Forced, Rushed, But Pretty Darn Good

Rating: 7/10 (18 December 2015)

Well there are two roads that a low-rent blogging critic-in-quotes can take without the luck of an early screening when getting prepared to view and review what is one of the most anticipated movies ever made: either go into the thing fresh without knowing anything, or read the few Rotten green leaves of the otherwise endless red Tomatoes, and then venture into the IMDb message board galaxy, studying every negative post written about the film, including spoilers...
Cult Film Freak took the second road as a springboard to either agree or disagree with what many people already know and heard without having to repeat or spoil it, too much. And some of the negativity is true... THE FORCE AWAKENS is extremely similar to the original STAR WARS: from a cute robot with important plans to a desert-dwelling dreamer who wants to stay put for her "family" while having skills she's not aware of. And yet, taking the central Luke Skywalker mantle is a very talented actress, Daisy Ridley as Rey, who, after a bombastic attack scene following a refreshingly simple opening scrawl, eventually joins up with an ultimate idealist named Finn, not keen on remaining a death-mongering Stormtrooper during his first bloody mission. In-between this somewhat rushed duo is a heroic yet ultimately wasted character in Oscar Isaac as Poe, a cross between Wedge (the X-Wing pilot who miraculously survived all three original films), Robert Downey Jr.'s sarcastic Tony Stark and the person we'll get to next...
To really find out if THE FORCE AWAKENS works takes a particular perspective. And while Han Solo and Chewbacca appear at the beginning of the second act, caught in a good old fashion crooked smuggling trap while being reunited with their famously agile clunker of a space ship, the Millennium Falcon... The proof of how believable the youngsters are to carry the franchise, or if their own journey is worth investing our anticipated nostalgic time on, relies within Solo's reluctant- turned-helpful, genuinely positive reaction to their urgent plight, and is all that's needed to sell this particularly basic adventure...
So if the kids are worthy enough for Han, they can win over the audience... at least those not bothered by the flaws, including a young powerful villain, desperately poised with a black mask but not much of a backstory (or an explanation of his immense holographic leader), and heroes too comfortable and witty much too quickly, like watching an established AVENGERS sequel. Which doesn't really matter since director J.J. Abrams and co-writer Lawrence Kasden... the latter who scripted George Lucas's story for both RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK and THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK... keeps moss off a stone that rolls along from one action- packed scene to the next, remaining true to the antique, pulpy aesthetic of the original while sticking close enough on each character's individual plight so not to get lost in the overall computerized milieu, which is what George Lucas did in the horrendous prequels, and what Abrams, maybe not so creatively or originally, brought back to the STAR WARS universe: fun, reckless abandon that isn't quite the vehicle it used to be, but is character-driven nonetheless.