Star Wars: the Force Awakens Review

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

American film director, J.J. Abrams set out to return to the roots of the first Star Wars film and be based more on emotion than explanation with a smooth transition. Abrams felt that the film "needed to take a couple of steps backwards into a very familiar terrain" and use plot elements from previous Star Wars films. In order to do this, Abram tied together and reconnected the film to the past movies.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens has many themes but one major one is power of friendship. Abram uses this theme to demonstrate that when they stick together (the light side) they can overcome and beat anything (the dark side). One example is Finn trying to escape the First Order, while Poe is trying to get back to the Resistance, so their thing they have in common is survival and help each other out. Throughout the movie Finn makes multiple friends on his journey trying to find the Resistance.

 The Force Awakens actually used very little computer-generated imagery and used more practical traditional special effects. Abrams's reasoning for using practical special effects was to recreate the realism and legitimacy of the original Star Wars. Abram removed some scenes to change the plot to simplify the film more. The film was actually converted to a 3D production when released.

Abrams relied upon the technique of mise en scene to create the mood, tone, and atmosphere of the film. He decided to use real locations for the film so he can try and make some of the scenes look like scenes from the Star War sagas. These places were Skellig Micheal in Ireland and RAF Greenham Common in the United Kingdom.

Abrams also relied mostly on deep focus as well as selective focus for the film. He uses a lot of deep focus letting the audience see everything in the shot. When Finn and Rey are trying to fix the Falcon the audience is able to see everything in the Falcon allowing us to focus on whatever we want.  Now in the shots he uses close ups he uses a lot of selective focus. For example, when Kylo Ren is talking to Obi-wan before killing him. It's a close up scene and they blur out the back so you can focus on what is being said. 

Yes, Abrams succeeded in what he was trying to do. He created a film that tied together all the previous Star Wars and recalls the past films while injecting it with renewed energy. He pulled off a delicate balancing act, paying clever homage to the past. He created a hit film that didn't ruin the sagas and that people fell in love with wanting another movie made. The film was nominated five academy awards; best achievement in film editing, in music, in visual effects, in sound mixing and sound editing.

Yes, the film was worth doing! The film brought back all the old Star Wars fans striking all the right chords, emotional, to feel both familiar and delightedly new. It was the most profitable film of 2015 and actually the most profitable film in the last seven years. It was a big hit in the United States as well as in Canada and Germany. This film changed the whole science fiction genre causing people to impatiently wait for the next movie to come out in December 2019.

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