Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (Rifftrax)

Film Year:  2015
Genre:  Fantasy, Science Fiction
Director:  J.J. Abrams
Starring:  MORE MARK HAMILL THAN YOU COULD EVER DREAM, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, Lupita Nyong'o, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, Max von Sydow
Rifftrax Year:  2016
Riffers:  Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy, Bill Corbett

The Movie

We thought we were in the clear.  We thought we had heard all the fan moaning and bitching we were going to hear with each successive Star Wars movie and all of it would be in fading retrospect.  Oh what fools we were.

Thank you so fucking much Disney for starting this bullshit all over again.  Enjoy you're billions of dollars while we're neck deep in flamewars.

Star Wars is back and this time Lucas isn't at the helm, so maybe it's more coherent?  I wouldn't bet on that, but in this latest "episode" we find out that the remains of the Empire have regrouped as the First Order and somehow they have constructed a full planet into an even bigger Death Star called the Starkiller Base.  This thing drains the energy from stars and wipes out entire star systems in one go (though arguably if they could drain stars then they wouldn't need to blow up planets, because those planets would die pretty much instantly).  It's up to a hermit named Mary Sue...er...Rey to team up with a runaway Storm Trooper named Finn and the legendary Han Solo to help the Rebels...sigh...destroy another Death Star.  They also search for the missing Luke Skywalker to help unite the Rebels against the First Order.

Repetition is the name of the game here.  I gave a lot of shit to Return of the Jedi for rehashing previous elements from Star Wars films, but The Force Awakens takes it the next level.  Pretty much the ENTIRE MOVIE is just the first Star Wars movie in much flashier packaging.  After a while it grows quite tiresome because it has no real surprises in store for us.  Some claim this is a strength, as it reminded us of why we loved the original films while forgetting the prequels, though others state the entire movie is redundant.

I'm going neutral on this and saying they're both right.  If I had a bigger stake in the Star Wars universe I'd pick a side, but I don't and I don't care.

The one thing I will say about this movie is that director J.J. Abrams at the very least knows how to craft an exciting movie.  The film looks beautiful and the action is spellbinding, and the mixture of practical effects to CGI is perfect.  The acting is also for the most part very good, probably the best we've seen in a Star Wars movie yet (or at the very least as good as the acting in Empire), but that's could probably be attributed to the fact that the actors aren't saying Lucas-ian dialogue.

But the key difference between this movie and Return of the Jedi for me is that at no point was I ever annoyed with it.  I had fun watching it pretty much from beginning to end, even if I wasn't entirely into it's retread of a story.  If that's what a movie offers, I'll take it.  The Force Awakens isn't the best Star Wars movie, but at the very least it's a stepping stone to what a Star Wars movie should aspire to be.

The Trax

"Let's grab my paycheck and get out of here."

Time away from the Star Wars franchise has done our riffers good.  As this franchise returns to prominence they seem to be approaching it with a renewed swagger that for the most part was missing from their last few Star Wars riffs.  The movie is a blast to watch and the riffs wisely emphasize that to create an amusing commentary.

I think that for the most part the new cast and crew for the film are helping keep the riff fresh, because after a while all of the Lucas-isms become tiresome.  The new characters provide some fun new things to poke at.  Kylo Ren is a highlight, as the temperamental Sith seems to amuse them.  Rey, Finn, and Poe inspire some fun material as well.  Mike, Kevin, and Bill also have fun with the script, which at times reduces to just running and shouting inaudibly.

Mirroring the film itself, The Force Awakens doesn't reinvent the wheel when it comes to the riffing artform.  It's just a consistent example of a fun bit of comedy.  As a result it becomes one of the best Star Wars riffs yet.

Good