The Force isn't that strong with this one

Rating: 7/10 (25 December 2015)

There has been a lot of hype going into this film. And I will admit the fact that it carries on the "Star Wars" name and because of the nostalgia factor, I will give this film a slight advantage when it comes to my grading scale. However I can't just jump on the bandwagon and claim this movie was awesome or anything like that. And I am a reviewer that tries my best not to be picky about the small stuff. It just did not meet the super hype it has been getting. As a matter of fact this installment was a bit disappointing. Nowhere near as disappointing as "The Phantom Menace" and it's at least better than Episodes 1 through 3. However the original classic trilogy is still better than this one. The cast was good with a lot of new faces and few old. Harrison Ford takes on the role of Han Solo, but he is a bit of a different Han Solo. In this he is more of the wise father figure like guide, which actually works when it comes to the context of this film. But the actress Daisy Ridley as Rey. She just nailed as this character who is innocent but not really naïve, feminine but able to handle herself and emotional at times but very competent. She is almost a bit too cool in this installment. It was kinda cool to see Oscar Isaac and Domhnall Gleeson in the same film, the last film they were in together was "Ex Machina" which is a great film worth checking out. The most interesting character was in my opinion Kylo Ren, although his motives aren't entirely clear the emotional scars and the demented aspect of this character stood out to me. I also found it interesting how when he wears the mask that alters his voice, he comes off as this menacing and intimidating villain. But when it takes the mask off and shows his very human like face, he comes off as this whiny kid who is sort of emo. But he tries to emulate or maybe become just like Darth Vader. The chemistry between the characters was good, but I just felt there should have been more of a development. I guess they were saving that for the sequels. "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" is a entertaining enough film, but it still felt empty and not very satisfying. If it was satisfying but made the audiences want more, it would be another thing but that just isn't the case with this one. It spends too much of it's time trying to build up for the sequels instead of it being a fine stand alone movie itself while leaving room for the sequels. There is a lot of things that are not explained in this one. Lastly it also lacked the emotional grip that it needed, because one of the most important scene in this film just wasn't really impactful because of how the whole thing was structured and how it got to that point. I guess I had a bit too high of a expectation from J. J. Abrams but this movie was pretty mediocre. Hopefully Episode 8 will be better since they went through the build up stage.
7/10