There’s something to be said of a movie franchise that has become so powerful that is has the ability to monopolize a cinema with its presence. For the past 3 weeks since Star Wars opened in my city, the local cinemas have exclusively reserved ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ as its prime blockbuster with up to 10 show times a day.
While the remaining dregs and children films that were brave enough to weather the Star Wars onslaught are unceremoniously kicked under the seat; set aside for those who feel like watching a movie at 9 in the morning or would like to catch a film on a Tuesday night.
I may sound pessimistic and bitter, but in truth I quite liked ‘The Force Awakens’. It was a genuinely fun and entertaining movie. Why it’s a good film has become a stale and irrelevant topic. The legion of Youtube reviews and the highly anticipated RedLetterMedia review of the movie have gone through enough detail.
Was it good because it was a soft reboot of ‘A New Hope’?
Was it good because the prequels were so horrendously terrible? Or;
Was it good because it fulfilled everyone’s expectation?
If you’re like me, I felt it was all of the above. The movie was smartly written, sophisticated, well timed and paced. The acting was refreshing and believable; all the new characters were interesting and likeable, which really made the transition from our old beloved characters (Han, Luke and Leia) to these new faces fun and easy (Rey, Finn and Po).
So what is this feeling of discontent?
‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ is more a product than a film. It was handcrafted and polished to be as effective as it possibly can. It’s not a film to admire and pout, it is quite literally part of a string of merchandise aimed at the largest group of people and then launched at its viewers like a meteoric space grenade.
On the grand scheme of things the movie was alright. It highlights how horrendously mistaken George Lucas was when he directed Episodes I, II and III. The meaningless direction those movies took and the god awful script to accompany it. But it also shows that the franchise has little to nothing left to offer. Is there so little that can be changed in a new movie in order to keep it in line with people’s expectations? I mean they literally made another Death Star with a hole in it.
The movie seemed to be damage control. It was the path of least resistance, completely void of risk and creative merit. But that’s why it worked, right?
I think ‘The Force Awakens’ was a great film, but that’s only because I like Star Wars and it hit a few nostalgia nerves from my childhood, and to be quite honest, I was 12 when I saw ‘A New Hope’ and I remember not even liking it that much.
It’s disheartening to realize that the film industry is dominated by action movies however. Even though I very much look forward to the new Marvel, DC and Disney instalments, I’d like to be able to take a breather from the noise once in a while.
Thus, the hype has been well expected. I’m in awe of the amount of effort and money thrown into restarting a ridiculed and sombre franchise. They chose the perfect director, and they designed the right script. What’s more I don’t think anyone even expected to be getting a new Star Wars movie before it was announced.
But the new Star Wars flick has blinded us from what it truly is – it’s just a sci-fi movie, nothing more.
And so I guess it all boils down to me feeling like a sucker. I didn’t expect to like the film, yet I did; just like I didn’t expect to want Star Wars Merchandise, yet I kind of do (how cool is that Kylo Ren saber though? Seriously forget the practical applications, that thing is the tits).
It all becomes very suspect in the end, and I wonder how much of my opinion of the movie was based on a genuine feeling, and how much was based on the tactics of Disney’s gargantuan, all-encompassing marketing department.
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