Gwiezdne wojny: Przebudzenie Mocy

I’ve been waiting for the story to continue for many years and suddenly it was over. The result? I could find a lot of reasons to criticize the seventh instalment. Mirka Spáčilová in her review for Mladá Fronta did not disappoint. Sadly, she only stated in her review what could be somehow expected of this instalment. I wouldn’t be surprised if she just got up after the opening credits and left. Anyone could criticize that the story dilutes the original trilogy and does not bring anything new. However, introducing new characters in a universe like that is also a craft that not everybody can do, and I think J. J. Abrams managed it really well. Personally, I feel that towards the end of the year I couldn’t encounter better movie in the cinemas. There are fewer digital effects than real ones, which is really to the creators’ benefit. New characters played by Daisy Ridley and John Boyega are also really nice. Adam Driver also fulfills his mission in this story. He is a scumbag at first glance with clearly a weak will to be a weakling. However, the circumstances make him into a real monster. Add in an epic story like in the first trilogy. What else could you ask for? I really don’t know. (24.12.2015)

It's all there. Abrams promised that his Star Wars would be traditional, classic, and fans would be excited about it, and he delivered. It's all right here. When the old heroes show up, be they human, alien or mechanical, it's almost touching. Plus, the new ones fit in perfectly alongside them, and the trio of Boyega, Ridley and Isaac are spot-on and perfectly cast. The action clicks, the twists and turns work, and as a film designed to please the cognoscenti and introduce this universe to a new generation, it works brilliantly. Maybe too much so. Whereas with Star Trek Abrams had the courage to go further and cross the shadow of the franchise, that sadly doesn't happen here. He does his job brilliantly and sacrifices everything, often including his distinctive directorial style, to make "the right Star Wars". And in the end, he has no time left to shock, move or entertain beyond expectations. I don't mean to sound disgruntled, I liked Star Wars Episode VII, but the feeling that it played it unnecessarily safe is just too strong to speak of absolute enthusiasm. It's enough for a damn good movie, though, without any problems. (17.12.2015)

A decent pilot episode for a very expensive TV series. There’s no sign of the force, in fact, there’s not even the Sith darkness I felt so palpably in the old trilogy, or in Revenge of the Sith. If I were fifteen or sixteen, and Episode VII was the first thing I'd ever watch in the Star Wars universe, I'd have no motivation to seek out the older episodes. And that’s sad. I enjoyed it quite a bit, that's for sure, but I didn't find anything in it that would give it cult-status or timelessness, like the old episodes. If I had to use a comparison, Abrams's film is something like Terminator 3, decent Hollywood craftsmanship, but nothing more. (28.12.2015)

A demonstration of the Force and pure filmmaking goodness from a fan-boy who is one of the exclusive handful of filmmakers who understand how to hook nostalgics ages 30+ with an offset Millennium Falcon on their t-shirt, and wannabe nerds shoving a lightsaber on their profile picture just because it's popular on Facebook at the moment. I went to see the new Abrams film and understood how people felt at the end of the 1970s. It’s pure filmmaking ecstasy, brimming with kinetic action, divine special effects, balanced humor, winking at all ends of the galaxy, and, most importantly, another advancement of the universe. Whining about Episode IV being remade is misguided. The previous 6 episodes weren't really about anything else in the end. I have to watch it one more time... To get bored the second time and only really appreciate it after the third screening. I suspect there are so many hidden hints of things to come that in 2019 we'll still be wondering. (20.12.2015)

Disclaimer for fans: if anyone liked this film, I’m glad for them, the problem is mine. Star Wars has never meant anything to me, and The Force Awakens didn’t hype me for any experience, either. The plot is very predictable, I didn’t see anything original o interesting. The variations of the themes of previous episodes may be fun for the fans, but they don’t mean anything on their own. The dialogues are made of empty, nostalgic phrases, the characters have unexplainable deep bonds, even though the story takes place in, what, a couple of days at most? Sometimes this aspect becomes almost a parody, like, for instance, when Kylo Ren says that Han Solo is for Ray the father she never had (even though it seems that they’ve known each other for only a couple of hours), or when Finn and Poe reunite and fall into an embrace almost as if they’ve gone through at least the Vietnam War together, but actually the only thing they’ve done is a semi-successful escape from a ship that can’t have taken more than half an hour. Really, sometimes it feels as if it was written by an idiot, or by someone takes the viewers for idiots. And this sci-fi cancer will now take space at the cinemas for another few years and will employ many young hopeful directors who instead of this could be working on something more meaningful. Great :-/ (23.03.2016)