As part of my Christmas viewing I had a sudden urge to rewatch
The Force Awakens. A long time ago (7 years) in my old flat not far far away from where I am now. I was feeling nostalgic for that build up to Xmas 2015 when everyone was in breathless anticipation of the first new star wars in a decade. I'd bought loads of lego sets and books for my son for and the countdown to the big day was overshadowed by my countdown to the other big day. I'd failed to avoid the trailers including that superb final trailer and couldn't wait.
Putting aside my disdain for the sequel trilogy as a whole, I thought this got off to a pretty great start. The overall tone, the slick combination of practical and CGI effects, the energetic pace- all good. And BB-8 is a fantastic new addition to the Star Wars droid pantheon that gives the film a unique flavour. Yet as the 'story' progresses it begins to fall apart and even my nostalgia for 2015 couldn't overcome that. What struck me this viewing was just how bizarrely JJ Abrams directs and edits his characters. They often pull daft expressions; react in nonsensical ways to things; say and do stupid or inexplicable things; and change their attitudes on a dime- often in the same scene. Rey for example will go from sweet and kind to angry and annoyed, for no reason whatsoever. It's kind of a shame because I really like her for a lot of the time, and there was potential for her to be one of the saga's best heroes. Finn's arc still makes no sense. Other dialogue is cringe-making. I still hate the way the film presses the reset button on everything and the less said about Starkiller base the better, but we've covered that ad nauseum so I wont go into that.
A few scenes still really stand out as superb:
- The early Falcon chase on Jakku; still goose-pimplingly good.
- The 'dream sequence' is superbly directed.
- The lightsaber duel is the best in the trilogy. Raw and emotional and gorgeously shot.
Unfortunately this viewing does confirm that TFA is amoung the worst films in the saga, down the bottom and not far above
Rise of Skywalker, Solo and
The Phantom Menace. The Last Jedi is the better film simply by default.
5/10