Review: Star Wars Episode VII The Force Awakens

The first Star Wars movie I saw was "Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back" in the early 1980s in Shillington, Pennsylvania. This occurred before VCRs, DVDs, Blu-Rays, and Netflix existed.

Back then, the only way to see a movie was to see it playing in the movie theater. That is until I discovered that my local Radio Shack had a laser disk player (these played large, LP-sized disks), and one day, I saw parts of Star Wars playing in the store. I was fascinated by the story but never saw the whole movie completely.

Since then, I have seen all of the other Star Wars movies, but for some inexplicable reason, "The Empire Strikes Back" remained my favorite.

I wondered what would happen when George Lucas sold the Star Wars franchise to Disney. With director J.J. Abrams, I was expecting something like his last Star Trek film - Into Darkness. His television series (Alias, Lost) and movies (Into Darkness) focus more on the action and less on dialogue.

Now that I have watched Star Wars: The Force Awakens, I have comments about the movie.

The script was an engaging copy of the original Star Wars. The similarities were obvious: Luke's original role (as the Jedi in training) is played by Rey; Luke, who will train Rey (will do the same role as Yoda). Darth Vader is replaced by the sinister Kylo Ren, who happens to be Han Solo's son. In place of the Deathstar, we now have the Starkiller base. In place of R2D2 and C3PO, the new rolling ball robot BB8 serves a similar purpose.

It is known that Darth Vader wore his black mask because of the injuries sustained from previous combat. However, why Kylo Ren wears a mask is not known. Is it a show of respect to Darth Vader, whom he idolizes?

It looks like Kylo Ren kills his father (Han Solo) in one scene (though perhaps Han Solo survives?)

I don't know what to make of the character Finn, who seems more of a sidekick.

The movie was certainly entertaining, with incredible special effects. However, it wasn't as good as the original Star Wars or The Empire Strikes Back.