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COLINS FILM CLUB REVIEW

STAR WARS – THE FORCE AWAKENS (Rated 12)

Star Wars is Back!!! 10yrs after the rather insipid prequels upset quite a few, those of us who remember the warmth and the nostalgia of the original trilogy will be pleased to pick up again with our heroes, both old and new, now 30yrs on in the Star Wars Galaxy... Directed by JJ Abrams who rebooted another classic sci-fi opera called Star Trek, we immediately see a film with obvious nods to its predecessors, which fans will no doubt delight in, but one with those almost trademark Abrams touches, a little bit of lens flare crops up, and some very noticable alien effects too, if its weird and wonderful, then you will find it in here. There is so much to delight in though, this is a film with an epic feel to it, there are grand and sweeping vistas to behold, and the oncoming rush of X-Wings across a lake its one highlight out of many that will have fans glued to the screen. So too when the Millennium Falcon finally soars skywards, there won`t be many in the cinema who be secretly punching the air to support our heroes.

The basic storyline kicks off with the new faces to the Star Wars franchise establishing who they are and their purpose – Poe the brilliant pilot, Rey the scavenger hoping for better things and Finn, a First Order trooper who, disgusted at what he has witnessed the Order do, decides to jump ship. Along with BB8, a chirpy rolling ball-type droid who holds a secret map the First Order needs, Rey and Finn eventually meet up with Han and Chewie. Here, the real quest kicks in... Find Luke Skywalker!!

I do not wish to tell too much of the plot here, suffice to say that there will be plenty of twists along the way, even if some do feel contrived at times – yet again we have a super weapon in the hands of the worst bunch of guys possible, and several elements seem to have been placed in the film as if some reverential fan had written the script – indeed this is the case, as Abrams has often said he is a BIG Star Wars fan.

Speaking of the bad guys though, we should say that in Kylo Ren we have potentially one of the most memorable and powerful villains since Darth Vader himself, from his acts of sheer brutality in eradicating a whole village, to his quite sensational temper-tantrums when things don`t go his way, all are a joy to behold, Ren is clearly an undisciplined force, not fully trained, and it gives him that dangerous edge so lacking from villains in the prequel films. Heeson`s General Hux is another sneering mass of evil, who revels in addressing his First Order troops – it feels very much like your watching Hitler address his troops, and i`m sure that this was the intention – this man has the power to destroy whole planetary system's, are you going to mess with him?

As I sat there watching the film, I was engrossed enough to stay with it, the effects are astounding and there is never really a dull moment, the pace is kept taught and the script is actually quite good, and has a fair share of laughs in it, Chewie complaining of the cold even when covered in fur, Han getting to like using Chewie`s crossbow gun. However, did the feeling that it was good to see all this on the screen again, following on from Return of the Jedi, come flooding back to me....???

Well, yes and no...

As i`ve said, there are some standout moments and don`t get me wrong, The Force Awakens is a really fast, action sci-fi film, but is it an excellent film???? Not completely. This is very hard for me to say because I really wanted to sit there and soak up memories of my youth and was hoping that the film would do this. But in places it left me numb. The ending has all the hallmarks of being rushed, like we had so much story plotted out up to that point that we suddenly had to tie it all up. The time spent getting there, even with the various sidetracks – Han had gone back to smuggling, Finn and Rey meeting up on Jakku – there was a feeling that I really wanted more. Maybe its the fault of the announcement that there will be two further instalments to follow, and that this film really has the unenviable task of setting the tone for the future sequels, that to me I felt i cared little to how these characters meet, simply that I wished for us to be thrown in head first as there is no need to establish the original cast. The Battle for Jakku must have been a magnificent sight, but all we see are the remains of its aftermath, would this not have made a brilliant point to start from, as The Empire Strikes Back did years ago...?

For somebody who queued up at a cinema in Cambridge with his family way back in 1977 to see the original Star Wars, it is good to see the franchise back, possibly stronger than ever and keeping science fiction fantasy high in the box office. They certainly have more competition now – as this years other heavy hitters from Marvel and Universal have shown, people are not quite done with Superheroes and Dinosaurs yet either, but the brand is strong, Disney are good at marketing and in JJ Abrams, the franchise has a fan-boy at its heart who will at least continue what he has started.

I would recommend fans of the series to see this without question, and the casual sci-fi fan should indulge too, but those not looking for hokey old religions should better stick to a good blaster at their side, because if you feel the original trilogy rounded off the story well enough, you might find some of the contrived bits of The Force Awakens a bit jarring..

Still, what does it matter – you all going to go and see it anyway...!!!

I`ve also got through this review without giving away any spoilers too – I hope fans of this page appreciate that. It was very hard but I did it...!

With a strong feeling of nostalgia ribbed from A New Hope, The Force Awakens has re-opened one of film histories most iconic franchises with a Death Star sized bang..!

COLIN FILM CLUB RATING ⭐⭐⭐⭐