Baaa, ba bababa, ba bababa, ba ba ba baaaaa ba, ba ba ba baaaa ba, ba ba babaaaaaa I bet you sang that intro perfectly! But seriously how awesome is Star Wars??
Star Wars Episode VII is huge, at the time writing this the movie has already passed the domestic box office record and has sent nerds around the globe into debates about whether this movie is great or disappointing. If you know me at all, you know what my answer is: Great!
This film starts off 30 years after Episode VI; The empire has scattered and the rebels have instituted a new government to unite the galaxy. The opposition comes by way of the First Order, a spin-off of the empire who seek to take back their place as rulers of the galaxy. With that set up the movie follows familiar story points from A New Hope. Plans are stuck in a droid, our unlikely heroes are thrust into action, and then forced to take sides and fight evil in the galaxy. They even have a “Death Star” the Rebels need to blow up!
The major criticism of the movie is that this is too derivative or too similar to the original. To that I offer a couple of counter points. Warning: Ahead are some spoilers so if you haven't seen the movie tread carefully....
First, what this movie does well: It feels like the same universe we left after Episode VI. The returning characters help this, but the majority of this comes by way of settings and themes. I get the complaint that this is too similar to A New Hope but I think this is intentional. The recurring themes are meant to give the fans some familiarity and remind us of all the things we love about Star Wars.
The movie also introduces 4 steller new characters (Poe, Finn, Rey, and Kylo) who are all very relatable and easy to love. This was the most important component to create a successful sequel trilogy, and they nailed it.
Finally, they introduced new elements that we have never seen in a Star Wars film. One example is Finn defecting from the First Order as a Stormtrooper and joining the Rebels. These new elements make it feel both familiar and fresh.
There were some issues I had with the movie but they were minor nitpicks that aren’t original nor worth writing down. Overall this movie was fun, well made, and most importantly felt like going back home to a franchise that I love. It wasn’t a perfect movie but I did see it four times and came out loving it more and more each time.
My final score: 4 out of 5 repeat viewings.