The Mouse Awakens
The Force Awakens has got something going for it that not even its ultimate successor can take from it: it got to be the film in which Star Wars became fun again. Younger people might not get this, but for a long time it looked like there really would never be any more Star Wars films (as ludicrous as that sounds in this Age of the Mouse). But prior to the Disney acquisition, I had no real expectation that sequels were ever coming. On the one hand, that was good, because they couldn’t mess things up more, but still, it’s always fun, in a very six-year-old way, to have more lightsabers on screen. So I remember the tremendous excitement I felt going to see this film by myself in the theater at Favore Mall in Toyama, which only grew as I enjoyed the film all the way through.
The trouble is, I really don’t have that much to say about this film outside of that nostalgic first viewing experience. Maybe I never had much to say about Star Wars in the first place. Maybe I shouldn’t have committed to doing a series, and should have just stuck to films I’m gushing to talk about. Or maybe, as much as I love film and adore the visual arts, maybe I’m just not that good at coming up with creative or interesting things to say about them, especially when writing with only the energy I have left over from teaching.
Or maybe that’s all this film is - a Star Wars ride. If you like Star Wars, you’ll have fun on the ride, but don’t try to do anything besides just enjoying the ride.
The film does have a couple things really going for it, besides nostalgia. For one thing, the core idea - that the film is about kids who grew up in the world of Star Wars finally getting to play at it for real - is a real mood that translates as honest. For another, the casting department knocked it out of the park. Finally, the film is just gorgeous to look at. I mean, look at these shots:
Especially the fight in the forest, which ranks as one of my favorite moments in the saga, mainly because of how it is lit.
The last thing I’ll say about the film is that I found Kylo talking his father into giving Kylo the strength to kill him compelling in a troubling way, because it reminded me of how I worry I talk to other people to get reassurance so that I can feel safe carrying out some sin (admittedly I have never done anything like murder a beloved character - it’s just an analogy).
