The VIIth Episode of the series, Star Wars: The Force Awakens opened almost a week back capturing the heart of fans and critics alike. Disney and LucasFilm’s sci-fi adventure has earned several box office records to its name already. Owing in no small part to this impressive opening, the movie was eagerly awaited by the Indian audience. So did it live up to the anticipation and the fans’ expectations?

The overall review of the Indian fans, in general, will be determined in the coming weekend, but it’s safe to say that this episode truly compensates for the decade long absence of the Star Wars series. While Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, and Carrie Fisher reprise their roles from the original trilogy, the movie features several newcomers as well.

As regards the storyline, there are some overlaps with Episode IV: A New Hope, but the plot distinguishes itself rather tolerably. While some people found the episode too close to the trilogy’s roots, I’m going to go ahead on a leg and call it a unique combination of the director’s vision and the essence of George Lucas’s original characters. The plot does justice to the characters, and lives up to the brilliance of the saga.

Seeing Han Solo in action again on screen, in all his glory, was worth the expensive 3D tickets and the younglings bring energy with their rapid fire lightsaber action and sarcasm. The movie’s a treat for those awaiting aerial battle and TIE fighters action scenes!

While some questions remain to be answered yet, several more have emerged. Is Ren really a Darth? Is he ‘villainous’ enough? What we witnessed in the movie was only a conflicted and weak character who got seduced by the Dark side. Very much like his predecessor.

Just as it seemed he was about to redeem himself, he goes ahead and does something befitting a Vader. In Spite of that, I’m going to go ahead and hold a torch for Solo. I know the chances are bleak (very bleak) but the one rule about the death of our beloved characters is: no body, no death. Case in point: Poe Dameron who was shown all but dead and alive next, and Anakin Skywalker who was resurrected by Palaptine.

While Ren is clearly not worthy of being called a Sith lord (yet), Rey does justice to all that the Force stands for. It’ll be exciting to see the war continue, this time between the Supreme Leader Snoke and the last Jedi knight Luke. Each with their protégés, Ren and Rey respectively, will battle for supremacy in the upcoming episodes.

Next up, the countdown begins for the first spinoff Rouge One: A Star Wars Story scheduled to be released December next year, and Episode VIII of the series slated to arrive by May, 2017. Suffice to say, Disney has no plans to slow down anytime soon. May the Force be with them!

Surbhi Arora
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