Mark Kermode reviews Star Wars: The Force Awakens 

And now we are mere days away form the end. It's been a ride. I am looking forward to Mark's Ep. 9 review.

And now everybody hates this trilogy because "pOlItIcS".

@@Grigoris_ As per usual, people don't know why they (dis)like the things they (dis)like so they let some asshole convince them it's the fault of the wokes.

It was awful.

Sauron Merciful do you know who John Campea is? He runs Collider Movie Talk and he loved TFA and he is a "hardcore" starwars fan. So I don't really know why you would say such a broad thing. But I am a "hardcord" star wars fan and I have seen it 7 times. I really like your other ooints thou. Really well said.

+Sauron Merciful The hardcore fans are the ones who loved the original trilogy and hated the crappy prequels. I'm one of those people, and I loved this great new Star Wars film.

Yeah well, the Star Wars grand design was to release the Phantom Menace so that any subsequent film could not possibly be considered any worse. For my part, I thoroughly enjoyed The Force Awakens, although it got stodged down midway through. But then what do I know? I have a certain fondness for Attack of the Clones, even though it makes me cringe even writing out the title. Best one? The first, obviously. Although the walker attack on Hoth is still raunch city.

Maybe he hates it now when the Jedi's mind trick stop working. We ned to ask him.

@@ahenathon he’s a film critic, not a SW lol.

P Ferreira I know lol that's why I can't believe it! But good for them ... hope the sequels are better.

I'm delighted at how much love this film is getting.

+Antonio Díaz I'm sure they'll make a full recovery soon.

+Antonio Díaz I suspect there may be bribery involved.

P Ferreira It's an amazing cultural phenomenon.

+Abbas Zaidi Big Peter was only in the cockpit scenes. He can barely walk.

+Coochicoo Dude people on IMDb and Metacritic tick me off sometimes.... people just love to hate for no reason.

+Coochicoo You trust a 1/10 score review on IMDB? Or a 10/10? No movie on this planet deserves a 1/10 and if it does they are only very few. Some people are so upset they will add a shitty score just to show how upset they are. I trust reviews that happen in the normal score of 4 to 8. Personally I have less than 20 movies that I could give a 9, and 0 a 10.

Bora Markovic Well, a score of 1/10 and a score of 4/10 is still a negative score in my opinion. Even forgetting the score and just going by the actual reviews, the overall feeling still seems negative. Considering the last 3 Lucas Star Wars films, and that this new one was great, also that Kermode like it, the reviews on IMDB surprises me.

+Coochicoo Fresh in rotten tomatoes, and on Metacritic and you care about imdb? where anyone can put a score?

ok ok, I apologise for my comment and for mentioning IMDB, I will go hang my head in shame.

+Dav I'm not sure about that. I believe you can make a new trilogy for a new audience without remaking a previous one. This just comes across as lazy writing.

+Manutdbl2015 There was meant to be a sense of history repeating itself in the prequels as well so a remake of "A New Hope" is not inconsistent but yes there where a few throw backs that I found distracting (a certain special effect that finn triggered on the falcon comes to mind as the most egregious)

+Blue Whovian It's not at all a remake of New Hope. The only serious similarity is in the 3rd act, and beyond that all the other similarities are superficial at best. It's a dramatically different story on almost every level.

+FunWithGuru It shares some story beats with A New Hope but to write it off as a remake seems disingenuous.

Leigh Davidson I don't mean it was definitely a remake, but there were enough similar plot points for me to think it lazy writing. Here are some of the comparisons I wrote down (missed out few because of major spoilers): *SPOILERS BELOW* Luke Skywalker = Rey (Lives on Desert planet (Rey/Jakku, Luke/Tattoine), good with machinery, interested in jedis and thinks they’re a myth, good pilots). They’re almost the same person. You could say the same thing with Anakin too though. Secret information hidden on droid (R2D2 in New Hope, BB8 in FA) Main character (Rey/Luke) gets droid (BB8/R2) and has the job of returning to resistance. Meet older man (Han Solo/Ben Kenobi) who no longer fights for resistance and helps them get the droid to the resistance base. Enter a cantina type area for help, filled with a variety of creatures and band playing music. Rey confronts Kylo in hallucination, as Luke does with Darth Vader on Dagobah, (Empire Strikes Back, not New Hope) Han Solo, Finn/Luke and Chewbacca go to enemy base to rescue Rey/Leia.. Plot to blow up Death Star 3.0. Has one spot of weakness. Main bad guy (Kylo Ren/Vader) has higher up (Snoke/Palpatine)

+PauLtus B I'm trying to find somewhere showing it in Imax 2D for my second viewing. I want to see it on the largest screen possible, but I don't like 3D at all. Really silly that it's so hard to find.

Das Muel Worst of all, there's no good reason they're not showing it in 2D. IMAX 2D is just impossible.

Are you from the US? You can get it in 2D here in the UK, but you're restricted to relatively small screens. Imax 2D is awesome, but I've only ever seen it for one film (The Dark Night). I'm sure there's a big market for it though. A lot of people are tired of 3D.

Das Muel I'm Dutch ;). So that's one cinema line that has IMAX screens. And that same cinema line has a couple of 2D viewings on the tiniest screens. I don't get why they don't just show it in 2D. There's quite a number of petitions going around on the internet, if you ask anyone the most positive reaction you're going to get is "I can't see the difference" and the worst "I absolutely hate it". I've skipped a whole lot of movies in cinema because I couldn't see them in 2D... But apparantly there is some evil Sith Lord up there in the movie industry who doesn't want people to enjoy movies.

Darth Imax.

Stay awake next time. When you've actually watched the film, people might respect your opinion of it.

+Phil Tischlero Agreed. The movie was terrible.

+Phil Tischlero I felt that it was signalling our final descent into the dead zone, an endless looping rerun of life as we will soon forget we knew it.

+Chris Deve You're very right. Although reusing old plot points is a fair criticism, people keep pointing to it because there's not much the new film did wrong. In my opinion.

Exactly

My feelings exactly.

No no. I mean the familiarity was welcome, but it overstayed it's welcome. The skeleton of the plots is almost identical. I enjoyed it, but the flaws stood out for me.

+Tony MangKb To be fair, episode 4 with more action wasn't a bad thing for me.

+poontang3zizo Episode 4 succeeds because it has a slow burn following the start. It builds the world, makes you understand Luke's yearning to leave, gathers the key characters, and then everything kicks off halfway through. If you have non-stop action you just become numb to it.

KingKaitain We do get a gradual development of Rey's character. Is it as compelling and well developed as Luke's in episode 4? No, not at all. But there are slow moments in the Force Awakens. It just adds in a bit more action. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Well, to be fair, episode 4 isn't original either. It is just a remake of Flash Gordon but in space.

Except killing Han.. and no scene with Han Luke and Leia.. And Rey being so good without training.. and all the other minor issues.. could have done with more Yoda.. calling the Sabres instead of swords.. I don't like being bitter or holding grudges, BUT, Disney has messed up Star Wars..

That being said.. I was sooo excited to go and see it.. LIKE WOW A NEW STAR WARS.. and then episode 7 and 8 and the Mandaborian.. and the book of Boba.. urrgh

@@ChrisJohnson-ld3wq Boba a such a waste of time and Mando is indestructible. I'm hoping Kenobi is less episodic and more about about the struggle of being one of the last jedi

The Last Jedi is the best in the ST and the best Star Wars film. Also A fist full of dollars is Yojimbo but a western and is ACTUALLY a shot for shot copy and people love that movie.

+Nicholas Dickens The IMAX experience was tremendous, but yeah, the 3D was practically nonexistent. Which I don't have a problem with being someone that doesn't like 3D

what would u recommended in i max as i still have to c it

+switchbuckle5th the sound on the IMAX is out of this world

I don't know...... Seeing a 3D destroyer jutting out of the screen was pretty awesome! Got me to react. I thought the 3D was fairly balanced and not excessive.....unlike Avatar!

I saw it in "IMAX with laser" 3D, with Dolby Atmos sound. Mindblowing! :-)

+Mike K the vagueness of the films characters and backstories I saw as trying to re-capture the original trilogies vagueness. I like that, lets you fill in the gaps yourself, a bit like what Mad Max Fury road did this year. Don't worry about Phasma btw, she's confirmed to be returning for episode 8

That's great about Phasma. And glad she's not dead because they never really made that clear

+Mike K Her only purpose was she was a very high ranking trooper (the highest in fact) With respect to security clearance, it makes sense that she alone had access to the Weapon's shield generator (You're not going to give every last storm trooper security clearance to such a vulnerable component of the base) And then to cement her purpose, Finn, Chewy and Han took her hostage, demanding she deactivate the shield, with blasters pointed at her. She obliged. My only gripe or perhaps it's just a nitpick… would she not have been so loyal to the first order that she would have let the trio kill her to protect the base? Maybe… maybe not… hard to say. Good movie.

Umm she deactivated the base shield generator lol From a plot standpoint that is quite significant albeit 'cliche' But still you can't say she was totally useless.

+Jesse Rochon never said she was useless. didn't even hint at that. all I said is I was disappointed she wasn't in the movie more

My feelings exactly.

Same! I’m warming up to it more and more!

Wow, so you're basically saying that you're not a Star Wars fan if you like this film?

Nice try Cathy Newman. Put away the truncheon honey. I’m a huge Star Wars fan. Saw all the originals multiple times in theaters as a kid. Anyone can not like this movie fan or not and it doesn’t have to mean anything because this movie BLOWS.

It's awful.

+Zulu Romeo I wont get to see it until december 26th. Did you see it in 2d or 3d?

+Zulu Romeo next to empire strikes back as the best star wars film in my view!

+ASobsessive If you haven't watched the original yet maybe

LAUDENE im one of the biggest fans, i think force awakens is better than return of the jedi, on par with the original star wars but not as good as empire strikes back

+ASobsessive Perfect summary.

You should never go full Nazi. People can't relate to full Nazi.

+olbertus *Face palm* I was making a reference to another film: Tropic Thunder. Sorry that you wasted your time telling everyone what they already know.

+olbertus Yeah well I find it helps to not get caught up in the hype and just go see the film/ judge for yourself and talk about it down the pub. The reason I picked that reference was that I found it annoying (as you seemed to as well) that they tried to make KR relatable too early. It took three films before we felt the slightest bit of sympathy for Vader but they jumped the shark with TFA. That said, I'm the only one of my friends that loved his lightsaber and his 'mini tanties'.

+olbertus Kylo is far from non-threatening. Those around him are terrified of him because of his unpredictable mood swings. And let's not forget what he did to (spoiler).

+Joshua Lunn They gave him motivation but they made me hate him. I loved that. Can't wait to see him as a menacing full-dark-side bad guy in the next episode.

And that isn't a bad thing.

+Marks Guitar Solo Channel If this movie i

+Marks Guitar Solo Channel I bet you'd prefer The Phantom Menace version 2.0

+damo damo no, but i would have prefered an original film, or to put it another way a sequel to return of the jedi. echoes happen in star wars, i get that! but TFA just couldn't get our old heroes out the way quick enough. first line in the film LUKE SKYWALKER HAS VANISHED! ... great. then they made them all have bad lives and turned them into irresponsible people who run away from their problems. lol ok it needs to introduce a new cast! but the transition from old to new was next to none and to see that new cast reproduce the story of A New Hope and random bits of empire made TFA Star Wars greatest hit compilation lol

+Marks Guitar Solo Channel Each to their own. I loved this, so did all my friends and most critics. :-)

wtf... basically every significant character has major development lol

+J. Robert Oppenheimer There are people saying that. Nothing too new. Good film but not phenomenal.

+J. Robert Oppenheimer Thank the Maker I'm not alone on this.

+George Mills-Burrows LOL so Poe becomes friends with Finn after work minutes, then is absent from the entire film until the last 30 mins.

+sanyrub That's how I feel. It was good. But there are people saying it's better than IV and God forbid V. The recency bias is strong with them.

+Maxben L What does it say about the movie if people who don't care about Star Wars and hate sci-fi enjoyed it? But Star Wars fans hate it.

:D I just saw it for a fourth time, in 4D.

lol 4D HERE I COME

Star Wars is a strange one. Re-watching Episode 4, I can see that the acting is clunky and the lines are corny. But somehow it is magical for me.

+damo damo That's the magic of it. It's a world that makes you believe it.

+Kyle Mikesell I think it invites you to a fantasy world and then keeps thrilling you. :-)

+Jamie G He doesn't reveal anything to be fair but you might be super sensitive to this stuff no idea. If you've been on complete blackout, he refers to two actors and the roles they played and said what a good job they did but nothing about the actual characters (if you've seen the trailer not spoiler) He also reveals some of the emotions that he had watching the film but does not link them to anything at all not even roughly when they appear in the film so you should be all good to watch it chap.

+evilgn0me I knew he wouldn't. Mark has always been very good about not giving away spoilers. It's not worth the risk, as I really don't want anything/anyone to spoil it. The major plot twist of The Sixth Sense was ruined for me by some douchebag TV presenter, so I trust no one ;)

+Jamie G Well to be fair, The Sixth Sense has pretty much been ruined for everyone by everyone

Check out Kermode’s Phantom Menace 3D review - he goes into a lot more detail there 😊

You should pay more attention then.

look man enjoy the movie anyway if there is spoilers . enjoy it for what it is

"That was the famous screening in which William Freidkin was there"

+ntube7 If you watch another video, Mark talks about this. Friedkin, director of The Exorcist, was at that screening and he fell asleep!

+Toad Lash The whole 3rd Death Star thing to be fair when you have a wepon that can blow up a planet you can't really get bigger than that, so they wrote themselves into a corner in 1977.

+linalmeemow "if you haven't learned to suspend your disbelief in the Star Wars universe you're in the wrong place." Suspension of disbelief is ENTIRELY different from internal consistency.

I agree with you wholeheartedly. I'm going to see it again tomorrow at the UK's biggest screen. :-D

Nah they're linked.

Damien Fletcher Oh, look, Damo Damo has become Damien Fletcher, and to celebrate has resurrected an eight month old thread. How exciting!

Damien Fletcher To be fair, you're right. There IS a link, in one direction: an absence of internal consistency typically entails a collapse of the suspension of disbelief. However, it does not follow that suspension of disbelief allows one to overlook internal consistency issues. linalmeemow's mistake is in thinking that one decides whether or not to suspend disbelief as some active choice. On the contrary, suspension of disbelief is typically the consequence of an alt-universe being constructed so well and with such solid internal logic that one's mind meshes with the new universe despite its lack of verisimilitude to our own in contingent matters of fact. This is why suspension of disbelief is so hard in TFA: the internal logic is terrible.

+Rhubba I am with you entirely: the only two genuinely good SW movies are the first two. (Jedi is okay.) Personally I found TFA to be disposable, uninteresting and lazily-written. It was played mainly for easy laughs.

+KingKaitain The majority of critics disagree with you. It's a great film.

damo damo No, most critics think it's at least a 6/10 movie, but I'm not sure how many think that it qualifies as being "great". I'd give it 5/10 myself.

+KingKaitain The average reviewer rating for this film is 94% and the public rate it 91%. It's now up for a Critics Choice Awards. Nobody cares about your rating because you're just a shmuck on RU-vid, not a respected critic. :-p

+damo damo Are you taking the 94% from RT? If so, you need to educate yourself on how RT's rating system works. (You clearly don't understand it.)

+MintyBitesBack 3D isn't good for this film,don't waste your money,does nothing better,3D filter with few pop-up images.Titanic still best 3D.

+ntube7 I'm hoping the stand-alones will work better than this did.

The 2nd time I enjoyed it even more because I didn't have that worry that it could be bad. I enjoyed it the first time, and the second time it was even more impactful, fun, and emotional, and when I saw it the second time it convinced me that it was my favourite Star Wars film. Just my opinion though.

+Asadmah Productions It's such a great Star Wars film! Agreed.

This would be the perfect movie to watch if you're new to Star Wars.

+Onmysheet I'd definitely recommend Star Wars, Empire and Return of the Jedi.. but give the prequels a miss, they're not necessary to the plot of this film

+Onmysheet The only reason I'd recommend watching the original trilogy first is because if you don't, you will have absolutely no idea who Luke Skywalker is… Other than that, it's a pretty stand alone movie in terms of what you need to know to understand it going in.

+Onmysheet If you haven't seen any of the original films... you should see them... Full Stop.

But before this?

The Expanded Universe was terrible. All of it. The best thing Disney did was send that junk to the trash compactor. I will not mourn Chewbacca being killed by having a moon dropped on him, Han Solo punching a giant ferret, a clone of Luke called Luuke, the dude with lightsabers all over his body, or the bug pheromone induced sex orgies. Trash, all of it.

Yeah those were pretty bad. There are some good bits though. Maybe something with Mara Jade and the Emperor or Cade Skywalker for example. Perhaps a story set in The Old Republic? My point is they could have done anything with the films but they couldn't be bothered and just went with the thing that would make the most money.

+GrandiaKnight After what happened with the prequels, they *needed* to be fairly safe in what they did. They are making a new movie and reestablishing links to the past, doing a sorta/kinda soft reboot to bring real Star Wars back. Now that's done, they can spread their wings a bit with episodes 8 and 9 (plus the three spin-off movies). Yeah it's safe in terms of the bigger story beats, but that was the right choice. Even with that lack of daring the new characters are all brilliant, the dialogue is snappy, and I'm really keen to see where they go with this. I want them to take risks in the next film, but a solid foundation to this new trilogy was a smart and right choice.

+GrandiaKnight Although I loved it, I had reservations as well, but I'm guessing if you fast forward to after having seen episode 8, that might change. Movies are more "serialized" now - one story stretching across 3 or more films.

+Ovais Malik Agreed. It's just a cash-in. There's no attempt to expand on the mythology. It basically has to retcon the ending to Jedi tacitly to make its story viable.

+KingKaitain *great film

It's a glorious film.

+olli tuovinen The new characters rock, the dramatic moments really strike a chord, the humor works really well, the cinematography is more lively and interesting than all of the Star Wars movies before, the First Order was awesome and appropriately Fascist, they never overdid the Nostalgia (even though there were similarities to the other movies)... Need I go on?

+moviebuffreviews So true. :-)

+4 for great acting, snappy dialogue and great cinematography.