Em for Movies - Star Wars: The Force Awakens

I saw Star Wars: The Force Awakens on opening weekend, though I’m not sure how. I am not a proper Star Wars geek. I didn’t book tickets in advance, I didn’t show up particularly early, I didn’t dress up or spend an inordinate amount of money. In a bid to reach maximum audience and properly shatter every box office record, nearly every screen in the gigantic multiplex was showing the same movie, and even with its staggering popularity, Star Wars hadn’t sold out. At least not literally.

As part of a franchise and a Disney product, you can’t honestly expect an original film. I didn’t. But, wide-eyed optimist that I am, I hoped.

Scientists seem reasonably certain that there is a great deal of universe out there beyond our atmosphere. Thus, space is the setting for some truly amazing tales of imagination and wonder. A saga of epic proportions set in worlds light-years from our own has the potential to bring so many new vistas, creatures, characters and situations. The Force Awakens didn’t have any of these. In what amounted to nearly a scene-for-scene recreation of the original Star Wars (A New Hope), we were presented with practically nothing we haven’t seen before. As though each successful element of the previous six movies was printed on the side of a ping pong ball, pulled at random from a cage and the movie was judged complete when a die-hard Star Wars fanboy/screenwriter shouted “Bingo!” in a paroxysm of delight. Whether the filmmakers were feeling nostalgic, or simply risk-averse, it hardly matters. Copy. Paste. Success.

To be fair, some things were improved upon. The special effects were quite impressive. The audience laughed, cried, ooohed and aaahed right on cue. The recipe seemed to have worked. After all, practice makes perfect. So why do I feel so disappointed?

I think they played it safe, and it shows.

I give it a Coors. Good but not great, and somewhat lacking imagination.



Cheers,

Em