Star Wars Episode 7: The Force Awakens

2016-04-18 Jedite83

Jedite83’s Review
I am going to be trying something a little different today. I am posting the plot summery after my review and will be trying to avoid spoilers in my review.

At long last here is the actualy good Star Wars movie we have been waiting for. After the widely disliked prequels, a lot of people had concerns if Star Wars Episode 7: The Force Awakens would be great, like the originals, or fall flat like the prequels.
Thankfully Star Wars Episode 7: The Force Awakens didn’t disappoint. Full of action and with a plot that teases out enough to get you interested, while keeping you in the dark so you will some see the upcoming movies. Personally I feel the plot was great, and I loved how they reintroduced the old characters we all know and love, while allowing the new cast to shine.
The special effects were great. Being that Disney was shoveling money at the film like it was going out of style this was to be expected.

Plot

**WARNiNG SPOILERS AHEAD**
Approximately 30 years after the second Death Star was destroyed, Luke Skywalker, the last Jedi, has disappeared. The First Order has risen from the fallen Galactic Empire and seeks to eliminate Luke and the Republic. The Resistance, backed by the Republic and led by Luke’s twin sister, Leia Organa, opposes them while searching for Luke to enlist his aid.

Resistance pilot Poe Dameron meets village elder Lor San Tekka on the planet Jakku to obtain a map to Luke’s location. Stormtroopers under the command of Kylo Ren destroy the village and capture Poe. Poe’s droid BB-8 escapes with the map. The First order learns of BB-8. Stormtrooper FN-2187, unable to kill for the First Order, frees Poe and they escape in a stolen TIE fighter; Poe dubs FN-2187 “Finn”. They crash on Jakku, and Finn appears to be the only survivor. He encounters Rey and BB-8, but the First Order tracks them and launches an airstrike. The three flee the planet in a stolen, rundown ship, the Millennium Falcon.

The Falcon breaks down, and is soon captured by a much larger ship, piloted by Han Solo and Chewbacca, who reclaim their former vessel. Han explains that Luke tried to rebuild the Jedi Order but went into exile after a student turned to the dark side and destroyed all that Luke had built. Gangs seeking to settle debts with Solo board the ship and attack, but the five escape in the Falcon. The Falcon crew arrive at the planet Takodana and meet in a cantina belonging to Maz Kanata, who can help BB-8 reach the Resistance, but Finn wants to flee on his own.

At the First Order’s Starkiller Base, a planet converted to a superweapon capable of destroying star systems, Supreme Leader Snoke orders General Hux to use it for the first time. It destroys the Republic capital and its fleet and Hux declares the end of the Republic. The First Order attacks Takodana. Han, Chewbacca, and Finn, who uses the lightsaber in the fight, are saved by Resistance X-wing fighters led by Poe, but Rey is captured and taken to Starkiller Base. Ren interrogates Rey, but she resists his mind-reading. Discovering she too can use the Force, she escapes her cell with a Jedi mind trick.

Han, Chewbacca, Finn, and BB-8 arrive at the Resistance base on D’Qar, where they meet Leia and the droids C-3PO and R2-D2, the latter of whom has been inactive since Luke’s disappearance. They also learn that BB-8’s map to Luke’s location is incomplete. As Starkiller Base prepares to fire on D’Qar, the Resistance devises a plan to lower the planetary shield so their fighters can attack. Leia urges Han to return their son alive. Using the Falcon, Han, Chewbacca, and Finn infiltrate the base. They lower the shield, find Rey, set explosives, and encounter Ren. Han confronts Ren and implores him to abandon the dark side. Though conflicted, Ren ultimately rejects and murders Han. An enraged Chewbacca shoots Ren in the thigh and sets off the explosives, allowing the Resistance X-wing fighters to attack the weapon and start a chain reaction that destroys Starkiller Base.

The injured Ren pursues Finn and Rey to the surface. Finn battles Ren with the lightsaber, but is overpowered and badly wounded. Rey takes the lightsaber and fights Ren, overpowering him with the Force before they are separated by a fissure. Snoke orders Hux to evacuate and bring Ren to him, while Rey, Chewbacca, and Finn escape in the Falcon. On D’Qar, the Resistance celebrates while Leia, Chewbacca, and Rey mourn Han’s death. R2-D2 awakens and reveals the rest of the map, which Rey follows with R2-D2 and Chewbacca to an island on a distant planet. She finds Luke and offers him his lightsaber.