STAR WARS : THE FORCE AWAKENS - Sunday 27th December 2015.

'STAR WARS : Episode VII - THE FORCE AWAKENS' (Rated M) - In 1977 a young George Lucas who already had a number of successful films under this belt, created a story that has become ingrained in popular culture, and has spawned an entire industry around successive stories, movies, books, television series, radio broadcasts, merchandise, video games and theme park attractions. That initial film was of course 'Star Wars' which later became 'Star Wars : Episode IV - A New Hope' with the original trilogy taking in successive films in 1980 and 1983. Then in 1999, the franchise was resurrected with an prequel trilogy kicking off with 'Star Wars : Episode I - The Phantom Menace' with two further instalments in 2002 and 2005. Those initial six films have grossed US$4.39B including the animated feature in 2008 'The Clone Wars' and each film has either been nominated for, or won, at The Academy Awards. Then in 2012 The Walt Disney Company purchased Lucasfilm for in excess of US$4B and made it known that there would be a further three films in the franchise commencing with 'The Force Awakens' which would be set 30 or so year after 'Return of the Jedi'.

So then after all the hype, publicity, advertising, promotion, anticipation, expectation and frenzy from the world over since the first teaser trailer was released early this year, the film was released worldwide the week before Christmas to an awaiting audience hungry to see what Director J. J. Abrams could do with the storyline, the characterisation, the imagery, and the mythology of the earlier films. Having resurrected the 'Star Trek' franchise so successfully with two fairly recent films, and with a budget of US$200M it would seem that J.J. has got it right with Box Office records being smashed just about everywhere and a staggering global Box Office haul at the time of writing of US$1.16B - making it the fourth highest grossing film of 2015 already, the biggest grossing worldwide opening of all time and the fastest film ever to reach US$1B, and now in the Top 10 highest grossing movies of all time. Not so bad at all just two weeks after release!

And so to the story without giving away too much by way of spoiler content. That said first up we are introduced to a bunch of new characters - human and otherwise. Early on we meet acclaimed Resistance X-Wing fighter pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) on the planet Jakku who is in possession of a map that shows the whereabouts of Luke Skywalker, which he secrets away in his droid BB-8. Poe's village is destroyed at the hands of Stormtroopers led by Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie) and Poe & BB-8 are separated. In time BB-8 comes across Rey (Daisy Ridley) a scavenger seeking out a living searching for bits of scrap she on sells for whatever she can get to sustain herself. Meanwhile Poe is captured and tortured by Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) - on the dark side of the Force and originally with the Knights of Ren and now a Commander with the First Order which rose out of the Galactic Empire.

Poe is rescued by a Stormtrooper with a conscience, Finn (John Boyega) and together they escape in a hijacked TIE Fighter, crash landing back on Jakku, but it seems that Finn only has survived as Poe is nowhere to be seen. Finn stumbles across Rey who by now has laid claim to BB-8 but is unknowing of the map stashed away. The First Order has tracked down the crashed TIE Fighter and launches an air strike on where Finn, Rey and BB-8 are holed up. The three flee in a stolen, rundown ship - The Millennium Falcon that has been gathering dust in the desert.

After a fierce air battle over the desert wreckage of downed ships, The Millennium Falcon is captured by a larger ship piloted by one Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and his faithful Wookie Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew), who can't believe their luck. After exchanging social niceties, making requisite introductions and establishing the truth behind the Force and the events of some thirty years before the five make off for the green planet Takonda and meet in a cantina run by Maz Kanata (Lupita Nyong'o) where Rey is attracted by the force of a lightsaber that belonged to Luke Skywalker and his father before him.

In the meantime we meet General Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) who now heads up the Resistance, and who is reunited with Han and Chewie for the first time in many years. They clearly still hold a candle for each other, revealing a number of truths too that hitherto may have been unknown. Here they meet up with C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) and R2-D2 who has gone into a self induced inactivity since Luke disappeared years ago. A plan is hatched to thwart the First Order on their manufactured planet - Starkiller Base - and so the Resistance head out with Han, Chewie, Rey and Finn in tow. Needless to say it all goes pear shaped for the First Order and Starkiller Base but not before a few surprises are delivered and the lightsaber fight between good & evil, the Dark Side and the Light reveals a new force to contend with.

Back at base camp on the planet D'Qar where the Resistance are housed R2-D2 awakens from his self imposed sleep and is able to complete the map showing the location of Luke Skywalker that BB-8 has stowed away. Using the completed coordinates Rey boards The Millennium Falcon with her new crew in search for Luke finding him on a distant green & blue planet where she hands over his former lightsaber.

In the final analysis I did enjoy this film, the spectacle of it, the effects which are very handsomely delivered, the characterisation (of the old and the new), and the continuing mythology of this epic space opera franchise. But, for all of that, it still lacked that magic that made the first three films in the saga so special and so memorable and introduced us to the characters and the story that we have come to know and love. Maybe it is because like that former 1984 other 'Star' franchise - 'Star Trek III : The Search for Spock' that I couldn't help thinking that this was just 'Star Wars VII : The Search for Skywalker' with a bunch of rag tag space miscreants thwarting an evil foe for the greater good, but with the latest cutting edge film making technology to add some pazzaz! J.J. has done a great job  and Disney can be proud of his achievements given the Box Office haul so far generated and the bums on seats it has planted. See it on the big screen for sure, and as a sequel it does better than any of the prequels, but it's not up there with the originals. Episode VIII will hit our screens in May 2017 and Episode IX in 2019 - coming at you from a galaxy far far away!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-