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#TBT Reel Review: Star Wars: The Force Awakens

The most important aspect of an installment of a franchise is the respect shown to the material and its fans. George Lucas has been spitting on the franchise he created for years with sub-par prequels and unneeded film changes and additions to the originals. When Disney took over the Star Wars franchise, fans were hopeful that the franchise would be put back in the right direction. After 3 years of anticipation, The Force Awakens has brought life back into one of the most important franchises in cinema history.

Now in the hands of Disney and director J.J. Abrams, we have a film that not only pays respect to the franchise, but also to its fans. Abrams dives into what made Star Wars great and creates a story we can all look forward to. Gone is the overuse of CGI, the bad jokes, and Jar Jar Binks. With Force, we are introduced to characters we can care about and invest in like we did with Han, Luke, and Leia the first time we watched A New Hope. Daisy Ridley steals the show and is absolutely phenomenal, and I can say with confidence that a new star has been born. Abrams casting of a female, Hispanic man, and a black man as the focal points of the film shows diversity not often seen in a franchise as big as Star Wars and for that he should be commended.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens also gives us a new villain in Kylo Ren, and he was sensational. He was not trying to be Darth Vader, but he was vicious and had motives for his madness, all key things in a good movie villain.

The film is visually stunning, with beautiful wide shots of snow filled mountains, green pastures throughout the film, instead of knowing the actors were behind a green screen, added to its beauty. John Williams once again lent his greatness to the franchise providing a breathtaking score that added emotion to all scenes throughout the film.

I cried, I laughed, and as the film concluded I couldn’t help but smile knowing that J.J. had done what many were terrified he couldn’t do, he brought Star Wars back to life. This is not only one of the best films in the franchise but one of the best films of 2015. One can only hope that the Academy Awards take note and merit this film because it is rightly deserved.

Reel Talk gives Star Wars: The Force Awakens 4 Reels

4REEL

 

David Gonzalez
David Gonzalez is the founder and chief film critic of The Cinematic Reel (formally Reel Talk Inc.) and host of the Reel Chronicles and Chop Talk podcasts. As a Cuban American independent film critic, David writes fair and diverse criticism covering movies of all genres and spotlighting minority voices through Reel Talk. David has covered and reviewed films at Tribeca, TIFF, NYFF, Sundance, SXSW, and several other film festivals. He is a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer-Approved Critic and a member of the Latino Entertainment Journalists Association (LEJA), New York Film Critics Online, Hollywood Film Critics Association, the North American Film Critic Association and the International Film Society Critics Association. As an avid film collector and awards watcher, David's finger is always on the industry's pulse. David informs and educates with knowledgeable and exciting content and has become a trusted resource for readers and listeners alike. Email him at david@reeltalkinc.com or follow him on Twitter and Instagram @reeltalkinc.

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