Amusing Enough but Not Great

Rating: 6/10 (21 December 2015)

When the original Star Wars came out in 1977, I was one of those kids that saw the film 11 times during its initial run. As an adult, I've watched the film many times, and it still holds up beautifully. I was not surprised when Star Wars made the AFI Top 100 Films list.
I have not been so wild about the sequels. But George Lucas was at least trying to say something thoughtful, however questionably he might have expressed himself.
Don't expect that kind of care in the new film. Most critics may be raving and cheering, but no one is saying that The Force Awakens has any depth. You may be grateful for that, I don't know. I think the lack of thoughtfulness gave rise to some questionable decisions, myself.
When I heard that J.J. Abrams was directing the long-awaited Part VII, my heart sank. Based on my limited exposure to his screenplays, I think Abrams may be an introverted misanthrope, he's so negative about human nature in general. His characters are mostly shallow, venal jerks or losers who stumble into heroism; not inspiring. And he isn't deep-thinking about what makes people tick.
However, Abrams has excellent instincts when it comes to the pacing of action pictures. And he has a sense of humor which keeps his material from becoming hopelessly depressing.
When I sat down in the theater during this opening weekend for The Force Awakens, I was pleasantly surprised by how entertaining I found the picture. Although I found the resurgence of the Dark Side and the diminution of the old Rebellion forces incomprehensible, the opening screen images were striking and Abrams' David-Lynch-like plot teases captured my interest... at first. By about the 75 minute mark, however, my butt was twitching in my seat and I was checking my watch.
The script missed the mark in terms of character development. Daisy Ridley as Rey and John Boyega as Finn are sympathetic and engaging, but the script gave them little room to shine. Their characters were flat and one-dimensional. Ridley and Boyega have such charm that you liked them anyway, but what a waste of talent! And the new villain, Kylo Ren, was dull as dishwater, an overgrown child with anger-management issues that made him seem petty rather than nuanced.
The film relied heavily on established characters to provide the juice that the new characters lacked. The best was Harrison Ford and Peter Mayhew revisiting Han Solo and Chewbacca. A few wisecracks and I was cheering like a fool! I suspect these parts were the work of original-scribe Lawrence Kasdan because they felt just like old times and were the most enjoyable parts of the movie.
BB-8 was also charming, probably because the filmmakers had to think carefully for a change. The Yoda-like Maz Kenata was neutral but appealing. Andy Serkis made his Supreme Evilness suitably menacing... but that guy can read a phone book and give it personality; the character itself was a block of wood. Abrams seemed more interested in plot twists, teases, and other irrelevancies than the characters. By the time I got to the end of this film, I had had enough.
The original Star Wars pitted Home, Hearth and Family against the destructive Lust for Power. Good and Evil have to mean something personal or they're just words; that was part of what made the original film so engaging.
What was The Force Awakens about? Who knows?
Good and Evil in The Force Awakens both felt a little too much like Fascism to me, as forces gathered to wage war without much self-awareness. Both sides behaved badly; one side was just worse. Is this modern, fighting for the lesser of two evils? It was like watching an indoctrination film for a cult.
The most interesting twist was Finn the Renegade Stormtrooper, a faceless minion who gains a conscience as concerns the killing of others... but does he? Finn takes to killing his former compatriots quickly enough that his compassion is highly suspect. Apparently, if an enemy takes off their mask, they become a human being; if they wear their mask, their deaths are something to be cheered. It was all rather revolting and ill-considered. Either that, or nauseatingly cynical.
Don't worry about being "bored" by a love story, there isn't one. Rey and Finn are war buddies, not potential lovers. There isn't an ounce of sex or romance in this film, just plenty of violence. Whatever happened to "Make Love, Not War?" I think Abrams conceived all the new characters as men, then cast a few women in some of the parts... except for Princess Leia, who has gone from sassy feminist in the original trilogy to inexplicably colorless Earth Mother. This was clearly not Carrie Fischer's fault; when given the opportunity, she was as sparkling as ever. She just got stuck being the embodiment of Womanly Virtue and Mother Love in Abrams' dumb script because otherwise The Resistance was largely devoid of positive characteristics.
The new space ship designs were great, as were the creature designs; with these, came good makeup artists. The costumes and hair were not so inspired. Poor Carrie Fischer suffered the worst, costumed in unflattering outfits and wigs. Princess Leia is a science-fiction fashion icon! Why didn't they hire Bob Mackie or someone of that caliber? They had the money! Adam Driver as Kylo Ren also suffered, looking more like the long-nosed spy from the 1977 original than the next Darth Vader. The new costume designs were a disappointment in an otherwise solid production design.
So, the film is watchable, but don't expect greatness.