After the perhaps rather underwhelming last three Star War films, director J J Abrams said he wanted The Force Awakens to be closer to the original trilogy and that’s exactly what he’s come up with – a smooth, cosily familiar, retro fun ride, with lots of old stuff as much as lots of new stuff.

This should suit all the Star Wars fans very nicely. The old-fashioned approach is the way to go. This is exactly how they’ve prolonged the active life of James Bond and how Abrams revived the dead Star Trek franchise.

The danger of course with this route is lack of excitement with a feeling of deja vu. We’ve seen it all before, so do we want to see it all over again? Pre-opening ticket sales have already answered that with a resounding yes. They’ve caught the original stars just before they got too old to do it. Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher are well used, particularly Ford, who more or less has the film’s main role, chewing wryly over some of the screenplay’s quietly comic lines, and managing to move around nicely in the action. Mark Hamill has considerably less to do, but it’s all set up that he’ll be back for his role in Part 8.

Whether Daisy Ridley’s Rey, John Boyega’s Finn, and Oscar Isaac’s Poe will ever be as beloved characters as the originals remains to be seen. They’re decent enough characters, brought to life with lively performances from three good actors, so you can’t ask for much more. Handing over old franchises to new generations isn’t easy, so this is probably the way to go, light-hearted, light-weight and effortless seeming. Nobody looks like they’re trying too hard, so that means a heck of a lot of work and skill has gone into it.

Always attracted to the dark side, I thought Adam Driver as Kylo Ren was the show’s hit turn, an excellent example of a comedian turned straight man. He always has a scary energy as a comic and here he’s just plain scary, though that makes him hard to take down as a villain of course, and that’s exactly the point. If anyone thinks they can destroy him, they’d better be mighty strong and clever. Do any of these new cast members fit the bill? Not sure.

There are two or three surprises in the plot, one of them particularly unpleasant, though unfortunately all of them easy to guess even from the tiny amount of info we’ve had before the movie opened. However, these surprises need to remain surprises, and the film company asked the preview audience to maintain a silence to keep the excitement, and the movie depends quite a bit on the element of surprise. So lips are sealed. No info from me, and that’s a nod in the direction of ‘you’re just going to have to see it to find out’.

It also keeps to, and honours, the franchise’s core virtues: gorgeous production design, beautiful effects, fine costumes, exciting villain, nicely realised action, and magnificent score by John Williams. The screenplay by Abrams, Lawrence Kasdan and Michael Arndt is handily (though a shade arbitrarily) set 30 years after Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983), perhaps just to explain how the original stars look how they are now. By the way, a little brushing up on knowledge of the old movies is good beforehand, or it’s tricky to follow.

It’s a knowing, canny script, carving out an interesting little space where it is hard to find. Like a Christmas panto, it’s a tiny bit camp and kitsch, but warm and friendly, high spirited and good natured. It honours the long-ago Saturday Morning Pictures aspect of George Lucas’s original, and for that and for Harrison Ford’s iconic turn, most everyone will like it.

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© Derek Winnert 2015 Movie Review

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