Star Wars The Force Awakens

It has arrived. The most anticipated Sci-Fi movie of 2015 premiered on Dec 17th.   Star Wars hit the water with a big splash in the cinematic market. The Force Awakens also introduced some new actors, led by a trusted director JJ Abrams.  The movie was able to deliver a story that was widely enjoyed and appreciated by the star wars fan base.  A fan base that was willing to put out an enormous amount of cash for their galaxy far far away.

So what did Star Wars fans think of the new chapter introduced.  Robert Hamilton a MHS English teacher told us “Overall I loved it, and it was fun, but lacked plot creativity.”

It seems like many of the fans enjoyed the movie but didn’t seem to live up to the hype.  Michael Stevenson said “I thought it was okay, but the story was very slow to start.”

The Force Awakens  was made to introduce the new characters, and heroes of the galaxy, and set up our story to be continued. This in turn made the film a little slow to take off, but it did maintain the classic Star Wars feel. This drummed up a lot of nostalgia for older fans of the series.

“We got a lot of strange looks from younger people at the movie,” said student teacher Jen Marshman

So how much money did Star Wars the Force Awakens rake in?  It has generated 1.7 billion globally as of January 10^th 2016(boxofficemojo.com). Keep in mind that this number is still climbing due to the movie’s popularity. It has also broken the record for the highest grossing film of all time in North America (boxofficemojo.com). The Force Awakens also broke the record for the fastest movie to ever gross $1 billion (cinemablend.com).

“It’s the first time since high school I’ve gone to see a movie twice.” exclaimed Hamilton,

Among all of these accomplishments it now sits as the third highest grossing movie in the world (cinemablend.com).  Now, if that wasn’t enough to impress you, maybe this is. Guess how much was spent to make these money making beast? Only 200 million in the actual making of the movie (businessinsider.com) and $423 million all together when marketing of the movie is included (businessinsider.com). Now how did this introductory movie make this much money?

JJ Abrams. His directing in the 2000’s has proved that he has an entertaining and smooth style in his films. For God’s sake he produced Cloverfield and made a hand held camera movie into a masterpiece. Later on he was able to revive the other Sci-Fi cult classic Star Trek, in great new way that captured old fans and made new ones.  JJ Abrams managed to create an entertaining an enjoyable re-instalment and introductory film to revive the Star Wars universe in a new way. Though the movie was slow to start, it seems to have been pieced together in a fantastic way that lead the audience into this new galaxy, while maintain the old essence.

The Force Awakens also brought several new actors into the spotlight.  We see Finn, the turncoat Stormtrooper, played by John Boyega. Another character Rey was done by Daisy Ridley. Then Adam Diver took on the role as the film’s iconic villain Kylo Ren.

“I was personally surprised by the protagonist.” Said Marshman

Stunningly not one of these actors had been in a major motion picture before. With that in mind, their acting is phenomenal. They all do great job of delivering lines as well as conveying the full emotion of their character. It’s quite the feat to share a screen with a seasoned actor like Harrison Ford, and not lose you character in Han Solo’s shadow.  So overall how does The Force Awakens match up to the old saga and the movies of 2015?

I would give The Force Awakens an 8/10.  The overall movie under JJ Abrams directing provided wonderful entertainment with plenty of twists. Although some complained at the pace and plot within the movie, I believe it was still done in great way. It provides a great base introduction for the phenomenal series that is to come. The acting and special effects in the movie were definitely great. The eights are given to movies that are entertaining and enjoyable even though there were minor errors throughout the film that could’ve been done better.