STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS Review

There are films every now and then that are simply more than "just going to the theater" for. One just goes to the theater to watch Alvin and the Chipmunks for example. Some films however are an event. These are the movies everyone is talking about. When you're sitting down at a pizzeria you'll hear across from the table in front of you about them in conversations. Examples include The Avengers, Godzilla, and The Dark Knight. If the box office numbers are any indication, then the subject film for today is an even bigger event than the aforementioned. STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS has been a primary topic in many fan circles for a few years now. When Disney announced they had acquired Lucasfilm in 2012, hype became real as the countdown to Episode VII began. In perspective, there hasn't been a major Star Wars production since 2005's Revenge of the Sith. (There was also the Clone Wars animated film in 2008, but that was just a launch pad for the the cartoon.) The stories have continued in comics & video games, but to the general public the saga ended in 1983's Return of the Jedi with the death of Darth Vader and the fall of the Empire. The Force Awakens is the first thing to officially continue the story. It's an interesting venture as it brings back old faces and introduces new ones. It tries to find ground between being a tribute to the old films while having a new story. J.J. Abrams delivers a film keeping the original spirit of the series. It's a flawed experience, but sill enjoyable.

 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.

It's obvious from the start that the film is basically aiming to be the new A New Hope. The opening sequence is reminiscent of Darth Vader's invasion of Leia's ship in that very first film. While it's definitely interesting to see the idea of A New Hope being revisited, this can be the story's undoing sometimes. Sometimes it feels like more of a retread of the film rather than a tribute. When Kylo Ren first walks off his ship for example it's hard not to think of him as a second rate Vader. As the story goes on Ren manages to escape being thought of like that and becomes probably the best character of the whole thing. We'll go into more detail soon, but let's spend some time on the other characters.

Rey is a likable main character throughout. What's confusing is who exactly she is. The story hints that she could be Luke's daughter, but this isn't made evident. That's why the very last scene isn't as effective as it could have been since there isn't a definitive connection made between the two. Rey in the final act utilizing the force effectively came very sudden. Luke had two films to master it, so it came naturally there. But by the end of this film Rey is more than a match for Ren, who supposedly had been in training for sometime. Despite these things, Rey is still one of the highlights in the cast. Finn is the other main character, and provides most of the comic relief. While I did enjoy this story arc of a Stormtrooper betraying the Sith (or in this case The First Order) Finn is just over the top sometimes. For example in the later part of the movie when Han Solo motions to him to look behind, how did he not know what Solo meant? It might have been funny in the moment, but in retrospect it just didn't make sense. The final scene with him is also very unclear, especially with Rey's line.

A rather major negative is the character of Captain Phasma. There's nothing wrong with her specifically, it's what the film does with her. For awhile marketing hyped her up as an important, powerful character. Rightfully so, because we've never seen a female imperial commander before in Star Wars. Combine that with the awesome armor and we have what could be a highlight, much like Boba Fett of the original movies. That isn't the case here. In her brief scenes she does nothing of importance. Her final scene involves her being thrown in the trash. Literally. What we have is the definition of a wasted character. I don't think anyone would have minded if they had cut down on Finn in favor of more Phasma. Hopefully in the next Episode she's given more to do. (Though it's hard to be respected by the audience after being thrown in the garbage!)

What I find most amazing about the return of Han Solo and Chewbacca is how similar they are from the original trilogy. One can watch Episode's IV, V, VI, and then VII back-to-back and he/she wouldn't see any kind of change. Keep in mind that Harrison Ford's last film was way back in Return of the Jedi, so it's uncanny how he's able to bring back that character so effectively after all these years. Seeing the duo and C-3PO later in the story was like seeing old friends. Princess General Leia was very good, though has a minimal role. This is expected since the story isn't about the Resistance at first. The plot at its core is about finding Luke Skywalker. The reason given to why he's left is pretty poor, so hopefully that gets expanded on in the sequel. Because of his leaving things have gone to heck, so hopefully he feels some kind of guilt for making such a terrible decision.

Alright, now for Kylo Ren. This guy has the menacing look and persona. He was a blast to watch whenever he was on screen, much like how Darth Vader was in the original films. (One of the reasons why the prequels were boring in comparison is because they didn't have that ongoing engaging character.) As stated earlier, the character manages to escape being a second rate Vader. His conflicted arc is very interesting. The scene where he's talking to Vader's destroyed helmet and his line "I will finish what you started" was a powerful moment, arguably one of the most powerful of the entire film. I think one of the most interesting aspects of the story is that part of Ren's arc is a reverse version of the ongoing father son conflict of Vader and Luke in Episodes V and VI. It's really intriguing how the story went with this in the climax. Adam Driver did a solid job delivering the human aspect when the mask was off. Though, the people I was watching the film with made an interesting observation: he looks nothing like his father or mother. It seemed to me the story was aiming for a resemblance to the young Anakin Skywalker, but in doing so destroys the realism of him being the son of Solo and Leia.

Snoke is the same thing as Emperor Palpatine, just 10x more generic. There's literally nothing interesting about him at all, so hopefully this is rectified in the sequel. The climax on the bridge was excellent, and contains a very unexpected ending in retrospect. Hopefully the final film in the storyline doesn't go ahead and copy Return of the Jedi's ending and have Kylo turn good. The thing is that it's mentioned by one of the characters here that "there's still good in him," which is a reference to Luke telling his father that same line in Return. The thing is that here with the climax there actually is seemingly no more good left in him, which again is an interesting reverse version of the family conflict in the original trilogy. So to have him redeemed by the end would be almost a carbon copy of Vader's arc in that film. The soundtrack is fantastic, containing many of the old themes while featuring new ones which fit right into Star Wars. (Which is fitting, since John Williams came back to do the score here!)

Overall, The Force Awakens is a worthy continuation in the beloved sci-fi series. Right from the iconic "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far way..." to the classic title screen music you can feel yourself filled with great anticipation. It's a quality adventure with fun characters for the most part. You feel invested in the conflict with this classic good vs. evil story. While perhaps taking too much from A New Hope (even copying the famous destruction of the Death Star idea) it's great to see the old characters brought back. Kylo Ren is an excellent antagonist whom I look forward to seeing more of in the sequel. Unlike A New Hope, this film leaves many plot lines open which as a whole might make the film feel incomplete, but as part of the larger story it's fine. It's definitely good to have Star Wars back in the spotlight.

4/5

Cowboys and Aliens Review

Wow, it's been awhile since this film came out. Cowboys and Aliens is rather unique film. Rather than have the usual alien invaders come to New York or Los Angeles, they come to the Wild West. That's right cowboy, you'll be seeing guys on horses with guns and Indians with spears against these invaders. This type of concept is risky, apparently too risky, since it didn't do too hot at the box office. I think a problem keeping people from watching it was the title. Early last year I was having a conversation with some people about upcoming films. I brought up this film, and the response was "That film looks cheesy. What kind of a title is Cowboys and Aliens?" So some people thought this was going to be like a SyFy original movie. It's sad, cause the film delivers some good stuff. It's by no means a great film, but a good watch.

The film begins with a man waking up in Arizona. He has no clue how he got there, who he is, or this strange metal band on his wrist. When some men on horses come in attempting to rob him, he beats all of them and steals one of their horses. He rides into town, which soon becomes a victim of alien assault....

You know me, I love alien invasion films, so I was here for the creatures. What surprised me, however, was that the film was better BEFORE the aliens came along. The first twenty minutes was very intriguing. Here we have a guy who we know nothing about, and neither does he. What we do learn is that he's one guy you do not want to mess with. The alien attack on the town was very good, must have been crazy in the IMAX. After that is when the film starts to falter. Now, it's still solid, but lost the intriguing aspect. It became more of the usual alien invasion, just with cowboys and Indians. What does make the film enjoyable throughout is the lead character.

Daniel Craig as Jake Lonergan was some great casting. He brings, what I call, the definition of 'cool.' By far the most enjoyable aspect of the film. (And this is coming from someone who ALWAYS prefers the creatures over the human characters.) Harrison Ford has a pretty solid role as a colonel. It was cool to see the two together, I'd like to them together in more films. Surprisingly, Olivia Wilde (who I thought would do an awful job in this film) was pretty good with her role as Ella Swenson. Granted, she could have done better in some scenes, but she was okay. The concept of her plot twist was unexpected and good, but should have been fleshed out more. The other characters are alright, some good, some alright. The preacher being the best of the side characters. Now, for the aliens.

The aliens in this film had a pretty cool design. The CGI was fantastic. The aliens themselves could have used a bit more depth. They're here for gold, but that's only touched upon once in the film, that part needed to be fleshed out. Also, more actual character would have been nice. It's there, one of my favorite scenes was when an alien (Speaking of which, why weren't they given a title? Come on.) captured the main character then grabbed a weapon that Jake used to injure it way earlier in a flashback. I like how it wanted to get revenge. Besides that, they don't show much depth. The scenes with them attacking the cowboys and Indians were great, some intense stuff there. Soundtrack wise, some good tunes that fit the atmosphere. Could have better, but not a bad soundtrack. The Alien ships were pretty cool, and I really liked the scene where an alien slapped aside Ella.

Overall, Cowboys and Aliens was a fun film. A bit disappointing however, the first twenty minutes was very intriguing and a great start, but the film becomes slightly generic as it goes on. After the initial attack, the second act becomes a bit boring. It picks up and becomes and entertaining ride, but nothing more. Daniel Craig does a  superb job and the aliens were cool. Some call it a 'popcorn film' and that's true, but it's much better than all three Transformers films combined. It meshed the concepts of western and science fiction well.

7/10.