History Repeating, nevertheless enjoyable

Rating: 8/10 (27 December 2015)

The Force Awakens is the first Star Wars film I watched in the cinema. I'm too young for the original trilogy and the Trilogy-Which-Must-Not-Be-Named happened at a time when Hollywood movies were freely available on the internet long before they arrived in German cinemas. I watched the original trilogy on VHS at a friend's house and it made a lasting impression on me. I watched The Force Awakens in 3D and dubbed into German so I won't judge some the wonky dialogue too harshly before having seen the English original. I'm not a big fan of 3D and I thought it made some of scenes on the 21,4m x 8,8m screen, the biggest in my soulless multiplex, look rather toy-like. I managed to avoid all the trailers and all spoilers and going into the film knowing nothing about it was a great experience. Overall I enjoyed the film, it had decent action scenes, interesting new characters, great returning characters and moments of chuckling, tension and sadness. Unfortunately I couldn't shake the feeling of déjà vu. I think J. J. Abrams played it too save. Did he really have to blow up the Death Star a third time? I have to admit that I didn't manage to sustain my suspension of disbelief. I don't want to nitpick, but when you start wondering that a vehicle which utilizes anti gravity relies on a combustion engine you know that you are not fully immersed. I felt that there was some back story missing, how could the First Order rise so quickly and build another Death Star? The Stormtroopers are still very bad shots, the overwhelming odds were too overwhelming, a lot of solutions too convenient and travel from one place to another was often miraculously fast. I liked the new characters, especially Rey, but Han Solo was far and away my favourite character in this film. (Harrison Ford made good for the Indiana-Jones-Movie-Which-Must-Not-Be-Named.) I'm not sure about Adam Driver, without his mask he didn't feel like a very threatening villain. He is still Adam from Girls for me. My favourite scene was the Apocalypse Now reference with TIE fighters and the laugh out loud funny moment was when Chewie complained about being cold. Overall I think it's a good film, but it's also a save film. As with Star Trek Into Darkness J. J. Abrams rehashed old ideas but this time without making up a totally nonsensical and bonkers storyline. I'm wondering if this film will bring forth iconic moments that will be remembered in years to come, like the original trilogy did.