Awakened, the Force Has

By Matt Louie
For a full few months, all people could think about was the force awakening. Well, its
no surprise that all the hubbub derived from the return of the Star Wars franchise. Truly, the title
of the most recent episode represented the greater resurrection of the force. Why now of all
times?
The force never really died, per se, but some fans started feeling like it did for several
years. However, true Star Wars fans knew it was impossible. There was no way that Star Wars
would not make a come-back into our lives. The revival of the Star Wars franchise was more
surprising in its sequence of events than the other six movies have been. To recap, this movie
was so mind-blowing that there is no way for me to cover every single moment that occurred, or
it might be shorter to watch the actual film, rather than read the full script with commentary.
*Note*: If you have not seen any of the last three episodes of Star Wars, I suggest you watch
them then the first three episodes (as a flashback) but most definitely squeeze the seventh one in
that sandwich somewhere in order to get the full experience.
If you have decided to continue reading this article, then prepare yourself because
SPOILER ALERT! The film begins with a crazy shooting moment with the Stormtroopers. Enter
the new Darth Vader, aka Kylo Ren, and his goons. They were all scouring for the possible
coordinates/information rumored to give the location of Luke Skywalker- the last Jedi. The
villains are known as the First Order and eliminating the Jedi would accelerate their plans in
world domination (typical sci-fi plot so far, right?) One Stormtrooper particularly is hesitant to
partake in the massacre of the citizens and the audience begins to think he is the only
Stormtrooper who has been capable of breaking free of the brainwashing techniques employed
by the Dark Side since the beginning. The scene shifts to show our other protagonist, Rey on

Jakku. I personally think it is located near Tatooine, since the whole landscape has a desert-vibe
similar to that of A New Hope. It was brilliantly done to show a parallel between her and Luke
Skywalker from the previous generation.
The story unfolds rapidly as the rough estimate of Lukes whereabouts are given to the
new droid, BB-8 by a character named Poe Dameron. Rey stumbles upon BB-8 and the defected
Stormtrooper, later named Finn since FN 21-87 was annoying to say, converged on Jakku. Lots
of running, shooting and screaming occurred to bring our heroes to the rusty old fighter craft to
escape from First Order pursuers. Little did they know, they were getting on the Millennium
Falcon! By now the audience is pretty clear that this movie takes place several years after the last
volume. How do we know this? Well, just as the ship undergoes some intensive repairs that
almost lead to an acid breakout, two people board the ship. It is none other than the aged Han
Solo and his trusty companion, Chewbacca! Before we have time to gasp, people looking to
settle a score; with Hans undying habits of conning various races in the galaxy, it is not uncanny
this would happen. In fact, the only other interesting fact about Han and Chewies attackers was
that they had heard about Rey, Finn and the BB-8 unit that may have been spotted boarding the
ship.
To keep things moving briskly and to not summarize every single second of the film, all
that you, the reader needs to take note of is that Carrie Fischer as Leia, who is now the general of
the Resistance makes a short stand. Though her appearances are brief, she is seen as a strong
supporting female officer that foils the plans of the First Order. A battle really indifferent from
one that occurred on Hoth and against the Death Star occur, but not before Rey has the chance to
slowly discover traces of her power as a Jedi. On a planet at a tavern that resembles Jabba the
Huts lair mixed with a modern version of the cantina band, we meet Maz Kanata, who is a bug-

eyed alien. She serves as Reys ticket to acquiring knowledge on the Force before Luke
Skywalkers old lightsaber calls out to her. Rey runs into the forest with BB-8 but the evil Kylo
Ren pursues her and utilizes a mind trick that throws Rey into a helpless unconscious state. All at
the same time, all hell broke loose as Finn, Han and Chewie faced heavy fire from the First
Order troops. Can I just say that battle was more epic than the Battle of Endor from the sixth
movie and it could have gone either way if Finn had more training with the lightsaber that Rey
had neglected.
Much later, Rey awakens and is interrogated by Kylo Ren, who we begin to see is
nothing more than a big crybaby with no fashion sense. Oh, did I mention that he is obsessed
with completing Darth Vaders mission, which explains why he wears a mask and a hood to
double hide his face. Simultaneously, Chewie and the others mobilize to apprehend Rey and her
captor. With the assistance from Resistance troops, our heroes managed to stealthily board the
enormous warship that arguably rivals the Death Star (I believe the fiends were working on
constructing a weapon capable of Armageddon destruction that may have used a thermal signal
similar to the sun to obliterate planets but check me on that).
At the end of busting Rey out from captivity, Han Solo confronts Kylo Ren. Apparently
they are father and son?! The conversation seems like a clich one-sided whine fest and Han tries
to make up for it. They hug but that is where it went south. In that split second we thought Kylo
Ren was going to return to the good side, he betrayed our expectations. Instead, he stabbed Han
and for a moment everything froze. As Han realized his fatal injury, it was too late. He
plummeted off the suspension bridge (Note*: there are ALWAYS scenes over bridges or high
areas in these films ex: the Cloud Tower battle or the Battle at Mustafar!). To end this synopsis,
Rey and Finn have it out with Kylo. In an epic scuffle, Finn and Rey are knocked back and Finn

tries to deal a fatal blow but in turn he is immobilized by Ren. Reys feelings of infuriation
towards Ren were at first uncontrollable (who can blame her? Han just died!) but after being
driven to a cliff in the blizzard-y climate, she focused on the advice that Maz had imparted to her
before their departure. As you can probably guess what happened next, Rey learned to somehow
control the Force that lay dormant in her and wounded Kylo Ren. He retreated and there were no
further casualties; a celebration was in order back at the base of the Resistance. The quest to find
Luke Skywalker was also fulfilled and Rey was seen converging with her new mentor (yes!) on a
secluded island with nothing but the saber and her wits. Before we knew it the end credits
popped up. Whoo!
Lets take a breather. All this plot must have been difficult to digest without a deep
character analysis. First there is FN 21-87, who is later renamed Finn.He is the Stormtrooper
who is not defective, but rather just symbolizes the fact that the brainwashing the First Order put
the captured soldiers through was not thorough enough. Not only was he seen leaving the Dark
Side, but it was clear that he was vulnerable and not able to think much for himself in terms of
what was right and wrong. He lied to Rey that he was from the Resistance in order to draw her
into the quest to safely deliver the BB-8 unit from Poe to the Resistance. However, he is great a
few times in the movie. Uncharacteristically, he tries to show affection for Rey that surpasses her
expectation that they are new friends but it was merely a moment to relieve the intense friction
after a death-defying scene. Rey, on the other hand is a woman and in order to appeal to
feminists and conservative views, her character fluctuated. In the beginning when Finn first crash
landed on her planet, Jakku, it was evident that Rey could kick butt when she had to and she was
tough enough to disregard Finns awkward hand multiple times when he wanted to pull her along
their getaway. Later, she becomes rather confused and lost in her own self, which enables her to

err in judgement and get taken by Kylo Ren. However, she comes back with a bang and does
manage to whup him and returned to the strong-willed individual
I and others fell in love with.
To think there even was a dispute between the two
major characters background! I found it absurd as I watched the
film once, twice, thrice, etc. in theaters. Each time, I could not
envision a more perfect duo with the right chemistry to birth Finn and Reys characters. Just
noticing that the franchise tried and succeeded in casting a more diverse range of people thrilled
me and made it all the more better. We rarely see what lies underneath the masks of the infamous
Stormtroopers and to think the one time we can, a dark-skinned man is underneath was more
than I could have expected (had I not been ensnared at once by the overwhelming ads and trailer
promotion cycling the World Wide Web). In addition, Daisey Ridley, the actress who plays Rey,
to use colloquial urban slang, SLAYED in that role. Not
only was her accent at times the cutest thing but she was
fierce through and through. Choosing the only people who
could not be more perfect for their roles made the ideal cast:
it was only a small portion of the film since the addition of
everyones new favorite droid was featured. That droid is none other than BB-8! He rolls around
100x quicker than any of the other droids from the other movies and is equally sentient. In fact,
the chirps he makes can melt anybodys heart into goop. There is no other way that this film
would have been successful if Finn was not there or Rey was replaced by a male actor. Similarly,
if BB-8 was not used, I think this film would be void of a cool mascot and it would have been a
complete hot mess.

There is one more thing that cannot be forgotten. The overwhelming battle between good
and evil! This may seem like a typical battle between light and dark but never has the evil been
so commendable. The First Order, a branch of the ever continuous struggle on the Dark Side to
eradicate their sworn enemies, the Jedi, was seen to be more intense than ever. In fact, there was
a scene that encompassed how Star Wars was basically history
in film form. When General Hux commanded the First Order
Stormtroopers, it did seem like WWII was happening and the
dramatization of the scene made them seem more ominous. In
addition, the First Order was kickass and pretty frightening to watch as they laid waste to the
areas they purged. The most surprising fact was that they were nothing more than mindless
zombie soldiers that surpassed the destruction since previous movie scenes. On the other hand,
good, aka the Resistance was not particularly whats the word...pathetic but they seemed pretty
insignificant in comparison to the First Order, which could have gone unrivaled had Kylo Ren
grown a pair. But in all seriousness, the Resistance did have the right ideas but the First Order
seemed to be a few steps ahead and capable of quashing the rebellion; far more effort was put
into the masses of the Stormtroopers this time to create a more dominating force than ever
before.
Of course this episode was the best of them all. The comeback had so many fans nervous
and pissing themselves before the big day came (which was surprising since fans piled into
theaters days before the movie was fated to be released for our expense to see the super
expensive and hard-to-get tickets to the premiere). One of the reasons was due to the fact that
George Lucas was not directing this film. The cheesy effects and easy-to-guess plot predictions
were able to become fogged up with the brilliant magic that J.J. Abrams whipped out. I mean, he

was a pretty lowkey director since all he was known for was Super 8 and Lost, years ago. His
comeback was all the more mind-blowing with The Force Awakens and that fact alone
dramatized everything. Besides having the high allure of sci-fi to dedicated fans, endorsing this
production was probably the most extreme a movie has been rigorously advertised, and it is all
thanks to Disney buying out the franchise and making George Lucas a consultant (but actually
was just a nice way of saying Youre unnecessary to this franchise anymore).
If this review has not convinced you to watch this episode either again or for the first
time, then all this writing is rendered moot. It is probably very clear that I let many names slip
(who can blame me there are TOO many people to keep track of!). If, for that reason, this seems
artificial then I apologize but seeing this film will be the best choice you will or have made.
What are you waiting for? The force awakens for all.