I was tempted to title this post "When a Trekkie goes to watch Star Wars" but I decided to keep it simple so I stuck to the usual. Anywhoo, last night went to see Star Wars Force Awakens and on a whole I felt "meh". First things first,
The premise
Thirty years after the defeat of the Galactic Empire, the galaxy faces a new threat from the evil Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and the First Order. When a defector named Finn crash-lands on a desert planet, he meets Rey (Daisy Ridley), a tough scavenger whose droid contains a top-secret map. Together, the young duo joins forces with Han Solo (Harrison Ford) to make sure the Resistance receives the intelligence concerning the whereabouts of Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), the last of the Jedi Knights.
What I liked?
I liked the action, I liked the droid, I liked the villain's hair. I liked Rey's pants near the end. LOL. What can I say, it was an action packed movie with humour and a leaning towards mysticism. Was it a bad movie? No, but it didn't leave me feeling as though I saw an epic movie like I felt after watching John Wick or Her. I felt lacklustre and as though Hollywood tried to do better than the previous movies instead of making it a damn good movie.
What I didn't like?
I didn't like that they didn't explore mature love. Here is Han Solo and General Leia meeting for the first time after he skipped out on her because he couldn't handle his son going over to the dark side. Hell, Chewy (I know I spelled that wrong) gave her a hug long before Han did. And the extent of their affection was a lacklustre hug. Memo to Hollywood, old people do kiss, it's not relegated to the young.
I know I'm nitpicking on this one, but Finn should have been dead in the scene when he was caught by the rolling octopus. I'm just saying, if these things killed the bad guys on first contact but gives the brother a tour of the ship, I call foul.
As for the brother, Finn, you are a very moist person. Sorry, I couldn't help but notice when you sweated. Also there was a point where you entered the realm of Kevin Hart when it came to your humour and it didn't work for me as it pulled me out of the movie. But I must say, I've grown to like storm troopers.
In my last breath
Star Wars is for the fans, they get the little nuances of the story and love to watch the dynamic between the dark side and .... the light side? For me, I went with an open mind and enjoyed parts of it but as a whole, I would rather have watched it at the end of a Star Wars marathon on cable. Oh, and I'm nitpicking again, but I felt the intro was a bit dated. I mean I recognize it for what it was but it didn't feel like new blood. It felt like the franchise hadn't moved on but promised the same old same old. That's my take on it.
Should you watch it?
Sure, if you are into Star Wars, space opera's, intergalactic dog fights and young people coming to terms with their place in the universe. Nope, if you aren't into those things.
Image Credit: i
