海角大神

So it鈥檚 finally here, as if you didn鈥檛 know. The good news is that 鈥淪tar Wars: The Force Awakens鈥� is easily the best movie in the franchise since 鈥淭he Empire Strikes Back.鈥� Unlike the dismal prequel trilogy that preceded it, or the too-slick 鈥淩eturn of the Jedi,鈥� 鈥淭he Force Awakens鈥� has much of the spirit and inventiveness of the original two installments, 鈥淎 New Hope鈥� and 鈥淓mpire,鈥� its sequel.

Ironically, George Lucas was not creatively involved in the new film, which was directed by J.J.Abrams and co-scripted by 鈥淪tar Wars鈥� veteran Lawrence Kasdan and is being distributed by Disney, to whom Lucas sold the franchise in 2012 for billions. With sequels and spinoffs stretching ahead as far as the eye can see, Disney will undoubtedly make it all back many times over.

Reviewing this movie entails such a potential minefield of spoiler alerts that, for self-preservation, I think I will dispense here with most of the niceties of plot description. But let it be said that the action occurs 30 years after the end of 鈥淩eturn of the Jedi.鈥� There鈥檚 a young woman, Rey (Daisy Ridley), who scavenges on a desert planet and is as feisty and formidable as a cross between Annie Oakley and Lara Croft.

There鈥檚 also Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), a captured rebel pilot who is being tortured aboard a Star Destroyer by Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), a Darth Vader-ish bad guy. Finn (John Boyega), a renegade stormtrooper of the nefarious First Order (a military wing inspired by the Empire), teams up with Poe and crash-lands on Rey鈥檚 planet. BB-8, a marvelous droid made up of revolving spheres and half-spheres, who is carrying information vital to the resistance, is a welcome addition to the Star Wars toy store. Many of the old toys show up as well, and it鈥檚 like a reunion of old friends, including Chewbacca, R2-D2, and C-3PO.聽

There鈥檚 also Harrison Ford as Han Solo, manfully holding down his role after all these years, and Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia (except now she鈥檚 a general). I鈥檒l leave it up to you to wonder if Mark Hamill鈥檚 Luke Skywalker is in the mix.

Abrams understands that 鈥淭he Force Awakens鈥� had to be both a tribute to the original films and a reboot. One of the many problems with the prequels was their obsessive overreliance on CGI effects. There is, of course, CGI in 鈥淭he Force Awakens,鈥� but it鈥檚 comparatively minimal. The film looks handmade, and this allows for a greater range of human emotion, too. When tragedy strikes, you feel it.

I am not one of those who subscribes to the mythology of the 鈥淪tar Wars鈥� saga. I have always regarded the Joseph Campbell-inspired hoo-ha as so much deep-dish blathering. When I wrote about 鈥淩eturn of the Jedi鈥� a while back in my book 鈥淩ainer on Film,鈥� I described it as 鈥渁 myth without a vision,鈥� and to some extent that remains true even of 鈥淭he Force Awakens.鈥�

But Abrams isn鈥檛 really attempting to mythologize the saga here. His focus is on staging a whiz-bang show, and the new additions, especially the charismatic Rey, with her endless derring-do, and the plucky Finn, are especially welcome. (The fact that a young woman and a young black man are at the film鈥檚 forefront is also welcome.)

I only regret that Lupita Nyong鈥檕 is playing Maz Kanata, a 1,000-year-old space pirate, in CGI disguise. She鈥檚 unrecognizable, which is not the sort of thing you should be saying about one of the more stunning women in movies.

If the sequels to 鈥淭he Force Awakens鈥� are as good as this film, that will probably be because they follow the same formula: heavy on the human side, more comedy, less CGI, more fresh faces, and more delightful droids. And, yes, one must pay homage to the Force. Grade: A- (Rated PG-13 for sci-fi action violence.)