I’m deliberately being vague about the story – mostly, because the plot is so similar to A NEW HOPE that the few surprises there are in THE FORCE AWAKENS should be experienced by the audience for the first time. But the galactic dynamics are so elusive and difficult to follow that I still have no idea of the significance of the Resistance and the First Order. The First Order’s Supreme Leader, Snoke (Andy Serkis) is obviously knowledgeable in the Dark Side, but THE FORCE AWAKENS never reveals how he knows the Force or where he comes from. Ordinarily I would have no issue with this – the original trilogy only truly acknowledges the Emperor in RETURN OF THE JEDI – but because the film is so unwilling to answer so many questions, it becomes one more aspect of the plot to become frustrated about. What does it mean when the Force awakens? How does Finn overcome his training and programming as a stormtrooper for the First Order? Why was Rey abandoned on Jakku? How does Kylo Ren become consumed by the Dark Side of the Force? That question, in particular, forms much of the emotion and backstory of THE FORCE AWAKENS, and Adam Driver is very effective as the enigmatic dark enforcer of the First Order. But it’s also something I really wanted to see explored more than the movie was willing to go. The original films, while holding certain key plot points close, never teased the way THE FORCE AWAKENS does. Each new piece of information expanded the STAR WARS world; THE FORCE AWAKENS seems to make this universe that much smaller, especially considering the coincidences that plague the movie (granted, the original films had similar wild coincidences).
I lay this squarely at the feet of J.J. Abrams, who with his Mystery Box mode of storytelling, forgets that you actually have to have a story inside the box when you open it, and not another rehash of story tropes we’ve seen in previous films. Abrams is also missing that sense of spectacle – not only is the cinematography bland in comparison with the films we’ve seen before, but we move from action sequence to action sequence with little sense of wonder, only the need to fill a scene with motion when the plot ceases to be compelling. Again, and I hate to keep harping back to this, the original films were slower, deliberately paced, more contemplative by comparison. There were character moments that were allowed to build. We get those to a lesser extent in THE FORCE AWAKENS, and Rey, Finn, Kylo Ren, and Poe are compelling new additions to the STAR WARS Universe, but I would have liked to have spent more time with them instead of being rushed from setpiece to setpiece. These performances deserve more than just filling in an empty slot or character template.
when I saw the nikkas from The Raid in the film.
can't that just put the fukking trailer in front of a movie and online an be done with it? movie is gonna be mediocre anyway going by the director's resume, the more they overhype it the harder it will be to fill those expectations.
