Apparently,
“Star Trek” and “Star Trek into Darkness” director J.J. Abrams adopted the
strategy ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ for Disney’s revival of George
Lucas’ “Star War” franchise. “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” (*** OUT OF
****) qualifies as an uninspired but entertaining science fiction/fantasy saga
with spectacular CGI special effects. Unfortunately, it suffers from half-baked
villains and a shamelessly derivative script. Abrams, Lawrence Kasdan and
Michael Arndt must have cherry-picked their favorite scenes and characters from
earlier “Star Wars” epics, retooled them for this reboot, and then placed them
in similar order to comform with the formula. Originally, Lucas hired
Kasdan to rewrite “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi,” while
Arndt wrote “The Hunger Games 2: Catching Fire” and “Toy Story 3.”
Despite this gifted talent, Abrams and company don’t awaken as much as recycle
the Force. “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” duplicates the formulaic
narrative of the original trilogy with nary a flaw, but Abrams cannot conjure
up Lucas’ buoyant spirit of feel-good spontaneity. Nevertheless, unless
you’re a nitpicky franchise aficionado, you’ll have four reasons to welcome this
melodramatic franchise reboot from the House of Mouse. First, “Star Wars:
The Force Awakens” is a full-fledged sequel instead of a prequel. (Mind
you, the prequels weren’t entirely ponderous, and each chronicled Anakin
Skywalker’s walk on the dark side.) Second, Han Solo, Princess Leia, and Luke
Skywalker return after a 32-year hiatus. Mind you, C3P0 and R2-D2 are
back, but they linger on the periphery. A new droid designated BB-8
replaces R2-D2 as comic relief. Third, Harrison Ford gives one of his
strongest performances as Han Solo. You’ll enjoy his shenanigans with the
‘rathars,’ tentacled, carnivorous, alien predators that he is transporting
aboard his spaceship. Abrams confines Carrie Fisher to the sidelines,
while Mark Hamill appears at the last minute. London-born Daisy Ridley, whose
character draws on both Luke and Leia, is the fourth reason you’ll want to see
the seventh movie again. You won’t take your eyes off this scrappy waif
until Solo emerges to challenge her dominance. Meantime, “Attack the
Block” actor John Boyega plays the most interesting new character, but his
character appears to be given the short-shrift. Combat fighter pilot Oscar
Isaac of “The Bourne Legacy” emulates Han Solo with his daredevil aerial
skills. At the least, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” amounts to a swiftly
plotted, larger-than-life, crowd-pleasing space opera with dialogue that
propels the plot.
The
third sequel unfolds on the desolate, sun-scorched planet of Jakku. A single
girl named Rey (Daisy Ridley of “Scrawl”) survives by scavenging parts from a
crashed Empire starship. She lives alone in the desert. Eventually, Rey
rescues an adorable little droid BB-8 from another native scavenger. BB-8
is an insufferable scene-stealer. Meantime, the infamous First Order
regime has risen from the ashes of the defeated Empire. These imperialist
minded maniacs are no different from their draconian predecessors.
They’ve been scouring the galaxy like bloodhounds for the last surviving Jedi
knight, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill of “Kingsman: The Secret Service”), and
they’ve finally located a lead on Jakku. Simultaneously, the rebel
Resistance, led by Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), has dispatched a pilot, Poe
Dameron (Oscar Isaac of “Ex Machina”), to retrieve information from Lor San
Tekka (Max von Sydow of “The Exorcist”) about Luke’s whereabouts. No
sooner has San Tekka confided in Poe than the First Order, led by wannabe Dark
Vader lookalike Kylo Ren (Adam Driver of “Lincoln”), arrives with squads of
Stormtroopers. One of those armor-clad soldiers, FN-2187 (John Boyega),
suffers a crisis of conscience and deserts when he is ordered to massacre
innocents. FN-2187’s superior, Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie of
“The Zero Theorem”), keeps him under close scrutiny because he refused to fire
his blaster. Although the First Order has rounded up Poe, FN-2187 sticks around
long enough to rescue Poe. He pretends to take Poe at gunpoint into the
hanger. They steal a TIE fighter but crash on Jakku. Eventually, a lost and
wandering FN-2187 befriends Rey. When marauding Stormtroopers invade
Jakku, our heroes stumble accidentally onto Han Solo’s long, lost Millennium
Falcon and steal it to escape. Han intercepts them while engaged on a
mission to deliver exotic but carnivorous alien wildlife.
Despite
a fresh crop of new characters, including Rey, Finn, Poe Dameron, Kylo Ren, and
Snoke, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” imitates virtually everything in the six
previous entries as well as the title. Han Solo’s cliffhanger
confrontation and the finale with the new Death Star situated in a planet
recalls the original. Helmer J.J. Abrams directs with slick but soulless
efficiency. Rarely does he let the breathless momentum abate. When
the momentum does slacken, however, you realize that this is just a glossy
facsimile. Of course, unless you have seen the first six films, you may
not recognize the rampant similarities since you’ll be too swept up in the
whirlwind of heroics. Happily, Rey emerges as a tenacious but sympathetic
female version of Luke. The charismatic Ridley radiates personality
galore, and casting her as the no-nonsense heroine was a stroke of genius. She
shares two scenes with Luke’s old lightsaber, and she wields it with surprising
familiarity the second time. It should be obvious that Rey is Luke’s
daughter, but we’ll have to wait for Rian Johnson’s “Star Wars: Chapter VIII”
to confirm this matter. Rey makes a greater impression on-screen than
either Finn or Poe. Finn and Poe received some of Han Solo’s
attributes. Finn cannot tolerate the amoral regimen of a Stormtrooper,
and Poe rivals Han’s superior skills as a pilot without his mercenary
impulses. Kylo Ren resembles Anakin Skywalker, but Ren emerges as far
more murderous. Although Kylo Ren is every bit as dastardly as Darth Vader
behind the helmet, he doesn’t dredge up adequate dread to match him as an adversary.
Meanwhile, Ren’s superior Snoke pales by comparison with the evil
Emperor. Altogether, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” doesn’t depart from
the classic formula and provides a few surprises, like Daisy Ridley
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