Star Wars A New Hope... wait a second.

Rating: 8/10 (22 December 2015)

so today I watched the new star wars film. I have been greatly anticipating the release of this film for several months and was finally able to see it today. This is my opinion on The Force Awakens... The Film begins with the classic title sequence that is a quintessential star wars element; the sudden fanfare and the words 'STAR WARS' instantly made me sit up in my seat and now makes me expect the best as I personally associate that entrance with many happy memories of the first 6 films and it was an early indicator that Spielberg was going to stick to the book when it came to star wars. The film jumps straight into the action with a storm trooper landing party engaging in combat to retrieve a map that points to the missing last Jedi (Luke Skywalker) we also encounter the new R2-D2; the BB-8 droid (who features heavily in the movie) whom is an excellent character and an excellent addition to the star wars cast. In the first few minutes we are also introduced to the new Darth Vader who it known as Kylo Ren and also to the new Storm trooper design. The new outfit bears much resemblance to the old storm trooper but with a different life support pack design and also a new helmet shape. Kylo Ren proved an interesting character in the film but I was let down when he removed his helmet to reveal that he was just a normal healthy human with no life threatening injuries or mutilations. A new character to the Star Wars protagonists role is John Boyega or 'Finn'. Finn was an interesting character being the first ever storm trooper to defect to the resistance and I thoroughly enjoyed watching this initially bewildered storm trooper become the hero of the resistance. Finn also provides some humour to the film and closely mimics the same journey that Luke makes in terms of self discovery. Humour features more heavily in this film and I felt in some ways that this made the film cheaper in a way as it lowered it guard to try and keep up with the demands. Also new is Rey who I thought was an interesting and refreshing new character and is someone who is distinctly marked out to be a key player in the next few films. The film itself was littered with references to previous films both in the plot line and in small side references which I thought was a clever move to draw in the die-hard star wars fans. The First Order's base resembles very closely the death star, even to the trench run at the end of the film by the X-wings to try and destroy the base. For me Spielberg was following a New Hope just a little too closely as it was basically the same plot line. The Bad guys build a giant weapon that can destroy planets and the rebels have to stop them just in time before the rebels get blown up themselves. Sound familiar? Modern day CGI and graphics means that the battles in the film were exceptional and very clean cut. Although many traditional components of Star wars were still kept an exciting springboard has been created both in terms of plot and new content for the next star wars films. I would like to add my 8 would be an 8.7 but apparently that is to picky. Favourite scene would be the X-wings flying over the lake which was stunning. Overall a solid performance and a film that maintains the high standard.