The Force Awakens Has Shifted

With the sequel trilogy enduring a mixed reputation today, it’s easy to forget just how enthusiastically Star Wars: The Force Awakens was received back in 2015. The prequel reevaluation was yet to take place, and despite frustration over Disney wiping the Expanded Universe from official canon, the world hoped Star Wars could bounce back to cinematic glory.

In 2015, The Force Awakens was seen as exactly that. From the tsunami of excitement over Kylo Ren’s crossguard lightsaber in trailer footage to the closing glimpse of Luke Skywalker in the finished film, The Force Awakens broke box office records, was broadly hailed by audiences and critics, and shifted a biblical amount of BB-8 merchandise. Star Wars was back.

10 years later, The Force Awakens feels very far from being in the same league as the original trilogy. Many would argue it doesn’t even stand up to The Phantom Menace, which is a notion that seemed nigh-on unthinkable 10 years ago.

The Force Awakens Still Holds Up As A Star Wars Movie

My first impression upon seeing The Force Awakens‘ long-awaited trailer – and an impression later confirmed by the finished movie – was how J.J. Abrams had authentically recreated the worn and weathered feel of the original trilogy. Making full use of practical sets and physical costumes after the prequel trilogy’s sharp increase in CGI, it felt like the soul of Star Wars had been restored in 2015.

10 years later, I still find the tangible, lived-in style of The Force Awakens impressive. Abrams’ reverence for George Lucas’ fictional universe is clear in the attention to detail, with every nut and bolt on Jakku feeling like it has a backstory. As much as opinion has turned in favor of the prequel trilogy, Episodes I-III possess a certain hollowness that comes from the abundance of digital effects.

The Force Awakens also succeeded, more or less, in introducing a strong new generation of heroes and villains. Like Vader and Maul before him, Kylo Ren enjoyed instantaneous popularity thanks to Adam Driver channeling raw anger alongside moments of sinister calmness, plus a sprinkling of that Anakin Skywalker “stop telling me what to do, dad!” angst. The curious mystery of Snoke, meanwhile, inspired a thousand fan theories.

On the Resistance side, Daisy Ridley’s Rey ably stepped into the Luke Skywalker mold of an idealistic and innocent hero learning the Force while struggling to hold back inner turmoil, leaving Oscar Isaac to take Harrison Ford’s job of adding the cool factor. As with the original trilogy’s main heroes, The Force Awakens was able to create a genuine cast chemistry that ensured characters were elevated beyond their own individual contributions.

In a tricky balancing act, The Force Awakens afforded legacy characters like Han Solo and Leia Organa meaningful parts without them overshadowing the newcomers. Rey and the gang never lost the spotlight as main protagonists, but Han’s death and Leia’s position as Resistance leader allowed the two icons to dictate Star Wars‘ future in satisfying and emotive ways. Saving Luke for the sequel was probably a good idea too.

Story-wise, The Force Awakens was near-perfect in terms of creating intrigue and setting up the new trilogy. Rey’s parentage and Luke’s disappearance created major talking points, and the First Order’s victory promised a darker sequel in the vein of The Empire Strikes Back. The world-building was on point too, with smugglers, Stormtrooper lore, and pirate strongholds expanding the cinematic universe of Star Wars in fascinating and faithful ways.

How My Opinion On The Force Awakens Has Changed Over The Past 10 Years

I would still argue that The Force Awakens is a great Star Wars movie and the undoubted high point of the sequel trilogy, but in the decade since releasing, its flaws have floated to the surface and become far harder to overlook than they were in 2015.

By far the biggest issue is how closely The Force Awakens followed 1977’s original Star Wars movie as a template. The orphaned hero living on a desert planet at the beginning, the firing of a radical new energy weapon, the veteran being killed by someone close to him, the destruction of an enemy space station… The Force Awakens is arguably more of a remake than a sequel.

While this didn’t go unnoticed in 2015, it was easier to forgive back then. A world still unhappy with the prequel trilogy and thirsty for something closer to classic Star Wars got exactly what it was demanding: classic Star Wars.

The Force Awakens‘ similarity to A New Hope might not have aged as badly if a cohesive, original narrative had unfolded over The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker. The disjointed and directionless feel of the sequel trilogy as a whole, however, now only serves to accentuate The Force Awakens‘ recycled plot.

And it’s a very similar story for John Boyega. Finn started strongly at the beginning of The Force Awakens, functioning as a grounding presence for the viewer and giving game-changing insight into the mind of a Stormtrooper. Finn’s journey then took a turn when it became clear Rey was actually the Force-sensitive Jedi of the trilogy, not him.

By itself, the Rey/Finn switcheroo wouldn’t have been a huge problem if it acted as the springboard for Finn’s new arc across the next two films. There was plenty to explore with Finn’s Stormtrooper past and bond with Poe Dameron, but a pointless sidequest in The Last Jedi and declining relevance in The Rise of Skywalker hurt the character badly. Again, hindsight works against The Force Awakens here, because, other than screaming Rey’s name, Finn increasingly looks surplus to requirements after Jakku.

Another aspect of The Force Awakens that has soured over the past 10 years is the humor. Bits like BB-8 giving the thumbs-up and C-3PO desperately trying to tell everyone about his red arm are still great, but The Force Awakens was guilty of drifting into more self-referential gags that no longer hold up.

A prime example would be Poe not hearing Kylo Ren because of the villain’s mask. This brand of meta comedy was very en vogue during the early 2010s, with franchises like the MCU openly joking about names and costumes from the comics in order to create a sense of realism. I probably did chuckle at Poe’s line back in 2015, but watching the scene today is a very different experience. It’s a joke that belongs in a Star Wars parody, not a Star Wars movie.

Alongside plenty of others, I was perhaps guilty of overlooking Star Wars: The Force Awakens‘ flaws in 2015. Its strengths took precedence. Ten years later, however, it’s still a movie that I’m glad exists, and the sequel trilogy’s opener remains a highly entertaining chapter in the galaxy far, far away.

Release Date

December 18, 2015

Runtime

136 minutes