ST Captain Kirk Reviews Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Captain's log; stardate 47634.44.

Just watched The Force Awakens with Spock and Scotty, for the second time.

Don't tell Bones but...I absolutely loved this film!

The scope of it; the tangible feel of it (people in actual costumes!!!). It was the Star Wars film we had been waiting for since 1983. The new characters were fantastic, great actors each and everyone, especially Daisey and Driver. Rey emobied a similar strength to that which Carrie Fisher brought to the role of Leia, such a convincing and natural, yet subtle at time, strength, a real force to be reckoned with. And Kylo Ren? The Anakin that should have been. Wonderful performance. Everytime he spoke, or moved he had a powerful presence to him. They did not try and out do Vader, and thereby gave us a villian that, though there are certainly resemblances between them, does not get lost in comparisons with his grandfather. Really loved how he had a Solo-esque personailty mixed into him. Well done.

The film impressed on all fronts. There was the witty banter between characters; the tangible and used/run appearance to everything in that universe; another brilliant composition by the incomparable John Williams; the multitude of diverse aliens; BB-8 was a wonderful, welcomed addition; the scale of everything, the sets, starships, wide background shots, locations; it was fantasy and adventure, painted with the same original, unique and rustic palette as the originals. Everything was larger than life and the force was strong with it.

Yes I Loved it... right up to the battle on Takodana (been there btw, not enough green women for my taste). From there it went nearly all down hill.

Starting from the scene between Rey and Maz, the film became too focused on the comedy and action; sacrificing story development, inhibiting the characters emotional responses to situations and experiences, which in turn caused the films latter bigger moments to have less of an impact on myself, the audience, as well as, I thought, causing the dialogue in this second half to sound short, abrupt or interupted, and at times forced. Also, I tried to think of some great quotable lines from the movie, couldn't recall any.

I also felt as though they turned Finn into a perpetual joker; as if there weren't already enought light moments film. I truly enjoy his character, but when the film is already packed full of characters providing comic-relief (Han, Chewie, BB-8, Threepio, speaking of Golden Rod, he felt a little out of character in this, his usually enjoyable cheekiness just felt rude and unecessary) you can tone it down a little. Now I understand, with Han out of the picture, they will need a character to fill the cynical void left in his place, and I liked some of the humour Finn brought to the film, but there was just too much of it and at times felt like it belonged in a Michael Bay film. It was especially distracting in moments of crisis and took away from the intensity or dire nature of their circumstances. Star Wars was never a thriller, but there were still tense moments.

I must say, Carrie looked great (I would still let her on the bridge of my starship if you know what I mean), but her acting was, at times, weak; probably a mix of having not acted regularly for some time and the evident work she's had done to her face; from the nose down she was stiff and expressionless. But this I can overlook for three reasons: 1) she's Princess Leia, 2) Carrie is wonderful, 3) she is integral to the Star Wars saga. However, I cannot overlook how poorly they handled her and Han and Leia's relationship. I thought they debased it to the point where it felt like the two had only ever been old, close friends and not the galaxies star-crossed love story. This could have been avoided if they had sacrificed a couple minutes of action for some extended scenes between the couple. It's understandable that losing their son in they way they did would have changed them and impacted their relationship, but at least give them some room to act, more than a short hug, to remind us what they once had, and what could yet be saved.

The disappointment is only multiplied by the predictable plot. It was redundant and lacking in unique themes; it was literally A New Hope meets Return of the Jedi. It's the same baddies, only rebranded, with similar objectives, a larger Death Star...er Planet, which the Republic does not seem to be investigating, fighting against a rebranded Rebellion that is facing the same doom-impending scenario presented by this ridiculous weapon, which can physically be seen from other worlds, shooting out across the galaxy to destroy planets (Seriously?? That's lamer than beaming over to the other side of a galaxy), and forced to destroy it in the exact same manner as they did with all the previous incarnations of these world-destroying weapons. Again, what the heck is the Republic doing in all this?

Finally we come to the biggie. I won't sugar coat it; Han getting killed off did not sit well with me at all. For starters, Star Wars is a fairytale that has a happy ending. We made it through three films without any of the main characters (I consider Ben a supporting character) getting killed off and none of those films suffered from any lack of emotional currents. Killing Han was an easy and cheap way to try and inject the film with some gravitas, and unfortunately it did not have the effect that Han's death should have had. I blame this on the fact that this film was so crowded and burdened with the setting the new stage for the next generation of the story, introducing the new characters and factions, and providing as much detail about what has happened in the last 30 years, which wasn't much due to the demand on time by the other necessities.
I feel as though, if they were hell bent on giving Han death, saving it for the second film, and giving it more room to breath, would have had a greater impact on the emotional senses of the audience (the only emotion I felt was frustration). How am I supposed to grieve when the film glides, very quickly, over Chewie and Leia's own reactions. But maybe they'll bring him back to life with some serum derived from the blood of a genetically enhanced human, that would make everything better!... wait a minute, where have I seen this before?

The second half was not without it's positive attributes. The lightsaber duels were rid of the flashy, pointless style we were given in the PT. Aggressive, powerful, and practical, with a frightening intensity to their attacks, similar to the battles in V and VI, much, much better. Great! However, I am on the fence about Rey's already impressive ability to use the force and wield a lightsaber, to convenient a plot device maybe? Not sure, maybe I like, again, unsure.
Kylo Ren was a force through the entire film, as was Rey. Jar Jar and the Gungans were no where to be seen. And... well I guess that's about it... okay, okay. The build up (the whole freaking 2+ hour build up!) to Luke was awesome. And Mark looks fantastic! (Please give him a huge role for the remaining two films!!! Lots of screen time!!!)

I did feel that the fly around shot at the end between Luke and his... Rey was too long, a little cornball-ish. Would have been much more "epic" to cut to the credits after revealing Luke's face; though I will concede that this would not have been the classic Star Wars ending, which have always emphasized the family theme in the story with its wider, distant shot of multiple character. So I guess I'm okay with it.

It was a polarizing experience for me. Even now I am excited to watch it for a third time (in a week or so), but I know I will leave the theater the same way I have left on both of my previous visits; feeling miserably disappointed. But the first half will keep me coming back, at least for a few more times.

The first half of the film is perfect, 5/5 nerf herders. But the disappointment from the latter act really hurt the rating I could justify giving to the film.

I feel like this my raise some eyebrows but... 3/5 tribbles is the rating I give Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Signing off from bridge of the Enterprise. May the force be with you---I mean Live long and prosper!!.... dang it.