Clone Wars

Rating: 7/10 (17 December 2015)

The good news is: it is like Star Wars IV. The bad news is: it is almost exactly like Star Wars IV.
On top of that, the slapstick humour is done a little bit overdone. Nevermind that BB robot ball bleeping in the cutest way possible (hello, Disney). But dialogs like "What do they look like?" (a big, slimy monster appears) "Like this!" seem childish and silly.
On the other hand, I did like one slapstick scene, where Rey tries to convince the guard to release her ties and leave the cell door open. Initially that doesn't work and the stormtrooper sais something like "girl, I am going to tighten your ties". Off course Rey figures out the Force quite quickly and the second time of "untie me and leave the door open" works. That's the joke. But the joke goes on an Rey - quickly realising that she has the Force, too - tells the guard in the last moment before he leaves the cell "drop your weapon!" and the guard drops his weapon. That's the continuation of the joke, which for us Europeans is mostly like "Yeah, right, we got it! There'e the joke with the Force." But what I actually did find quite funny is not what the guard tells: "Aaaand I'm going to drop my gun!", but how he pronounced the "Aaaand". Like being annoyed. Very subtle, but I kind of found that funny again.
So what makes this movie almost a clone of episode IV? Well, first off, there's the story. Robot has super secret - CHECK. Somehow drops on a desert planet - CHECK. Robot must be brought back to rebels - CHECK. Done so by an outsider who has no clue - CHECK. Super Death Star turns up - CHECK. Can only be destroyed by X-Wings by first flying into a trench - CHECK. Etc. etc.
But the bad thing is that even the editing and dialogs closely remembered me to scenes seen in episode IV (and others V and VI). For instance the attack on the "Death Star" (which is really a "solar-powered reactor gun planet thing" or the like): Cut to the interior of an X-Wing cockpit. "Cover me!" - "I'm behind you!" - "I got it" (cuts into different cockpits and "behind X-Wing" cameras). Then one X-Wing goes down, hit by some gun on the ground. "Watch ground fire!". That's almost a 1:1 scene copied from episode IV! Off course that's totally done on purpose: for newcomers it's all new anyway, and for us Star Wars generation it is supposed to feel like, well, Star Wars.
Which is not only bad, I must admit. Off course your heart cheers the first time we get to see the Millennium Falcon. And Han Solo off course. And Chewie. And the new cast doesn't do a bad job either! They are likable.
On the other hand there is almost no background information on e.g. Rey. So her family has apparently left her behind on that sandy planet. That's explained in one sentence following some kind of dream sequence. Like we care! Or Finn, the ex-stormtroopers with a morale conflict. Why does he refuse to shoot at bad rebels and civilians? Because of that little blood on his helmet (as far as I can remember that's the first time we see blood in Star Wars!)? Again, that's just a fact in the very beginning and we know nothing else about his past. Which is a bummer, since he's kind of playing the lead role.
But Star Wars wouldn't be Star Wars without light saber fights, X-Wings and Tie Fighters, and in this area The Force Awakens delivers. The CGI is nicely done, and one can feel that the style of old Star Wars were closely watched and repeated.
So all in all it was entertaining, not a total disaster like episodes I - III. But for old school fans it doesn't deliver anything new, instead it relies mostly on provoking good memories. But we've seen the story already. Plus, the slapstick humour feels a tad too forced, too. Thanks to Disney, probably. But for a new audience it does deliver a fresh universe (but go watch Episodes IV - VI, if you haven't!) with a new story and likable characters.
But whether it is able to raise the same emotions like in the 70ies where Star Wars set a new era in cinema? I doubt it! We have seen SFX, spaceships and all kind of different, artificial worlds! Been there, done that! What must count those days is a good story! Characters we care about! And on this side Star Wars needs to improve massively. And its not like I am massively looking forward to the next Star Wars VIII. The end left me like "so what?". For me a 7.