Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Movie Review

STAR WARS EPISODE VII: THE FORCE AWAKENS (PG-13) Starring Harrison Ford, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Lupita Nyong'o, Domhnall Gleeson, Andy Serkis, Peter Mayhew, Anthony Daniels, Gwendoline Christie, Greg Grunberg and Max von Sydow.
Written by Lawrence Kasdan, JJ Abrams & Michael Arndt.
Directed by JJ Abrams.

★★★½

Rewatching the first six movies reminded me of something - the cognative dissonance required to enjoy the prequels. I have to ignore the stilted dialogue, stiff performances, over-reliance on CGI to get to the parts I like. None of that is required here. This movie is a pleasure from beginning to end, reimursing us in the original Star Wars galaxy.

One of the joys of the movie was seeing everything I didn't know was going to happen. We've gathered certain scenes and characters in general - i.e. the Millenium Falcon will fly again!  This one dives right into the action from the opening scrawl. (And yes, there were cheers when the Star Wars logo hit the screen.) We may start with some of the new characters, but we know we'll eventually see all of our old friends.

Of the new characters, there is Rey (Daisy Ridley), a scavenger on Jakku, a junkyard planet that makes Tattooine look like a luxury resort. There is Finn (John Boyega), a stormtrooper who grows a conscience. There is Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), a cocky but skilled pilot. And there's BB-8, a roller-droid that kids will love as much as they did R2-D2.

Every scene builds on the next. It hits a lot of familiar beats but it also managed to build a lot of suspense as to what direction it was going to ultimately go. I can't wait to watch it a second time to look for things I missed.

I hope this movie makes enough money that they'll decide to make Episode VIII.

Star Trek Into Darkness - Movie Review

Starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Benedict Cumberbatch, Bruce Greenwood, Alice Eve and Peter Weller.
Directed by JJ Abrams.

★★★

This is a movie that is determined to have fun.  It plays with old Trek tropes (maybe a little too much this time around) while blazing a trail for the new.

It starts out with characters on the run.  Maybe if this had been an episode of the TV show it would have started with Kirk and McCoy landing on the planet, observing the sentient beings there. But we're in a movie, so let's skip to the action.  Kirk and McCoy banter as they run, until they get to a cliff where they don't even slow down; they just jump 60 feet and fortunately don't hit any rocks when they land in its ocean.

Turns out Kirk violated the Prime Directive while there.  (You remember the Prime Directive. That plot device that was violated every third episode.)  He gets demoted, and Admiral Pike gets the Enterprise back.  This can't end well for Pike, no matter what timeline we're in.  Hopefully this time he won't wind up as a quadriplegic who can only communicate with a "Yes/No" light, as he did on the series.  (Spoiler: he doesn't.)

Benedict Cumberbatch, an actor blessed with a name out of the Douglas Adams universe, plays the far-less-adventurously-nomenclatured "John Harrison", a domestic terrorist who is apparently plotting to start an intergalactic war.  Cumberbatch has a deep, symphonious voice, one where every syllable carries weight.

I caught the 3D version, and it was fine.  There were some set pieces where it worked well, but usually I forgot it was in 3D.  Which can be a compliment too.

My main criticism would be those "this is my JJ Abrams signature" lens flares on the bridge of the Enterprise.  I really hope he doesn't fill Star Wars Episode VII up with those.  Meanwhile I also hope they find a good director for Star Trek: Bring on the Klingons.

Random Movie Stuff - 1/28/13

- Anna Paquin (Rogue), Ellen Page (Kitty Pryde) and Shawn Ashmore (Iceman) will all be back for X-Men: Days of Future Past.  It features an alternative future for the mutants where they're all being hunted by Sentinels.  Hugh Jackman (Wolverine), Patrick Stewart (Professor X), James McAvoy (young Professor X), Ian McKellen (Magneto), Michael Fassbender (young Magneto), Jennifer Lawrence (young Mystique), and Nicholas Hoult (young Beast) will return as well.  Bryan Singer, who directed the first two X-Men movies, will be back.  It will open July 18, 2014.

- Paul Giamatti is in talks to play the Rhino in The Amazing Spider-Man 2.  He'd join Jamie Foxx, who's playing Electro, as the two villains Spidey must face.  Meanwhile Shailene Woodley (The Descendants) will play Mary Jane Watson and Dane DeHaan (Chronicle) will play Harry Osbourne.  Felicity Jones (Hysteria) is in an undisclosed role.  Andrew Garfield (Peter), Emma Stone (Gwen), and Sally Field (Aunt Mae) are returning.

- Since JJ Abrams has signed on to direct Star Wars 7, he won't be able to direct Star Trek 3 but will remain on as a producer.  Star Trek into Darkness opens this May.  Abrams will also produce Mission Impossible 5 with Tom Cruise.

- Lucasfilm has decided not to release Star Wars Episodes 2 & 3 to the big screen in 3-D.

Coming in the next few months:

- Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire) is returning to his crime-drama roots with Trance, starring James McAvoy as an auctioneer named Simon who helps steal some priceless art for a mob boss (Vincent Cassel) but after getting knocked unconscious, Simon can't remember where he hid the art.

- Quvenzhane Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild) will next appear in Twelve Years A Slave, based on a true story about a mid-18th century New York educated free-man (Chiwetel Ejiofor) who was kidnapped and sold for slavery in the South.  Brad Pitt, Michael Fassbender, Paul Giamatti, Alfre Woodard and Benedict Cumberbatch co-star.

- Amy Poehler and Paul Rudd will star in They Came Together, a parody of You've Got Mail and romantic-comedy trappings in general.  Michael Shannon, Ed Helms and Cobie Smulders co-star.

- This Is the End will open June 14.  It's written and directed by Evan Goldberg & Seth Rogen (Superbad).  It stars Rogen, James Franco, Jonah Hill, Jay Baruchel, Danny McBride and Craig Robinson as fictional versions of themselves, trapped in Franco's house after "a series of cataclysmic events" destroy Los Angeles. Something tells me at some point they all smoke pot.

Random Movie News - 1/24/13

- The wait is over.  Star Wars Episode VII now has a director and it is J.J. Abrams, the man behind Super 8, the Star Trek reboot, and the upcoming Star Trek into Darkness.  Abrams got his break in TV, with series like Felicity, Alias and Lost, and later expanded to movies.  He directed Mission Impossible III as well.  The Star Wars Episode VII script is being written by Michael Arndt (Toy Story 3).

- Joaquin Phoenix is reuniting with director Paul Thomas Anderson (The Master) for Inherent Vice, based on the 2009 Thomas Pynchon novel about a psychedelic 1960's private eye roped into a kidnapping scheme by his ex.

- Grudge Match will open November 15.  It stars Sylvester Stallone and Robert DeNiro as two old boxers who still dislike each other who decide to have one last match even though they're in their 60's.  Alan Arkin, Kim Basinger and Kevin hart co-star.  Stallone and DeNiro previously worked together in 1997's Cop Land.  Peter Segal (Get Smart) directs.

- Ryan Reynolds (Green Lantern), Mirielle Enos (The Killing), Rosario Dawson (Sin City) and Scott Speedman (The Vow) will star in Queen of the Night, about the father of an abducted daughter who receives clues eight years later that she might still be alive.