to ignore the second times around.

For instance:

• When Han dies, why does Leia hug Rey, whose she’s never met, as opposed to Chewbacca, who she’s known for decades?
  
• Why does R2 instantly turn on out of nowhere after being off for a long time?
  
• Finn, who’s trained as a fucking janitor, is trusted to go to battle?
  
• Why Does Captain Phasma just fold like a bitch when questioned mildly hard on the Star Killer?
  
• Going back to the Star Killer, why does the Empire, or Sith, or whoever seemingly have only one design for the all battle bases?
  
• How does a person with no hand to hand combat experience(Finn), even compete with Ren, especially in a lightsaber battle?
  
  
• No One knows the wookiee language yet Rey is able to communicate perfectly?
  
  
• Lastly, assuming Luke Has been straight chilling on that mountain for decades, who’s feeding him and how crazy is he from having conversations with three ghosts for the last how ever many years?
  

So yeah those were just the ones I thought of off the top of my head, but there are more, trust me. But also, the movie provides excitement that the franchise has sorely been needing since the much maligned prequels(I still stand by Episode Three being enjoyable and worthy).

In the end though, Star Wars Episode Seven: The Force Awakens isn’t the perfect SW film we all want, but it’s lightyears better than the last set of films, and the direction it seems poised to go into is one that will push the limits of where this franchise can go, and because of that, I’m stoked for the next Episode(s). Thanks for Reading!