Actors: Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie
Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong'o,
Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, Max von Sydow
Rating: 10 out of 10, I am a victim of
my youth and the promise exhibited in the First Star Wars trilogy that was
never redeemed in the prequels. The less said about Mr. Binks and the
Portman-Christensen acting chemistry the better. My wife was fully prepped;
brought into the galaxy far, far away fold by viewing the first six films over
the past couple weeks. She’d resisted my geekiness until overpowered by the
constant marketing we’ve all been exposed to. At least it kept the politicians
at bay for a while. The promise is redeemed. The Force Awakens completely
recaptured the feel of that first Star Wars movie before Lucas “updated” it
with CGI. All of the original characters are back, appropriately aged and
arced. The story itself is disturbingly similar to the original but that too is
forgivable since the new actors, especially Ms. Ridley, are so engaged and
likable. There is CGI but it doesn’t become the end all be all that so damaged
the prequel trilogy. It was everything I could have hoped for (which is saying
a lot) and more. There is a cleverly developed shock near the end but the
overall feeling of hope against a monolithic evil is preserved. When the screen
went dark followed by the iconic John Williams score and the letters
disappearing into the immense star field I was transported back to 1977 and
that youthful sense of wonder. It takes a lot for this jaded version of that
1977 moviegoer to be giddy but last night I was and still am. The
semi-suppressed inner geek is in full flower today.
MVP: Ridley as the millenial’s answer
to Luke as Kylo Ren – kicks serious ass all movie long
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