Review: Star Wars: The Force Awakens

-
Droid, please.

It's here. Oh my God it's here. I was smiling like an idiot as soon as "A long time ago, in a galaxy far away..." hit the screen. I'm probably going to see it again in theaters this week, which I never do. 

The First Order has risen from the Empire, lead by General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson) and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) they are trying to find a Resistance pilot named Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) who has something they desperately need. In true Star Wars fashion, he hides his secrets in his droid, BB-8 (Who is my new favorite droid, by the way) right before he's captured. A Stormtrooper, Finn (John Boyega) horrified with what the First Order is doing defects and sets him free. After they crash land back on the planet of Jakku, BB-8 has fallen into the hands of a scavanger Rey (Daisy Ridley) who now along with Finn find themselves on the First Order's most wanted list, and fleeing to the Resistance. 

This film is so fun. It's everything those prequels should've been. The biggest complaint I hear is that is rehashes a lot of A New Hope, but it was always going to. It's the start of a new trilogy and it's not a carbon copy. They found the perfect balance in paying homage and being their own movie, something we saw Jurassic World fail at earlier this year. Rey, Finn, Poe, and Kylo are all very interesting characters whose dialogue flows so easily with each other. I'm not sure I've ever rooted for a bromance so quickly as I did with Finn and Poe. I loved Rey and Finn's enthusiasm. And of course, I loved seeing Han, Leia, and the rest of the original cast. They played supporting roles to our new cast and that's perfectly fine. 

I want to talk about Kylo Ren. I feel like a lot of people are raving about the three good guys, but Ren is actually one of the most intriguing villains Star Wars has to offer. He's very conflicted, erratic, and he uses the force in ways we've never seen. Strangely, even though he does a lot of despicable things, he's the one I'm most interested in seeing.

And one other thing - SPOILER ALERT - highlight over text - I really hope they don't go the route of Rey being a Skywalker, or Solo, or any way related to them. I think it's more interesting if she's her own person and not another part of the family affair. - END SPOILER

I fucking love this movie. So what if it's my fangirl talking. 

Recommended: Yes

Grade: A+

Memorable Quote: "I didn't know this much green existed in the entire galaxy." - Rey (Daisy Ridley)

Comments

  1. s.December 21, 2015 at 7:02 AM

    I haven't seen the new one yet nor do I really follow any of it but even I think they will make Rey into Luke's daughter :lol: Or Ren's twin to parallel Leia/Luke thing. Disney seems to be playing it very safe with this one, following the formula that worked before

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamDecember 21, 2015 at 9:41 AM

      It's pretty clear she's probably going to be related, but I still hope they don't go that route. It's canon in the SW universe that kids can be force sensitive without having jedi parents, so why can't she just be a random too? Lol

      Delete
  2. UnknownDecember 21, 2015 at 9:02 AM

    I had a gut feeling I was going to love Kylo Ren, and I really, really did. I hope we get to find out more about him in the next installment, because he's so darn interesting!
    - Allie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamDecember 21, 2015 at 9:42 AM

      He is! I hope so too. I can't wait to see all these new characters again.

      Delete
  3. AnonymousDecember 21, 2015 at 2:18 PM

    My nephew told me something about Rey and the books and so...I don't think you're going to be happy with Episode 8.

    But I hope he's wrong.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamDecember 21, 2015 at 2:32 PM

      I hope he is too. I'm aware of how the story went in the EU, but Abrams said they weren't going to follow it exactly, so I think some things will deviate.

      Delete
  4. MyerlaDecember 21, 2015 at 4:40 PM

    I agree that Kylo Ren is an interesting villian, I think its clear that he is one for the future. I don't find him a threatening villian just yet, but I have a feeling I will do in the next installments.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamDecember 22, 2015 at 10:36 PM

      He's going to be pissed when we see him again. And that scar will be creepy.

      Delete
  5. rhysgdruryDecember 21, 2015 at 6:00 PM

    Great review! It does seem like they'll make Rey the next generation of Skywalker, but maybe that's too obvious? The shock value would be nil. Anyway, excited to see what happens next!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamDecember 22, 2015 at 10:36 PM

      It is so obvious, that's why I hope she isn't. Maybe she's a Kenobi descendant instead?

      Delete
  6. RuthDecember 21, 2015 at 9:07 PM

    I'm not a super huge SW fan, just recently revisited the original trilogy to um, boost my enthusiasm for this new film. But yeah, even I was geeking out a bit when "A long time ago, in a galaxy far away..." scroll came on. There are a lot to like here, but LOVE BB-8, he's my new fave droid too and Kylo certainly has the best hair for a villain ;-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamDecember 22, 2015 at 10:37 PM

      Lol Kylo's hair is beautiful he should let that flow. I LOVE BB-8 and how cute Poe was with him.

      Delete
  7. thevoid99December 21, 2015 at 10:21 PM

    The Force is Strong again. This brought me back in a big way and maybe, I will go see it again. I had fun watching this as it reminded me what I loved about the original trilogy as a kid. BB-8 is adorable and I hope the next film has more interactions with BB-8 and R2-D2 who would annoy C-3P0. Rey is my favorite character of the film as I just loved her story arc and what she would be able to do. With the exception of Leia, she's the heroine I think fans of the series are waiting for.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamDecember 22, 2015 at 10:38 PM

      Rey is wonderful. All these newbies are. I'm loving this so much more than the prequels.

      Delete
  8. m.brownDecember 21, 2015 at 11:01 PM

    Dude. We wrote the same review. Well, you wrote the good version, but still.

    But all of the perfect things you said, this: "something we saw Jurassic World fail at earlier this year" is the best. JDubs totally f--ked this up, but TFA nailed it. Excellent call.

    I LOVE THIS POST.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamDecember 22, 2015 at 10:40 PM

      Dude, I can't write for shit, that's why "rambling" is in my title lol. I'm glad you feel the same way about JW. I'm starting to hate that more and more when I think about it.

      Delete
  9. CourtneyDecember 22, 2015 at 9:51 AM

    I'm so glad we're having the same feels with this one! I absolutely LOVED IT! I'm seeing it again too. And I agree with you and m.brown about it succeeded in doing what Jurassic Park failed at (YES!).

    Not sure how I feel about Ren...only because I think of him in Girls, but I'll get over that ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamDecember 22, 2015 at 10:40 PM

      He has his clothes on in this though! I kind of love Adam Driver, he's really a fascinating actor.

      Delete
  10. Kevin PowersDecember 22, 2015 at 12:02 PM

    "I fucking love this movie. So what if it's my fangirl talking." That's about how I feel, and I'm the farthest from a fanBOY as possible when it comes to Star Wars. I adored this movie. It is exactly what made me love movies in the first place. Fun. And Love. That's what this movie is all about.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Zach MurphyDecember 23, 2015 at 6:59 AM

    I loved the movie as well, and I agree with your enthusiastic review.

    ReplyDelete
  12. JoshFebruary 3, 2016 at 5:04 AM

    YAY! I wouldn't go as high an A+, but I loved it, too! I'm a prequel apologist, though, so I was bound to enjoy it. ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamFebruary 3, 2016 at 6:54 AM

      Oh no! lol. There's a few things I like about the prequels, but not many. This was everything I wish the prequels had been.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Thanks for stopping by, let's talk movies!
(comments are moderated to reduce spam)

Popular posts from this blog

Random Ramblings: The Radio Flyer Conundrum

-
Image
Recently, I was talking to someone about who I thought were the best child actors when I was also a child.  Two that really stood out to me were Elijah Wood and Joseph Mazello, and one film those two were in together was called Radio Flyer.  Then I was reminded about the uniqueness of this film. Instead of reviewing the film, I wanted to have an open discussion about the ending. It deals with a tough issue; child abuse. What I’ve noticed is the way that the film ends is interpreted many different ways, and the filmmakers never came forward to say what was right and wrong. I’m interested in hearing everyone’s opinions on it. How did you interpret the ending? Obviously spoiler alerts will follow.. For those of you who haven’t seen the film, the basic premise is this: Two young boys, Mikey (Wood) and Bobby (Mazello) move in with their single mother and her boyfriend, who refers to himself as ‘The King’. It doesn’t take long for The King to start physically abusing ...
Read more

Indie Gems: Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

-
Image
Passionate about your profession? I had never heard of this film until it ended up on one of Jason's favorite horror movie lists around Halloween. It immediately sounded interesting to me, so of course I threw it in my Netflix queue. (and if I'm just now watching it after adding it around Halloween, you know how ridiculous my queue is) Taylor (Angela Goethals) is a journalist who, along with a film crew decides to follow around a serial killer named Leslie Vernon. (Nathan Baesel) He plans on doing the typical slasher thing - getting a bunch of drunk teens in an abandoned house and knocking them off one by one. He gets advice from a retired serial killer, Eugene (Scott Wilson) and is threatened by a man who's on to him, Doc Holloran (Robert Englund) Taylor and crew are there capturing it all. Leslie Vernon is fucking hilarious to start with, and clearly very passionate about what he does. He tells Taylor all of his secrets and can barely contain his excitemen...
Read more

My Favorite Movie Youtube Channels

-
Image
Starting around 2018, I started watching Youtube for more than just movie trailers or music videos whenever a new one dropped. Now I'm in full blown subscription mode and don't bat an eyelash at watching a Youtube video that's over an hour long. I watch Youtube for a few different categories of content, but one of them that I love most is movie/TV essays and commentary, and that's what I'm going to talk about today. Below is a list of my favorite movie related Youtube channels. Let me know if you're familiar with them too, or if you have any you'd like to recommend to me.  Double Toasted - I'm honestly surprised this channel isn't bigger. I first came across Korey and Martin when they reviewed War for the Planet of the Apes a few months before it hit theaters and I thought they were hysterical. While their full length videos stream on Twitch, they often upload their movie reviews and commentary on youtube and they're always hilarious. They've...
Read more