Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) Review

Star Wars: The Force Awakens is the most anticipated movie of 2015. It is the beginning of the franchise's third trilogy, and tells a new story in the universe of Star Wars. It maintains the old and gritty style of the original trilogy; there's very little CGI and much of the scenery and fighting looks old fashioned and authentic. This appeals to old fans of Star Wars and makes it aesthetically unique in a time when CGI saturated films are a dime a dozen.

I was concerned about the old cast returning. Last summer's Jurassic World created a new story for a new generation, as the story is what people come to see. I feared that The Force Awakens would fail to create that story by simply paying homage to the original cast. It was actually all balanced really well. The new cast (Finn, Rey and BB8) stole the show and told a wonderful new story, while the old cast were blended in and given due homage while still being kept relevant to the story, apart from Leia maybe.

The acting was superb, particularly from John Boyega, Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver. They're a young and relatively unknown cast, and I can't help but feel that these actors will reprise their roles for another trilogy in thirty years, because this film cements Star Wars as the number one franchise in the film industry. The story is great as well; it doesn't feel thrown together for the sake of the film, like I thought it would. It's engaging and balances action and emotion almost perfectly.

BB8 symbolises this film really well; it's old fashioned but it's also new and original. He is a great mascot, and he'll spearhead the merchandising to further increase the profits that The Force Awakens makes. The original trilogy finished up just over thirty years ago, and that means that people who grew up on Star Wars can now bring their kids to see the new ones. There's something really satisfying about that, and it's something that will likely continue for generations.

I'm not a huge fan of Star Wars, but I watched it and enjoyed it from start to finish because it's so accessible to fans and non-fans. They have blown their market wide open and in the process, made an excellent film. Believe everything you hear.

6/7

The Good Dinosaur (2015) Review

The Good Dinosaur is Pixar's latest film, which tells the story of Arlo the dinosaur finding his way back home with the help of his dog-like human friend, Spot. The incredibly realistic scenery steals the show throughout the film, and the caricature dinosaurs and human almost become uninteresting in front of the background, as seen in the photo above. Pixar have spearheaded the animation industry since the release of Toy Story in 1995, and they continue to showcase the evolution of animation. The main problem in terms of animation is the blandness of the dinosaurs. 

This story of the protagonist trying to find their way home has been done to death by Pixar. It's the plot of all three Toy Story films, Finding Nemo and most recently, Inside Out, which was released just five months ago. The audience knows they're going to get there, so any threat to the character not getting home just feels formulated. Emotional moments in this movie feel formulated as well, probably due to the characters not really warranting empathy. 

The poor timing of the release has plagued The Good Dinosaur and prevented it from following the natural development of a Pixar film's release. It's partly their own fault, as it's their second original release this year. They didn't release any film last year, and this film was scheduled to be released last year. While I understand that rushing a release does more harm than good, they should have postponed it until next year, as they are releasing a Finding Nemo sequel next year, but no original films. We've already seen a dinosaur film this year in Jurassic World, and The Good Dinosaur has been release three weeks before the highly anticipated Star Wars: The Force Awakens. All of these aspects combined has made for a very underwhelming release of this film, and that is reflected in the box office earnings. It will likely lose money, and that's a first for Pixar.

Pixar create great protagonists, and they make great antagonists to counteract them. At first glance, The Good Dinosaur doesn't have an antagonist but after thought, it has one of the best antagonists of any Pixar film; nature itself. Nature takes Arlo away from home, and does things that if done by a character, would be unforgivable. Nature is relentless, and yet the audience (and Arlo) can't help but admire its beauty. Nature is treated like a character, and this was executed really well. 

There are some redeeming qualities, and Pixar will probably never make a bad film, but this was nowhere near their high standard. A higher quality of characters and a better timed release would have made this film successful, and hopefully the company will learn some important lessons from this rather than begin to fear the risk of original films. 

3/7