Bombastic Blockbuster lacking in the Star Wars magic.

Rating: 4/10 (24 December 2015)

We've all been there, watching with glee as the mysteries contained within the rich spirit of Episode 4 A NEW HOPE masterfully emerged in our very first viewing. From that moment on, Star Wars became unique. Of course there was a huge amount of exciting action, bizarre characters and in some places - a rather thin plot. However, what the Star Wars films of old did possess was an integral sense of mystery and wonder, set up simply in a galaxy far, far away. Simply put, when setting out to view THE FORCE AWAKENS, I couldn't wait to experience a whole host of new mysteries, exciting action, bizarre new characters. I was expecting the thin plot points to be eradicated from the Star Wars universe.
After all, we have seen the intense delivery of JRR Tolkien's Lord of The Rings captured perfectly on the silver screen, the epic emotional gravitas of Saving Private Ryan, the critically acclaimed dramatic realism of The Shawshank Redemption. All of these fantastic movies arrived post Return of the Jedi, heralding a new era of story telling and brilliant film making. We were all incredibly displeased by the maximum impact prequels, with the in your face action sequences, trivialising lore and the needless expansion of the mystery we fell in love with. So THE FORCE AWAKENS was a chance to overshadow the bad taste that lingered from the prequels, taking the story back to its roots and reinvigorating the classic franchise.
The trailers seemed immensely promising, in fact I would say that the build up to THE FORCE AWAKENS was the most well thought out and planned reveal I have ever been a part of. The characters offered so much potential, the internet was rife with speculation, suggestion and eventual discovery as more and more details were revealed. Excitement filled the hearts of Star Wars fans everywhere when Han Solo reappeared at last, the perfect representation of what Star Wars was so close to becoming - a classic that would reemerge with the experience of 30 years of film making.
So after viewing THE FORCE AWAKENS for the first time, was I satisfied? Unfortunately, I was not. Bombastic blockbuster action filled the screen for the entire duration of the film. Visually captivating and stunning, you couldn't look away and yet, there was something integral missing from THE FORCE AWAKENS. The subtle mystery of the force had vanished, instead it was as easily learnt as finding your balance on a bicycle. Inheriting the humour of Pirates of the Caribbean, the roller-coaster action from a slew of Marvel movies and the marketing machine of Frozen, THE FORCE AWAKENS had become little more than a money making machine. It was not the Star Wars film that it had every right to be.
The first monumental issue that plagues THE FORCE AWAKENS is the more is more attitude that it has taken. Everything is larger, more storm troopers, bigger environments, longer lightsabers, bigger bad guy - the list goes on and on. Rather than scaling the movies back after the maximised, galaxy trotting prequels, the Disney team have continued to pack in as much as possible. The fact is, this film needs half of what happened to have lived up to what it should have been. Less is more is the most significant lesson that needs to be learnt for Episode 8. Less over the top, toy selling action scenes, less gaudy and pointless character tropes, less telling and more showing of the story.
Which leads me on to my second criticism. THE FORCE AWAKENS suffers from an overwhelming deficit of depth. Captured excellently by the exchange between Han Solo and Princess Leia, two original characters who have been imitated and never equalled. When discussing the origins of Kylo Ren, Han and Leia sound as if they are simply reading a synopsis. There was no emotional weight applied to a conversation that had been avoided for decades, no difficulty in confronting that largest challenge that characters had ever faced. Instead, the dialogue becomes one dimensional, unbelievable and damaging to the legacy of the characters. Usually, films suffer from filler in the form of pointless exposition. THE FORCE AWAKENS suffers from the opposite, overblown and inflated action with no thoughtful and in depth exposition. This single scene captures what was missing from THE FORCE AWAKENS, the mystery.
Did we need to know that Kylo Ren was trained by Luke Skywalker, the son of Han Solo and obsessive shadow of Darth Vader? Absolutely not. What we needed was a mysterious and powerful new enemy to dream about and discover through a trilogy of films. I feel as though I know everything there is to know about the one dimensional Kylo Ren, who is poorly developed, back tracking and nothing but a mere shadow of the terrifying Darth Vader. With all of the style and none of the substance, our new anti-hero spends his time devastating computer screens rather than plans for galactic prosperity.
So to conclude, THE FORCE AWAKENS is severely lacking in depth of characters and plot, emotional gravitas, careful nuance and attention to detail, mystery and discovery. However, the film can be considered a success stylistically, the tone of the colours, style of the costumes, locations and landscapes are all perfect representations of the Star Wars universe, excluding our first meeting of Han Solo; a scene that seemed more Star Trek than Star Wars. For the film goer who enjoys bombastic action and dazzling visuals, you will not be disappointed. However, if you were hoping for a renewed sense of story and the expansion of the Star Wars legacy, you will not be satisfied by this film.