Technical sssessment: 4
Moral assessment: 3
CINEMA rating: V13 (Viewers 13 and below with parental guidance)
The trademark Star Wars opening
crawl quickly updates the audience. Three decades after the defeat of the
Galactic Empire, the last Master Jedi Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) has
disappeared. General Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) of the Resistance, a military
force backed up by the Republic, scour the galaxy to track down her long
missing brother Luke. At the Dark Side is the First Order under Supreme Leader
Snoke who has tasked Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and General Hux with destroying
Luke and waging all out war on the Republic. They convert a planet into a
Starkiller Base, a superweapon capable of destroying entire star systems. The
Resistance has sent their best pilot, Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) to retrieve a
clue to the last Master Jedi’s whereabouts. From there, the film introduces a couple
of new characters: Finn (John Boyega), a stormtrooper who gains a conscience,
and Rey (Daisy Ridley), a scavenger on the desert planet Jakku who stumbles
into a droid carrying an important secret. And the saga continues as Finn and
Rey are caught amidst the battle between the Resistance and The First Order.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens brings back the sentiments of the original
trilogy, this time around—with leveled-up visuals, strong emotional center, and
lots of fun—the Star Wars way. The Force
has really awakened in this film that introduces new likeable characters that
updates the story without alienating those who are seeing the franchise for the
first time. Star Wars brings the
audience to a dimension that is futuristic, maybe out-of-this-world, but still
very human. The landscapes, seascapes, and panoramic views are just
breathtaking. The visual and graphic effects are solid. The fight scenes,
particularly the light saber fight scenes are well-choreographed. Given the
layered ebb of conflicts and sub-plots and the many characters human and droid
alike, it could have been easy to get lost in the story, but the crisp editing and pacing and
inspired storytelling are able to maintain the centrality of theme, keeping the
audience on-track of the main characters’ journey. Acting is excellent with
Finn and Ridley giving the story a heart, and Driver providing the needed
intensity. The old familiar characters being portrayed by the original actors
add up to the sentimentality of the entire series of the franchise.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens is all about the battle between the good
Resistance force and the dark side, The First Order. Both forces are after one
goal—to track down the last Master Jedi, Luke Skywalker—the only difference is
their purpose: the Resistance’s objective is to reunite while the The First
Order’s is to destroy. The good side is for reconnection and reconstruction
while the dark side is for disruption and destruction. In the long saga of the
Star Wars, the good side has consistently defeated the dark side, but then
again, the saga never stops. The evil remains, and they are persistent. Darth
Vader may have been destroyed in the first series but its influence left a
successor in Kylo Ren—evil will never stop. From this, the good should never be
complacent. The long history of Star Wars tells the audience that there are
lessons in the past that people should never forget. For as long as there is
life, there will always be evil forces out to destroy it. It’s a lifelong
battle for as long the universe exists. Amidst the battle, hope springs eternal
as shown in the character of Finn who, after serving the First Order,
eventually risks his life to do what he thinks is good. Kylo Ren has struggled
long enough, and though it is seen that his blood is rooted in the good, he was
already saturated with the long-time influence of the dark side, and this leads
to his destruction in the end. While Rey and Kylo Ren are fighting, Rey pointed
out Kylo Ren’s fear and he was weakened. Fear is the path to the dark side.
Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering and
eventually, to death and destruction. In the midst of the battle, the values
that matter remain to be at the center of the film—family, friendship, courage,
and love. But then, the film may be quite too violent for the very young so
CINEMA advises parents and guardians to guide the young audience 13 and below
watching the film.
