Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens Review

Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens

Release Date: 17th December 2015 - Australia

Production Companies

Lucasfilm Ltd.

Bad Robot Productions

Distribution

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Australia

Genre: Sci-Fi

Rating: M

Runtime: 135 minutes

Budget: $306,000,000

Box Office Gross: $2,069,521,700 (Worldwide)


Plot Summary

Thirty years have passed since the Galactic Empire's defeat, and a new threat has emerged in Kylo Ren and The First Order. A scavenger named Rey and a defecting stormtrooper called Finn found themselves tasked to get a droid safely to the Resistance as it contains a map that shows the whereabouts of the lost Jedi Master Luke Skywalker.

Cast
Mark Hamill - Luke Skywalker
Harrison Ford - Han Solo
Carrie Fisher - Gen. Leia Organa
Adam Driver - Kylo Ren
Daisy Ridley - Rey
John Boyega - Finn
Oscar Isaac - Poe Dameron
Lupita Nyong'o - Maz Kanata
Andy Serkis - Supreme Leader Snoke
Domhnall Gleeson - General Hux
Anthony Daniels - C-3PO

Peter Mayhew - Chewbacca
Joonas Suotamo - Chewbacca Double
Max Von Sydow - Lor San Tekka
Mike Quinn - Nien Numb
Kipsang Rotich - Nien Numb (Voice)
Tim Rose - Admiral Ackbar
Erik Bauersfield - Admiral Ackbar (Voice)
Gwendoline Christine - Capt. Phasma

Simon Pegg - Unkar Plutt
Warwick Davis - Wollivan
Cailey Fleming - Young Rey
Yayan Ruhian - Tasu Leech
Iko Uwais - Razoo Qin-Fee
Cecep Arif Rahman - Crokind
Shand
Kiran Shah - Teedo
Andrew Jack - Major Ematt
Rocky Marshall - Colonel Datoo
Greg Gunberg - Snap Wexley
Pip Torrens - Colonel Kaplan
Emun Elliott - Brance
Brian Vernel - Bala-Tik
Sebastian Armesto - Lt. Mitaka
Maisie Richardson-Sellers - Korr Sella
Ken Leung - Admiral Statura
Iko Uwais - Razoo Quin-Free
Anna Brewster - Bazine Netal
Harriet Walter - Dr. Kalonia
Billie Lourd - Lt. Connix
Leanne Best - Min Sakul
Crystal Clarke - Ensign Goode
Jeffery Kissoon - Rear Admiral Gulch
Claudia Sermbezis - Lema Eelyak
Gerald W. Abrams - Captain Cypress
James McGrath - Vice Admiral Resdox
Philicia Saunders - Tabala Zo
Morgan Dameron - Commodore Meta
Jessica Henwick - Jess Testor
Tosin Cole - Lt. Bastian
James McArdle - Niv Lek
Stefan Grube - Yolo Ziff
Brian Herring - BB-8 Performer
Dave Chapman - BB-8 Performer

Nigel Godrich - FN-9330 (Cameo)

Michael Giacchino - FN-3181 (Cameo)

Daniel Craig - First Order Stormtrooper (Cameo) (Uncredited)

Ben Schwartz - First Order Stormtrooper (Cameo) (Uncredited)
Ewan McGregor - Obi-Wan Kenobi (Voice)

(Cameo) (Uncredited)
Jimmy Vee - R2-D2 (Uncredited)
Nathalie Cuzner - PZ-4CO (Uncredited)
Stephanie Silva - ME-8D9 (Uncredited)
Liang Yang - FN-2199 (Uncredited)

David Acord - FN-2199 (Voice)

(Uncredited)
Ian Whyte - Bollie Prindel/Roodown (Uncredited)
Paul Kasey - Ello Asty (Uncredited)
Matthew Wood - Ello Asty (Voice)/
Quiggold/Nima Thug (Uncredited)

Crew
Writer/Producer/Director - J.J. Abrams
Based on Characters - George Lucas
Writer/Co-Producer (Uncredited)/

Creative Consultant - Lawrence Kasdan
Writer/Associate Producer - Michael Arndt
Creative Consultant - Simon Kinberg
Executive Producer/Unit Production Manager -
Tommy Harper
Executive Producer - Jason D. McGatlin
Producers - Bryan Burk and Kathleen Kennedy

Co-Producer/First Assistant Director -

Tommy Gormley
Co-Producer/Unit Production Manager -

Susan Towner
Co-Producers - Pippa Anderson,

Michelle Rejwan, Ben Rosenblatt and

John Swartz

Casting Directors - Nina Gold,

April Webster and Alyssa Weinberg

Dialect Coach - Andrew Jack

Production Designers - Rick Carter and
Darren Gilford

Head of Design: Lucasfilm - Doug Chiang
Concept Artists - Matt Allsopp,

Tim Browning, Seth Engstrom, Lee Oliver,

Erik Tiemens, Christian Alzmann,

Ryan Church, Will Htay, Matthew Savage,

Dan Walker, Chris Baker, Iain McCaig

and Andrew Wallin
Supervising Art Director - Neil Lamont
Senior Art Director - Alastair Bullock

Senior Art Director: Vehicles - Gary Tomkins

Art Directors - James Clyne,

Peter Dorme, Mark Harris, Ashley Lamont,

Oliver Roberts, James Collins,

Hayley Easton Street, Kevin Jenkins,

Mary Mackenzie, Stuart Rose,

Robert Cowper, Jordana Finkel,

Andrew Palmer and Stephen Swain

Construction Manager - Paul J. Hayes

Set Decorator - Lee Sandales

Property Master - Jamie Wilkinson
Costume Designer - Michael Kaplan

Costume Supervisor - David Crossman

Head of Department: Costume Effects

Supervising Modeller - Pierre Bohanna

Makeup Designer - Amanda Knight

Makeup Designer: Harrison Ford - Bill Corso

Hair Designer - Lisa Tomblin
R2-D2 Consultant - Kenny Baker
Director of Photography - Daniel Mindel

Director of Photography: Second Unit -

Bruce McCleery

Aerial Director of Photography: Iceland

Unit - Adam Dale

Supervising Location Manager/Unit

Production Manager: Iceland Unit - Martin Joy

Supervising Location Manager/Unit

Production Manager: Abu Dhabi Unit -

Mark Somner

Location Manager: Iceland Unit - Thor Kjartansson

Second Assistant Directors - Ben Dixon,

Chloe Chesterton and Joey Coughlin

Second Unit Director/Visual Effects Supervisor -

Roger Guyett

Creature Movement Choreographer - Paul Kasey

Stunt Coordinator - Rob Inch

Sword Master - C.C. Smiff

Helicopter Pilot: Iceland Unit - Marc Wolff

Special Effects Supervisor - Chris Corbould
Special Effects Production Buyer - Lynne Corbould

Special Effects Floor Supervisors -

Peter Notley and Ian Lowe

Special Creature Effects - Neal Scanlan

Electronic Design and Development Supervisor -

Matthew Denton

Supervising Animatronic Designers -

Vanessa Bastian, Maria Cork and Gustav Hoegen

Key Animatronic Designers - Chris Clarke

and Adrian Parish

Visual Effects Supervisors: ILM - Patrick Tubach,

Ben Morris, Dave Dally and Michael Mulholland

Visual Effects Supervisor: Tippett Studios,

Chess Table - Chris Morley

Visual Effects Producers - Lucas Tewin

and Luke O'Byrne

Visual Effects Producers: ILM - Sophie Cullen,

Nina Fallon and Benjamin Lock

Visual Effects Art Director: ILM - Yanick Dausseault

ILM Art Department - Jennifer Coronado,

Nicole Letaw and David Nakabayashi

Visual Effects Creative Consultant: ILM -

Dennis Muren
Animation Supervisors: ILM - Paul Kavanagh

and Mike Eames
Animation Sequence Supervisor: Tippett

Studios, Chess Table - Phil Tippett

Computer Graphics Supervisor: BLIND LTD -

Andrew Booth

CG Supervisors: ILM - Polly Ing,

Ian Conley, Daniel Pearson, Tim Belsher,

Daniel Lobl and Kibum Kim

Previs/Postvis Supervisor: HALON -

Brad Alexander

Compositing Supervisors: ILM - Jay Cooper,

Marian Mavrovic, Jean LaPointe and

Alex Prichard

Asset and Environmental Supervisors: ILM -

Dave Fogler, Susumu Yukuhiro and

Carlos Munoz

Digital Artist Supervisors: ILM - Colin Benoit,

Trevor Hazel, Iain Morton, Steve Sauers,

Sylvania Degrotte, Cyrus Jam, Matt Rank and

James Tooley
Film Editors - Maryann Brandon and
Mary Jo Markey
Sound Design - Ben Burtt and Gary Rydstrom

Supervising Sound Editor/Sound Designer

(Uncredited) - David Acord

Sound Designers: Kelvin Optical, Inc. -

Will Files and Robert Stambler

Supervising Sound Editor - Matthew Wood

Assistant Supervising Sound Editor - Coya Elliott

Sound Effects Editors - EJ Holowicki

and Teresa Eckton

Foley Supervisor - Frank Rinella

Foley Artists - Ronni Brown,

Andrea Gard, Kimberly Patrick,

Dennie Thorpe and Jana Vance

Dialogue/ADR Editors - Cheryl Nardi

and Brad Semenoff

Production Sound Mixer - Stuart Wilson

Re-Recording Mixers - Andy Nelson

and Christopher Scarabosio
BB-8 Voice Consultants - Bill Hader and

Ben Schwartz
Music - John Williams

Composer: Additional Music - Lin-Manuel Miranda

Scoring Engineer - Shawn Murphy


Review
In the latest release from 2015, there have been some movies that audiences were eagerly anticipating. One, in particular, was the return of an old franchise that has taken place in a galaxy far, far away.

I was one of those moviegoers eagerly anticipating a new Star Wars film since Disney bought the entire science fiction property and its production studio from the creator, George Lucas. We knew that a new trilogy was in the works with a few spin-offs and was about to explore the next generation of Jedi - as was requested by fans after reading the expanded universe in literature. George Lucas may not have wanted to direct the new trilogy himself. His updates to the original trilogy - Special Editions - did not go down well with fans. The prequels drew criticism for a supposed overdose of CGI, subpar dialogue and bland acting. But I don't mean to continue bashing Lucas' favourite character, Jar Jar Binks. The reins of the Star Wars series went to Disney, and only Star Trek alumnus J.J. Abrams would direct this instalment.

THE FORCE AWAKENS has wielded so much fun and action, bringing back as much of the series' old techniques as possible, with set design and special effects from its nostalgic roots. This movie provides drama and better dialogue, written by Lawrence Kasdan, who co-wrote the two original Star Wars films. The film had a few new concepts and many old and new characters, mainly Rey and Kylo Ren. I like how J.J. Abrams convinced the aging Harrison Ford to return as Han Solo, along with Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher, who reprised their roles as Luke and Leia. The performances of the new actors were as outstanding as the original actors. With standouts such as Daisy Ridley as the heroine, John Boyega as the defector-turned-rebel and Adam Driver as the villain with a more complex evil than our favourite Sith Lord, Darth Vader.

The instrumental score is another example of John Williams' feat of composition. Williams revisited half of the themes from the previous films and remixed them with the newer ones composed for this movie.

I'm glad this didn't turn out as a rocky start to a trilogy that happened in the prequel trilogy with The Phantom Menace, but I'm confident that all hope gets restored with THE FORCE AWAKENS. My vote for my favourite Star Wars film is still The Empire Strikes Back. Now that THE FORCE AWAKENS is released, I will place it as the franchise's third-best. I now formally consider it the best movie I watched in 2015. For all those Star Wars fans, you must go to the cinema and see it for the first time. May the force be with you!

Star rating: (10/10) Best Movie Ever

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