About a year ago, I watched the Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer and was instantly excited for the new movie. I saw a land speeder zoom past a derelict star destroyer buried in the sands of Jakku and in my heart I knew it would be a good movie.
I was not disappointed when, after I took my last final of the fall semester, I saw the latest installment of the Star Wars franchise. When the iconic opening crawl (the words moving down across the screen) appeared, I had goosebumps. Although this movie won't be receiving any Academy Award nominations, it successfully rebooted the Star Wars franchise and redeemed the series from the abominations that were the prequels.
Four new characters are introduced in the seventh installment: Finn (a stormtrooper turned rebel), Rey (a scavenger from the sands of Jakku), Poe Dameron (a resistance fighter played by the brilliant Oscar Isaacs) and Kylo Ren (a dark side warrior with the First Order played by Adam Driver of HBO's Girls).
They are joined by Harrison Ford's Han Solo, Carrie Fisher's Leia Organa and Mark Hamill's Luke Skywalker.
Although the film borrows quite a bit from the original trilogy, it did enough on its own to make itself stand out. The notion of a Stormtrooper losing faith in the Imperial/First Order doctrine is very new to the Star Wars universe. Finn could not reconcile with the slaughter associated with the First Order, he realized he was on the wrong side, and decided to run, saving Poe Dameron in the process.
Perhaps my only problem with the movie came when Kylo Ren removed his helmet. Kylo Ren is played by Adam Driver and when he spoke without his helmet I could only picture him as Adam from Girls. Still, Driver was the right pick for Ren, as the character is a young man coming to grips with his destiny and his past.
Abrams delivers with his special effects, they are stunning. The images of X-Wings and TIE fighters are simply outstanding, much better than the aerial battles of the prequels.
A note on theories:
I personally believe that Supreme Leader Snoke of the First Order is a fraud. I'm skeptical that his connection with the force is strong. He must be using Kylo Ren for his impressive abilities. Then again he could be the second coming of Darth Plagueis, master of Darth Sidious.
The deal with Rey: Some have speculated that Rey is the daughter of Luke Skywalker, given the visions she had when she touched Luke's old saber and her strong connection with the force. Other contend that she's the daughter of Han and Leia (Han and Leia didn't remember her because their memories were wiped by Luke or Ren), and was stolen away by Ben Solo (Kylo Ren) after the disaster at Luke's Jedi Academy.
Naturally, the movie ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, leaving us with many more questions than answers. Given that this was a Star Wars movie, I wouldn't have it any other way.
