Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Awakening the Force

I have a confession to make. I used to hate Star Wars. 

My parents sort of forced me to watch betamax tapes of it when I was younger. The furry Ewoks were cute, R2D2 was fun to mimic, and Queen Amidala was beautiful; but they never sparked enough interest.

The harsh lighting in the spaceships reminded me of boring classrooms. Princess Leia looked a bit drab. Luke is cute but I never forgave him for being Darth Vader's son. The effects looked unrealistic; our neighbors' New Year's fireworks display were more impressive compared to the destruction of stars and planets on screen. All the smoke appeared like someone just fans dry ice everytime. The dessert & forest scenes looked icky. Shaider's sword looked more impressive than the lightsaber.

I tried watching the marathon on Star Movies over the weekend to see if my impression of it has changed over the years. 

It hasn't. 

I enjoyed watching the young Harrison Ford play Han Solo & I was amused with the quirky Yoda but that was just about it. I fell asleep after watching 2 episodes (breastfeeding while watching didn't help)

But a miracle happened.

Well sort of.

I had the privilege of watching the Philippine premiere of Episode VII: The Force Awakens. And OMG. J.J. Abrams is just wickedly awesome!

I had so much fun watching all the amazing effects. The shots were craftily executed; there wasn't a dull moment. (I used to hate watching in IMAX theaters because my glasses just keep fogging up but tonight even that didn't seem to matter)

I would have to agree with Regina Layug-Rocero of 501st that the female lead Rey makes the movie uber cool. She has super expressive eyes similar to her father's (I wouldn't say who:p) but she's more fun to watch (so nimble and fair even when she has soot on her face)
 

Her affinity with the droid BB-8 is adorable (plus BB-8 talks like my 3month old daughter. I missed hugging her while watching the movie :/)


& despite my opinion on the previous episodes, it was refreshing to see familiar characters pegged 30 years after the rebellion. It was one happy reunion (despite the demise of one of the leads in the end. Again, I wouldn't say who :p) Heck, I even think Princess Leia looks better now that she has matured (I like her foundation better now. It used to look so cakey. Sorry.) Her love team with Han Solo still makes fans giddy with glee.


Oh well. Just to say I had so much fun. Can't wait for the next one :p