Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens - Our Verdict

The excitement was obvious and once everyone settled in, the screen lit up and we finally get to see what all the fuss was about.

<u>So, how was it?</u>

Straight off The Force Awakens is a ton of fun. It’s slick, it’s exciting and most brilliantly it’s funny - like laugh out loud funny.

The initial set-up blasts our new characters into focus with Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) delivering wicked lines to awesome bad guy Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). What’s most noticeable is how slick the dialogue is - a far cry from the clunky prequels. Finn (John Boyega) and Rey (Daisy Ridley) ping off one another with well-tuned writing that gives them an instant connection, the second they meet you settle right into the film. Chief crowd pleaser though is the new droid on the block, BB8, who delivers laughs through bleeps, blurps and spectacularly-choreographed body language.

However, once the big guns come into play in the form of Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew), you can’t deny their appeal. 

It’s so satisfying to see these characters return and funnily enough not much has changed. Han’s still running away from his responsibilities, Leia (Carrie Fisher) is still a fervent leader, but both have been through a lot in the last 30 years and they wear it well. They are interwoven with these new characters so expertly you see awesome new relationships form.

Story-wise, director and writer J.J. Abrams has drawn from the tropes of the films that came before and he’s not ashamed of it. There are strikingly familiar scenarios here but with a sharper edge.

From the locations to the extras, right down to the finer details, there’s a wealth of references to the previous films. The borrowing is measured with great new plot lines for characters that are exciting, but take some occasional pill swallowing. With a new story to get moving, Abrams and co-writer Lawrence Kasdan have made tough but well-balanced choices here with characters.

The effects and the sets are mind-blowing. I was stunned at the amount of real sets and in-camera alien characters there were. This is great to see, the film obviously has a lot of CGI in it, but it doesn’t lean on it so heavily like the prequels did. The digital characters here are well-rounded and looked great too especially Maz Kanata (Lupita Nyong’o).

I thought Kylo Ren was the absolute stand out of the film, a truly mixed up and fierce individual.

Bad guys have to have layers and Adam Driver was just note perfect in delivering one of the best Star Wars villains you could hope to see. He’s actually more interesting than Darth Vader.

The Force Awakens is a great film and stands well on it’s own. It’s a massive jump start for the Star Wars franchise with new characters, along with the old forging a new saga that will hopefully continue to be as entertaining as this first instalment.

<u>Did the Lake District play a starring role?</u>

Not really, what you see in the trailers is close to what you get. There are some more shots but pretty much of similar back drops for the big aerial fight between the tie fighters and the x-wings.

The planet we are on for these scenes is a jumping point to another. It is so good to see those familiar landscapes on the big screen.

<u>Fellow viewers' reactions</u>

“I guess they still do make them like they used to. Superb”

“Brilliant return for the franchise, somehow they have made a better villain than Darth Vader in the new Kylo Ren!”

“Feel of the old movies with new characters embellishing it”

<u>Our verdict</u>

9 / 10

<u> Quiz</u>

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