Friday 15 December 2017

Film Review | Character and Storytelling: Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2016)

“Star Wars: The Force Awakens is some kind of miracle. It works on every imaginable level -  as a heartfelt love letter to fans, and an irresistible invitation to newbies, a visual marvel and blockbuster of unparalleled emotional heft and cultural significance” (Isaac Feldberg, We Got This Covered, 2016). Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) co-written and directed by J.J. Abrams is an epic space film about the Empire coming back as the First Order being stronger than before and seeks to eliminate the New Republic while the Resistance opposes them and try to find Luke Skywalker.


In this film, there are two main characters: the hero and the villain. The hero is Rey (Daisy Ridley), “Ridley is the picture’s real find. Her Rey is fearless, forceful, resourceful, and with a hidden side to her personality that slowly manifests itself and will surely be more deeply explored in the sequels” (Soren Andersen, The Seattle Times, 2015). Rey is a young woman who grew up alone in the desert wastes of Jakku thinking that her family will come back for her. Is at this moment when she meets BB-8, and her journey as a hero starts. During all this journey she discovers a lot of things about herself being probably the most important one the fact that she discovers her latent Force-sensitivity. At the beginning of the movie, she doesn’t have any goals, but at the end, her main goal is to find  Luke Skywalker by herself. This is only the beginning for her as Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) said “She’s just beginning to test her powers. The longer it takes to find her, the more dangerous she becomes.”


On the opposite side, Kylo Ren is the villain. Kylo Ren is the son of Princess Leia Organa and General Han Solo, and before he joined the First Order (the dark side), he was a Force warrior and a former Jedi trained by his uncle, Luke Skywalker. Even though Princess Leia hoped he could be saved and left the dark side, in a confrontation with Han Solo, Ren kills him. And this demonstrates that he doesn’t care about his family, the only thing that matters to him is himself and his goals. His main goal is to finish what his grandfather (Sith Lord Darth Vader) started: the elimination of the Jedi.



Bibliography:
Soren Andersen (2016) Review of ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’: This new alliance is strong At: https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/movies/star-wars-the-force-awakens-this-new-alliance-is-strong/ Accessed on: 15/12/2017
Isaac Feldberg (2016) Star Wars: The Force Awakens Review At: http://wegotthiscovered.com/movies/star-wars-force-awakens-review/ Accessed on: 15/12/2017

Illustration List:
Image 1. Star Wars: The Force Awakens [Film Poster] At: http://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-the-force-awakens-theatrical-poster-first-look-in-theater-exclusives-and-more Accessed on: 15/12/2017
Image 2. Star Wars: The Force Awakens [Film Still] At: https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/movies/star-wars-the-force-awakens-this-new-alliance-is-strong/ Accessed on: 15/12/2017

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