Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)
★★★ — Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)
Thirty-two years after Return of the Jedi (1983) closed out the original trilogy, and a full decade after the divisive prequel era ended with Revenge of the Sith (2005), J.J. Abrams took the helm of this long-awaited franchise revival following Disney's $4 billion acquisition of Lucasfilm in 2012. Abrams, who had already demonstrated his appetite for legacy-franchise stewardship with his Star Trek reboots (2009 and 2013), brought his Bad Robot production company into partnership with Lucasfilm for a reported budget of $245 million, a figure that makes more sense once you factor in the practical sets, location shoots across Abu Dhabi and Iceland, and a cast blending familiar faces with largely unknown newcomers in Daisy Ridley and John Boyega. The film arrived at a cultural moment of genuine franchise anxiety, with audiences and Lucasfilm alike keen to draw a clean line under the prequel trilogy's reputation, and it went on to gross over two billion dollars worldwide.
The Episode 4 remake. I remember really enjoying this when I first watched it. It had the magic, the spectacle, and I went to the midnight screening FULL of hope. When I saw Han and Chewie arrive on the the Falcon, I won’t lie, I teared up. But let’s be honest: it’s basically a direct remake of A New Hope. Beat for beat. And while that nostalgia worked at the time, in hindsight, it feels... safe. It doesn't take risks, it doesn’t add anything really to the saga, and knowing where the sequel trilogy ultimately went (yikes), it’s hard to look back on this without a sense of disappointment and wasted opportunity. That said, my 10-year-old daughter absolutely loves this movie, and maybe that says something. For a new generation, it works. But for me? It’s just fine. Nothing terrible, nothing special.
Rating: ★★★ | Year: 2015 | Watched: 2015-12-04
Related on Movies With Macca
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