As Larry David would say, pret-ty, pret-ty good. But way too long. Lots of battles, special effects, gadgets, and the return of some regulars from the six other chapters. I wrote my first ever movie review in 1977 of Episode IV in a newsletter for Film Women of Boston. Before I moved this summer I knew exactly where the hard copy was but now I don't. If it turns up I'll transcribe it and paste onto the bottom of this one. I skipped the next three episodes. Advice circulating on the world wide web advises in what order to watch the series: IV, V, II, III, and VI. Episode I is optional. Having seen IV, V, and VI (I think) I prepared by looking at the wikipedia entries for some of them and then my eyes glazed over. Don't worry, you should be able to follow this one without advance preparation.
Harrison Ford (last blogged in 42) is dashing as ever as Han Solo. Carrie Fisher made much of her being required to lose weight to reprise her role as Princess Leia. My favorite line was, "They might as well say 'Get younger,' because that's how easy it is" That said, even though she seemed quite slimmed down from the last time I saw her on screen (in the serieses Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce and Catastrophe), her wooden manner tells me she's a way better writer than actress. The most striking new kid is Daisy Ridley as Rey, a kick-ass girl who can run like the wind. Another relative unknown, John Boyega, stars as Finn. They are joined by, among many, the immensely talented Oscar Isaac as Poe and Adam Driver as Kylo Ren (most recently in Ex Machina and While We're Young, respectively). Nice that Isaac finally gets to play someone optimistic instead of his usual angry, sinister, or depressed. Domhnall Gleeson (last in The Revenant, another two hour 36 minute extravaganza, which we saw the next day a week ago) shows his range by playing a Hitler-type general. The rest of the cast and the trivia are too long to list here, although it's noteworthy that Lupita Nyong'o, who won the Oscar as a newcomer in 12 Years a Slave, voices the character of Maz.
Director/co-writer J.J. Abrams (last blogged for Star Trek Into Darkness) wrote the script with Lawrence Kasdan (covered in Darling Companion, in which I noted that he wrote Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)) and Michael Arndt (he wrote Little Miss Sunshine (2006) which won him his Oscar, Toy Story 3, as well also one of the earlier Hunger Games and A Walk in the Woods (2015) under pseudonyms, but I didn't see the latter two, though I wanted to see A Walk in the Woods).
John Williams (last blogged in The Book Thief) earns his 31st Oscar nomination (he has won five times) for the classic score. One of his Oscar wins was for Episode IV and he was nominated for V and VI (further incentive to skip the other three?). If you want to hear the current score, go to this link, pause it, click the settings gear, change the speed to 0.5, and click play. Or ditch John Williams and just listen to Bill Murray sing it. The movie has earned four other Oscar nominations and one each from the Art Directors' Guild and Costume Designers' Guild.
Fan-kids and movie buffs won't miss it and, due to Disney's having bought Lucasfilm, no one could escape the ads and tie-ins for months before its opening. We saw it in 3-D IMAX because we knew the technology would be top-notch, and it certainly was.
93% from critics and 90 from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes keeps this chugging along. You already know if you'll like it or not.
No comments:
Post a Comment