{"id":4183,"date":"2015-12-18T07:04:57","date_gmt":"2015-12-18T14:04:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/?p=4183"},"modified":"2015-12-29T17:18:05","modified_gmt":"2015-12-30T00:18:05","slug":"full-review-star-wars-episode-vii-the-force-awakens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/?p=4183","title":{"rendered":"Full Review: STAR WARS: EPISODE VII – THE FORCE AWAKENS"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Screen<\/a>\"fixbutton\"<\/a>My introduction to \u201cStar Wars\u201d occurred at the Alamo theater in my then thought of as rural home town of Newnan, Georgia.\u00a0 It was an old movie house located on the town\u2019s court square that once relegated African Americans to the balcony.\u00a0 But in 1977 when Luke, Leia, and Han graced the screen for the first time, the balcony had been long since closed and members of the community, of all races, were brought together for a unique experience that changed the way we watched movies.\u00a0 It was a grand awakening.<\/p>\n

As I sat in the dark beside my great grandmother who was then in her 80s, I fell in love with the universe that George Lucas birthed.\u00a0 And while my interest waned as I grew older and discovered arguably more sophisticated forms of narrative cinema, it would be dishonest to say that \u201cStar Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens\u201d didn\u2019t move me.\u00a0 The old feelings stirred like the resurgence of the Force in the movie.\u00a0 And I suspect that I will not be alone as hearts warm to this latest franchise entry that fits perfectly into the original trilogy.<\/p>\n

Due to a power-outage at the first press screening, I actually saw the movie (almost all of it) twice. And for fans, I suspect, twice will not be enough.<\/p>\n

Admitted fanboy and gifted filmmaker J.J. Abrams strikes back with \u201cThe Force Awakens,\u201d one of the franchise\u2019s warmest, funniest, and most human episodes.<\/p>\n

Picking up 30 years after \u201cReturn of the Jedi,\u201d a new evil in the form of something called The First Order threatens the galaxy. The action opens as the resistance led by now General Leia (Carrie Fisher) attempts to grapple with the growing menace.\u00a0 On a desert planet, loner Rey (Daisy Ridley) has grown up an orphan holding out hope to one day be reunited with her family.\u00a0 Without giving any more away, there will be a cute, new droid introduced along with a conflicted youngster named Finn (John Boyega). And a Darth Vader type called Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) stalks about making use of the Dark Side for his master\u2019s bidding.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Force Awakens\u201d makes you forget the prequels. The tone is exactly right with rich pathos and natural humor. Harrison Ford and Peter Mayhew, reprising their iconic roles of Han Solo and Chewbacca, are flat out terrific delivering one-liners, slap-stick comedy, and heart, which transcends mere nostalgia. Forget about trying to make the universe or the technology logical, this is a true space opera that causes you to remember why you fell in love with the series back in 1977.<\/p>\n

Under the skilled direction of J.J. Abrams, who effectively rebooted \u201cStar Trek,\u201d the entire production has been elevated.\u00a0 Dialogue, a sore point associated with the much maligned prequels, is much improved.\u00a0 And the upgraded scripting is clearly related to the involvement of Lawrence Kasdan, who wrote what most regard as the best film in the franchise, \u201cThe Empire Strikes Back.\u201d<\/p>\n

But aside from the story elements that are in-keeping with the original trilogy, the look of \u201cThe Force Awakens\u201d is remarkably similar to what viewers saw back in 1977.\u00a0 Sure, you can see \u201cThe Force Awakens\u201d in IMAX 3D, but Abrams, working with cinematographer Daniel Mindel (who shot the new \u201cStar Trek\u201d and its sequel), made the choice to shoot \u201cThe Force Awakens\u201d on 35mm film.\u00a0 Compare the process used by George Lucas in shooting the prequels, which involved both film and high definition video, which was cutting edge in 1999.\u00a0 By going back to a pure film format, both 35mm and 65mm versions, the image and feel of the film is exactly right including the classic wipe transitions and editing techniques.\u00a0 It is clear that Abrams is committed to making a \u201cStar Wars\u201d sequel that pays homage to the source material while also making way for a rewarding future series of films.<\/p>\n

Many generations will see \u201cThe Force Awakens\u201d over this holiday season.\u00a0 And unlike my early 1977 experience, the story may have a different meaning for today\u2019s children, including my own, who now inhabit a world in which religion is perverted and exploited to radicalize seemingly good, normal people, who wreak terror.\u00a0 In this era, perhaps more than ever before, the Dark Side of \u201cStar Wars\u201d is with us, and we desperately need a new hope to find the Light.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe Force Awakens\u201d to Offer Another Generation a New Hope<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","no-thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4183"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4183\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4201,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4183\/revisions\/4201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}