So, I have seen the new Star Wars twice now. Being a 37 year old person, I grew up in the golden age of this franchise. Star Wars was a HUGE deal back in the 80's. This movie is now my second favorite in the series. Here we go:
From the very first scene, I was drawn in. The universe that JJ Abrams created is gorgeous. And, we got some great action right from the beginning. Poe Dameron is awesome, and I'm really glad that his part was extended from what it originally was supposed to be.
Next, I would like to jump ahead to talk about Rey. Besides being insanely gorgeous, Daisy Ridley does an awesome job making Rey into the strong female lead that this movie needed. Even the small things like yelling at Finn to stop grabbing her hand lets us know that she is someone who can take care of herself. I love how her story somewhat parallels that of Luke Skywalker in A New Hope.
Finn is next. He's a very interesting character. He was stolen from his family as a child to be trained as a Stormtrooper. And, even though it's all he's ever known, he cannot bring himself to kill and ultimately makes the decision to sneak in and get Poe free and escape Starkiller base. (The new Death Star that's like 100 times bigger than the Death Star.) I'm gonna say it right now. He has to be Lando's son.
Han and Chewie are here, too. Unfortunately, Han finally meets his end at the hands of his own son, Ben, who also happens to be Kylo Ren. I think it was a necessary plot device to further Kylo Ren's story.
There are a bunch of other awesome things that happen. Daniel Fucking Craig plays a Stormtrooper that Rey uses the Jedi mind trick on to get free from capture near the end of the movie. How cool is that?
Anyway, the last part of this horribly written review is dedicated to what I believe was the true breakout star. Adam Driver.
I had no expectation for this guy's performance. I hate his character on girls. Hate him. And, that's pretty much all I knew about him. But, when I tell you that he put on the performance of a lifetime, I'm not giving him enough credit. Ben Solo is very torn inside. Unlike Luke, who was on the light side fighting the dark, Ren is fighting against the light. He was part of a new class of Jedi before being seduced by Supreme Leader Snoke, played by Andy Serkis. His betrayal is what, ultimately, made Luke go into seclusion.
Speaking of Luke, he's in the movie for 45 seconds. Literally. Rey finally finds him at the end and sets up what looks like a great next episode. We shall see in May of 2017.
This movie was amazing. 10/10. I've seen it twice. I'm going to see it more times. I'm not much of a writer, but I hope at least someone enjoyed reading this.
