Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Star Wars: Just a Remake?

   Everyone has been talking about the new Star Wars movie. In fact, Star Wars: The Force Awakens surpassed both Titanic and Avatar in box office earnings (my boyfriend told me that, so I am not entirely sure how accurate that fact is). However, despite popular opinion, I was not too crazy about it. 
   The movie begins with Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) helping Finn (John Boyega) escape from the First Order. After a space ship crash, Finn is left to find BB-8, a droid who has come in contact with our heroic lead, Rey (Daisy Ridley). *Spoiler alert* Rey and Finn come across the Millennium Falcon and meet up with Han Solo and Chewbacca. Long story short, Rey learns she is the new master Jedi and must team up with the Resistance to defeat Kylo Ren and the rest of the First Order. This whole plot does sound oddly familiar though right? That's because this movie is none other than a remake of the old ones. Now don't get me wrong, I am happy that we are establishing a new version of Star Wars for the new generation. But I would appreciate a new story with a new plot. The equivalent is making a movie about Harry Potter's son going to Hogwarts only to find that Voldemort's heir is hunting him down. 
    Now this movie did have some pretty amazing aspects to it. The effects were amazing. My boyfriend and I watched the first six together before we saw this one together and the difference from a visual stance is significant. I actually felt like I was in the galaxy fighting the First Order with the Resistance. Plus how can you not love BB-8? He is almost as cute as R2D2. 
   However, I was slightly disappointed by Kylo Ren, or Darth Vader 2.0 I should say. He even has his own helmet and everything. First of all, he is Leia's and Han Solo's son; so naturally, I assumed he would be a very attractive man. When he took off his helmet, I was expecting a darker more mysterious Zac Efron type of guy. But, I was very wrong. All I got was a huge nose staring at me from the screen. Now don't get me wrong, Adam Driver did a very nice job of portraying his character, but he was no Anakin in anyway shape or form. I did not feel the passion of Kylo Ren like I did with Darth Vader. In the older movies, I felt Darth Vader's conflicted feelings. Kylo Ren just made me mad. That is the honest truth. Darth Vader and I had some ups and downs. There were times where I thought I was done with him. We were on and off through the whole series, but in the end I learned to like Darth Vader. I am not so sure about Kylo Ren. There are a lot of things we still do not know about him; but after the stunt he pulled in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, I'm not so sure I will ever like him. 
   In conclusion, if you are a Star Wars fan, then I highly do recommend this movie. It was definitely not my favorite and it doesn't even really compare to the originals. However, it is still incredibly entertaining and just an overall fun and flashy movie.