Nostalgia Glasses Off

Rating: 7/10 (15 September 2016)

When I first saw this movie in the theaters back in December of 2015, I loved it. Sure, it had it issues, but seeing it in the theater brought a wave of nostalgia over me and made me wonder if this was how people felt seeing the original Star Wars in theaters. However, 9 months later, the nostalgia has worn off. Does the movie hold up without that lens? Well... kinda. The movie is nowhere near as good as I remembered it being. That doesn't mean it's a bad movie. Not at all. In fact, it's better than most big budget movies. Let's start with what worked. For starters, most of the new cast was really good. John Boyega's Finn was portrayed very well. I liked the new movie's approach of making stormtroopers more than just faceless baddies to wipe out. It added a weight to seeing them get blown away by the heroes. BB-8, while obviously only existing as a marketing device, was an effective marketing device nonetheless. Kylo Ren is easily the most compelling villain Star Wars has had since Return of the Jedi. His story and conflict made him an extremely interesting character that I look forward to seeing more of. Poe Dameron was tacked on to the plot later in the movie, but in the scenes he was in I found him to be a very fun character. The only new character I really don't enjoy so far is Rey. As Max Landis controversially but accurately stated, Rey is just too good at everything. Maybe some of it makes sense, and maybe it will be better explained in later movies, but I really don't see where her character can really go outside of the mystery surrounding her. Next up, the story. It was a simple plot, using elements from the past 6 movies and mixing it together with new ideas to create a new plot. It was okay enough, serviceable, but not particularly great. The only storyline in the movie I found myself particularly invested in was Kylo Ren's internal conflict, which was great. Let's talk about the directing. J.J. Abrams excelled at visual storytelling in this movie. A particular scene that stood out to me was the final confrontation between Kylo Ren and Han Solo. The use of lighting and music in that scene made it so much more powerful and heartbreaking. That being said, some unfortunate J.J. Abrams tropes made it into the movie, like the lens flares in the Starkiller base fire destroying multiple planets, a scene that would have been much more powerful if it weren't so distracting. To put it simple, the movie had a lot of issues, but where it was good, it was great. This movie restored Star Wars and made me hopeful for the future. Here's hoping it learns from its mistakes and gives us a spectacular episode VIII.