The Force Awakens is probably one of the most anticipated films this year. And the hype grows stronger as the screening date approaches. With every new trailer, fans beamed their brightest smile and took a deep breath of euphoria and shudder in adrenaline rush.
But not me. I am a critic by all means, and while others join the Light Side, I wander in the Dark Side just meekly hoping that it was good. I stroll into the theater like a 501st storming the Jedi Temple and sat on my seat and stare blankly at the ads playing in screen ahead like a representatives staring down at the performers in Coruscanti opera hall. Then everything changed. Excitement swell with the opening theme, as short as it may with only 3 paragraphs to scroll through, but by the time the stars pan down, my spine was tingling. And by the time my snow boots step out of the theater, I am a gleeful Jawa.
However, as I said, I am a critic, and the "goods" of the movie isn't my specialty, so lets get down to what I find lacking:
- 1. The monsters that dwell in Han's stolen cruiser is questionable in design. From what I witnessed through multiple shots of rapid movement, it looks like a blob of flesh with many eyes and tentacled appendages. In another word, generic tentacled alien. With Star Wars, I expected more elaborate design. Look at the wampa, the acklay, the sarlacc, and even the dianoga!
- 2. The design in general. Among things I liked in the movie was the design of the new Star Destroyer, but design was also its downfall. The TIE fighters shown in the movie is pretty much identical to the TIE/ln of the pre-Episode 4 era, despite the advances of the TIE interceptor technology in Episode 6. 30 years later, the First Order decides its main fighting craft would be a black TIE fighter with: a hyperdrive, a new sensor array, a copilot seat with ejector seat function, and 3 firing modes? And then there is Starkiller Base. It is the lovechild of Star Forge and Death Star, and it is a planet that have a massive chunk cut out along the equatorial line, filled with machinery gimmicks and one massive cannon. (Granted, the cannon's destructive power is a sight to behold)
- 3. The design of the shuttle. Seen about 3 times throughout the film, this shuttle flies with the wings turned upwards at around 30-45 degrees like so: \__/ and when it lands, it meets up at the top and the upper half retracts to save room: /__\ I find this design choice too simplistic and disturbing. The body of the shuttle is just flat, without any distinguishing features and the wings aren't anything special either. It'd have been slightly cooler if there is a turret of sorts sprouting from the top.
- 4. This rant is targeted directly at Kylo Ren. He is weak, granted, but why does he sound like a boy wearing a bucket over his head to sound like Vader? And he also acts like Vader Jr. by throwing a literal fit when he is displeased. And despite him being weak, he took the "stop blaster bolt on Bespin" move and step it up a notch: he stopped a blaster bolt in midair! Not even Vader could do that!
- 5. Lastly, Luke only appeared for one scene. What a waste of Mark Hamill!
But to conclude, the movie was very well done overall and it certainly exceeded my expectations. I have no ground to talk about the positive notes, but I will give it a solid 8.7/10, will watch again.