Just saw TFA awakens today. Definately an entertaining film overall with particularly strong performances from Adam Driver as Kylo Ren and Harrison Ford (was surprised by just how good his performance was in this, the best acting i’ve seen from him in a good long while), that scene between the two of them was dynamite, could not pull my eyes away, I think that scene is destined to be considered one of the most iconic scenes of all the Star Wars films, alongside Vader’s reveal to Luke in ESB. I thought Boyega and Carrie Fisher did great jobs as well with what they had to work with.
I felt Oscar Isaac could have used more screen time outside of the x-wing to make me more invested in his character during the final battle. I felt the whole aerial battle and trench run bit at the end in general felt a bit flat, wouldn’t have been bothered if it was cut to be honest. Not a fan of the CG X-Wing Tie Fighter battles, it all felt like a very long game cutscene, the OT ships felt far more real so it felt that there was a lot more at stake, the deaths of the x-wing pilots like Biggs felt far more real, I found myself fazing out a bit during the trench run scene in this film when the trench run in Star Wars is so brilliantly done.
Like many here have pointed out, too many scenes in this film felt like homages/rehashes of scenes from the OT, especially Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back. These scenes kept on pulling me out of the film and I had to focus again to get back into it. I hope that they’ve now got all this out of their systems with this film so episode VIII can focus on doing its own thing in terms of story instead of constantly referencing iconic scenes and moments of the Original Trilogy like this film does.
Daisy Ridley’s performance I felt was a little bland, she’s charming but I didn’t feel much depth in her performance, didn’t like how she got so offended by Boyega grabbing her hand to get her away from the first order, overreaction much? Its bits like that that add fuel to the flames of those accusing JJ of pushing a femenist agenda in this film with the character of Rey. Many online have also been saying that her character is a bit of a Mary Sue and after having seen the film, its kinda difficult to disagree. She seemed to be so good at everything, piloting, engineering, fighting with pole, fighting with lightsaber she’d never used before, using the force for mind control etc etc especially when she was showing up Han Solo on his own ship, not at all believable. And of course her holding her own in the lightsaber battle with kylo ren with no training at all is another thing that has been mentioned here and elsewhere many times. They don’t seem to have left much space for her character to grow, she already seems incredibly competent at everything, it’ll be interesting to see where they go with her and what is left for Luke to teach her.
Probably the most important thing for me when it comes to a film is the music and this is personally where I feel TFA really stumbles. The music didn’t do much for me, nothing really stood out, unlike the music from the Original Trilogy which is brilliant. The Phantom Menace at least had Duel of the Fates that was brilliant but I can’t remember any piece of music jumping out at me in this. The lack of memorable pieces of music is probably my biggest issue with TFA right now, hopefully that will change with future viewings. A good musically score is the heart and soul of a film, without one, the film feels kinda hollow, at least to me.
Still digesting what i’ve seen but right now i’d currently give TFA a rating of 7.5/10, very entertaining and easily better than all the prequels but not as good as any of the Original Trilogy.