A Good Start to a New Trilogy

Rating: 8/10 (3 January 2016)

Looking at the trailers for this film, I was worried The Force Awakens would have a tone closer to an original JJ Abrams film than to the original Star Wars movies. Boy was I wrong. This film has all the quip and action of the original trilogy, making it an enjoyable ride for this viewer. The only differences in style are actually improvements: the cinematography and the image quality.
However, this movie is not without its set of flaws. I suppose when you're expecting a full trilogy you should expect the story to set up elements that will be revisited later in the trilogy. However, looking back at the original Star Wars (now titled A New Hope) we received a strong stand-alone film, and I would have liked to see that with episode 7 rather than ending the film on somewhat of a cliffhanger.
I was also a little disappointed with the new villain Kylo Ren, to be honest. It is pretty cool when you find out who he actually is, but that does not make up for the fact that he is susceptible to temper tantrums and there seems to be no real reason for him to wear the mask aside from the fact that it pays tribute to Darth Vader and gives him more of a threatening presence. Also, just like Vader having the emperor above him, we see Lord Snoke communicating with Kylo Ren and the other "leader" of the First Order (Domhnall Gleeson) but we don't yet know much about him. Hopefully we will get more of an explanation with the next installment of the trilogy.
The new cast members bring new life to the series in a positive way. Finn, Rey, and Poe are the main characters (aside from Kylo Ren) that are made up of these newcomers, and Poe is played by Oscar Isaac, who has had great performances in Inside Llewyn Davis and Ex Machina, which released earlier in 2015. Finn is the stormtrooper gone good who you can't help but root for as he tries to impress Rey. Rey essentially has the same role as Luke did in the original Star Wars, and she does a fantastic job at being a bad-ass character. We don't see as much of Poe as I would have hoped, but the story in the film could not have started without him. I hope they don't throw Oscar Isaac under the bus in the next installments; he has great potential.
This film is good fun, but one can't help comparing The Force Awakens to Star Wars (A New Hope) in a number of different ways. 1) A droid with important information is the MacGuffin of the film. 2) Rey is from the desert planet of Jakku, lacking adventure in her life. 3) The First Order is basically The Empire with a new name. I'll stop there to avoid revealing too much.
The Force Awakens is a decent way to start this sequel trilogy, and while this installment nearly lived up to the original trilogy, I am hoping the next installments will succeed at doing just that.
3.0/4.0