Dust off your figurines and recharge your light sabers because J. J. Abrams has salvaged the Star Wars name from the garbage compactor many believed the brand was destined for after the prequels. After its decade-long dormancy, the Force returns with blasters blazing, providing a much needed special effects facelift while adhering to the time-tested franchise formula.
Like a true fanboy, Abrams - who watched the original Star Wars back in 1977 when he was eleven - has created a bigger, badder Episode IV. Roughly thirty years after the Alliance destroyed the second Death Star, Luke Skywalker has gone into hiding and the First Order, resurrected from the Galactic Empire, must find his droid BB-8 which contains a vital clue as to his whereabouts. Finn, a rogue stormtrooper formerly known as FN-2187 (John Boyega), along with the scavenger Rey (Daisy Ridley) from the junkyard planet Jakku, protect BB-8 on the Millennium Falcon. The two must eliminate the new Starkiller Base - which makes the Death Star look like a marble - before it destroys the Resistance’s home planet.
As with the rest of the Star Wars films, the bulk of the plot is contained within the opening crawl, leaving the rest for escapes, pursuits, missions, heroism, romance and enough missed blaster shots to severely question the training practices of the First Order. Like Star Wars on steroids, “The Force Awakens” amps up all the classic iconography - the newest Death Star quintupled in size, the First Order is a dead ringer for the Nazi party, we get double the droids and none of the Jar Jar Binks. The mythic structures remain, with enough Oedipal complexes and uninitiated heroes to follow its classical trajectory. Rey takes over Luke’s homegrown grit and stalwart spunk, coming from a dusty, scrap metal planet to conquer the sleek, hyper-masculine metallic behemoth of the First Order. While at times Abrams’s episode feels frozen in Star Wars’s rigid structure like Han Solo (Harrison Ford) in carbonite, we forgive predictability for romanticism and familiarity, and slip into the film like an old pair of shoes.
Fortunately, the film leaves ample breathing room between the space chases and blaster battles for fan nostalgia. Like a family reunion, “The Force Awakens” brings back together Americana icons, from Chewbacca and Han Solo to R2D2 and C-3PO. Leia’s (Carrie Fisher) entrance is treated with as much reverence and affection as Ingrid Bergman’s in “Casablanca”(1942). A tour of the Millennium Falcon feels like walking through a childhood home, where everything is right where it’s supposed to be - especially if your home had smuggling compartments and blast shields. Han Solo leads this threadbare band into First Order headquarters, but soon the film becomes a passing of the torch to the younger generation. And what a passing; from Harrison Ford to a black male, white woman and hispanic male leading the latest installment in cinema’s greatest franchise. This seventh installment highlights the seismic changes Hollywood has undergone in the past decade.
The Star Wars franchise has endured a battering much like the Millennium Falcon. Critics and fans alike have heavily criticised the prequels. The revival of the franchise, however, demonstrates the brand’s enduring appeal. “The Force Awakens” achieved escape velocity from the black hole of expectation that seemed to be its inevitable demise. The box office results shattered records, as “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” became the fastest film to reach $1 billion, and in only 12 days. Abrams’s magnum opus seems to have reached warp speed. He has two more thrilling iterations of interstellar mayhem, and of course another generation of diehard fanatics.
Rating: 9/10
Star Wars: The Force Awakens is now playing at the Nugget at 5:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. and at 3:45 p.m. in 3D
