Back to a galaxy far, far away!
Expect an unprecedented rise in hoodie-wearing because after 10 years of waiting, STAR WARS IS BACK!!! And it could not be more glorious!!!!
Our collective bottled up excitement erupted at the mere sight of the ‘Star Wars’ title card with its titillating music score. From then on we were all just wide-eyed and awestruck and laughing and applauding – it was fantastic! Star Wars The Force Awakens, in a nutshell, was everything we hoped it’d be and more!
It was familiar yet fresh, like a vintage car given a nice new shine. It’s basically everything we loved about the previous films, minus all our complaints. This is Star Wars perfected (or very, very near it)! Here are some of the things that went so wonderfully right about Star Wars TFA (The Force Awakens)!
(MINOR TO AVERAGE SPOILERS AHEAD! PLEASE, LEAVE THIS PAGE IF YOU HAVEN’T WATCHED!!!)
1 Stormtroopers are finally hitting things!
Not yo daddy's Stormtroopers!
But it’s much more than just being on target. It’s about making an impact; being the danger none of the previous Stormtroopers have been before (because, really, when cuddly little teddy bears can take you down, you lose all credibility as a military force.)
In the opening scene alone, we see the First Order Stormtroopers killing way more than the old troopers did Episode IV; establishing the kind of threat they are to the galaxy and clearly verifying that the First Order is not your daddy’s Stormtroopers.
2 No place for emo in this universe
Not a whiny, tantrum-y,cry-y villain...Just a cry-y one.
No more Anakin-level whining. Sure there was a tinge of bratty-ness in Kylo Ren, but at least Adam Driver plays it with more subtlety than Hayden Christensen. More so, we see an appreciated return of the humor desperately missing in the new trilogy.
3 The Force has returned to its mystical roots
No more of that Midi-chlorian nonsense! TFA treats The Force as an intangible, ambiguous spiritual concept, a myth even; as it should be!
4 Death Star design flaw corrected!
Death Star...the Star KILLer? So creative!
The Death Star is notorious for having the stupidest space station design flaw in the galaxy! TFA’s similar WMD – the Starkiller Base – may still have a questionably clustered target for rebels to hit, but at least it doesn’t take just one shot to take this baby out. TFA goes out of its way to show that taking down the new enemy warship planet will need some planning, mad piloting skills, crafty infiltration and even a bit of luck.
5 No more awkward romances!
Has more chemistry while running than Anakin and Padme did in 3 movies combined!
Finn and Rey are definitely no Anakin and Padme! Even when they show much care for each other despite having just met a few days or weeks ago, it never felt forced. The friendship is genuine, and they have the makings of being this cycle’s Han and Leia!
6 The visuals were stunning (even without the excessive use of CGI)!
Battle scenes be like, WOAH! AHHH!! OOOOHHH!!!
Abrams committed to using practical effects whenever he could, thus most of TFA’s battle sequences had a grittiness and intensity to it similar to Episode V’s Hoth battle (and very dissimilar to the CGI vomit that was the prequel trilogy). And his sparing use CGI was practically seamless!
7 JJ Abrams has brought balance (to the Force)
Side note: I loved how TFA’s lightsaber fights were more instinctive and ferocious.
On a scale of old trilogy and new trilogy, TFA lies comfortably in the middle in a lot of ways. It had a good mix of Episode IV – VI’s humor and levity and Episode I – III’s hard-hitting drama. Its story was more complex than the original trilogy, but never becomes as convoluted as the new one. The Lightsaber duels weren’t sluggish and lame, but wasn’t as blatantly choreographed as the lightsaber ‘dances’ in the new trilogy. TFA had just enough of whatever made both trilogies awesome!
8 Strong female representation
Captain Phasma of Tarth
Rey, Captain Phasma, Female Yoda and female Stormtroopers - The Force Awakens has a record number of female characters never before seen in ANY of the former movies! And these women aren’t eye candy, but strong, independent, and imposing women who refuse any handholding, break all archetypes and really show how much the franchise has matured.
9 A New ‘New Hope’
Cure droid in a desert - where have I seen that before?
TFA returns to its roots; very bluntly, I might add. Touches of TFA are almost lifted off ‘A New Hope’: the intro scenario is the same (albeit in a different setting), BB-8’s mission is reminiscent of R2-D2’s, General Hux is TFA’s Governor Tarkin in the same way that Han is its Obi-Wan, the Death Star and the Starkiller Base, duh, and a whole lot more. But more significantly, its makeup also returned to the Star Wars basics – Light VS. Dark and other heroic space adventures. It makes TFA feel like a homecoming to old fans, and warm welcome to new ones.
10 Callbacks! Yeah!
Kilig moment #38
Even when I knew that old characters and icons were appearing in this movie, their reveals still surprised. The callbacks weren’t cheesy or trivial; they were meticulously thought out and very deliberately and tastefully executed. Part of TFA’s magic came from the intermittent kilig when seeing old fan favorites!
11 The new trinity
Finn, Rey and Poe - Star Wars' awesome new heroes!
The Force Awakens may have its trio in Finn, Rey and Poe. Both Rey and Poe have shown great chemistry with Finn and hopefully it’s only a matter of time before we see Rey and Poe interact as well.
Putting this here just 'coz this dude was awesome!
The three characters feel like an amalgam of Star Wars’ original trio – Luke, Han and Leia. Poe has Luke’s X-Wing piloting talents, Han’s fearless attitude and Leia’s leadership skills, Finn has Leia’s desire to do good but Han’s external self-regard, Rey has Han’s street smarts, Luke’s heart and Leia’s tenacity. But Daisy Ridley, John Boyega and Oscar Isaac still put in their own unique flavor in the mix to make their characters more dynamic, real and captivating.
12 Han-freaking-Solo!
Because Han Solo!
Han is the linchpin of TFA. More than any other character, he provides the movie its emotional grounding, assumes the role of Obi-Wan in bridging the gap between two eras and legitimizing the Force, acts as a beacon for nostalgia, all while being the space pirate badass that he is. But more than that, Han’s a symbol of an era gone by; he’s is our thread to the original trilogy, but he’s also the one easing us into this new one.
It was a smart move to give Han Solo such a prominent place in TFA. And really, is there anything more awesome than seeing Harrison Ford pilot the Millennium Falcon one more time?
Single-tear moment.
***
Jar Jar Abrams? More like JJ Master, if you ask me. (Get it? Get it?) We were lucky to get a true artist and devoted fan at the helm of this sequel. The Force Awakens was JJ Abrams love letter to the Star Wars universe. This reboot-non-reboot returns Star Wars to its former glory but infuses it with enough fresh nuances to propel the franchise forward. The Force is strong in this new entry and I can’t wait to see what else Star Wars has in store for us!
MAN, I LOVE STAR WARS.
MICMIC RATING: 9.8 / 10
*First seen on The Philippine Online Chronicles!
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