This Next Generation "Star Wars" Can Be Proud of What It Is

Rating: 8/10 (3 January 2016)

When "The Phantom Menace" came out back in 1999, I had to deal with the dismal and sinking feeling of disappointment that hit me about ten minutes into the movie when I realized that my expectations were not going to be realized and that the movie was not going to come close to recreating "Star Wars." With time, I've learned to like the prequel movies for what they are, mostly because I think it's fun to see the story begun by George Lucas in 1977 come full circle. And also with time, I've made peace with the fact that nothing will ever recreate the experience of the original "Star Wars" movies and nothing needs to; I will always have the originals and can watch then any time I want to, so I don't need substitutes.
Therefore I went into "The Force Awakens" with extremely low expectations, and as a result had a blast with it. It's laughable how much it rips off of "A New Hope," and now that the hype has died down it's easy to pick it apart, because in many ways it doesn't hold up to scrutiny. But I don't feel like picking it apart. I want to just enjoy it because it's part of the "Star Wars" universe, and that universe is something I enjoy visiting from time to time. The film is really more of a reboot than a sequel, made for a generation of younger audiences who didn't grow up with "Star Wars," with plenty of bones thrown to the audience who did. And I have to admit, the fun in the movie for me was watching the original characters and ships make their entrances throughout the movie -- I'm not sure how compelling the movie featuring the new generation of actors would have been for me on its own terms, even though I like Oscar Isaac (underused) and thought Daisy Ridley did a fantastic job. That perhaps does not bode well for my enjoyment of the next movie in the series, since the novelty will be gone. But for now, there's a new "Star Wars" movie, it's not bad, and that's good enough for me.
Grade: A