Star Wars : The Force Awakens

Rating : 6/10
Release Date : 25th December, 2015
Time : 135 minutes
Director & Writer: JJ Abrams; Co-writers: Lawrence Kasdan, Michael Arndt (based on characters created by George Lucas); Music : John Williams;
Starring : Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, Domhnall Gleeson, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Andy Serkis




The best moments of this episode of Star Wars are due to nostalgia – the sight of the rascally Harrison Ford and Chewie, for example – rather than the story (ordinary, predictable), special effects / stunts / characters / weapons / ships (nothing great, unlike past editions). What does work though, are two fine, new, relatively unknown leads (Daisy Ridley, John Boyega) and some snappy humour, particularly between the two of them (& Harrison).

Luke, the last Jedi, has vanished. The Republic and the Resistance needs him and some new heroes as they are about to be over-run by the Third Force (powered by Adam, Andy and Domhnall, among others). The usual thrills and spills follow, with one sequence where Daisy, John flying in the Millenium Falcom, fight off some enemy airships, standing out in memory, the others being quite run of the mill and none of the characters really being sufficiently built up to make us truly care.

Spoilt on tales like Game of Thrones, even the ‘twists’ seem strangely tame and the entire story very linear, straightforward. Maybe it was too much to expect from a storyline, which has been, right from inception, the classic tale of good vs evil (and how, quite deliciously, both reside in each one of us - perhaps an angle more relevant today, should be played up). Or, perhaps, they’re just moving the story on, for the next episode…