On par with the old films

Rating: 6/10 (20 January 2016)

Now the title of this review is probably the ultimate compliment when it comes to huge Star Wars fans out there. Unfortunately I am not one of them. I liked the old films and I liked this new movie here just as much, without considering either to be groundbreaking or some other superlative. This new movie runs for 2 hours and 15 minutes and was written and directed by J.J. Abrams, who is mostly known for "Lost" and "Star Trek". It is the ultimate breakthrough movie for John Boyega, but even more so Daisy Ridley. And while I liked the latter, I thought that it was so nice to see Oscar Isaac as usual. Cool reunion also from "Inside Llewyn Davis" with Adam Driver here, even if the two had no scenes together. Fans of the old "Star Wars" film will appreciate the inclusion of Harrison Ford, who has lots of screen time, Carrie Fisher, who has solid screen time, and Mark Hamill, who has almost no screen time, but it is indicated that he will make a much bigger impact in the next film.
This new "Star Wars" film managed no less than five Academy Award nominations, all in the technical categories and this also describes the film perfectly. Yes there are some interesting plot developments and characters, but it's really all about the technical side. Music, effects, editing etc. are all really good. The acting is mostly fine, but nothing to rave about. This does also include Harrison Ford, who has a truly baity supporting role here and I am a bit shocked he got no awards attention for his turn here. He and Driver also share the most dramatic and emotionally crucial scene of the film during their interaction on a bridge. Oh yeah and let us not forget about the light saber action scenes. These are truly cool to watch, no denying. There are a couple more famous names included here and the one I want to mention as well is Domhnall Gleeson, who is having an amazing year with all the films he is in.
Finally, I also liked the little robot and Chewbacca of course, who bring some solid comic relief, certainly more than most of the "human" characters' one-liners that weren't as funny as they were intended to be. All in all, this film was pretty much what I expected. Great action and impressive visually (check it out on the big screen), but not really convincing in terms of story and character development. The financial success does not come surprising at all though. The brand is obviously as much in demand as always. I believe it was a good watch and if you like science fiction more than I do, you will probably have an even better watch and appreciate this film even more than I did. This does not say, of course, that I did not like it. On the contrary, I had a pretty good time and it's certainly an achievement for a film with that runtime that I almost never felt it dragged. Thumbs up and nice cliffhanger ending too. I will certainly watch the next one as well.