A long, long time ago, in a land far, far away, a film was made about a war between rebels and the evil empire. It was a very special film that has since been a great addition to film history. It was special in many ways, but what I want to get to here and now is that it was a film that started in the middle of the action. The film was called Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope. The very act of starting with the fourth episode in a series of events was either very stupid or very clever.
At the time, I probably thought it was strange, if I was even aware of it. Later, I joined the group that believes that it is details like these that make the film so special. I remember that the rumor that was circulating was that there were plans for a total of nine films. The three that were originally made, three that took place earlier, and three that took place later. With hindsight, we can see that there is now a trilogy with the plot even before the original trilogy. And this is the first one that takes place after it.
Film number seven in the series with the same episode number. What is exciting about this is that you are already so familiar with the story that you would like to have a story that you recognize the basics of. It is appropriate to bring actors and characters from the earliest films to make the feeling of nostalgia as high as possible. All said and done, that is exactly what has been done with this seventh film. We see Harrison Ford as Han Solo, Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia and Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker. Simply brilliant. The fact that not everyone has leading roles is no obstacle, you have to understand that the plot no longer revolves around these characters as they did in the original films. They have done a good job of connecting what could have happened after the earliest films ended.
Han and Leia have children together and Luke is the last Jedi. There are references to the Millennium Falcon, references by the way… the ship is in the film. What more could you ask for? Darth Vader is referenced in a good way but I would be lying if I didn’t say I was disappointed with his “replacement”. It is clear that Darth Vader is not in it but there is another masked character who is thought of before the famous film villain. Unfortunately, he falls short in most of the scenes he appears in. It is simply not the same without Darth Vader. There is no getting away from it.
There is a lot of other things I don’t like either. There is way too much audience-pleasing humor. That’s how cheesy action movies should be these days. I don’t really find that kind of humor in the earlier films. There are a bit too “simple” solutions to certain things, there is too much repetition of things that have been done before. I realize that the balance between references and homages to previous events and repetitions is a delicate one. No one will come and say that you are not faithful to the plot that has been previously outlined. But it still comes across as wrong in my eyes.
It is solid craftsmanship but it lacks that little extra feeling that takes the experience to the right heights. I will keep this text spoiler-free so it is difficult to go into detail. I am definitely looking forward to the next part in the series even though I think they could have done better here. The rating fluctuates between two possibilities and I have a bit of a hard time deciding. On the one hand, it is very well done and entertaining, while on the other, it is a bit too cocky and superficial in places. But I ultimately choose to award the higher of my two options.
