By Paulo Marzionna* (Twitter: @pmarzionna)
Numbers obtained from IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes on January 5, 2016.
Paulo's rating IMDb Rotten Tomatoes
Critics Audience Critics Audience
9.5/10 81/100 8.5/10 93% 90%
Star Wars – The Force Awakens is more than the seventh episode of the most important and impactful film saga in history. It is a sigh of relief for the old fans of the series and a (new) hope for a new generation that has now their first contact with the universe created by George Lucas.
After the disaster of the old “new trilogy” launched between 1999 and 2005, I, like many other millions of fans whose childhoods were built around Star Wars, feared the prospect of the series be complemented by more movies with George Lucas’ seal of quality. The acquisition of LucasFilm by Disney in 2012 brought hope and it was worth the wait after the release of the film in December/2015.
The Force Awakens does not innovate in the way they tell their story or the technology used. However, it does innovate when it respects the passion of millions of fans of the original trilogy, mission in which George Lucas failed miserably in 1999.
The story of the new film is simple and has a series of parallels (or rhymes) with episodes IV and V of the saga – coincidentely, the two best episodes so far.
Just like in the original trilogy, we are introduced to three new heroes (Rey, Finn and Poe Dameron) that quickly are able to conquer the public since their first appearance. The villain, Kylo Ren, in spite of not having the visual presence of Darth Vader, proves to be a character in construction, with excellent growth potential to be exploited in the next film. Finally, old acquaintances of the audience are brilliant in the art of fowarding it to a new generation of protagonists, especially Harrison Ford as Han Solo.
The question asked by many – if The Force Awakens can sustain itself as a film – is irrelevant and inappropriate. It may make sense from the awards standpoint, but not the audience’s point of view, who bought ticket to the movie. The new Star Wars falls within a universe that basically created, shaped and continues shaping much of what we now know as pop culture. And, within this context, The Force Awakens is brilliant to contribute to the growth of mythology around the Skywalker family and to introduce new generations to what happened long ago in a galaxy far, far away…
No wonder Star Wars – The Force Awakens consolidates itself as the second best film in the series, very close to The Empire Strikes Back, in what is the most important ranking being discussed here: my personal taste.
*Although Paulo refuses to count his midi-chlorians, he counts all the views the videos he edits for Arts Commented on YouTube get.
