Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019) review

I must admit that I went into Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker feeling rather hesitant, a genuine first for me when it comes to Star Wars. Now, to be clear, this had nothing to do with the film itself since I had full faith in the amazing cast and crew who has brought this sequel trilogy to life and, of course, J.J. Abrams, who returns to the director’s chair after getting this whole trilogy started with 2015’s The Force Awakens. What I didn’t have faith in… was the Star Wars fandom. It’s been well-documented at this point that the Star Wars fandom has been in quite the volatile state these past few years after the release of 2017’s The Last Jedi, which has easily become one of the most polarizing films of all-time. While some found it to be quite arguably the best Star Wars film to date for its willingness to take risks when it comes to its writing, others thoroughly hated it for that exact reason. And because of this, the film spawned a small but incredibly vocal faction of critics who have taken it upon themselves to declare war against Disney, Lucasfilm, and the latter’s president Kathleen Kennedy for their allegedly piss-poor handling of the franchise. As such, J.J. Abrams now finds himself having to deal with perhaps the worst set of expectations ever thrust upon a Star Wars film; trying to appease those who despised The Last Jedi while simultaneously trying not to piss off those who preferred that film’s method of storytelling. It’s a complicated task that’s clearly been reflected in the film’s overall reception, but J.J. manages to pull through to deliver a satisfying finale to the Skywalker Saga.

In the year since the events of The Last Jedi, the severely limited forces of the Resistance have struggled against the might of the First Order, now led by Supreme Leader Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). And if that wasn’t enough, the whole galaxy receives an unexpected broadcast from none other than Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid), who supposedly met his end during the Battle of Endor as seen in Return of the Jedi. When Ren confronts the Sith Lord, Palpatine reveals that he has an armada of powerful Star Destroyers that will serve as the ‘Final Order’ and destroy the galaxy once and for all. The only one who could possibly stand in their way is Rey (Daisy Ridley), the Force-sensitive scavenger turned Jedi from Jakku who had trained with the late Jedi Master Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and is now guided by Luke’s sister, General Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher). Rey and her friends, former First Order stormtrooper Finn (John Boyega) and Resistance commander/pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), soon learn that Palpatine is hiding out on the uncharted planet of Exegol. And because of its elusive status, the only way to reach it is by finding a device known as a Sith Wayfinder that will give them the planet’s coordinates. Thus, Rey, Finn, and Poe find themselves in a race against time to find the Wayfinder and reach Exegol, all while being endlessly pursued by Ren and the First Order, before Palpatine can unleash the ‘Final Order’. In the process, Rey continues to struggle with the growing connection that she has with Kylo Ren and finally begins to uncover the secrets behind who she really is, which effectively poses some major ramifications for the galaxy.

Despite its immense success with both critics and audiences, J.J. Abrams’ last Star Wars film, The Force Awakens, received quite a bit of flak for allegedly being a ‘carbon copy’ of the original Star Wars film, A New Hope. This, in turn, can explain why a lot of attention was made about Rian Johnson’s efforts to ‘freshen things up’ with The Last Jedi… even though one could argue that it too could be described as a mirror of its original trilogy equivalent, The Empire Strikes Back. As for Rise of Skywalker, the argument of ‘been there, done that’ has once again become a source of contention amongst critics, especially due to the return of Emperor Palpatine as the main antagonist despite the previous film’s concerted efforts to “let the past die”. But just like the whole ‘it’s just A New Hope again’ debate that now dominates the conversation when it comes to The Force Awakens, I’d argue that this isn’t as big of a deal as it’s been made out to be. Sure, all three films in the sequel trilogy do share some similarities with Episodes IV through VI, but it’s not like they’re downright ripping off the plots of those films. Instead, these parallels only help to strengthen the sequel trilogy’s narrative while also providing some nice callbacks and solid conclusions to some of the series’ longest-running plotlines. And because these newer films have done a phenomenal job when it comes to developing their main characters, this paves the way for some incredibly powerful emotional moments. In other words, J.J. Abrams once again proves that he’s a natural when it comes to crafting that classic Star Wars atmosphere. And while The Last Jedi ended up providing some of the most gorgeous cinematography that the series has ever had, J.J. and his long-time cinematographer Dan Mindel continue to prove that they can deliver visuals and action sequences that are just as amazing by comparison.  

One interesting thing to note about Rise of Skywalker is that it’s the first entry of the sequel trilogy where the lead trio of Rey, Finn and Poe are all together for a good chunk of the run-time whereas the previous two films had them separated in various ways. This wasn’t a bad thing, for the record, but it is nice that this film finally gives these three a chance to work together and Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, and Oscar Isaac are all fantastic once again in their respective roles. Rise of Skywalker also does a wonderful job when it comes to furthering their overall character development, whether it’s Poe continuing to grow as a leader for the Resistance or Rey learning about her heritage and what that could potentially mean for the galaxy. All this great character development from the protagonists is matched perfectly by their foil, Kylo Ren, as Adam Driver continues to shine as the emotionally volatile Dark Side user whose complex character arc reaches its cathartic conclusion in this film. The four leads are then excellently backed by several of the sequel trilogy’s great supporting players, including Domhnall Gleeson as General Hux and Kelly Marie Tran as Rose Tico, although fans of the latter will be disappointed by her severely limited screen-time. After that, the film adds in some fun new characters including Keri Russell as Zorii Bliss, an old acquaintance of Poe’s, Richard E. Grant as First Order General Pryde, who slowly works his way into becoming Kylo Ren’s sinister second-in-command, and Naomi Ackie as Jannah, who is revealed to be a former First Order stormtrooper just like Finn.

Moving over to the series veterans who notably make a return in this film, the biggest of the bunch is, of course, Ian McDiarmid as Emperor Palpatine. Regardless of how one feels about the decision to bring the character back, McDiarmid is once again terrific as the imposing Sith Lord, especially since he opts for the generally more subdued version of the character from the original trilogy instead of the cartoonishly over-the-top iteration from Revenge of the Sith. Another welcome return comes via Billy Dee Williams’ suave smuggler Lando Calrissian, who promptly continues to be one of the most charismatic figures in the entire Star Wars galaxy. But easily the most notable element of this film’s cast is how Leia ultimately factors into everything. While it was originally planned to give her a prominent role a la Han Solo in The Force Awakens and Luke in The Last Jedi, those plans ended up falling by the wayside after Carrie Fisher’s untimely passing in 2016 after she had finished working on The Last Jedi. However, instead of just giving Leia an unceremonious off-screen death as a lot of films tend to do whenever an actor/actress doesn’t return to reprise their role, J.J. manages to work her in via the use of unused footage from The Force Awakens. The overall implementation of this footage into the film is a truly fascinating feat to behold given how much work clearly must’ve been done to make it all possible. Nevertheless, it does its job beautifully and effectively gives the most iconic heroine in the Star Wars saga the emotionally fitting send-off that she damn well deserves.

I’m well aware that everything that I’ve said in this review isn’t going to fly well with certain audiences. Just like The Last Jedi, The Rise of Skywalker has been an incredibly polarizing affair to the point where even critics are just as mixed towards it as audiences are. As alluded to earlier, while The Force Awakens may have managed to scoot by without getting dinged too hard for supposedly being ‘too much like A New Hope’, it’s clear that critics weren’t as forgiving towards Rise of Skywalker for doing the same thing. And yet, as someone who has been a fan of the sequel trilogy ever since the first teaser for The Force Awakens was released, I found Rise of Skywalker to be a perfect finale for this trilogy. As a film that’s truly grand in both scale and emotional depth, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker provides a wholly satisfying conclusion to both the sequel trilogy and the entire Skywalker Saga as a whole. Sure, some have argued that it attempts to undo a lot of the controversial plot-points from The Last Jedi, but the ways in which J.J. Abrams and co-writer Chris Terrio conclude the story of Rey, Finn, Poe Dameron, and Kylo Ren still feels consistent with what we’ve seen from the previous two films. And through it all, J.J. and his crew continue to go above and beyond when it comes to the film’s incredible action sequences and breathtaking visuals. Sadly, though, it seems like The Rise of Skywalker will end up being regarded as a ‘failure’ even though I’d argue that it isn’t the film’s fault. Instead, I’d attribute it more to the period in which it was released where the Star Wars fandom proved to be in a state of total disarray, thoroughly compromised by its utterly ambiguous expectations.

Rating: 5/5!

Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) review

(Disclaimer: I promise that there’ll be no MAJOR spoilers in this review)

When Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith was released in 2005, many assumed that this was the end of the Star Wars film franchise. After all, it was the final installment of the highly controversial prequel trilogy whose purpose was to officially close the gap on the story of how Anakin Skywalker fell to the Dark Side and became the Sith Lord Darth Vader. However, this all changed in 2012 when Lucasfilm was bought by Disney for $4.05 billion. Now the House of Mouse was in control of arguably the biggest franchise in all of pop culture and, sure enough, it immediately got to work on a new line of Star Wars films. It all began in 2015 when director J.J. Abrams returned audiences to a galaxy far, far away with Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens. As was the case with the previous first installment of a new Star Wars trilogy, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, The Force Awakens was put under some of the heaviest expectations ever seen from the film fan community, as many hoped that it would deliver where they felt the prequel trilogy did not. Thankfully, the film did manage to meet those expectations, for the most part, as it was a major critical and commercial success upon its release. Oh sure, there are still the nagging criticisms that have been made by those who have accused the film of being a remake of Episode IV: A New Hope, but the film was well-received by critics and audiences and it became only the third film ever to gross over $2 billion worldwide.

One year later, Lucasfilm then initiated a new line of spin-off films (referred to as ‘Star Wars stories’) with Rogue One. Set in-between the events of Episodes III and IV, it focused on the Rebellion’s efforts to steal the plans for the Empire’s devastatingly powerful battle station, the Death Star. And overall, it proved to be another critical/commercial success for Disney, even after it had to go through some highly publicized reshoots to fix its ending. But now, the time has come for the next installment of the main saga, Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi. This time around, though, J.J. Abrams is not the one behind the camera. Instead, directorial duties go to Rian Johnson, and while this may technically be Johnson’s first big-budget outing as a director, he has made quite a name for himself in the film industry thanks to his work on several critically-acclaimed projects. This includes the 2005 neo-noir thriller Brick, 2012’s sci-fi action thriller Looper, and three of what many consider to be some of the best episodes of the iconic TV series Breaking Bad (headlined by the show’s antepenultimate episode, ‘Ozymandias’). And after the whole ‘TFA copied A New Hope’ incident, many fans are hoping that Johnson will deliver a fresh, new take on this legendary franchise. Does he do so? Well, I don’t know if I can call The Last Jedi that ‘fresh and new’, but what I can say is that Johnson does give us a highly satisfying follow-up to what was an equally terrific first installment of this new Star Wars trilogy.

At the end of The Force Awakens, Rey (Daisy Ridley), a young scavenger from the desert planet of Jakku, traveled to the remote planet of Ahch-To to find the elusive Jedi Master, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill). Having learned that she is capable of using the powerful essence known as the Force, Rey seeks Luke’s guidance in learning the ways of the Force in her efforts to realize her true potential. However, Luke is hesitant to train her at first after he had previously failed to protect his former protégé/nephew Ben Solo from the Dark Side, which ultimately led to him becoming the feared First Order commander Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). Eventually, though, Luke does begin to train her in the Jedi arts when it becomes apparent that a connection has started to form between her and Kylo Ren, with the latter being shown to still be struggling with letting go of his past identity even after killing his father, Han Solo. Meanwhile, the Resistance, led by Luke’s sister (and Kylo Ren’s mother) General Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher), finds itself under attack from the First Order after their main base of operations is discovered. With the Resistance fleet at risk of being destroyed by the First Order, pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), ex-stormtrooper Finn (John Boyega), and mechanic Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran) enact a desperate plan in order to help the Resistance escape their foe’s wrath.

To put it quite simply, Star Wars: The Last Jedi has it all. In terms of visuals, it’s one of the best-looking Star Wars films to date thanks to the excellent cinematography from Rian Johnson regular Steve Yedlin and the franchise’s consistently strong visual effects. As one might expect, this results in some excellent action sequences that range from epic lightsaber duels to high-octane space battles. But just like The Force Awakens, this film’s writing (which was handled solely by Johnson for this installment) is just as strong as its visual game. As a follow-up to its immediate predecessor, the film does an excellent job of continuing the story that was established in The Force Awakens while also further developing both its new collection of main protagonists and the saga’s iconic returning characters. And really, Johnson deserves a lot of credit for getting so much depth out of what could arguably be described as a simple chase plot. If I had any sort of issue with this film, it’d be that it does admittedly feel a tad bit overlong due to its hefty two and a half hour runtime. Now, to be clear, it’s not like there were any parts of this film that dragged or anything because there weren’t any. It’s just that, without spoiling anything, by the time that the finale rolls around… there’s still about half an hour of the film to go. But again, this isn’t really that much of a shortcoming in a film that is solidly paced.

If I had to list what my favorite aspect of Star Wars: The Force Awakens was, it would have to be its characters. Even when dealing with the franchise’s consistently high expectations, many of the new characters introduced in The Force Awakens proved to be just as endearing as the saga’s original heroes. Sure enough, this trend continues with The Last Jedi, starting with the new trilogy’s lead trio of Rey, Finn, and Poe. All three of them are great once again thanks in large part to the excellent performances from Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, and Oscar Isaac, respectively. The same goes for the film’s main antagonist as well, as Adam Driver is fantastic once again as the fascinatingly complex Kylo Ren. And while there’s not really a lot of new characters introduced in this film, the ones that are do prove to be quite memorable, including Laura Dern as the Resistance’s Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo and Kelly Marie Tran as Rose, the latter of whom proves to be a delightful addition to this trilogy’s group of main protagonists. But, of course, we cannot forget about the iconic leads from the original Star Wars trilogy, Luke and Leia. After only having a brief non-speaking role in The Force Awakens’ final scene, Luke now takes on a far more substantial role in this film’s story where he gets some great new bits of character development that give us an idea of how much he’s changed since Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. And as for Leia… well, as we all know, this was sadly Carrie Fisher’s last time in the role following her death this past December. Not much more to say about this except that, for what is her last appearance as one of the most iconic sci-fi heroines of all-time, it may arguably be her greatest performance in said role.  

Well, given my stance on Star Wars: The Force Awakens, I guess that it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that I quite enjoyed Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Now, granted, I don’t mean this in the sense that I found it to be a ‘fresh’ new take on the franchise as I’ve seen some critics opine (though, at the same time, that doesn’t mean that I think that Johnson’s directorial vision was neutered by Lucasfilm… as I’ve also seen some critics claim). When I say that I loved this film, I mean that more in the sense that it just simply delivered on everything you’d want from a great Star Wars film; a strong story, great characters, and terrific visuals and action sequences. If you loved The Force Awakens, then I’m sure that you’ll probably love The Last Jedi as it proves to be an excellent continuation of the story that its predecessor set up. And, sure enough, it sets up the groundwork nicely for the final installment of this new trilogy that will be coming in 2019, Episode IX, which will see J.J. Abrams returning to the role of director. And while I know that some feel that he’s ‘too safe’ of a choice for director after what Rian Johnson did with this film, the quality of TFA is more than enough to give me full confidence in my favorite director working today to once again deliver when it comes to this franchise. To paraphrase one of the biggest lines from The Force Awakens, I fully believe that J.J. “will finish… what [he] started…”

Rating: 5/5!

Logan Lucky (2017) review

Steven Soderbergh has had one of the most unique careers of any director in the film industry. Since the late 80’s, he has done films in several different genres under varying budgets. First, he made his start with indie hits like 1989’s Sex, Lies, and Videotape, which won the Palme d’Or, the biggest award given at the annual Cannes Film Festival, at that year’s event. And while he hasn’t stopped making indie-level films since, like the 2008 biopic Che or 2009’s The Girlfriend Experience, which starred porn star Sasha Grey and has since been adapted into a TV series on Starz, Soderbergh has also made some big-name Hollywood projects as well. In the year 2000, he directed a pair of critically acclaimed films in Erin Brockovich, which won Julia Roberts the Oscar for Best Actress, and Traffic, which won Soderbergh the Oscar for Best Director. And, of course, one of his most famous directorial efforts was 2001’s Ocean’s Eleven, the star-studded remake of the equally star-studded 1960 heist thriller of the same name which went on to spawn a highly successful trilogy. However, in 2013, Soderbergh announced that he was taking a brief hiatus from feature filmmaking. For the next few years, he mainly worked in TV, directing all 20 episodes of the Cinemax series The Knick. But this year, one of the most famous ‘auteur’ directors in the industry is back on the big-screen with his latest feature, Logan Lucky. This is very much a Soderbergh feature; for one thing, it was financed almost entirely by Soderbergh himself instead of through the Hollywood system. But enough about that; what of the film itself? Well, to put it simply, Logan Lucky is more than just the ‘Southern equivalent of the Ocean’s films’.

The film opens with blue-collar worker Jimmy Logan (Channing Tatum) being fired from his current construction job in North Carolina due to a prior leg injury (that was sustained during his brief football career) that wasn’t disclosed to his superiors. To make matters worse for Jimmy, his ex-wife Bobbi Joe (Katie Holmes) reveals to him that she and her new husband Moody (David Denman) plan on moving to Virginia, effectively making it harder for Jimmy to spend time with his daughter Sadie (Farrah Mackenzie). Thus, frustrated with how life’s been going for him recently, Jimmy plans a heist along with his brother Clyde (Adam Driver), who lost part of his left arm in Iraq, and their sister Mellie (Riley Keough). The plan involves them stealing money from the Charlotte Motor Speedway, where Jimmy used to work, by utilizing the Speedway’s air-based money-moving system. To help them in their endeavors, they acquire the assistance of incarcerated safecracker Joe Bang (Daniel Craig) and Joe’s hillbilly brothers Sam (Brian Gleeson) and Fish (Jack Quaid). However, during preparation for the heist, the team finds themselves dealing with a new problem. Originally, their plan was to rob the Speedway during a car show, where security would’ve been easier to deal with. However, due to unexpected time constraints, they’re instead forced to pull it off during one of the biggest NASCAR races of the year, the Coca-Cola 600.

To be clear, while it may seem to some like this is just a Southern-set version of Ocean’s Eleven, that is far from the truth with this film. This is not a glitzy heist thriller set in the fancy world that is the casinos of the Las Vegas Strip. Instead, this is a down-and-dirty southern heist based around a cast of characters who often get into wacky hi-jinx. And that’s ultimately one of the best things about this film; it has a great sense of humor. There are a lot of great humorous moments in this film, from the very specific demands set by a rioting group of inmates to Joe Bang’s unique method of crafting explosives. All in all, this makes the film a good, old-fashioned, fun summer ride that benefits from great cinematography and editing, both of which were handled by Soderbergh himself as he’s a filmmaker known for more than just directing. However, when I say that this is a ‘good, old-fashioned, fun summer ride’, I mean that this is a ‘good, old-fashioned, fun summer ride’ and not much more than that. Don’t get me wrong, there are some great character moments here and there and, unlike the Ocean’s films, you are emotionally invested in the main protagonists’ plight. Still, for the most part, this is primarily just a simple heist plot, and that’s ultimately where Logan Lucky’s true similarities with the Ocean’s films lie. That and some parts feel a bit extraneous, namely with Hilary Swank’s character, FBI agent Sarah Grayson, who investigates into the robbery. Instead of being incorporated fully into the plot, Swank doesn’t appear until the final half hour of the film after the heist has already happened, thus making her role in the story feel rather tacked on.

Still, this film benefits greatly from a terrific ensemble cast. It’s all headlined by Channing Tatum, who’s become a new regular collaborator of Soderbergh’s having worked on films like Magic Mike and Side Effects. And through these collaborations with Soderbergh, Tatum has had some of the best performances of his career since breaking out in 2012. This is one of those great performances for sure, and he has terrific camaraderie with Adam Driver and Riley Keough, both of whom are just as excellent in their respective roles of Clyde and Mellie Logan. As for the film’s supporting cast, while they’re mainly limited to more minor roles, by comparison, they all have their standout moments here and there. This includes Seth MacFarlane as a pompous British business tycoon who the Logan brothers continually cross paths with and the duo of Jack Quaid and Brian Gleeson as two of the three Bang siblings, who end up getting some of the film’s best humorous moments. And on that note, as I’m sure everyone else who sees this film will attest to, the biggest standout performance of the entire cast comes from Mr. James Bond himself, Daniel Craig, as the eccentric explosives expert Joe Bang. But, through this film, you don’t see Daniel Craig being James Bond; instead, you see him in one of the most transformative roles of his entire career. In other words, Craig absolutely steals the show whenever he’s on-screen and is an absolute riot.

Thanks to Logan Lucky, Steven Soderbergh has made a solid return to the art of feature filmmaking. It’s a film that is reminiscent of Soderbergh’s Ocean’s films, for sure, but, at the same time, it’s not just a carbon copy of those films. Its southern setting leads to a wackier heist when compared to the Ocean’s films while still being a highly entertaining heist thriller with a good sense of humor and a terrific ensemble cast. However, at the same time, I wouldn’t necessarily call this one of the ‘best’ films of the year, which I know a lot of other people are saying about it. Because while the film does have a solid amount of emotional resonance to it, more so than any of the Ocean’s films, it’s still ultimately just a simple heist plot and not much more than that. However, I do understand why this film has been such a big deal amongst film buffs. As noted in the intro, Soderbergh financed this film himself, primarily, so that he could have complete control over it in this current age of the studio system. Ultimately, though, as someone who doesn’t really get too worked up over the internet’s apparent need for more original, director-driven films, what I mainly got out of this was a simple, fun summer film, which was all that I was looking for, really. This is the best kind of film to watch as a temporary reprieve for one’s end-of-summer blues while also serving as a nice return for one of the most unique directors in the film industry.

Rating: 4/5

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) review

(Note: Fear not, those who haven’t seen the film yet, for I will be as spoiler-free as possible during this review.)

It was over 38 years ago when George Lucas released the first installment of his epic space saga, ‘Star Wars’, later retitled ‘Episode IV: A New Hope’, into theaters. Despite all of the problems that occurred during the film’s production, it became one of the biggest hits of all-time, spawning two equally critically and commercially successful sequels and creating one of the biggest and most beloved franchises in pop culture history. After 1983’s ‘Return of the Jedi’, it seemed as if the story of Luke Skywalker and his friends had finally come to a close. Lucas initially had plans for a sequel trilogy but those plans ended up getting scrapped. However, Lucas would soon return to the world that he created through the creation of a prequel trilogy, beginning in 1999 with ‘Episode I: The Phantom Menace’, which explored the rise and fall of the original trilogy’s main villain, Darth Vader AKA Anakin Skywalker. However, while this second trilogy was just as commercially successful as the first, the prequel films did not receive the same critical acclaim as their three predecessors. Many ‘Star Wars’ fans were especially disappointed with the films as they felt that Lucas had placed greater emphasis on visuals than story and characters, the opposite of what made the Original Trilogy so beloved. Regardless, the films were still big commercial hits and when 2005’s ‘Episode III: Revenge of the Sith’ was released, once again we all thought that this was the end of the ‘Star Wars’ saga.

And then, in 2012, everything changed when Disney purchased Lucasfilm for $4.06 billion and announced that new ‘Star Wars’ films were going to be produced. Not only was there going to be a brand new trilogy of films that would follow the events of the Original Trilogy, as Lucas had originally planned, but there were also going to be ‘spin-off’ films that would further expand the universe. In January of 2013, J.J. Abrams, fresh off of resurrecting the ‘Star Trek’ franchise with 2009’s ‘Star Trek’ and 2013’s ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’, was hired to lead off the new series of ‘Star Wars’ films. And over the next two years, Abrams began production on what has arguably become the most anticipated film of all-time; ‘Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens’. Seriously, I don’t think there has been a film that has been this anticipated since, well, the last time ‘Star Wars’ made a comeback on the big screen with ‘The Phantom Menace’. And with that said, yes we are all very much aware about what happened the last time we ‘Star Wars’ fans hyped up a new film this much. That ended up backfiring big-time for most people and even though I was very excited for this new film, primarily because one of my favorite directors working today was directing it, I made an effort to keep my expectations in check hoping that, at the very least, this would not become another situation like ‘The Phantom Menace’ where most people would end up being very disappointed by it. But now that ‘The Force Awakens’ is in theaters, I can happily say that you will not be disappointed by what J.J. has given us.

It has been 30 years since the events of ‘Episode VI: Return of the Jedi’, in which the Galactic Empire had finally been defeated by the Rebel Alliance. But in the years since then, a new villainous faction has emerged in the form of the First Order to oppose the Rebel Alliance, now known as ‘the Resistance’. As the film begins, Resistance pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) is sent on a mission by General Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) to retrieve a vital piece of information that both the Resistance and First Order are after. When the First Order catches up with him, Poe is captured but is freed by Stormtrooper FN-2187 (John Boyega), dubbed ‘Finn’ by Poe, who defects from the First Order when he finds himself unable to follow their vile ways. The two end up getting separated and Finn soon finds himself coming across Poe’s droid BB-8, who is carrying the aforementioned vital piece of information, and its current companion Rey (Daisy Ridley), a scavenger living on the planet of Jakku. With the First Order aggressively pursuing them, Finn and Rey embark on a life-changing adventure to bring the information that BB-8 is holding back to the Resistance before the First Order, and more specifically Dark Side user Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), gets it first. Along the way, their journey even sees them coming across legendary figures like the one and only Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and his trusty co-pilot Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew).

There have been quite a few people that have made comparisons between this film’s plot and the plot of ‘A New Hope’. And yes if you really do look at it, it’s true that this film follows quite a few of the same beats of that film, like the fact that the two main factions are after a piece of information of great importance to both sides or how the film’s finale revolves around a powerful space weapon. But even with that said, unlike some of the film’s detractors, I didn’t mind at all the fact that this film is very reminiscent of ‘A New Hope’ in regards to its plotting because it just shows how much J.J. Abrams respects the original trilogy while also making sure that ‘The Force Awakens’ is its own story. In other words, ‘The Force Awakens’ is very much a new ‘Star Wars’ film. It all feels like a very fitting continuation of the story since we last left it in ‘Return of the Jedi’, giving the major returning characters from the previous trilogy further character development that respects what has been set up before while also establishing its new main protagonists who will lead the way for the rest of this new trilogy; Finn, Rey, and Poe. And I must say that in our current age where the internet could spoil anything about a film (I very much sympathize with anyone who unfortunately had something about this film spoiled by jackasses trying to ruin everyone’s fun), it’s nice to go into a film like this generally unaware of what’s going to happen and I will say that there were some things in this film, namely certain plot-points that I of course won’t at all reveal in this non-spoiler review, that I didn’t see coming.

One of the major reasons why fans loved the Original Trilogy, particularly from a modern-day perspective, was that it was primarily done with practical effects in a time when CGI wasn’t even a thing yet. As a result, one of the major complaints of the prequel trilogy, as well as the changes made to the ‘Special Edition’ versions of the original films, was the over-reliance on CGI. So fans will be very happy to know that this new film does not go down the same ‘CGI-heavy’ road of the prequel trilogy. After all, J.J. did the same thing with the ‘Star Trek’ films, opting to utilize as many practical sets as possible for a sci-fi film of that scale. And that is once again the case with ‘The Force Awakens’. Sure there are obviously still quite a lot of CGI effects in this film but unlike ‘Attack of the Clones’ and ‘Revenge of the Sith’, in which Lucas went as far as to just shoot the actors in front of a green-screen and not actually shoot on a set, the major set-pieces of ‘The Force Awakens’ were filmed in real locations and they definitely look much better because of it, resulting in some pretty awesome action sequences. Not only that, but the screenplay by J.J. and ‘Empire Strikes Back’ and ‘Return of the Jedi’ writer Lawrence Kasdan, as well as J.J.’s direction in general, really captures the same fun spirit of the original films through fast-paced action and witty dialogue.  

As many of us know, the cast is a combination of both returning members of the Original Trilogy and a whole bunch of newcomers. Fans of the original trilogy should be satisfied with the appearances of the original leading trio of the series, all of whom easily return to their iconic roles with ease, especially Harrison Ford, with Han Solo basically having the most substantial role of the original trio in this new film. And right from the get-go, the new cast of leads are well-established and all three work greatly off of the writing. John Boyega gets a great redemptive character arc as Finn, the former Stormtrooper who rejects the ways of the First Order but then perhaps gets a bit too in over his head as a result, Oscar Isaac brings a Han Solo-esque charm and wit to the role of Poe Dameron, whom Isaac himself dubbed as the ‘best freaking pilot in the galaxy’ (a claim that he basically does back up given his piloting in the film), and Daisy Ridley captures a lot of the same relatable qualities that Luke had in the Original Trilogy and brings that to the role of Rey. Now let’s talk about the main villain, Kylo Ren. Without giving anything major away, Ren has a particular connection to the ‘Star Wars’ lore that not only makes for one hell of a reveal, but it also brings quite a lot of depth to the character and his motivations. It’ll be very interesting to see how Ren’s story arc will play out in subsequent films.

‘The Force Awakens’ is a film that very much lives up to the massive hype that the fans built around it. Like with Marvel and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this film squashes the fears of any skeptic/cynic who thought that Disney’s purchase of the brand would lead to its downfall. It’s a film that both continues the ‘Star Wars’ series in grand fashion while also honoring its previous installments. Under J.J.’s excellent-as-usual direction, the film is a rousing adventure full of awesome action, funny dialogue, great character moments, and moments that just simply feel epic given the legacy of this franchise. As you could see from this review, I didn’t make much comparisons to the last set of ‘Star Wars’ films, the much-maligned prequel trilogy, because I wasn’t willing to go down the same path that I know many other reviewers are; using this film as another way to bash the prequels. Instead of being stuck in the past and busting a trilogy that seriously isn’t as bad as the internet constantly puts it out to be, I kept my eyes firmly locked on the future and based on this first film, I can tell that we are in for one hell of a new ‘Star Wars’ trilogy, with Rian Johnson set to direct ‘Episode VIII’ in 2017 and Colin Trevorrow to helm ‘Episode IX’ in 2019. But for now, I end my review with this message to the one and only J.J. Abrams. Thank you J.J. for giving us one of the most exhilarating film experiences in recent memory that proves just how special this franchise has been to many people and how it will be again for a whole new generation of fans. ‘Star Wars’ is back!

Rating: 5/5!

This is Where I Leave You (2014) review

Dysfunctional families have been a key element of a lot of films. Last year, there was the multiple award-nominated film ‘August: Osage County’ and it has also been prevalent in films like ‘The Fighter’ and ‘Little Miss Sunshine’. This concept has also been a part of multiple TV shows. In fact, it’s pretty much a given that almost every major TV sitcom, whether it be live-action or animated, will center on a dysfunctional family as it has been proven by shows like ‘The Simpsons’, ‘Arrested Development’, and ‘Family Guy’. And of course, the dysfunctional family plotline is the key focus of ‘This is Where I Leave You’, directed by Shawn Levy (with a film that is a definite change of pace for him as it is his first R-rated film after working on multiple family-friendly films like the ‘Night at the Museum’ movies) and based off of the 2009 book of the same name by Jonathan Tropper. The family of this film is very much a dysfunctional family so if you’re not a fan of a whole heck of a lot of arguing, this film is probably not for you. But ‘This is Where I Leave You’ does manage to provide a really solid amount of laughs primarily thanks to its great ensemble cast. But what’s even better is how this movie manages to find a good balance of comedy and drama, something that’s not exactly that easy to do. But this film manages to do it and do it pretty well.

On the day of his 3^rd wedding anniversary, Judd Altman (Jason Bateman) unfortunately finds out the hard way that his wife Quinn (Abigail Spencer) is having an affair with his boss Wade (Dax Shepard) when he walks in on them having sex in their apartment. As if things couldn’t get any worse, a few weeks later he gets a call from his sister Wendy (Tina Fey) who tells him that their father has just died. They then return to their hometown where they reunite with their mother Hilary (Jane Fonda) and their two brothers, Paul (Corey Stoll) and Phillip (Adam Driver). After the funeral, they learn that as his last request, their father wanted them to mourn him through the Jewish tradition of Shiva, in which the family of the deceased gather and sit for a period of seven days in mourning. Even though the family isn’t actually Jewish, the siblings find themselves forced into doing it anyway when their mom ends up grounding them. So now that they’re all stuck under the same roof again having to honor the period of Shiva, the dysfunctional siblings end up starting to reconnect with one another as each member finds themselves having to deal with not only the loss of their father but also the current conflicts in their lives.

As is common in any dysfunctional family story, there is quite a lot of bickering amongst the Altman siblings and most of the film’s humor comes from the awkward moments that usually occur during these scenes. Overall, the film does have a pretty solid amount of humor though of course like with every comedy not all of the jokes hit. In the case of this film, it’s mostly in regards to the ‘gross-out’ moments in the film, like this one recurring gag in which the young son of one of the siblings keeps going to the bathroom in this little portable toilet that he always carries around. Thankfully, these moments don’t dominate the film’s humor. But ultimately the film’s greatest strength is that even amidst all of the arguing and gross-out moments, it plays things seriously when it needs to be. After all, this is a ‘dramedy’ about a family coping with the death of a loved one, a subject that isn’t and never will be funny. Thankfully this is not where the film’s humor comes from and the film manages to find a good balance of the humor and the drama, something that isn’t always easy to do when it comes to dramedies. Even though there are quite a lot of scenes where the Altman family is arguing with each other, there are also plenty of scenes in which they bond and these scenes are actually really touching and sweet.

Of course, this is mostly thanks to the film’s terrific ensemble cast. Their camaraderie with one another is superb and their relationships with each other feel genuine, hence why the scenes of them bonding are as strong as they are. Bateman and Fey’s more straight-faced attitudes help bring a nice balance to the crazier characters in the film, like Phillip for instance. Driver is easily one of the biggest standouts of the film in the role of the youngest of the Altman siblings which of course means that he doesn’t always act mature and Driver has quite a lot of charisma in the role. Fonda is also one of the film’s major standouts; most of her material is in relation to her character’s recent boob job which of course is a recurring joke throughout the film. But she also brings the proper motherly instinct that the role requires. As for the rest of the cast, some admittedly could’ve been given larger roles in the film, like Rose Byrne, who has really proven himself to be an excellent comedic talent earlier this year in ‘Neighbors’, as Judd’s former love interest from high school (Byrne and Bateman do have really nice chemistry) and even Corey Stoll, who kind of makes the smallest impression compared to his three sibling co-stars, but overall the cast is superb from top to bottom.

‘This is Where I Leave You’ can be quite wacky at times, as one would expect from a film centered on a dysfunctional family. But when it needs to, the film smartly tones down the craziness and as for this film being a dramedy, it’s one of the better ones that I’ve seen because it does do a really great job at balancing the humorous moments with the more serious moments. And those serious moments when the usually bickering Altmans start to reconnect with one another provide the heart of the film. Of course, this is primarily thanks to the film’s terrific ensemble cast. Not only do they have great camaraderie with one another but that also makes the relationships between their characters feel very much genuine from an emotional standpoint. Despite the occasional immature or gross-out moment, this is easily one of director Shawn Levy’s most mature films to date, if not the most. I haven’t read the book this was based on so I can’t say much about how faithful it is to the book (although I have heard about a scene from the book that got cut involving a cake that seems like a really funny situation but sadly it’s not in the film) but overall ‘This is Where I Leave You’ is a nice solid piece of entertainment that not only has a good amount of laughs but also a really good amount of heart as well.

Rating: 4/5

Star Wars Episode VII: First Cast Announcement

It’s been almost a year and a half since J.J. Abrams was first announced as the director of ‘Star Wars: Episode VII’, the first in a new trilogy of Star Wars films produced by Disney (not counting the spin-off solo films that they are looking to do, meaning that there will be at least one new ‘Star Wars’ film a year) and since that time, we’ve pretty much all speculated as to who would be in the cast, and let me tell you, there was quite a lot of speculation. I’ve seen quite a lot of posts online with rumors that various actors/actresses had been reading for parts and in fact, according to Saoirse Ronan, pretty much ‘everyone’ in Hollywood was reading for roles for this film. Aside from Ronan, other actors ‘reportedly’ testing for roles included Benedict Cumberbatch, Gary Oldman, and Michael Fassbender, and obviously that’s just to name a few. There were so many reports and rumors on the casting process that it was getting to the point where it was starting to get really annoying.

But now, we finally have our cast for the next entry in the ‘Star Wars’ saga as it was recently announced, and shown through a black and white photo (featured above) of the cast’s first table read, who will be in the film and overall, I have to say that it’s a pretty solid cast from top to bottom that includes both new and returning faces. Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, and Peter Mayhew will be reprising their roles as Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, C-3PO, R2-D2, and Chewbacca respectively. And they will be joined for this film by John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, Daisy Ridley, and Max von Sydow. Some of the new additions were amongst those reportedly up for roles, like Driver, Boyega, and Issac, but some, like Ridley, von Sydow, and Serkis, were not amongst the list of actors and actresses who were up for roles (at least from the reports I’ve seen). And of course, there were plenty of reports about how Hamill, Fisher, and Ford would be returning as well. With this announcement, we can finally lay the majority of all of these casting rumors to rest.

Top Row (L-R): Boyega, Ridley, Driver
Bottom Row (L-R): Gleeson, von Sydow, Issac

Now there’s not much I can say about this because as of right now we don’t know who these new cast members are playing. This was just an announcement stating who would be in the movie and not about ‘whom’ they would be playing. The only one whose role has sort of been determined is Adam Driver, who will apparently be playing a villain in the vein of Darth Vader. But even then, we don’t know ‘who’ this villain is nor do we know who everyone else (aside from the returning characters, of course) is for that matter. So right now, all we can do is speculate. But as for the cast itself, I really like the group of actors/actresses that they’ve picked to be in the film. I haven’t really seen a lot of the films that most of these actors were in (e.g. Oscar Issac, Adam Driver, Domhnall Gleeson), but I at least know who they are. The only member of this cast who is a complete unknown in my book is Daisy Ridley. Even after looking up her IMDB page, I really don’t know who she is but no worries, because I remember reading somewhere that Abrams wanted a cast of lesser known actors/actresses so it’ll be cool to see some new talent on screen. And on another note, I’m fine with having the older cast members in the film so that they can pave the way for the new cast to take over for future films.

Now of course as I’ve said earlier, we don’t know who these new members of the cast will be playing, but we can still speculate as to what their roles in the film will possibly be. Reportedly the film will center around three new leads (not Luke, Leia, and Han), and I’m guessing that those three will most likely be Boyega, Isaac, and Ridley. Driver, as stated earlier, will be the main villain. It does seem a bit obvious, but like a lot of people, I’m guessing that Serkis will probably be playing a motion-capture character. I mean, who knows, maybe he isn’t (after all, he has played some non-motion-capture roles in the past) but I think it’s pretty likely that he will be doing something that is motion-capture related because that’s what he’s known for. Plus, I’m interested in seeing what kind of character he might be if he’s doing motion-capture. As for Sydow, I’m guessing that he’ll either be A.) A ‘sage’ character similar to Obi-Wan (as portrayed by Alec Guinness) in the original trilogy or B.) Possibly a villain alongside Driver. Finally, with Domhnall Gleeson, I’m not entirely sure, but I’m guessing that he’ll be a character similar to Lando Calrissian.

Note: Not an official poster; I just really liked this fan-made one, even if it's just a 'Star Wars' version of the first 'Star Trek Into Darkness' poster.

But remember, we don’t really know much yet and for all we know, this could end up being another case like ‘The Phantom Menace’, which also had a really nice cast (Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Samuel L. Jackson, etc…) and yet look how that turned out. Now for the record, I’m not saying that I think that this is going to be another ‘Phantom Menace’. I want this new film trilogy to succeed and I do have a lot of faith in the cast and crew. J.J. Abrams as the film’s director is the main reason why I’m excited for the film as I really loved his two ‘Star Trek’ films (the first one being one of my top 10 favorite films of all time). It’s also co-written by Lawrence Kasdan, the writer of ‘The Empire Strikes Back’, which is still the best entry in the series. And I like these new additions to the cast, even if I haven’t seen much of their work. It definitely feels like all of those involved on this film know what they’re getting themselves into and are looking to make the film as good as it possibly can. But again, we’re still more than a year away from the film’s December release and this is just a cast announcement so we’ll just have to wait and see. But for now, I’m very optimistic about how this film is currently shaping up to be based on who’s involved with it in front of and behind the camera.