The film screening started promptly at 00.01:XNUMX a.m Star Wars Fans have been looking forward to it for years. When the typical scroll scrolled across the cinema screen, the joy on the part of the fans was clearly palpable: Finally Star Wars again, for many visitors it was even the first time Star Wars in the cinema. Regardless of whether you are a hardcore fan, someone interested in sci-fantasy, old or young, the feeling of being able to experience Star Wars in a midnight premiere in the cinema connected generations. I heard a lot of positive reviews in advance, ranging from “great” to “the best Star Wars film since the 80s”. But negative reviews also wanted to warn overly euphoric fans and protect them from disappointment. Unaffected by this, I wanted to get my own personal impression of the new Star Wars film. You can read my review in the following blog article. May the force be with you!
Where everything began
What director JJ Abrams with Star Wars - The Force Awakens created is nothing less than a masterpiece that should be nominated as a nominee for the next Oscar awards, at least in the categories of best effects, sounds and costumes. But first things first: Let's start at the very beginning, on the remote desert planet Jakku ...
Star Wars - The Force Awakens starts furiously and throws the fans right into the tough action that one would expect Star Wars film wouldn't necessarily expect. In search of a secret map fragment, Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaacs) goes to the planet Jakku with his droid BB-8. The first shot shows him and Lor San Tekka (Max von Sydow) handing over the data stick that contains the map to the secret location of Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill).
That the henchmen of the First Order are also looking for this fragment should not come as a surprise to most of them. Shortly after the handover, stormtroopers, led by Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), land in the small village on Jakku. What follows is an action-packed, gloomy fighting, the end of which is no less than the dismantling of Lor San Tekka by Kylo Ren and the mass murder of the village population. This entry shows how serious JJ Abrams was with the Star Wars franchise. Concerns that Disney would turn Star Wars into a children's film series were resolved after just five minutes. Stormtroopers FN-2187 alias Finn (John Boyega) also made their first major appearance in the battle mentioned. John Boyega breathes humanity into the faceless stormtroopers that makes the viewer shudder at the number of soldiers who fell during the film. This emotional trick is obviously good for the film and creates a credible connection between the film plot and the audience. Watching Finn's transformation from a young storm troop soldier to a heartfelt resistance fighter is refreshing and fits perfectly into the Star Wars universe that fans want.
Many minutes of the film revolve around the scrap collector Rey (Daisy Ridley) and her daily struggle for survival on the barren planet Jakku. Die-hard Star Wars fans immediately realize that such a sad character has to play a truly epic role. Daisy Ridley's concerns about not being up to the task were baseless. She embodies her character dynamically and with a strong character, so fans should be happy about exactly this character that the scriptwriters have worked out. Rey finds and saves BB-8, which from then on makes its way into the hearts of the audience.
When the Millennium Falcon makes its grand entrance after another attack by the First Order, it becomes clear why Star Wars films are simply even better in 3D. The flight maneuvers are breathtaking, the change between cockpit and full view is fantastic and catapults the viewer into the middle of the air battles. The 3D effects work particularly well because JJ Abrams consistently dispenses with unnecessary gimmicks in the third dimension and places the effects where they reach the audience. Otherwise, the director remains true to the line of the classic trilogy: Star Wars - The Force Awakens is not very colorful, gloomy and dirty.
Since the Millennium Falcon is not the Millennium Falcon without Han Solo and Chewbacca, it did not take long for the two long-serving veterans to appear for the first time. Han Solo gets a comparatively large amount of screen time, which is why that should only become apparent later.
I have to admit, the villains of the third order were not scary at first sight, remained pale, although Kylo Ren looks menacing with the mask on. General Hux (Domnhall Gleeson) has few strong performances at first. That changes at the latest with his "hate sermon", which shows the character of General Hux in all its brutality and cold-heartedness. The entire scenery seems even more menacing because of the borrowings that JJ Abrams and her screenwriters made from the hate events of the Second World War. When thousands of stormtroopers in perfect synchrony throw their left arms in the air, one or the other viewer should have felt a queasy feeling in the stomach area. The beautifully animated Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis) remains mysterious throughout the film - leaving room for exciting details in future films.
The moment that changed Star Wars forever
It would have been around half time when the moment that shook the Star Wars universe to its foundations appeared on the big screen. It quickly becomes clear that Han Solo (Harrison Ford) is Kylo Ren's father and is clearly mentioned. What is happening inside the Starkiller base is nothing less than a shocking moment that silenced the cinema and is probably not the same Star Wars Fan would have wished: Kylo Ren kills Han Solo - in an oppressively two-hearted, calm shot that expresses and erases Kylo Ren's inner turmoil. From this point onwards, Kylo Ren is a hated villain.
Rey is the tragic figure who lost everything to gain everything. She discovers her ability to deal with power, improves within the first film and, as the new pilot of the Millennium Falcon, becomes a worthy replacement for Han Solo. Her fear of responsibility subsides and culminates in an awkward lightsaber duel with Kylo Ren, who previously took out Finn. Anyway, Rey seems to be something of an all-rounder, reminiscent of the young Luke Skywalker. The meeting of the two at the end of Star Wars - The awakening of the Power builds up a good arc of suspense, which makes the time for the follow-up film seem infinitely long. The mystery of Luke Skywalker's whereabouts is cleared up, but more questions remain than answers.
Unlike some critics, I don't think Star Wars - The Force Awakens is a remake of A new Hope, but for an extension of the ideas from the very first Star Wars movie. For me it is Star Wars - The Force Awakens the movie George Lucas had always wanted to make. JJ Abrams accommodates countless Easter eggs in his work. For example, when Finn accidentally turns on the Dejarik table in the Millennium Falcon and Chewie loudly speaks up, or Finn briefly holds the flying training ball in his hands, which Luke Skywalker used for his first training sessions with the lightsaber. Even lines of dialogue have been completely taken over as a homage to the classic trilogy. When the Starkiller base is ready to fire in 30 seconds, or General Hux orders "fire when ready," then Star Wars fans are truly at home.
By consistently foregoing experiments, JJ Abrams revives Star Wars. He inspires the fans with the most modern film technology without putting the CGI in the center. The computer-generated images simply look sensational, but always fit neatly into the film. Abrams uses Lense Flares with caution; viewers see bright colors where it seems appropriate. The entire film exudes a dirty charm, it makes Star Wars all grown up without having to forego the typically humorous interludes within the action sequences. Abrams directing in Star Wars - The Force Awakens rather reminds of his work Super 8, than on Star Trek - And that's good.
