95% on Rotten Tomatoes
I still remember when news of Episode VII first dropped, and my then boyfriend didn't understand the hype. Knowing he was/is a huge fan of Harry Potter, I explained it like this: Imagine that, 30 years from now, they make a Harry Potter 9, and Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson are all in the film. Hype much?
Now, within the last year (or more specifically the last few months), there has been some crazy wild speculation occurring about the film. Is Jar Jar Binks a Sith Lord? Is Luke Skywalker going to be Kylo Ren's mentor? Is Luke Skywalker even going to be IN the film? Is Rey actually Luke's daughter? Is she Han and Leia's daughter? Is BB8 just another gimmick to sell toys?
All very good questions, but you'll have to watch the movie to find out (or, at least, you won't find out from reading this review). It's actually really hard for me to sit here and want to write a review on it, because I don't want to divulge ANYTHING about the film. I don't even want to give minor and irrelevant spoilers that you will discover in the first five minutes, because I went in this film knowing only what was in the trailers and it was amazing to just have that experience of not knowing anything about the plot or the characters (the last time I went into a theatre knowing nothing about a film was Mad Max: Fury Road - I don't think I even saw the trailers). Of course, the atmosphere of hundreds of geeks getting hyped for the midnight premiere also contributed to the experience... I think it will be hard to forget Michael's ridiculous smile plastered over his face, but it's even harder to forget how that smile was plastered on every single person in the IMAX lobby, which seemed to be buzzing on its own like a living creature. Unlike Cinderella, we wanted midnight to come.
So the experience was amazing, but what about the actual film?
Well firstly I have to say how great it was to watch it at IMAX, one of only 20 cinemas across the entire planet to have the 2D 1570 print of the film, which means bigger screens, and more images to soak in. Seriously, check out the comparison of the two formats here. It was beautiful.
In terms of the actual plot, it's really hard for me to not give anything away. I will talk more about the plot later, but all I will say right now is that there is a heavy sense of déjà vu throughout the film This is not an original plot; we've definitely seen it before.
The characters need a bit more focus, though. Without spoiling anything, I don't think they did a very good job at building the characters. The movie mainly focuses on two of the three main characters, and only one of these has a solid character arc. But of course these characters are pretty well defined. You can see who is the Han Solo-esque comic relief, you can see who is the Luke Skywalker-esque heart and soul of the film, and the actors were good enough that you could actually believe in them.
As for the secondary characters, these were less convincing. As the film started, characters such as Kylo Ren were portrayed fantastically, but as the film continues, some of these characters become less and less interesting. If anything, they become more of a subject to laugh at. You start questioning to yourself: is this person a legitimate threat, or are they just in their dark, angsty teenage years?
One great thing about the characters that the original trilogy did not have is the strong female presence. I know, I know, it just sounds like I'm rattling off some feminism campaign thing, but it was actually a good change. Just think about the original trilogy, where you just had Leia. Sure, she was amazing and capable of holding her own amongst a crew of men, but she was the ONLY female we cared about. This film, on the other hand, gives us more to choose from, and personally I felt spoilt for choice. I mean hey, it even passes the Bechdel Test.
Okay, so back to the plot. As I said, it was nothing original, but what did stand out was the massive number of plot holes in this film. Seriously, the first half of this film was like pure perfection. I'm not too sure if it was just because of the hype and adrenaline running through me making the first half amazing, but it must be saying something if that adrenaline cannot carry through all the way to the end of the film.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not hating on the film. I still thoroughly enjoyed it and thought the whole film was great. It's just that there were a few bits and pieces which just... didn't make sense!
There are several moments which are just pretty ridiculous and occur with no explanation, and the more you think about those moments, the more confused you get. Why did they do that? Why DIDN'T they do that? How did they KNOW to do that? Why was that SO EASY? Was that even realistic (as far as space movies go)?
Apart form the actual plot, some of the dialogue was not that great either. It wasn't terrible whiny-Anakin-esque dialogue, but it was pretty obvious that some scenes were done specifically for the trailer, because there would be a huge shift in tone or it would just seem so out of place.
So this is the type of film where you might walk out thinking that it was such a great and near-perfect film, but the longer you sit down to think about it, the more you realise that some of it just didn't make any sense! Maybe some of it will be explained in episodes VIII and IX, but some of them are irreparable and will forever remain on the same level as the plot holes in The Dark Knight Rises (okay, maybe not that bad - at least no one looks at someone's eyes and then can 'just tell' that they are Batman).
But in the end, of course this film was worth the watch and worth the extra costs associated with a midnight premiere in IMAX. And that is definitely saying something when it comes from a grandma trapped in a 20 year old body (seriously, this was my first ever midnight screening! I skipped out on Harry Potter 8 and Hunger Games 4 simply because it didn't seem worth not having my beauty sleep).
Sure, the first half is much much much better than the second half, but the film is definitely not a let down to the hype (I kept asking myself, "What if it's like Indiana Jones 4?"). The atmosphere of going to the midnight screening was also amazing; I loved seeing real life Kylo Ren, clapping with glee when the Lucasfilm logo came up, and cheering whenever a cameo occurred (and trust me, there are LOTS of cameos - even the AT-AT makes an appearance). If you are even a semi fan of Star Wars, you will appreciate this. The only thing is that if you have not seen the previous films (at least the originals), then I think you won't have a clue what is happening. But that's good, it just gives you more reason to watch this great franchise!
A few side notes:
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