An archetypal epic story, retold (but not remade)

Rating: 7/10 (29 December 2015)

JJ Abrams entered that Dark Side cave in Dagobah and came out alive and in one piece. Being a Star Wars fan himself, he knew it would be impossible to reboot the most popular franchise of them all and please everybody, no matter what he did. Too much nostalgia would throw off the uninitiated newcomers; too little would appear as treason to the crowd that has memorized every single line from the original trilogy. On top of that, JJ and his team faced the challenge of introducing new characters the audience would care for, catch up with what the "legacy" ones had been doing over the last 30 years, quickly explain what the Force and this galaxy are all about, and at the same time set up the narrative context for two more movies to follow. All in 135 minutes, where exposition, character development, drama, comedy and action would have to be balanced perfectly.
Of course The Force Awakens borrows heavily from the beloved Episodes IV-VI. Imagine the backlash if it didn't. But a remake? Definitely not. There are so many new elements in the story, which echoes not only the entire Star Wars saga so far, but also every epic narrative ever written. Back in 1977, there were quite a few people who dismissed Star Wars for the same reason; oblivious to the fact that the Arthurian legends or even Homer's Iliad and Odyssey had also incorporated older storytelling elements, probably facing criticism for being unoriginal too in their time. Haters gonna hate, from the dawn of mankind till its end...
Yes, I also wouldn't like to see another Death Star blown up by X-wings in the next two episodes; yes, I'd be disappointed if Rey proves to be Luke's daughter, electrocuted near death by Snoke until her cousin Kylo Ren turns to the light side and throws him down a shaft. Luke sacrificing himself in a duel with his former apprentice and becoming a Force ghost would be pretty cheesy also. But none of this has happened yet, and chances are we are in for a few surprises.
--serious spoilers ahead--
Han being a tormented father that forgives his son the moment he is murdered by him is in no way a repetition of any previous Episodes. Finn being a stormtrooper with a conscience is neither. Rey being the "chosen one" who grows in a desert planet sounds familiar, but she is a very different character from whiny and pampered young Luke, and we still don't know where she came from or how she can be so powerful without training. Kylo Ren is no Darth Vader, and -thankfully- Adam Driver is no Hayden Christensen either. We've never seen such a complex villain before, one who is both merciless and fragile at the same time. Poe Dameron is a cocky top pilot without being Force-sensitive, and he doesn't seem to be the Han Solo charmer type either. Maz Kanata is not Yoda, even if she is small, wise and wrinkled. Snoke remains a mystery, and I doubt it he'll prove to be just a copy of Palpatine in the rest of the story. As for Luke, he has failed as a teacher (and perhaps as a father too, even though I think his -too obvious- connection with Rey is a red herring). And we still don't have a clue if he will behave like Obi Wan or Yoda in training the first female main lead ever to become a Jedi.
Over all, I found The Force Awakens both touching and entertaining, successfully shuffling the cards to create something both new and familiar. Perhaps it's not a cinematic masterpiece, but none of the other movies were either (no matter how popular they have been for generations of fans). And it's certainly not a typical Disney money-grabbing blockbuster with paper-thin heroes and fake-looking digital effects. It's an archetypal epic story, retold (but not remade). And it's also a rare case of a movie that makes grown men and women cry and rejoice from opening crawl to ending roll.
The Force is strong on this one, and it's not simply an excellent marketing campaign that makes it crush box office records.