Star Wars: The Force Awakens
by Hope Madden and George Wolf, MaddWolf.com
It’s been thirty years and Stormtroopers still can’t hit the side of a barn.
Like all goodhearted people, you will be need to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens this Christmas season. Come on, you know you want to. Luckily, the JJ Abrams retooling doesn’t disappoint.
Back in 2009, when Abrams rebooted Star Trek, he proved that, with talent and genuine fondness for the source material, an aging franchise can not only be reinvigorated, but bettered. It was only a matter of time before he took on the superior galactic icon.
There’s an ingenious simplicity to this film. From the opening sequence it’s clear that Abrams has no intention of distancing himself from the original trilogy. Abrams – aided in scripting duty by Lawrence Kasdan (who wrote, among other things, Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi), and Michael Arndt (who wrote, among other things, Toy Story 3) – breaks down the elements from A New Hope and rebuilds them in a fresh but familiar way . It’s a perfect combination of source material and giddy genius that shows in every scene.
Since the happy ending of Jedi, the Galaxy is again seeing dark times. Luke Skywalker has disappeared, and the First Order has risen to power thanks to Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis in surprisingly underwhelming motion capture) and his masked apprentice Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). They aim to find Skywalker, and eliminate the last hope of the Jedi Order.
The resistance, led by the now General Leia, has hidden clues to Luke’s sanctuary in feisty droid BB-8, with ace pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), runaway Stormtrooper Finn (John Boyega), and mysterious scavenger Rey (Daisy Ridley) all doing their part to keep BB from the bad guys.
Then Han and Chewie join the fun, and it’s goosebump time (one of several).
The Force Awakens is eerily true to the sensibilities of the original trilogy, though the script is more humorous and the actors are more talented. Isaac alone is absolutely among the most gifted actors working today, and Domhnall Gleason impresses again as the evil General Hux. Driver brings menace as well as nuance, with relative newcomer Ridley looking like a real find.
And just seeing Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher back in their iconic roles brings a wealth of good will that Abrams is smart enough not to squander.
He knows better than to overthink, or overdo. The entire look of the film is right, with the entire universe, like the famous trio of actors, aged to perfection.
It’s really hard to overstate the effect of the Star Wars franchise of popular culture. After all this time a reboot so completely satisfying, so much fun, and so welcoming to future installments seems out of the question.
Or not.
Sisters
by George Wolf, MaddWolf.com
So, was the year in film 2015 more about the comeback of westerns, or the dominance of hilarious women? With just days left to make a case, Sisters, the other movie opening this weekend, delivers just enough laughs to score a few more votes for the ladies.
Much of the credit goes to the charm and chemistry of stars Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, playing Kate and Maura Ellis, respectively. After learning their parents (Dianne Wiest and James Brolin) plan to sell the house they grew up in, the two head back home to Orlando to talk the old folks out of it.
Instead, Kate and Maura find the ‘rents are gone, the house is practically empty and definitely sold. Two bedrooms, though, are still serving as a time capsule from the 80s, just waiting to be cleaned out for the new owners.
So, the sisters get to work….on “Ellis Island,” the party of the year!
Fey and Poehler both play against type, which is part of what holds the film back in the early going.
Maura is the shy, demure one, with high school diary entries about “taking a deaf friend to see Sheila E,” while Kate is blunt and in your face (her diary: “all the penises I saw”) and both actresses push a little hard at the outset. Fey always had trouble keeping a straight face during her Saturday Night Live days, and here she seems just a breath away from laughing at the camera and saying “Look! I’m the bad girl!”
Gags are lazy and obvious, there’s the obligatory car radio sing along, and it all seems doomed when, right on cue, it’s party time and the fun comes calling.
A bevy of familiar faces invades Ellis Island, hilariously sending up various high school stereotypes. All find their mark, especially Maya Rudolph as the bitchy queen bee, Bobby Moynihan as the awkward guy who wants to be funny, and Kate McKinnon as the leader of the lesbian clique.
Props again to WWE’s John Cena, following up his scene-stealing in Trainwreck with a winning cameo as Pazuzu, a drug dealer who gets flirty with Kate (his “safe words” are priceless). Don’t bet against this guy being the next wrestler-turned-genuine movie star.
Longtime SNL writer Paula Pell gets the credit for her first screenplay, but no doubt plenty of improvisational gold made the final cut. Director Jason Moore (Pitch Perfect) keeps things fast and frenzied and as the ensemble finds a comfort zone, there are LOL riffs on growing older and up.
Sisters is alternately crude, silly, and sentimental, and at least one dance routine too long, but it is funny, with a heart that feels true. There’s both warmth and humor on Ellis Island.
Just don’t be late for the party.
