It is crazy to think that The Force Awakens was released a year ago now. The film with the highest of expectations, which it achieved despite being against insane odds. Now that Rogue One is coming out I decided to have a look back at the crazy event that was The Force Awakens. I say event because it wasn’t just your average film being released but instead was a huge worldwide release of fans rejoicing everywhere. It was a hit both with critics and fans, except for a small group, but does the film hold up a year later? Does it feel the same way the original films do when you re-watch them? The simple answer is yes.
JJ Abrams has recaptured the magic of Star Wars, the magic that was lost in the prequels. The Force Awakens is still great to watch because it feels great. Instead of just being a great event film, like The Avengers was, it instead lives up to it’s own title and has become this guiding light for the future of Star Wars and what it can be. The jokes still hit perfectly, the action is still entertaining, the visuals are like beautifully constructed pieces of art and despite the story being similar to A New Hope it still stands well on it’s own. Harrison Ford and Daisy Ridley are still seen as stand out performances and the questions that remain about Rey’s parents, multiple character origins and who Snoke is will make the film worth watching for years to come.
Top marks has to go for the lightsaber battle. The lightsaber battle between Rey and Kylo Ren is the spectacle of this film. It creates the third type of fighting that the film series has seen so far. The originals was slow and constructed, more like fencing. The prequels was crazy, it was cool but their ability wasn’t really focused on their force powers but how good their sword mastery was. The last Obi Wan and Anakin fight was the pinacle of it all by being fast and making you realise that yeah only force wielders should have lightsabers. The Force Awakens however is rough and tough. The fights they take knocks and continue on they don’t just get hit once with a lightsaber and thats it, looking at Mace Windu’s mates vs Palpatine, like Finn took more cuts then those Jedi masters. The film has laid the foundations for they style of films the future of Star Wars will be and how the fights won’t be crazy spectacles but instead be emotionally filled battles with story and heart behind them.
What I want from Episode VIII is a new story, something different to what everyone is expecting. Similar to how different Empire Strikes Back was to A New Hope. I want it to be dark and mysterious, maybe it is simply two Jedi training whilst being on the run from Snoke and Kylo Ren. A story with alot of answers and alot of questions is ideal to keep fans interested and intrigued for the Episode IX so Star Wars fatigued doesn’t start. It’s crazy to think that it only comes out a year from now and that it’s already been filmed. For the moment the future of Star Wars is in capable hands. For now we have Rogue One and, despite it’s cheesy lines in the trailers, it is getting fantastic reactions so far. Rogue One looks even more beautiful than The Force Awakens does and it will be exciting to see how the single stories go as our favourite universe continues its new found large expansion.