Star Wars: The Reboot

Rating: 7/10 (19 December 2015)

Star Wars: TFA updates the franchise with beautiful 3D, excellent casting, familiarity, and more than a little nostalgia. By and large it is a solid, entertaining movie that will please all but the most jaded of fans. For better or worse, this iteration asks to be judged on the qualities of earlier films due to the return of characters, visuals, ideas, music, and themes.
Breathtaking visuals! This movie absolutely glows, and everyone involved with the look, style, special effects, and presentation should be proud of their achievement. The Force Awakens delivers some of the best use of visual 3D ever to hit the big screen. Incredible depth, memorable vistas, amazing sense of scale, and a wide variation of organic vs artificial environments are gifted to those lucky enough to see this film on the best screens cinema can offer.
The famous Star Wars sound effects are intertwined with a commendable music score - it is nice to experience bold music that doesn't demand attention, yet is fully present in the total experience. The score is not on the level of the original trilogy, perhaps due to the lack of complete originality.
The casting is borderline brilliant. One of the best traditions SW has maintained is casting relative unknowns into major roles. I feel this takes bravery and skill in casting and directing. It is easy to envy and fall in love with the main characters, and like those involved in post production - these young actors should hold their heads high, and accept the well earned praise.
Writing and Story - Eh... this is where I have to unfortunately hold my own fanaticism accountable. Very average. Especially the writing. There are moments of real humor, timing, and sequences one can get lost in, but there is no wit. Many of the places where intelligent dialog should have occurred come off as silly, generic, even idiotic. I'm not a stickler for the lack of science in SW - light speed travel around the galaxy, noise in space, and bad motivators are not my problem. But cliché dialog during the build up to a war, and adults speaking like children is disappointing. Reader, please refresh your memory with classic dialog from the original trilogy: "Thank the maker, this oil bath is going to feel so good...", "Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side kid.", "The circle is now complete. When I left you, I was but the learner; now I am the master." - There isn't one line in TFA that stands along side the many timeless lines from A New Hope, the movie The Force Awakens tries so hard to emulate. For those who have so quickly forgotten the lyrical wizardry of the original trilogy, "I find your lack of faith disturbing."
Originality? This is a reboot by the numbers. Elements chopped and remixed like bad stir fry do not taste good, and insult the palate of the seasoned Star Wars fan. We have all seen the original trilogy too many times. Because it is brilliant! Because of the originality! Because it does something wonderful to the mind and senses. The arc of The Force Awakens comes off like a blast of MSG, but instead of fooling the senses, the obviousness of the ripoff lacks perhaps the most important ingredient in the SW formula: a soul.
Yes, this movie is orders of magnitude better than episode I, II & III. Yes, it is a fun movie full of wonderful qualities, and well worth the price of admission. But no, this is not truly great film making and not the work of a master. I'm glad that JJ did his homework this time, and didn't tarnish an entire franchise with sloppy research and entertainment at all cost production. He succeeded in this project, but the sights were set too low.
This generation's kids deserve better - they deserve a fresh IP, new characters, and a new story - not a mix of old and new in a fashionable attempt to appease generational fans. In my heart of hearts, I really wanted to believe that SW:TFA could be completely fresh, new, intelligent And still Star Wars - but not from this film maker, not with this story, not with this writing.
While it may seem as though this old fan did not like this movie, actually I did. It was just so beautiful, and fun to experience with a large audience. I hope many people share my experience - but I also hope many more crave fresh ideas like me, and will support the next great film maker, with truly new and exciting science fiction ideas.
an optimistic and fanatical - 7 out of 10