​Well, after 10 years of waiting, it’s finally here: a new Star Wars movie. Unless you literally live under a rock, it’s been impossible to avoid the hype for this film. I have been a full participant in the hype myself; I am a massive Star Wars fanboy, and I have been ever since my dad showed me the original movie when I was a little kid. So I am of course incredibly happy to get a new entry in probably my most beloved of all franchises. However, after viewing the movie, my joy does come with one reservation. For all it’s glory, Star Wars: The Force Awakens is held back by the seeming unwillingness of Abrams and Disney to blaze a new path for the franchise. 

More than 30 years have passed since Darth Vader and the Emperor were killed in the Battle of Endor. Since that time, the galaxy has been fractured into numerous pieces. Some it is ruled by the New Republic, child of the old Rebel Alliance. But some of it is still oppressed by remnants of the Empire, one of which is called the First Order. Fighting this tyrannical regime is the Resistance, including ace fighter pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac). Poe has journeyed to the desert world of Jakku for a very special mission: to acquire a map for the Resistance which lead them to the long-lost Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill). But before he can deliver it, Poe is captured by First Order Stormtroopers under the command of the Dark Side warrior Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). Fortunately, his astromech droid BB-8 escapes with the map, and eventually runs into the scavenger Rey (Daisy Ridley). Meanwhile, Poe escapes from Ren with the help of defecting Stormtrooper FN-2187, whom Poe dubs Finn (John Boyega), although Poe is seemingly killed in their escape attempt. It’s not long before fate brings together Rey, Finn, and BB-8 and launches them into a star-hopping, epic, galactic adventure.
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The first and most important thing about this movie is that we finally get to jump back in to the incredibly rich world of Star Wars. We have everything that amazed and awed us when we first watched the movies as children: mysterious worlds, bizarre aliens, amazing space ships (and space ship battles), cool one-liners, awesome heroes, terrifying villains, lightsabers, and the Force. For those of us who have seen entries in the series before, it’s pure nostalgia fuel. Whether you grew up with the original trilogy or the prequels, watching this movie will feel like the first time you glimpsed into that galaxy far far away. For those youngsters (or elders) who have not yet had that privilege, it will be a wonderful starting point. 

​Next, the acting in this movie is superb, particularly that of newcomers Daisy Ridley and John Boyega. The two of them amazing chemistry both with each other and the rest of the cast, and each of them completely own their roles. Both of them get comparable screen time are equally important to the plot, which I thought was a nice touch. I expect both of them to become major Grade-A actors as a result of this movie, which will be well-deserved. The supporting cast is also fantastic- Oscar Isaac channels a younger Han Solo as Poe, complete with far too many wise cracks and one-liners. Adam Driver similarly channels Vader, although Kylo Ren is not so similar that it feels like a rip-off; Kylo Ren in-universe is directly inspired by Vader in much of what he does. Domnhall Gleeson steps into Governor Tarkin’s shoes as General Hux, a ruthless and efficient First Order commander, who at one point gives a speech which will win this year’s Hitler imitation contest hands-down. And in a surprisingly good supporting role is Lupita Nyong'o as an ancient alien named Maz Kanata, who is somewhat of a cross between your grandmother and Hector Barbosa. Gwendoline Christie and Daniel Craig both have cameos as First Order Stormtroopers- try to spot them by their voices! 

But this movie does have one major flaw. Anyone who has seen the original Star Wars will undoubtedly notice how close The Force Awakens hews to that film, especially in terms of plot. Obviously it’s difficult to talk about in too much detail without getting into spoiler territory, but suffice to say that it is incredibly similar to that original in terms of plot. Some critics have gone as far to say that plot-wise there is nothing original in this movie and J.J. Abrams just remade the original with a new cast and better visuals. Although I would not describe it so harshly, I can’t help but partially agree with this sentiment. The whole time I was watching The Force Awakens, I was having so much fun seeing my old favorite characters, my new favorite characters, and everything else I mentioned several paragraphs above. I was positively giggling like a little kid for much of the film. But I also kept waiting for something new, something different to happen, something I didn’t expect. And that moment never came.
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So in the end, The Force Awakens is held back from true greatness by it unwillingness to break new ground, to do anything new, to metaphorically go somewhere that Star Wars has never gone before. And this is disappointing, because at times it honestly does feel like you’re just watching the original movie again. That movie is of course one of the greatest movies ever made, and by extension every other film in the franchise is vaulted to cinematic greatness.

But that is not enough. It is not enough to walk down paths that have already been blazed. What separates the merely good from the truly great is the willingness to try something new, to blaze a new path and make something new. Abrams refused to do that, and that is why Star Wars: The Force Awakens, for all its glory, is not a truly great film.
That being said, I will go see it at least two more times. Because come on guys, it’s fucking Star Wars!
 
Grade: A-

SteveAnd so go the famous lines from Macbeth, one of the most well-known works of literature ever written. Macbeth, and all of Shakespeare’s works, have by now been adapted and re-adapted so many times, by so many different creators that it seems like everything has been tried before. Baz Luhrmann transplanted Romeo and Juliet to modern California and made the Montagues and Capulets gangster dynasties. Joss Whedon turned all the characters of Much Ado About Nothing into hipsters, filmed it all in black and white, and made the whole thing almost as an afterthought on his summer vacation. And Ian Doescher gifted to the world the awesomeness that is William Shakespeare’s Star Wars. This time Australian film director Justin Kurzel (Snowtown, The Turning) has made his take on it, and the film is a satisfying balance between traditional dramatic elements combined with the style of an epic war film.

The plot of the film is the same as that of the play. Macbeth (Michael Fassbender- Steve Jobs, Prometheus, X-Men: Days of Future Past) is a general in the army of Scotland, which has just triumphed against invading forces. After the King (David Thewlis- Harry Potter and The New World) executes the Thane (Lord) of Cawdor as a traitor, Macbeth acquires his title. But he has been visited by a trio of dark spirits, who has foretold him he would become Thane and that he will soon be King. Although Macbeth is unsure of how to act on this prophecy, his wife Lady Macbeth (Marion Cotillard- Inception, The Immigrant, La Vie en Rose) urges him to murder the King in order to ensure that the witches’ words come true. Macbeth, of course, does murder the King and takes his place. But afterwards, his mind becomes twisted with paranoia and fear, and Lady Macbeth’s with guilt and remorse.

In many ways, this is a very traditional adaption of Macbeth. Kurzel retains all the Shakespearian language, so if you’re not into that you'll probably want to pass on this one. The cinematography is done in such a way that many scenes recall a stage, with many wide shots with all the characters positioned as if they were in a theatre. The acting is done in a more dramatic (ie play-like) rather than cinematic style, with Fassbender and Cotlliard frequently bellowing out their lines like they needed to make sure the people in the back row could hear them. It’s certainly a traditional style, but one that meshes well with both lead actors and certainly the cinematographer.

But where this movie does feel very cinematic is how it incorporates elements of the war drama. The play does of course have this as part of the plot, but it is rarely touched upon in most performances and adaptions. Macbeth is a great general and warrior -the play opens with him receiving praise for winning a battle- and the climax of the story takes place during another invasion of Scotland, this time against Macbeth. Kurzel brings this often-neglected aspect of the story back to the forefront with a series of battles which wouldn’t look out of place in Braveheart, Gladiator, or any similar historical epic. The total screen time of the battles is still fairly minimal though, so the war epic aspect only compliments –and never overtakes- the traditional theatrical sections.

Overall, Macbeth is a quite enjoyable (if not incredibly original) film which functions well as both an adaption of one of the most well-known pieces of theatre ever written and an epic war film. It has Shakespearian language, solid acting by both Fassbender and Cotillard, beautiful cinematography, and bloody action scenes. So if you’re a fan of any or all of the above, give Justin Kurzel’s Macbeth a shot- I think you’ll like it.
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Grade: B

For some reason, I’ve been in the mood to watch historical films recently. This is the reason I decided to review both Macbeth (see above) and In the Heart of the Sea. Well, part of the reason. See, when I was a kid my family owned a sailboat, so I spent every summer of my childhood on the sea. As a result, I have a special love of the ocean, which translates to (among other things) a fondness for aquatic-themed films.

The movie is based on the sinking of the American whaling ship Essex, which in turn inspired Herman Melville to write Moby Dick. This, in fact, forms the frame story of the movie: Herman Melville, played by Ben Whishaw (Skyfall, Spectre, Cloud Atlas), is interviewing a man named Thomas Nickerson (Brendan Gleeson- Calvary, The Guard, The Secret of Kells). Now an old man, as a boy Nickerson served as a crewman on the Essex. Although commanded by Captain George Pollard (Benjamin Walker, Flags of Our Fathers), the true leader of the crew is the first mate: Owen Chase (Chris Hemsworth, Thor and Avengers). The Essex leaves Nantucket, Massachusetts in search of whales, but has no luck in the usual hunting grounds and so is forced to sail farther and farther out to sea. They finally find a rich hunting ground far into the Eastern Pacific Ocean, but while they’re hunting the Essex is attacked and sunk by a massive pale whale. Forced to abandon ship, Nickerson, Pollard, Chase, and the rest of the crew must make their way across thousands of miles across the endless ocean.

This film is a bit of a mixed bag in terms of quality. On the one hand, I was quite satisfied- if not absolutely blown away- by the film as a historical sea drama. The movie gets all the aspects of the time period right, including details about whaling and ships of the time period. At times it reminded me Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, another sailing movie which takes place in around the same historical period (1805 and 1820).

But, I know that most people aren’t going to see this movie because they enjoy the fact that the Essex’s construction and rigging we’re properly portrayed; they’re going to see it so they can watch the whale destroy it. Unfortunately, the amount of effort to make the film historically accurate was not vested in the film’s special effects, which looked fairly mediocre. Also, the total amount of screen time the whale gets is fairly limited, so people who go into the movie expecting lots of destruction will probably be disappointed.

And finally, the film is somewhat lacking in its final section where it becomes a survival movie. Although to be fair, there’s only so much you can do with survival, and specifically cast-away, movies. When you get right down to it, most of them are very similar- Cast Away, Unbreakable, Life of Pi, etc. That’s not to say that some of them aren’t better than others- some certainly are, and In the Heart of the Sea is not among the better ones. It’s not because it’s bad, exactly; it’s just a bit boring and predictable, with nothing to particularly distinguish it from the others.

So if you’re looking for a decent historical film or a classic sea-shanty type movie, than give In the Heart of the Sea a shot. But if you’re interested in it as survival film, or just in the scenes involving fighting the whale, than you can probably give this one a pass.

Grade: C