4/10
An email send to friends in March 2016
Folks, I’ve finally seen Star Wars 2016 and after digesting it for a couple of days I can report how I feel. I’ve been a moderate fan of Star Wars since the 1977 original blew as all away and was followed by two enjoyable and memorable sequels. But I’m really a science fiction fan, and not specifically a Star Wars fan, so to me, Star Wars is simply a subset or particular genre of SF and it’s hard to avoid reviewing outside of that general perspective.
Overall, it’s good entertainment that returns somewhat to the feel of the original, with lots of sentimental tributes thrown in for the fans (some of which were rather ham-fisted). Most of the acting is a bit wooden and the dialogue is a bit corny, but who cares really … it’s expected, it’s a Star Wars swashbuckler. The Star Wars universe has always contained a lot of science babble with inconsistent technology everywhere, but again, it’s just Star Wars so who cares? The CGI action was impressive of course, but a bit overlong in places, like they had to spend an allotted slice of their huge budget on dogfights. Some of the mid-air collisions, flying debris, break-ups and crashes into water and buildings had very realistic physics modelling.
The worst thing about the movie was the dreadfully dull slow bits. Between the huge action scenes there were excruciating slow dialogue or walking or running around scenes. Some of these slow scenes made me cringe and some made me twirl my fingers in the classic theatre “move the scene on” gesture. Don’t big budget directors know that repeated scenes of running through forests or walking down corridors are one of the classic symptoms of B-grade movies? I got quite sick of them in this movie. Marcia noticed many continuity errors, such as walking through a door and immediately coming through the other side with clothing items missing or altered. This movie would have been much better if at least 15 minutes were cut out and the dialogue and exposition was tightened up. Imagine if Joss Whedon had directed it.
The development arc of the various characters was good, but a bit slow. I had no previous knowledge of the various relationships between the good and evil characters, so they were entertaining revelations. Adam Driver makes an interesting new Darth with a complex character that should develop well. I guess Harrison Ford decided he’d retire from the franchise and Abrams had to pass the baton on to the mandatory plucky pretty butt-kicking chick. How much did Mark Hamill get paid for appearing in this movie?!
In Summary, it’s an entertaining movie aside from the awkward slow bits, but as an SF purist, I found the whole movie lacked edginess. The most SF part of the movie was seeing the planet killer weapon in action, but even that went a bit silly when they explained how it was draining the sun for power. This is a billion dollar budget franchise, so they’re not going to take any risks and include startling or imaginative SF twists that would confuse the suburban grind who flock to see the movie. After coming out, I felt like I’d been to an expensive smorgasbord meal and had been served and eaten everything. I'd like to see it again, but with a fast forward button in my hand.
Greg
P.S. A friend pointed out that he was disappointed when Adam Driver appeared without his helmet, thereby spoiling the mystery of the character. When I first saw Adam's face I wasn't sure who he was, not thinking that they would do something as clumsy as revealing the main protagonist's face so early in the series. My friend was also upset that the storm troopers were the subject of sight gags, thereby humanising them too much.
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