Movie Review: Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens

I really have no clever or witty introduction for this review. I really just want to get into the review so I can tell you about my thoughts on the movie. I guess I could give you my backstory on how I got into “Star Wars” in the first case, but I feel like that’s a thing for a separate post. So let’s just get on with the real deal here.

My dearest ladies and gentlemen, I present to you… “Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens”!

This movie is set about 30 years after “Return of the Jedi” and follows a young scavenger named Rey (Daisy Ridley) who meets up with a man named Finn (John Boyega) who used to be a stormtrooper before he left for not liking what this “First Order” does. So it follows them meeting up with Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and the gang to try to stop the “First Order” and it’s leader, the nefarious Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). Guys… it happened, it finally fucking happened… a great plot in a “Star Wars” movie. That’s something we haven’t seen since “Return of the Jedi”, and that was 32 years ago. I felt like they actually put some effort into the plot of this one. You care about the good guys trying to save the day, you care about what happens in general. They actually did a great job… YES!!!

The characters in this movie are all great. Just like in the original trilogy, they were all instantly likable and they played their part in the story well. Let’s start with the old blood which we used to love and see if we still like them… was there ever any doubt? Harrison Ford is great as Han Solo, being just as fun and badass as he was back in the day even though he is a lot older now. Carrie Fisher as Leia… terrific. Peter Mayhew is still as awesome in the role of Chewbacca as he was back in the day. And I will not lie, some people will be disappointed if not mad about how they used Luke Skywalker in the movie. Me personally? I thought it worked, it was good. Anthony Daniels as C-3PO was also really good even though there was limited screen time for him. Now let’s talk some of the new blood they put in the movie. John Boyega as Finn was just great. His performance has a lot of energy, a lot of humanity and a lot of likability. Daisy Ridley was absolutely terrific as Rey. Her performance felt so real and so fine-tuned that she was just great. Oscar Isaac as Poe Dameron… god damn badass! Seriously, Isaac was great in the role and his character was definitely one of my favorites in the movie. Finally we have Adan Driver as main bad guy Kylo Ren… yeah he was pretty damn fantastic. And he plays my favorite type of villain: the villain whom you can understand the motivations for. you can kind of get behind his thoughts in the movie. Sure, I didn’t condone what he did because he did some terrible shit, but I can still understand his thinking, and that’s the type of villain I love! And look, there are too many actors in this movie to tlak about them all, but let’s just say that they all did a pretty great job in the movie.

This is a part where I had absolutely no doubts at all: the score. Why was I so confident in it? Because a great while ago it was announced that the score would be provided by none other than John Williams, the man who has done the music for all previous movies in the series. And once again, the man fucking nails it perfectly. Both the classic themes that we’ve heard a million (billion) times and the new songs work perfectly in the movie. I mean, it’s John freakin’ Williams!

This movie was directed by J.J. Abrams who now have his hands in both “Star Trek” and “Star Wars” which means he might finally brings the fanbases together. Anyhow, he did a great job with the directing. Everything looks smooth, it’s all very swift, there are a lot of long, beautiful takes and it all just looks really nice. And oh my god… are those practical effects? Yes they are, holy shit. That’s right, movie has practical effects, which is something the crew wanted in the movie and they somehow made it the majority in the movie. Sure, there is CGI in the movie, but really only when they needed it. For the most part they stuck to the practical stuff (which is amazing to see). And I have to say that all of the effects in the movie look absolutely fantastic. The movie also moves at a great pace, never feeling slow or bogged down by exposition or overall boring stuff. And the action scenes are pretty great as well, all feeling very grounded and almost even real. I especially love the dog fights, those are so satisfying to watch. I also feel like I have to mention that there is actual humor in the movie and it is really funny… something that they failed at with the prequel trilogy. But here, they gloriously succeeded.

Sure, this movie just came out, but I will still say that it has been received well. On Rotten Tomatoes it has a 97% positive rating and a “Fresh” certification. On Metacritic it has a score of 81/100. And on imdb.com it has a score of 9,1/10 which most likely will change by a good amount when more people have gotten the chance to see it, but that is what it stands at right at the time of this review.

“Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens” is what I would really call a true “Star Wars” movie. It has a great plot, great characters & acting, fantastic music, great directing, great action, great visual effects, great writing and just an overall sense of fun. Time for my final score. My final score for “Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens” is a 9,89/10. It definitely gets the “SEAL OF APPROVAL!”.

“Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens” is at last reviewed.

You have no idea how long I have waited for this…