The new instalment of the Star Wars movie series has been one of
the most anticipated and promoted extravaganzas in cinematic history. George
Lucas released the first of the seven films in 1977, Star Wars- Episode IV, a New Hope. This was followed by two sequels in 1980 and 83, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Because the first film
was the fourth episode of an ongoing story, Lucas then began working on a
trilogy of prequels, the first of which hit the screens in 1999. These provided
the back story to what took place in the original trilogy. The last of these, Episode III, Revenge of the Sith came
out in 2005 and there has been nothing more until now. However this new film is
very different; it is a sequel to the entire original series, episodes one to
six. Star Wars- Episode VII, the Force
Awakens is set about thirty years after the destruction of the second Death
Star, the restoration of the Galactic Republic and the fall of the Empire; this we
saw at the end of Episode VI, Return of
the Jedi. Now a new threat faces the Republic, the emergence of a regime
similar to the old Empire called the "First Order". It declares war
on the Republic and attacks it. For the first time, George Lucas is not
directing. Instead he has sold the franchise to Disney and they assigned JJ
Abrams. Abrams has recently done an excellent job making a run of new Star Trek movies, but when I heard he
was to direct Star Wars I was
dubious. Star Trek is very much
rooted in the mainstream science fiction genre, but Star Wars is not. Star Wars
is often described as a sci-fi story, but I wouldn't call it that. It has
science fiction elements, but at its basic level it is more of a sword and
sorcery tale. It would be very easy to remake Star Wars in a mediaeval European fantasy setting without
significantly altering the plot. It has mystical features that Star Trek doesn't. The run up to the
film's release was awash with promotion and publicity, including a new Star Wars channel on TV where you can
watch the existing movies back-to-back. There was no single premiere, just a
one-off explosive first night. It was shown to the astronauts on board the
International Space Station at the same time; something that has never been
done before.
I didn't feel the need to see the
new
Star Wars movie straight away as
soon as it was released. As a child I was obsessed with the franchise and owned
all the plastic toys and figures. I would have been champing at the bit if the
film had come out back then. I realized I didn't really have time to go and see
it until after Christmas, but I also knew that this wasn't a problem because it
would be on show in cinemas for ages. So I went to see the early morning showing
today, New Year's Day. I went with my twenty year old daughter Louisa who has
already seen it with her boyfriend and friends, but she never dumped any
spoilers on me and so neither shall I with you, dear HPANWO reader... I was
relieved to see that Abrams has respected the customary memes of the franchise;
the titles showing words moving through space like a giant spacecraft were
there as well as John Williams' definitive theme. At the end of the film the
closing titles also played the theme in its more upbeat working, almost Wild
West in feel. This film was very different to the prequel trilogy and that was
good. I enjoyed Episodes I, II and III, but my feelings for them were lukewarm
compared to the originals I'd loved as a child. I wasn't alone in the impression
that the prequels lacked something.
The
Force Awakens does not; in fact it's far closer in style to the original
series than the prequels. Unlike the prequels it doesn't visually overwhelm the
viewer with very complex camerawork and excessive detail. It has great special
effects, but it uses them more sparingly and appropriately, and less
ostentatiously. It also warmly reintroduces the viewer to most of the major
protagonists from the original trilogy, all of whom are played by the same
cast. They were mostly absent from the prequels simply because the setting was
before their lives began. I checked to see and was delighted to find out that
the former hospital porter, Peter Mayhew, was brought in once again to animate
the furry body of Chewbacca, see:
http://hpanwo.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/hospital-porters-who-changed-world.html.
The Force Awakens also introduces
three new principle characters. One is a young woman called Rey who lives on
the planet Jakku, which is a desert planet very similar to Tatooine. She works
as a scrap metal dealer and lives in poverty with barely enough food to eat.
Her life changes forever when she meets the second of the new protagonists,
Finn. Finn is a stormtrooper fighting for the First Order and he is the first
one ever to display personality behind his imperial-style white helmet and body
armour. He mutinies when he is ordered to kill civilians in a village on Jakku,
something I wish real soldiers would do more often, see:
http://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/incontrovertible-premier.html.
Then he has to go on the run and meets up with Rey who befriends him. It turns
out that the Force is strong with both of them, although they only find out
during the course of the story. The third newcomer is the principle antagonist,
Kylo Ren who is essentially a new Darth Vader. He was a former
paduan, a trainee Jedi, who has turned
to the Dark Side of the Force. Like Darth Vader he is also closely related one
of the major protagonists. The First Order is ruled over by a creature that
looks like Gollum or an Orc, beings envisaged by JRR Tolkien. The First Order
is interesting because although it uses a lot of the old Empire's hardwear;
uniforms, weapons, spacecraft etc, it has quite an ecclesiastical feel to it.
Kylo Ren's clothes are very like those of a traditional priest and his
lightsabre has two small side blades making it look like a cross. Its blades
also flicker like fire; it looks a bit like the burning cross symbol of the Ku
Klux Klan. When consulting with the Gollum-like being you can hear monastic
chanting in the background. In an inversion of Darth Vader, Ren continuously
feels the seduction of the Light Side of the Force and has to fight hard to
resist it.
I don't think it's a spoiler to
reveal that the storyline of this latest movie Star Wars- Episode VII, the Force Awakens is fairly similar to
that of the first movie Star Wars-
Episode IV, a New Hope. Along with the familiar style, this will satisfy viewers
who are nostalgic for the classic Star
Wars experience. There are plenty of weird alien creatures, blaster
shoot-outs, lightsabre duels and spaceship dogfights. However I was surprised
to see that few of the spaceship battles took place in space; all the major
ones were carried out close to a planet's surface, within its atmosphere. Therefore
the vehicles functioned much more like aircraft than spacecraft. This surprised
me, but didn't disappoint me. The dogfights were outstanding and they were
fought among the wreckage of crashed imperial starships, in the sky above
ancient monuments and in between snowy mountains. The First Order has a secret
super-weapon just like the old Empire which had its Death Stars; however the
First Order's is far more terrible than the Death Star. Like the Death Star is
it a giant cannon, but it is ten times as big. It is not built on an artificial
space station, but is actually adapted from a real natural planet, a planet
with life on it. This I found very disturbing. The planet they used has
basically been turned into a celestial cyborg. This is a very New World Order-ish
thing to. Does the First Order signify the Illuminati? There was something else
about the film that I found annoying and I wonder if I was imagining the
clichéd stench of political correctness. Finn is played by a black actor, John Boyega,
and he is very good indeed. I hope JJ Abrams cast Boyega because of his considerable
merit. However, could Boyega have been given the role simply through
affirmative action because he is black? Does this mean if he happened not to
have been such a good actor he might still have got the part anyway, maybe elbowing out a better white actor? There's no
way to be sure, but I hope not. As I said, fancy special effects are used more
conservatively in this film than in the prequel run. The final scene of the
movie appears to have no SFX at all and is shot on location at Skellig Michael,
the ruins of an ancient monastery on an isolated island off the coast of Ireland. It's famous for its long flight of stone steps and we see
Rey ascending them in the film. Other locations were the United Arab Emirates and Iceland, but the studio work was all done at the Pinewood facility
in England, where the other Star
Wars movies were made. All in all I think this is probably the best ever Star Wars movie. I did not walk into the
cinema this morning expecting to come out saying that. JJ Abrams has done a
brilliant job creating a new adventure in the best traditions of George Lucas'
franchise. In a sense I think Star Wars
has gone back to its roots. I look forward to the future movies planned; I know
there will be at least two more.
