Star Wars: Rey of hope in the Force

BY VERNON LEE, REPORTING FROM HOLLYWOOD

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

There has been an awakening of the galaxy’s ultimate space saga.

Strap up, as Star Wars: The Force Awakens (SWTFA) takes you on a thrilling hyperspace ride piloted by a new generation of warriors with the mettle to take over the Millennium Falcon cockpit and the lightsabers from their exalted predecessors.

Newcomers like Rey (Daisy Ridley), a Force-sensitive scavenger; Finn (John Boyega), a stormtrooper turned Resistance ally; BB-8, an agile and lovable droid; Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), a Sith-Lord aspirant with a foul temper and General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson), a megalomaniac First Order commander make their mark in Episode VII as the destiny shapers of the Star Wars universe in the post-Galactic Empire era.

In the run-up to the release of the most hyped movie in many years, director J.J. Abrams had to cope with the tidal wave of expectations surrounding a franchise that has become an indelible part of global pop culture. The question on everyone’s mind was: can he deliver?

Well, fans can take off their Darth Vader masks and breathe easy - the agonising decade-long wait for redemption from the widely-panned prequels is truly over.

With Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan as co-writers, SWTFA is a return to form of the Star Wars of yore. The multi-faceted and well-paced plot, seamless dialogue and cogent character development represent a class act in cinematic storytelling.

The new order of battle in SWTFA is between the Resistance and the First Order, a nefarious cabal that seeks to destroy the successors to the Rebel Alliance and the last Jedi.

The story begins on the desert planet of Jakku, where heroic Resistance pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) seeks help finding Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) from an old ally of General Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher). On the order of Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis), the First Order unleashes a rampage on the planet to thwart the Resistance.

Through a chain of events on her home planet, Rey saves BB-8 from being consigned to the junk pile and forms an unlikely alliance with Finn.

Ridley exudes emotional gravitas, playing as the lead character destined to venture beyond Jakku and join the Resistance. Rey’s transformation into a Force-enabled heroine who could challenge Ren, an acolyte of the Dark Side, is a central theme in the saga.

Having a female character at the forefront to challenge the First Order in one of filmmaking’s most successful franchises of all time represents a major step in addressing the lack of gender diversity in Hollywood.

Of the new characters in SWTFA, Finn is the most enigmatic. Having witnessed bloodshed on the frontline, Finn faces the existential dilemma of what he should be fighting for.

As comic foil to newfound allies Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and his Millennium Falcon co-pilot Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew), Finn impresses with his often fumbling ways. In one scene, Finn tries to extricate from a sticky situation by applying The Force, prompting the irascible smuggler to tease him, “that’s not what it’s used for.”

Droids have always been an integral part of Star Wars and BB-8 is a charming addition as an emotive data-crunching pet of the Resistance. R2-D2 (Kenny Baker) and C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) reappear in the saga, but BB-8 dominates screen time and looks set to be a new favourite with the gadget-loving fanboys and younger audience.

Driver had his work cut out for him playing, in Kylo Ren, the successor to one of movie history’s all-time greatest villains. He delivers a stately and consistent performance, portraying Ren as having the steely disposition of a Sith Lord to instill throat-choking fear in his enemies.

Of the other villains, Snoke’s CGI-based eerie presence may have been brief but memorable. His towering figure represents the diabolical nature of the First Order, which will not stop at anything to crush the Republic and its Resistance allies.

Stellar performances by the supporting characters keep the movie on a smooth trajectory. Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie), the chrome-plated loyalist stormtrooper and Maz Kanata (Lupita Nyong’o), a pirate queen from planet Takodana, are the standouts. But it is Kanata who impresses the most as an old friend of Solo who helps him in the search for Luke and a mentor to Rey.

Abrams has eschewed the heavy use of CGI and adopted a more realistic approach of the original trilogy. Actors suited up as robots and bizarre creatures, and scenic locations in places like Iceland and Abu Dhabi were used as backdrops to project gritty realism and visual splendor.

And what would a Star Wars movie be without epic space battles and lightsaber duels? The dogfights between the remodeled X-Wings and TIE fighters, such as at the Battle of Takodana, are brilliantly staged to trigger full-throttle adrenaline. The three-way duel involving Rey and Finn against Ren is a masterfully constructed slugfest, set against the snowy terrain of Starkiller Base.

These scenes are due in no small part to the measured reverence that Abrams has for the works of several auteurs. In an interview with Empire magazine, Abrams praised the films of John Ford (“the confidence” of his Westerns), Akira Kurosawa (“unbelievable scene choreography” of “High and Low”) and Terrence Malik (“the powerful stillness”).

In the original trilogy, George Lucas had tapped Nazi Germany for creative inspiration. Abrams also had Adolf Hitler’s regime in mind when he sketched a pivotal scene. Hux’s rant against The Republic at a massive First Order assembly harks back to Leni Riefenstahl’s propaganda film chronicling The Nazi Party congress at Nuremberg in 1934.

SWTFA raises the question of how the subsequent Episodes of the trilogy will pan out. Is the dualism of The Force destined to persist and that the organisation of the galaxy under a predominant Side the only eventual outcome possible? Or will the Light Side and Dark Side continue to achieve a balance of power through see-sawing attrition warfare?

A long time ago, millions of people gravitated towards theatres to watch Star Wars and the beginning of an entertainment phenomenon. Far, far away from today, the opening episode of the sequel trilogy will continue to exude The Force and enthrall, reflecting the saga’s timeless parables of vengeance, power, redemption and love.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens opens in theatres around Singapore on December 17.