Star Wars, The Force Awakens

Other authorsJ.J. Abrams (Director)

Video Recording, ?

Series

Star Wars Movies (Episode 7)

Star Wars Sequel Trilogy (1)

Collection

Your library

Description

As Kylo Ren and the sinister First Order rise from the ashes of the Empire, Luke Skywalker is missing when the galaxy needs him most. It's up to Rey, a desert scavenger, and Finn, a defecting stormtrooper, to join forces with Han Solo and Chewbacca in a desperate search for the one hope of restoring peace to the galaxy.

User reviews

LibraryThing member comfypants

Another evil empire has another giant death ray, and Luke Skywalker is missing.

Like most J.J. Abrams movies, it's cobbled together out of pieces of better movies - in this case, the original Star Wars trilogy. It has very little that's new, apart from some great character moments. And I felt like

it was an hour longer than it is. Considering it's J.J. Abrams (whose other movies all bother me, a lot), it's pretty good. The only thing that really disappoints me about it is the lack of (original) iconic imagery. Even when the prequel trilogy is at its worst, it's still iconic. I feel like that's an essential element of what a Star Wars movie is - each one is visually unique in an unforgettable way. The script for this one had plenty of elements to achieve that (Lightsaber fight in the snow? Bloody handprint on a stormtrooper's helmet? About a half dozen new worlds?), but everything ended up feeling like a reference to the other movies, never its own thing.

Concept: B
Story: C
Characters: B
Dialog: B
Pacing: C
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: B
Music: B

Enjoyment: B

GPA: 2.6/4

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LibraryThing member infjsarah

Fabulous with that big surprise towards the end which explains so much. It's a sad film too and yet I had a huge grin on my face at the end. Thank goodness Disney didn't disappoint us.

LibraryThing member Lucky-Loki

The choice to do a paint-by-numbers rehash of the plots, themes, arcs and even character dynamics of the original trilogy is of course the safe way to go, but it didn't necessarily have to be a bad one. And indeed, despite the inane even-bigger-death-laser plot of the third act, the film is

surprisingly decent. My main non-laser peeve is the completely underwhelming use of the (stellar) premise of the stormtrooper growing a conscience being one of the protagonists. The character, who on paper should be the standout of not just this but virtually any Star Wars film, is instead somehow bland and uninteresting, and gets nothing of importance to do. (And that's in this film, where he actually has screentime and a sense of agency.) But oh well. Wasted opportunities is what Star Wars prequels and sequels are all about. And everything else works, more or less. It's pretty, it's exciting, it's even a bit emotional. Would have been a very good first, safe step to more innovative and daring sequels. That such weren't forthcoming, well, it's not this film's fault. In isolation, at least, "Force Awakens" is quite even and, in my opinion, fun and watchable.

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LibraryThing member jntjesussaves

Acting: 4.5; Theme: 4.5; Content: 4.5; Language: 5.0; Overall: 4.5

The First Order, thirty years after the battle of Endor, seeks to destroy the New Republic. Led by Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher), the resistance movement, must face the reemergence of the evil empire. With the help of Rey (Daisy

Ridley), Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), and Finn (John Boyega), the resistance battles the son of Han Solo (Harrison Ford), Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) in order to defeat the evil influence of the empire. Highly recommend.

***July 25, 2023***

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