Originally appeared Dec. 29, 2015, on my blog, X-Ray Spex.
First of all, SPOILERS. For the whole movie. If you haven’t seen it, don’t read this.
OK? OK.
Second of all, let me just say this: I liked it. A lot. It was a smart, fast-paced movie that delivered the right amount of both thrills and emotional punches, and more often than not I found myself sitting there in the (packed) theater, a big goofy smile plastered on my face, enjoying the movie — and, even more, enjoying the sight of my daughter, sitting next to me, enjoying the movie herself. I was 10 years old when I first saw “Star Wars” in the theater back in 1977, and her she was, 38 years later, 10 years old herself, watching her own first theatrical showing on “Star Wars.” (She’s seen the prequels on DVD, of course, but we’re not counting that, are we? No we are not.)
I want to stress how much I enjoyed “The Force Awakens” right up front because I have the feeling that, after reading the rest of this post, you’re going to think I didn’t. And that’s not the case. To repeat: It’s a good movie. Arguably, in fact, a better movie than the original “Star Wars,” though something like that is impossible to quantify for at least two reasons: 1. We live in a world that the original “Star Wars” has changed if not shaped, and any movie coming after it, especially one with the word “Star Wars” in its title, is living in the giant shadow (more on that later) that the original film cast. 2. Like I said, I saw “Star Wars” when I was 10 years old. I’m 48 now. No movie — no matter how good it is — can possibly have that kind of seismic impact.
Maybe that’s why, as I was leaving the theater Sunday, big goofy smile still plastered on my face, replaying favorite moments in my head, I couldn’t fight the nagging feeling that, as good as “The Force Awakens” is, it’s not only destined to live in the shadow of its 1977 predecessor, it’s actually designed to live in that shadow. I’m far from the first person to make this observation, but “The Force Awakens” is almost a beat-for-beat (if not scene for scene) remake of the original.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing. The plot of “Star Wars” is neither complex nor original, and it’s the perfect thing upon which to hang some interesting characters and groundbreaking special effect sequences. So when I realized “The Force Awakens” was going to give us basically the same story in a souped-up, self-referential form, I was OK with that. A droid with a secret hidden inside finds a new master on a desert plane, our heroes wind up in a bar looking for a way to get off-planet, Han Solo and chewy show up, the Empire (sorry, First Order) builds a planet-sized weapon and one of our young heroes flies an X-Wing fighter to destroy it. Also, there are light saber battles, a villain in a black cloak, a bigger villain who appears via hologram and the Millennium Falcon has mechanical problems before it’s able to make a last-minute jump to hyperspace. I’ve seen it before. We all have. But that doesn’t mean it’s not a pleasure to see it again.
That’s because director J.J. Abrams and writers Lawrence Kasdan and Michael Arndt (along with co-writer Abrams) have used that time-tested (timeworn?) setup to introduce us to characters with real potential. The original gang (who show up here, of course) were more character-types than actual characters — the princess, the farmboy and the scoundrel — but they were given distinctive life by actors Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford. None of those were Oscar-caliber performances, but in each case, the actor brought something to the cliche, enough to keep us interested in them as we made the slide from childhood to adulthood. Luke, for instance, went from whiny to heroic in “Star Wars,” but Hamill (who I don’t think gets enough credit) made him genuinely compelling in “The Empire Strikes Back” and, especially, in “Return of the Jedi.” I’d argue Luke is the best thing about that third movie, which (like “The Force Awakens”) is a semi-remake of the original. In “Jedi,” Luke goes from somebody pretending to be an ultra-cool mystic warrior in the beginning to someone who achieves actual gravitas and heroism by the end. When he throws away his light saber, refusing to kill Vader, it’s a truly great moment, and Hamill plays it for all it’s worth.
What makes “The Force Awakens” work so well is it has genuinely compelling characters played by actors who are probably stronger than anyone in the original films (except, of course, for Alec Guinness, though he was a bit of a ringer). Oscar Isaac, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega and Adam Driver deliver performances at least as good as anything we’ve seen in a “Star Wars” movie, and they’re all so damned young they’re probably only going to get better. What’s more, whether it’s the lack of Lucas-penned dialogue or the loose simplicity of the story (no trade disputes or senate maneuvering here), the actors actually seem to be having fun, and, for that matter, so do the characters. As Resistance pilot Poe Dameron, Isaac brings a big dose of the boyish glee that Luke had in spades, and it’s hard not to smile whenever he’s onscreen. He’s such a refreshingly nice guy that you can feel the relief ex-Stormtrooper Finn (his jumping sides is the best concept in the movie) feels when he befriends him. And Ridley brings a nice sense of both mystery and determination to Rey. She’s obviously got a troubled past, but she never gets mired in the pouty cliches of Anakin Skywalker. She’s got the same never-say-die attitude as Luke had, and it’s exciting watching her realize the Force flows through her, too.
Old friends
And, as for those old characters, they’re used well, too. Harrison Ford is clearly the most popular actor to return, so it makes sense that Han Solo (and Chewbacca) would be the most involved in the actual action. What’s more, Ford actually seems to be having fun with the role, and since he (SPOILERS) won’t be around for any more installments, it’s a pleasure having his character leave on a strong note. Carrie Fisher’s General Leia (another nice touch) is doesn’t have nearly as much to do, but it’s nice to see her leading the troops again, and her scenes with Han have the same humorously romantic feel as the ones in “Empire” and “Jedi.” What’s more, it’s frankly a pleasure seeing those characters as actual old people, with histories and stories that are hinted at but not described. And the fact that they did not, in fact, live happily ever after is a bonus.
I was half-expecting Luke not to show up at all in “The Force Awakens,” but I was glad he did. Mark Hamill gets grief from “Star Wars” fans, but it’s mostly for the single line of dialogue where he whines about the “power converters.” As critics (and Hamill himself) have pointed out, Luke is supposed to be whiny, and his growth as a Jedi (and as a hero, and as a man) proceeds from that point. In this movie, the name “Luke Skywalker” is spoken in hushed tones, and his disappearance is seen by the younger characters as proof that he’s more myth than man. Of course, Han, Leia and Chewie know differently, and his (SPOILERS) appearance in the last frames of the movie as Rey offers him his light saber is played in suitably mythic tones. Hamill looks every bit like a Jedi master in hiding, just like Obi Wan in “Star Wars,” and his connection to Rey is one of the big mysteries the movie leaves us with. (Amazingly, Hamill is a year older than Alec Guinness was when he first played Obi-Wan back in 1977. Tempus fugit, boys and girls. Tempus fugit.)
And the whole idea that our central villain — Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren — is not only the son of (SPOILERS) Han and Leia but a failed Jedi who was (SPOILERS) being trained by Luke is one of the best things in the movie. It mirrors a good idea that the prequels completely screwed up (that Vader became Vader because Obi-Wan Kenobi was arrogant in thinking he could train him) and gives us a villain who’s more than just another retread of Vader. Kylo Ren is both more sympathetic and more dangerous — those much-mocked emo scenes of him wrecking rooms with his fiery light saber are one of the most interesting things about the film. They show someone struggling with his destiny (we’ve heard about people being tempted by the dark side before, but this is the first time someone’s been tempted by the light side) and they even have a comedic payoff: When Kylo Ren tears apart the room Rey has escaped from, the two Stormtroopers headed his way quickly turn around to avoid dealing with him. (The re-humanizing of the Stormtroopers, from Finn’s crisis of conscience to the behavior of those two, is another smart move by Abrams and Co.)
The light saber fight that concludes the movie is top-notch, right up there with the Luke-Vader battle at the end of “Empire.” After all the meaningless waving of light sabers against green screens in the prequels, it’s actually exciting to see a battle that (a) takes place in an actual location (or a reasonable facsimile) and (b) means something to the characters. The snowy background, the night setting and the surrounding forest give the scene a suitably fairy-tale feel, and the moment when the light saber leaps into Rey’s hand is something we all knew was coming but damn, it sure felt right when it happened. And, thanks to the conveniently precise earthquake that separated Kylo Ren and Rey, our villain will obviously be making a comeback in episode VIII. Again, it’s essentially the same thing that happened at the end of the original “Star Wars” — remember Vader spinning away in his TIE Fighter? — but it’s the way a movie like this one should end: Death Star explodes, rebel base is saved, villain lives to fight another day. Yes, we’ve seen it before. That’s OK. It still feels right the second (or third, or fourth) time around.
Plus, there was a lot that “The Force Awakens” got right. Even the references to the earlier movies, which have gotten some criticism in the nerdosphere, were well handled. My favorite was the way the Star Destroyer cast a shadow over an entire planet in the first scene (shades of the original opening), but the glimpses of the chess board, the light saber training gadget and the various bits of Imperial debris were fun — and did you really expect Abrams and Co. to not include those references? It’s been more than 30 years since we got a real Star Wars movie, and you can be damn sure the audience was craving that sort of thing, fan service or not. Plus, the two big callbacks — the reveal of the Millennium Falcon and the unveiling of R2D2 — managed to have a real emotional impact. That impact didn’t have anything to do with the plot, or even with “The Force Awakens” itself. It was like seeing an old friend from childhood that you’d forgotten all about. Corny? Maybe, but you can’t control how you connect to a movie, and for me (and a lot of people my age) the connection to the original “Star Wars” remains surprisingly strong after all these years.
But…
As much as I liked the movie, this is the thing that keeps nagging me: “The Force Awakens,” was a safe movie. It didn’t take chances, and it didn’t go in any unexpected directions — not really. Now, that’s not necessarily a criticism. Rebooting the entire franchise — essentially resurrecting the very concept of “Star Wars” — meant that caution was going to be the key word. Disney had a lot more at stake then the handful of billions they paid George Lucas for the rights to the movies. Also at stake were the many, many, many billions in potential profits the studio could reap over the coming decades — as long as they didn’t screw it up. With that much money on the table, no one was taking any chances. And so, while “The Force Awakens” is fun and entertaining and well-made and compelling and all the things it needs to be, there’s one thing it’s not. It’s not surprising.
Sure, someone is bound to bring up the fact that (SPOILERS) Kylo Ren is Han and Leia’s son, or that he actually ends up killing his father at the end, but be honest: Did either of those things really take you by surprise? Harrison Ford has been looking for a way to get out of “Star Wars” since “Empire” (he was frozen in carbonite in case he didn’t return for “Jedi,”) so it’s not exactly a shock that in a movie designed to pass the baton to a younger cast, he makes a grand exit. The only reason his death surprised me is that somehow, against all odds, I’d manage to avoid hearing about it before seeing it happen on the screen.
When I walked out of the original “Star Wars,” I was astonished. When I walked out of “The Force Awakens,” I was entertained. Part of the blame lies with the fact that I’m 38 years older and have seen thousands of movies in that time. But part of the blame lies with the movie. As simple and straightforward as it seems now, “Star Wars” was a big risk for George Lucas. No one was clammoring for a science fiction movie in 1977, and it could have easily died at the box office. By the time 1980 rolled around and “Empire” was released, Lucas (and company) took another chance. The lighthearted thrills of “Star Wars” were replaced with something darker, where the heroes lost and the story didn’t end. Three years later, “Jedi” wasn’t as much of a surprise, which is why, in a strange way, it feels the most like “The Force Awakens” — minus the Ewoks, of course. (The prequels, for all their many faults, actually were risky on the part of Lucas. But just because something is a risk doesn’t mean it’s good.) I’m betting we’ll see things get a little riskier in 2017 with the release of Episode VIII. Now that the foundation’s been built, director Rian Johnson (“Looper”) and his team will be able to get a little stranger, even with Disney keeping close watch on its multi-billion dollar nest egg. At least I hope that’s what happens.
SW: TNG
But I’m an old man who’s seen a thousand movies (really, I have). What did my daughter, Allie, think? After all, now she’s 10 years old and seeing her first “Star Wars” movie in the theater. If “The Force Awakens is aimed at anyone, it’s aimed at her, right? So what’s her verdict?
She loved it. Of course. Better than the prequels. Way, way better. And yet…
She wasn’t blown away. She wasn’t left shaking. And, so far, she hasn’t asked about seeing it again. After I saw “Star Wars,” that’s all I wanted to do. But Allie, growing up in a world of streaming video and Blu-rays and everything she’s ever wanted being available on her iPad? She’s in no hurry to see “The Force Awakens” in the theater again. She knows that, before long, she’ll be able to see it whenever she wants. Plus, there’s one other thing. One final thing.
I’ve seen a lot of people on social media describing a situation similar to mine. They’re taking their kids to see their first “Star Wars” movie in the theater and saying things like “This one is going to be her ‘Star Wars.'” I said the same thing when I was taking Allie along. Now we could both have our “Star Wars,” and she’d know the same excitement I felt in my childhood.
But I was wrong. This wasn’t Allie’s “Star Wars.” She’s already got her “Star Wars.” It’s “Guardians of the Galaxy.” Or maybe “Harry Potter.” Or “The Hunger Games.” Or something she hasn’t discovered yet. Expecting her to make “Star Wars” the central pop culture icon in her life is like expecting me to have the Beatles as my favorite band. It’s a nice thought, but it’s probably not going to happen. The pop culture you connect with is something you have to find for yourself — or, more likely, something that has to find you. It’s not something your parents can give you, no matter how much they want to. And that’s fine. One of the nicknames for my age group is “the Star Wars Generation.” Whether it fits or not isn’t the point. The point is, we don’t need another “Star Wars Generation.” One is enough. Let the kids have their fun. Their own fun.
That doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy the movies, and that doesn’t mean our kids can’t enjoy them along with us. What it means is that as good as “The Force Awakens” is (and, like I said way back at the beginning of this post, it’s very good) it’s not “Star Wars,” and it’s never going to be “Star Wars.”
And the year is never going to be 1977 again.
And, most of all, I’m never going to be 10 years old again.
But that’s OK. My daughter is 10 years old, for now at least. She’s at the perfect age … for something.