The Force Awakens is a heart crushing, eye opening, and overall amazing movie. Even though it got some mixed signals as the trailer was released, The Force Awakens did not back down or disappoint. It brings a wide aray of your favorites from the original movies and brings in fresh blood and characters that quickly become a part of your Star Wars soul. The movie instantly caught my heart with the bold humanity in Finn, a stormtrooper. The way that he after leaving the First Order stood up to the troop leader and said that his name is Finn on Tokadana, he is not just some number shooting a gun.
When watching the film for the seventh time I still get hopeful as Han Solo tries to save his son from the darkness, Harrison Ford played that part so well. I still get shivers watching as my beloved Han Solo steps onto the bridge opposite of Kylo Ren and begs his one and only son to come home to him. Begging his son, to see that there is still light in him, that he can fight the darkness. Seeing the composition of Ren’s face drop and giving yourself into the possibility of the happy family reunited, then feeling your heart absolutely die as Ren takes his father’s life. The scream of Chewbacca ringing in your ears, the pain on Leia’s face a permanent image in your mind. The fact that even after me breaking down each and every aspect of the film for me to write this review, that scene and most of the scenes still make me take a step back, and leave me heartbroken.
And then there is Rey, oh how she has taken my heart captive. Daisy Ridley plays a lost orphan that possesses the force. She takes on one topsy turvy emotional roller coaster, as we see her stumble in finding who she is, and who she wants to be. It is amazing to see a strong kick but girl come out of Star Wars. She cared so deeply and she fought so bravely not for herself but for her friends, some she has only know for a couple days. All the characters were impressively well rounded and relatable, captivating our hearts at every turn and carrying them through this adrenaline rush of a movie.
Despite The Force Awakens coming out in 2015 in my mind I see it as one of 2016’s films and in a year that dozens of redos of old films or new sequels/ prequels have come out it is hard for one to stand out. The Force Awakens had no trouble with that, Director J.J. Abrams brought us one absolutely heart wrenching film. He seamlessly sewed together the original and beloved characters with fresh blood and abundance of new characters that stole our hearts. The movie did get a lot of skeptical press after the original trailer was released because of people not believing that it could ever be as good as the original movies. I do believe that he crushed all those thoughts. The film was personal, relatable, and grabbed the hearts of Star Wars fans young and old. It showed so much humanity in the hero like characters that we already know and love. Bringing new life to Star Wars fandoms and giving us hope for the future of Star Wars.
-Isabel Leggett (#legit)
Isabel is a junior at Akins High School in Austin, Texas. She is a first year member of Geek Force and loves all things from Star Wars to Once Upon a Time
Feel free to leave feedback here for her or tweet @akinsgeekforce and use the #legit for feedback on her first ever written piece for Geek Force
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