Remake of Episode 4, But Still Satisfying

Rating: 8/10 (20 December 2015)

Star Wars, the Force Awakens, is a movie with a curious mission-- basically an attempt to reinvigorate a cinematic series which at its height was revolutionary but which lost its way in its prequel trilogy due to bad decision-making and mediocre film-making. The new reboot remedies this essentially by going back to the fundamentals, by trying very earnestly to recapture what made the movies so appealing to begin with.
The effort is pretty good but, be warned, this movie is so derivative of episode 4 that you may be bothered. Like Episode 4, we once again start on a desert planet, this time Jaaku, where a resistance fighter, Poe Dameron, is trying to hide an important item in a droid (sound familiar?), BB8, to keep it out of the clutches of what looks like a new incarnation of the Evil Empire. We learned from the rolling narration at the beginning that the victory in Episode 6 was fairly short-lived--the First Order has arisen out of the ashes of the Evil Empire to challenge the new Republic, and the item in question is a map to the location of Luke Skywalker, who is missing. The First Order wants the map because destroying Skywalker could result in a permanent victory for the Dark Side. The droid finds its way to a scavenger Rey, who takes a liking to it. Meanwhile, Poe escapes from the First Order with the help of Finn, a disaffected storm-trooper, and they return to Jaaku to get the droid. Rey and Finn become the new reluctant heroes of the Resistance, and seek to return the droid to it. The escape from Jaaku reminds us again of the 4th movie, but the essential conflict of the film is set up.
The good thing about this movie is that the film-makers have understood what makes these movies appealing. First and most importantly, their characters are interesting. Rey is a female Skywalker, having definite skills as a pilot and some mysterious connection with the Force. She evolves into a female action hero of the Jennifer Lawrence type and actress Daisy Ridley has serious charisma and talent in playing her. Finn, the turncoat storm-trooper is interesting because he is a new element, a person who escaped Dark Side brainwashing to assert his individuality. John Boyega plays him very well. The new villain, Kylo Ren, reminds us a lot of Darth Vader, but has new elements and a very compelling relationship to Han Solo that gets played out in the film. The character study here is more absorbing than we have seen in a while.
Additionally, the new movie captures the visceral sense of the original trilogy. The action is fast, furious and fun in a way that the prequel movies never achieved, and really has us on the edge of our seat. Some of the scenes are a little too familiar--for example the deal making in a new version of the Cantina, or the emergence of a Dark Side super-weapon that must be taken out. There really is a sense of a remake here.
Lastly, however, the filmmaking is simply better. The script is better written, the special effects are awesome but not distracting. Most importantly, the movie relies much more on great cinematography than the prequel movies--it is a beautiful movie to watch from the standpoint of the camera, with great locations in Abu Dhabi and Ireland. Bottom line is that with many aspects of the original trilogy returning, there is much to like about this film. It is basically an attempt to draw in a new generation of fans but going with what works.