Dinesh Kamath’s column ‘New movie released in Navi Mumbai’ (Star Wars – The Force Awakens) that was published in Newsband

New movie released in Navi Mumbai

Star Wars – The Force Awakens

Star Wars: The Force Awakens [N 1] is a 2015 American epic space opera film directed, co-produced, and co-written by J. J. Abrams. The seventh installment in the main Star Wars film series, it stars Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong'o, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Max von Sydow. Produced by Lucasfilm and Abrams' Bad Robot Productions and distributed worldwide by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, The Force Awakens is set approximately 30 years after Return of the Jedi (1983), and follows Rey, Finn, and Poe Dameron's fight with the Resistance, led by veterans of the Rebel Alliance, against Kylo Ren and the First Order, descended from the Galactic Empire.

The Force Awakens is the first film in the Star Wars sequel trilogy announced after Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm in October 2012. The film is produced by Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, Abrams, and his long-time collaborator Bryan Burk. Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan, co-writer of the original trilogy films The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi, rewrote an initial script by Michael Arndt. John Williams, composer for the previous six films, returned to compose its score. Star Wars creator George Lucas served as creative consultant during the film's early production stages. Filming began in April 2014 in Abu Dhabi and Iceland, with principal photography also taking place in Ireland and Pinewood Studios in England.

Before that interstellar bucket of bolts puts in its first appearance, the picture concerns itself with introducing its new characters: hotshot X-Wing fighter pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac); morally conflicted stormtrooper FN-2187, shortly to be known as Finn (John Boyega); and most important of all, Rey (Daisy Ridley), preternaturally capable scavenger of high-tech bits of futuristic space junk.

Director/co-screenwriter J.J. Abrams starts things off with a rousing spaceship attack — laser fire to the left, laser fire to the right. Finally, there’s the Falcon, looking battered and abandoned. Suddenly, there’s Rey at the controls, firing up the engine, and Finn at the main gun, firing at Tie fighters. And we’re off. Zooming high and fast and into the future of the franchise.

At the same time it feels like we’re in the middle of a warm homecoming. It feels like a reunion, because pretty soon Han Solo and Chewbacca are aboard. Later, C-3PO, R2-D2 and Gen. Leia (no longer a princess) arrive. It feels like a return to the place where the “Star Wars” saga began.

The villain, Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), is a cloaked, masked figure in black with a voice filter. He’s clearly related to Darth Vader, but in a way that’s surprising and fearsomely tragic. There’s a Yodalike figure, and a harking back to the Mos Eisely cantina scene.

Rey and Finn, though, feel fresh and new. Boyega brings an appealing sincerity to Finn, a stormtrooper with a conscience who can no longer stomach the planet-killing atrocities of what is now called First Order (formerly the Empire).

Ridley is the picture’s real find. Her Rey is fearless, forceful, resourceful, and with a hidden side to her personality that slowly manifests itself and will surely be more deeply explored in the sequels.

The Force Awakens is a sequel worth waiting 30 years for (and it is, make no mistake, the best Star Wars movie since at least 1983), with a stellar cast (Ridley and Driver shine, but every new and old face alike command the screen and so obviously want to be there, and that brings the whole thing to life); incredible direction and smart writing; and stunning aliens, visuals, and great characters- all of which are so fresh and unique with the perfect blend of old and new it injects life into this universe sometimes just by aesthetic, with Chewie, Han and C390 still bringing the laugh, while new additions like BB-8 cement themselves as worthy, the quirky droid destined to be a fan favourite and loved as only two droids ever have been. The movie is two and a half hours of sheer brilliance, with all of the magic, wit and fun which made the original trilogy what it was.