REVIEW: Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)

If there's anything that can wake me up from my hiatus (even if it's only temporarily), it's this film. Because what kind of movie critic would miss the chance to review the return of the most iconic film series of all time?

I'm just gonna say this right here, right now: at it's core, Star Wars: The Force Awakens is basically a remix of A New Hope. In terms of characters, plot, it's quite obvious that SWTFA is an homage, a throwback to the nearly 40-year-old film, although with a little of its own slight changes. Some things don't change: the opening crawl is still there, still the same; wipe transition is still a thing; the soundtrack is still big and loud and grander than ever. Other things are different, but you can draw parallels between this film and the original Star Wars. Finn (John Boyega) is Luke Skywalker, the young hero with a heart that just wants to do the right thing; Rey (Daisy Ridley) is Leia, strong-willed, courageous and independent who needs no saving; and well Kylo Ren is so obviously a Darth Vader knockoff in a new mask and a cooler lightsaber.

(And when I say knockoff, I mean that in the fondest of ways)

Also, R2-D2 is now made of two spheres with a new coat of paint and renamed to BB-8. Easily one of the cutest things I've ever laid eyes on.

But I'm not saying that the similarities is a bad thing. I loved the fact that I could pick out element that came out of the original films, there were scenes that echoed some of the most memorable parts in the episodes IV, V and VI. It was nostalgic, perhaps even more so for those who have been fans of the series since the very beginning.

Hello, it's me.

I absolutely adore the writing in this film. Pacing is good, and there's hardly a dull moment in all two hours. The script is original, natural, and witty. Just like in the original films, Han Solo (Harrison Ford) basically gets all the best lines in the film, with Finn being a close contender. 

As the leads of the film, both Boyega and Ridley carried their roles incredibly well. Even Adam Driver who plays a character who's quite literally Darth Vader's successor was excellent in portraying a powerful antagonist, but is impulsive and unstable. Basically, Adam Driver is what Hayden Christensen's Anakin Skywalker could have been, should have been. Partnered with veterans of the series such as Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher, the acting and characterization are simply on point.

Kylo Ren's gonna give Darth Vader a run for his money.

Watching TFA while being shrouded in so much mystery was a great experience. To go into the movie almost blind, not knowing what was going to happen—not because I avoided any trailers and what-nots, but because there was little to nothing that I could find out about it before actually watching the film itself. This is when I got to experience what the audience might have felt when watching the original trilogy all those years ago, since every big twist in the original films were spoiled way before I even got around to watching them. But with TFA, I get it. I get how big deal it must have been back then, with revelations of Darth Vader's identity, and the true relationship between Luke and Leia. I never did get the full impact of those scenes. Until now, that is. And trust me on this, TFA has some pretty strong tricks and twists up its sleeves.

I know a lot of you might decide to go into TFA without watching the previous films, especially the original trilogy since it's old and the special effects are basically wonky and outdated by now, but I implore you to take some time and marathon them. TFA might be the first installment of a new trilogy with a largely different cast, but it is does take place decades after the incidents in Return of The Jedi, it is at its core a sequel to the original trilogy. It would be hard to understand the significance of some of the things and characters in TFA. For one, when Han and Chewie first appeared on the screen, it just felt so good and amazing seeing them back that it got such a loud reaction from the audience.

Am I being a little preachy? Maybe. But seriously, don't watch TFA without ever having watched the original films. A lot of fun gets lost when that happens.

Han: Chewie, we're home
Me: *sobs uncontrollably*

Feel free to ignore the prequels though. Trust me, at this point we really can forget that train wreck ever existed.

Me when I think about the prequel trilogy.

From the hands of director J.J. Abrams, Star Wars: The Force Awakens is the comeback that fans of this series—new or old—truly deserves. All the hype that built up to this were not wasted, and it's very well worth the wait.

2017 cannot come soon enough.

Brb, gotta go hunt down BB-8 merch.

Other trivial musings : I'm terrible disappointed with Gwendoline Christie's Captain Phasma. I mean come on, you cast Brienne of Tarth and that's all there is to her role??? ಠ_ಠ


 TL;DR : Excellent revival of the series, solidifying its status as one of the greatest movie franchises of all time. Overall a great, fun ride to a galaxy far, far away.

I rate it : 8/10 stars

Should you watch it? YESSS but only if you watch the original trilogy before.

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS (2015)

Genre : It's Star Wars. It's an entirely new category on its own.

Runtime : 135 mins

Director : J.J. Abrams

Cast : Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscaar Isaac, Adam Driver, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher

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BOOK REVIEW : The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender, by Leslye Walton

I understand that this blog is supposed to be a movie review blog. I understand that it's strongly implied in the sidebar and it's practically what WAYANG CRITIC means.

But as they say, step out of your comfort zone, and that's what I'm doing. Or maybe it's because that as a kid still in college, sometimes I just don't really have the mood time to watch movies. (Does that sound like an excuse? That probably sounds like an excuse.)

But books, novels, that I can do. At least, it's better to have something than to just let this space--and my writing skills--rot.

The Strange and Beautiful  of Ava Lavender opens with a letter written by a much older Ava Lavender that is dated March 2014. The actual story starts in France of the early 1900s with her grandmother, Emilienne Roux, and her family. Captivated by the opportunities promised by "Manhatine", as well as the stories of its streets that are paved in cobblestones of bronze, the Roux family is uprooted from their small French village and is relocated to Manhattan. When Emilienne's story fades to the side, her daughter Viviene Lavender takes the spotlight, and eventually it's Ava in the centre.

It's not entirely a book about magical things happening, it never really paints that picture; you might think 'whimsical' when you hear the words 'magical' or 'fantasy'. If anything, it's just a world where people turning into birds or growing wings happen, they are reality, no big deal. Ava is still a very human girl who may not live a normal life, per se, but is nonetheless real. This book is about honest issues, real issues that occur in real life, with just a hint of magical element in it. It's a tragedy that starts from love to lost, what happens before and what takes place after. Thus, it is fitting to label is as 'magical realism'.

From the middle, when we leave Viviene's story for Ava's, the book starts to build towards it's climax. Some might think it to be somewhat anticlimactic, given that it was all over in about five pages. While a part of me wants nothing more than to discuss it, yet doing so would result in giving away the biggest spoiler that this books has to offer. But I'll leave with this : it was quick, but it was powerful. I had to set aside the book and let the feelings settle and trust me, I had strong, STRONG feelings when I read it. My chest was aching for Ava.

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender is beautiful; even at the most brutal peak of the story, it still feels like there's a veil of dreamlike silk covering it, large part due to Walton's writing. But if there's one thing that left me unsatisfied, it is that from the beginning I was under the impression that we would find out what was it that gave Ava her wings, why was she born with them? But the answers to these question are left uncovered. I though that by digging through her family history, Ava would discover the reason why she was gifted with wings. Yet what ends up happening is her recounting incidents in that family history that share some similarities with her condition. We don't know if it's causation or just mere correlation.

Nonetheless, it's not that big of an issue, but an afterthought since finishing the book. The question of why or how Ava got her wings isn't that important anymore as you'll find yourself more absorbed and invested in the lives from Emilienne, Viviane and Ava, three women who know what it's like to love and the heartache it entails.

I rate it : 8/10 stars

THE GOOD : Beautiful prose and writing that feels lyrical; even though it's 'magical realism', it's more honest than whimsical.

THE BAD : One more than one occasions, I found myself losing track of the side characters introduced; it drags a littel at times

READ IT IF YOU...

• ...aren't put off by the 'YA novel' tag it holds because trust me, it's a story fit for any age group.
• ...like something magical while still maintaining some sense of reality
• ...are completely head-over-heels with the cover (it's prettier irl)

TRIGGER WARNING SPOILER WARNING DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU ABSOLUTELY CANNOT STAND SPOILERS!! This story may not be suitable for those who are sensitive to issues on rape. 

THE STRANGE AND BEAUTIFUL SORROWS OF AVA LAVENDER (2014) 

Genre : Fantasy, Magical Realism, Young Adult

Pages : 301 pages

Author : Leslye Walton

Links : MPH Online

REVIEW : Jupiter Ascending (2015)

Oh boy. If there ever was a train-wreck, it'd probably look something like Jupiter Ascending. I had pretty high hopes when I saw the first trailer, but dread started to set in as a few more of them came out and by the time I went into the cinemas, I wasn't really sure where to set my expectations at.

Too much space? Kindda.

I'm not sure where to start with explaining how Jupiter Ascending works. But I'm going to try my best to make the plot summary not convoluted. So here we go:

Mila Kunis plays Jupiter Jones whose astrology may tell her that she was born destined for greater things, but in in reality she is stuck with waking up at 4.45am every day for a job that involves scrubbing other people's toilets. But as it turns out, her genetic code happens to be exactly the same as the late Abrasax matriarch, which makes her a royalty and heir to the Earth. The movie calls this phenomenon a 'Recurrence'. 

Now the Abrasax family are really more like capitalist royalties than (actual) royalties, whose business involves harvesting living beings to produce regenerative youth serums that would allow them to live forever. In the case of Earth, humans are the ones that are to be harvested. After the death of the matriarch, the Abrasax family is survived by three members: Balem (Eddie Redmayne), Kalique (Tuppence Middleton) and Titus (Douglas Booth). Earth, being the more valuable planet of them all, is inherited by Balem (that is without Jupiter in the picture) while the other two siblings are left pining over it. In short, they all pretty much hate each other.

Naturally, everything is set off balance when Jupiter enters the picture. Now Balem wants her killed, Kalique wants to be "friends" with her, and Titus wants to marry her. All of them send their own hunters to track her down, and the one that Titus sends is none other than half-human, half-wolf Caine Wise(Channing Tatum).

Still with me?

Caine Wise (Tatum) here to save the day. Swoosh.

At times, Jupiter Ascending feels like the directors, The Wachowskis, decided it would be a good idea (it's not) to take elements from every fantastical space movies out there, from Thor to Guardians of the Galaxy to Star Wars and maybe even Star Trek, and condense them into one single movie. No doubt that the world they've imagined and created is rich, but sometimes it feels overbearing. And instead of letting the audience explore the world themselves, all subtlety is thrown out of the window as we're spoonfed with dialogue explaining in detail how everything works, coupled with space-fantasy lingo scattered everywhere. Let's just say, the expositions are just eugh.

Save for a few funny one-liners, the writing in Jupiter Ascending really isn't that great. Characters in this film are as typical and two-dimensional as they can be. Jupiter being the typical female lead heroine who acts like she's a twelve-year-old girl; Caine being the typical broody, badass hero with a dark past and skeletons in his closets; Balem being that quiet Big Evil that has very loud outbursts once in a while; and Titus being the Ken doll lookalike who hides a knife behind that smile. The love story between Caine and Jupiter is cringe-worthy, all thanks to the corny lines that Mila Kunis has to deliver. I still shudder when I think of it. 

Douglas Booth needs to bring his beard back ASAP

I'm not going to lie, when the movie first began, I thought it was pretty decent. It captured my interest for about a half hour or so, and then things just went downhill. I don't remember how many times I've caught myself yawning, or cringing, or thinking to myself, 'Why does Jupiter seem so calm and okay with this? I don't imagine how anyone could so easily accept something so bizarre in such a short time.' There may have been a couple of times when I just threw my hands into the air and whispered 'For the love of god'. However, when I REALLY think about it, the plot is actually quite okay. It's as bad as what was shown on screen. But it's the horrific writing that makes it almost un-watchable. Who knows, maybe if the same thing was put in the hands of some other writer and director, perhaps Jupiter Ascending could have turned out decent.

The only thing that's really worth praising I guess are of course the CGI special effects which are definitely impressive, such as a few large scenes on a magnificent scale. The sets are of course grand, especially in the case of Titus's and Kalique's respective space homes. Gotta give the set designers props(geddit?) for that. Not only that, some of the costumes worn in this film were beautiful, from Jupiter's gown you see in the trailer to Titus's sleek suits, to Kalique's dress that slightly reminds me of Taylor Swift's during the Grammys.

But really, the writing in Jupiter Ascending completely ruined it. Trust me, besides the fantastical space elements and cool CGI, this movie has nothing to impress. Well, save for maybe a topless Channing Tatum. That's always a welcome.

Who needs clothes when you're Channing Tatum? Amirite or amirite?

Oh, by the way. Sean Bean's in this movie too, if you don't know, and spoiler alert: he doesn't die.

I rate it : 3/10 stars

THE GOOD : Cool CGI, set designs and costumes are nice.

THE BAD : Bad, bad writing which results in bad everything, e.g : characters, storyline, dialogue etc.

WATCH IT IF YOU...

• ...are a true fan of the fantasy sci-fi action genre
• ...don't mind being spoonfed with explanations on how everything works in movieland.
• ...can stand corny dialogue. And when I mean corny, I mean a total cringefest. 
• ...are in the mood for a terrible movie.

JUPITER ASCENDING (2015) 

Genre: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Action

Runtime : 127 minutes
Director : Lana Wachowski , Andy Wachowski

Cast :  Mila Kunis, Channing Tatum, Sean Bean, Eddie Redmayne, Tuppence Middleton, Douglas Booth