About a month ago in a movie theater not so far away … The epic film “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” swept the box office away. Massive hype from old and new fans brought in $812,734,828 in North America as of this writing, ranking it number one at the box office. Before it was in theaters there was no lack of hype, outlandish theories and outrageous rantings. Regardless, the newest film was able to bring a new hope to “Star Wars” lovers everywhere.
It was refreshing seeing ”The Force Awakens” mislead us from the trailer. Too often, all the excitement and plot of the movie is shown in that two-minute preview, causing the actual full-length film to feel like the attack of a clone. Finn, played by John Boyega, caught everyone’s eye and was thought to be the newest addition to the Jedi, despite the fact that he was wearing the garb of a Stormtrooper in a previous shot. Despite everyone’s thought’s, it turns out he isn’t actually the descendant of Mace Windu, making the rest of the movie completely unpredictable in what role he would actually play.
Throughout the movie, we see several old, familiar characters return to the screen like a menacing phantom. Though it’s been more than 30 years since Episode VI, we get to see Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher resume their roles as Han Solo and Leia Organa. Arguably, their presence can seem to be a bit over-bearing as they guide the main characters through most of their mission. On the other hand the new main characters, Finn and Rey (Daisy Ridley), are both new to the fight and require help getting up to speed on who exactly they’re fighting.
Finn and Rey are tasked with the mission of recovering information to help find Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) who was the last Jedi to disappear 30 years after the destruction of the second Death Star. As seen in the trailer, a red lightsaber-wielding villain in a mask and black hood named Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) seeks to stop them. His T-shaped lightsaber differs from that of Darth Vader, sporting crackling energy instead of a steady light, which would seem intimidating but Ren’s personality highly contradicts his dark and evil ways. As the main villain of the movie, Ren has gotten both positive and negative attention. He’s definitely not scary, more so unstable, which is a trope that rarely gets explored for major films like these. Ironically, he differs immensely from Darth Vader in both weaponry and character.
A fan favorite is BB-8, a white and orange, round ball of a droid who travels alongside Finn and Rey across the galaxy. The droid has even been seen on the red carpet with the rest of the cast members. BB-8 is a loveable, energetic robot whose iconic design makes it not only unforgettable, but also a great toy that’s available for fans to purchase on a miniature scale. “The Force Awakens” initially followed the path of “Guardians of The Galaxy” and “The Avengers,” forgetting to include their essential female character on toys and merchandise. Then the toy empire struck back with the news that a new wave of toys including Rey is on its way.
Overall, “The Force Awakens” does a great job of setting up the next two sequels set to come out in 2017 and 2019. You won’t get any closure with this film in particular, though. We had all our questions from the trailer answered but we’re left with even more. Will we get to see more of the side characters Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie) and Maz Kanata (Lupita Nyong’o)? What exactly is Finn’s backstory? What happens once Luke Skywalker is found? “The Force Awakens” is an interesting mix of both the trilogies that definitely does its job as an introductory episode, promising much more excitement for whatever “Star Wars” movies come our way next.
