Cast: Harrsion Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o
Director: J.J Abrams
Genre: Sci-fi
Duration: 135 minutes
Now showing: Cinema Magic Metroplex Mall Naalya and Century Cinemax Acacia Mall Kisementi
The Force awakens 30 years after the events of Return of the Jedi. What is this Force I speak of? More on that later, especially if Star Wars is not your cup of tea. First, let’s assume it is your cup of tea, I’m sure you have done every bit of research on the new Star Wars movie. This is what is expected of a movie with a cult following. So you already know that Ford, Hamill and Fisher return as Han Solo, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia respectively, though the latter is General Organa now. You also know that the Rebel Alliance is now known as the Resistance and the Empire as the First Order.
Several people, including close friends, have said they don’t understand Star Wars. It even hurts my heart to type it. So, instead of telling you how amazing the new movie is, let me try and explain the Star Wars story.
What are these star wars? Since the movies are set in the galaxy, the star part is easy. The war in the first movies was between the Rebellion (Luke, Leia, Solo and the peacekeeping Jedi fall here) and the Empire (the bad guys including the Sith). The other point of confusion for non- Star Wars fans is the order of the movies –Star Wars die-hards call them episodes. The first trilogy, of which Return of the Jedi was the last, is Episode IV to VI and the next trilogy is Episode I to III. That is because the second trilogy which was released more recently gives the history of the first. The latest movie therefore follows the first trilogy and is Episode VII.
Back to what the force is. The peacekeeping Jedi I spoke of earlier have this powerful energy that they used to protect the galaxy. However, the Sith overpowered them and now this power can be used for both good or evil. Star Wars: The Force Awakens is therefore a fight of good versus evil. Away from the plot, the movie has a solid cast, especially the new guys like Boyega and Ridley who are already being tagged as stars to watch. Also, the fact that J.J Abrams managed to capture the heart of the previous movies while creating a whole new plot means the franchise has new followers while maintaining the old ones. This will come in handy since there are two more movies to follow.