Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/620229
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 27 DECEMBER 2015 26 This Week 26 This is the Star Wars movie you've been looking for IT has been a long time coming. I don't mean that this particular instalment of the Star Wars fran- chise – that would be Episode VII in a ping-ponging array of space opera episodes with a liberal ap- proach to chronology – has been all that long in gestation. All things considered, it hasn't been that long since J.J. Abrams (Lost, Super 8, the Star Trek re- boot) was announced as the de facto torch-bearer to the newly- retired George Lucas. In fact, it was only in 2012 – not that long a time for such a pop cul- ture bombshell to settle – that Lu- casfilm declared that Abrams will spearhead the new trilogy of the saga, continuing some years where Return of the Jedi (1983) left off. What's been a long time coming is a decent Star Wars movie that pays adequate tribute to the spirit of Lucas's original saga, while also setting it up for future genera- tions. Many believe Lucas himself betrayed his own babies with the much-maligned prequel trilogy (1999-2005) which went back in time to tell the backstory to the trilogy we fell in love with a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away. To be fair, the weight of expecta- tion on the prequels was always go- ing to be unbearably high, and the countless moans of how Episodes I through III "raped the childhood" of myriad Star Wars fans world- wide now feel a bit overstated, if not downright silly. For all their Peter Pan-like ap- peal to our inner child, the Star Wars movies remain modernized fairy tales – or rather, silly pulp ad- ventures given increased cultural currency through Lucas's shrewd use of classical storytelling struc- tures, as well as an aesthetic mash- up of everything from the seminal samurai films by Akira Kurosawa to Flash Gordon. Rather than being aggressive be- trayals, the sin of the prequels lay in Lucas's over-reliance on digital technology and a cack-handed ap- proach to scriptwriting – he was wise enough to hire help for the latter two chapters of the origi- nal trilogy – which undercut his (declared) attempts at devising an epic-scale 'tragedy' depicting the transformation of novice Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker into the nefarious Darth Vader. This is where Abrams's film dis- tances itself from the prequels right off the bat. Aided by the script- writing skills of Lawrence Kasdan – who is in fact a Star Wars vet- eran, having worked on both The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi back in the day – he succeeds in crafting a loving tribute to the films we know and love, and much in the same spirit as the original movie: a devil-may- care pulp adventure that makes no apology for its childlike silliness and sense of awe. It's been 30 years since the Ga- lactic Empire was felled by the rebel alliance but, making good on the claim that evil never sleeps, its splinter factions have now joined together to form a new and equally deadly threat – the First Order – who are busy picking off the Resist- ance, run with robust aplomb by General Leia Organa-Solo (Carrie Fisher). And echoing the spirit of Darth Vader – whom he admires and seeks to emulate – they have a powerful dark side of the Force user in their arsenal, one Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). But though Ren's vengeful merci- lessness is matched by the military prowess of his superiors – among them the ever-sneering General Hux (Domnhall Gleeson) – a few chinks in their armour may just prove to be a 'new hope' for the galaxy. These come in the form of defecting Stormtrooper Finn (John Boyega) and young orphan scavenger Rey (Daisy Ridley), who stumbles upon a tiny droid – the adorably rotund BB-8 – carrying a game-changing piece of cargo for its Resistance pilot owner, Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac). But the real lynchpin here is the legendary Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), whose disappearance has every element of the galaxy – from the good to the bad – in something of a tizzy. And turning Luke into the effective MacGuffin of the piece is the first wise move on Abrams's part, since it not only gives the story its main impetus, but also helps confer mythic status onto Luke Skywalker. This isn't a reaching analysis: Rey even refers to him as such at one point. So really, the new characters view the 'old' characters through the same lens as we do – a genius feat of audience identification that the grandiose prequels failed miser- ably at. In fact, perhaps the best thing about The Force Awakens is the simple fact that we're made to care about the characters first, the world-building second. Now of course, don't expect any psy- chological depth – Star Wars was always about archetypes – but coupled with some very game per- formances from the young leads in particular, Abrams succeeds in humanizing the dizzying alien landscape of the saga once again. Relative newcomer Daisy Ridley is excellent as the vulnerable but resilient Rey. Like many elements in the film, her story is an homage – in this case, it follows the trajec- tory of Luke Skywalker perhaps too closely. But luckily, she doesn't have the young Hamill's whiny drawl, and she gives us an identifi- able heroine who goes some way to solving the saga's female deficit. But it's the incredibly likeable John Boyega whom you'll remem- ber. The young actor – who sort- of cut his sci-fi teeth on British 'hoodie space invasion' action- comedy Attack the Block (2011) – has energy and charm to spare, contributing both comedy chops and poignancy to the story. Though the ever-reliable Isaac gets very little screen time for now (like Gandalf, he spends a lot of time adventuring off-stage), we can trust him to take centre stage come Episode VIII in 2017. The new gang is completed by their dark side variant: Adam Driver's Kylo Ren. Though he's got big – black leather – boots to fill, he's aided by yet another clever move on Abrams and Kas- dan's part. Where his predecessor, Darth Vader, was an unassailable evil force from the word go, Ren is granted some conflict – rooted in a key revelation that I will not spoil – which gives him his own journey of self-discovery. And he's no less formidable for it. If anything, his lightsabre-powered – and spaceship-furniture-devour- ing – hissy fits make him seem like a ticking time bomb, where Vader was all controlled menace. Of course it's also a pleasure to see the old gang back in action, and the re-appearance of beloved smuggler Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and his 'walking carpet' Wookie side-kick Chewbacca (Pe- By Teodor Reljic FILM Despite his somewhat nonsensical lightsabre, Adam Driver's Kylo Ren is a worthy successor to the saga's enduring villain figure, Darth Vader In a tight spot: Boyega and Oscar Isaac have charisma and humour to spare, humanizing the space adventure "The new characters view the 'old' characters through the same lens as we do" ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK ★ ★ ★ ★ A NEW HOPE ★ ★ ★ RETURN OF THE JEDI ★ ★ THE PHANTOM MENACE ★ ATTACK OF THE CLONES