Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens Review

5.0 Stars

Thirty years after the defeat of the Galactic Empire, the galaxy faces a new threat from the evil Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and the First Order. When a defector named Finn crash-lands on a desert planet, he meets Rey (Daisy Ridley), a tough scavenger whose droid contains a top-secret map. Together, the young duo joins forces with Han Solo (Harrison Ford) to make sure the Resistance receives the intelligence concerning the whereabouts of Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), the last of the Jedi Knights.

I initially gave Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens a 5 star prediction.  I saw it opening weekend and was blown away from start to finish.  There were so many throw back to the original trilogy, the return of our favorite characters, the introduction to new exciting characters, a great story, stunningly perfect visual effects, and music that moves you from start to finish.  But I had to see it a second time because something was bothering me: was I, at all, in even the slightest way, influenced in my enthusiasm for this movie because of how bad Episodes I through III were?  Would this still be the amazing movie I felt it was had I through III been better, or just not been made at all and we went right from Return of the Jedi to The Force Awakens?

So I watched it again.  And it was even better the second time.   I picked up on a few of what movie fans refer to as Easter Eggs in the movie that I missed the first time.  An Easter Egg is an inside joke or a hidden message that is either delivered by a line, a piece of clothing, or a prop that is usually "hiding in plain sight" that you usually don't see right away.  For example, nearly every Pixar movie will have a reference to A113 in it.  A113 was the classroom number for the graphics design students at California's Institute of the Arts.  The Easter Egg can be a reference to nothing related to the movie, as with A113, or it can be a tribute to previous movies, a foreshadowing of something yet to come, or something that can have a double meaning.  The very first line of The Force Awakens is "This will begin to make things right."  This is easily explained as the missing piece of a map to Luke Skywalker's whereabouts and that finding him will help the Rebellion to take down the newly formed dark side faction called the First Order.  But some fans are taking it as a jab at George Lucas and his defiling of Episodes I-III with his over-use of computer graphics.  Regardless of how it was intended, or how you took it, JJ Abrams has brought Star Wars back in a big way.

There are many things reminiscent to the original trilogy in this movie.  Without giving too much away, it starts on a remote desert planet with an orphaned character named Rey who mysteriously is very strong with the force and, so far, inexplicably has a very strong connection to Luke Skywalker.  The New Order has built a planet-sized space station that trumps the Death Star but still has one weak spot much like their old weapon.  The Millennium Falcon is back.  There is a scene in a bar that is much like the Cantina at Mos Eisley.  Rey has an experience with the force much like Luke had on Dagobah with Yoda.  There is so much smart and appropriate humor.  There is action.  There are twists.  There are questions left unanswered making fans already anxious for Episode VIII.  And the special effects were flawless.  The scenes of X-wing Fighters, the Millennium Falcon, the Tie Fighters in aerial battles were breath-taking and so well done.  

My conclusion after seeing The Force Awakens a second time is that this movie not only stands up to its own hype, not only makes you forget about the disappointment of Episodes I-III, but is the perfect continuation of the Star Wars saga after Return of the Jedi.  I've seen it twice and I will definitely own this when it comes out.  But the big question is, when do I buy it?  It will surely come out on its own.  Then there will most likely be a Trilogy available of VII - IX.  And eventually a box set of all nine movies.  I might just wait for all nine.  Who knows, with the success of these new ones, maybe someone will go back through I - VI and "fix" some of the things that were previously "fixed" that many feel were more detrimental than enhancements.  Regardless of when, I know I will own this movie.  And for only the second time in my movie review career, I'm giving a perfect 5.0 rating.  Only Saving Mr. Banks got that rating before.  So, Oscar season is right around the corner, so I'll be focusing on those movies next.  Which one will be on my mind first?  We shall see.