Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice

Year: 2016

Director: Zack Snyder

Starring: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg, Jeremy Irons, Diane Lane, Holly Hunter, and Gal Gadot
Synopsis: Bruce Wayne distrusts Superman's unchecked power.  Clark Kent disapproves of the Batman's vigilante ways.  The two inevitably clash as the world at large discusses what sort of hero it really needs.

Review

I've been leery of this film since the day the title was announced.  I wanted it to be good.  I wanted to like it.  I grew up with Batman and Superman.  They (and audiences) deserve better than the bloated mess that is Batman v. Superman.

Perhaps the worst part of the film is that there are nuggets of potential.  I didn't completely hate the film.  There are parts that work.  There are things I liked.  But they are strung together by a poor story, grim storytelling, and a muddy vision of what makes Batman and Superman such enduring characters.

With what he had to work with, I thought Ben Affleck did a good job as Batman/Bruce Wayne.  He brings a tortured, jaded maturity to the role.  The setup he is given for his beef with Superman is believable and even understandable.  It's hinted that there have been dark goings on in Gotham that have left him even more emotionally scarred, beyond witnessing his parents' deaths (one scene that was actually handled well).  What we didn't see was the Bruce Wayne persona.  That would have been good.

What I dislike is that this Batman, by the end, is using guns and killing the bad guys "as necessary."  I prefer the Batman from the comics, the animated series, and the Nolan trilogy, the Batman who refuses to kill.  Batman is a dark, troubled character.  But there is a line and he shouldn't cross it.  Also, while Bruce's nightmares serve a purpose within the story -- and in establishing his inner demons -- the main one drags out far too long.  We get it.  He fears Superman becoming a dictator.  Move on.

Jeremy Irons' Alfred suits this version of Batman.  He is tired, worn out, and a bit snarky.  He's also shown as a hands-on helper: fixing suits and flying the Batwing remotely.  It's nice to have Alfred do more than serve as Bruce's moral compass.

I liked the conflicted Superman/Clark Kent from Man of Steel.  That struggle carries over into Batman v. Superman as Clark tries to decide what Superman's place in the world is.  Conceptually it works.  In execution, it feels a bit muddled and like Clark is mostly reacting and being acted upon more than anything else.  I was also frustrated at his very poor communications skills when it came to interacting with Batman.  He had the high ground (literally ... but without the ground part).  Arguing, threatening, punching, and tearing up the Batmobile are not a great way to win someone over to your "I'm a good guy and you don't need to fear me" cause.

Where Batman has Alfred, Superman has Lois Lane and his mother.  In the limited scenes she has, Diane Lane does a good job as Martha Kent.  I also like Amy Adams' Lois Lane.  She has intelligence and gumption and is useful rather than helpless throughout the film.

Perhaps the best surprise of Batman v. Superman is actually Wonder Woman.  Gal Gadot does an excellent job as the enigmatic Diana Prince.  She's intriguing, clever, stunning, and fierce.  Her interactions with Bruce Wayne are some of the best moments in the film.  And when she enters the final fray, it is with more panache than her male allies.  That she is left largely a mystery at this point was also a wise choice.

All of the above casting choices are spot on.  And most of the rest of the cast is fine too.  But Jesse Eisenberg's Lex Luther?  I cringed and groaned every moment he was on screen.  He's whiney, annoying, and manic.  I always expect Lex to be cunning and shrewd: a cool and collected man of business.  This Lex is not even close.  His Machiavellian plot is solely to kill Superman.  He doesn't seem to be motivated by revenge.  It's not implied that Superman is somehow in the way of Lex's "master" plan.  His only plan is to kill Superman.  And I really can't figure out why.  Nor did his final "warning" make any sense.  As villains go he was bland and boring.

The awesome musical theme from Man of Steel is back for Superman.  Wonder Woman gets an equally awesome theme.  Aside from those occasional snippets, the music in Batman v. Superman is terrible.  Truly terrible.  It is as overblown as the film itself.  I actively disliked most of the soundtrack.

Overall, Batman v. Superman is a bloated mess riddled with plot holes.  It's dark and grim with a few mentions of hope but very little to actually offer of it.  There are a few flashes of (much-appreciated) humor (see the Quotes section below).  But mostly it is grim and serious on top of more grim and serious.  I get that they are trying to distance themselves from the Marvel universe.  But lighten up a little.  There's a lot of talk about power in Batman v. Superman.  I wish it had instead shifted its focus to justice, mercy, redemption, and what it means to be a hero.  There is some talk of those things.  They are ripe themes for the picking.  But it is only ever talk.  What religious symbolism there is is devoid of understanding or heart.

If you are a fan of Batman and/or Superman, you'll likely see this film regardless of what I or the critics say.  And I'm not sorry I saw it.  There were a few good nuggets.  I'm sorry those nuggets were squandered, along with any potential this movie possessed.

*** Spoiler Section ***

If you're going to include Doomsday, then yeah, it's not too unexpected that you're going to include what Doomsday is most famous for: killing Superman.  Obviously they are going to bring Superman back to life.  How can they do the Justice League without him?  The much tougher thing is how are they going to bring back Clark Kent?  That won't work so well.  If Superman is no longer Clark Kent ... well, I'm done.

Here are a few more questions: Why don't Lex's goons in the desert just use normal weapons so there would be no trace of anything fishy?  Why would people think Superman bothered to use guns to kill people?  Why is Lex so intent on pitting Batman against Superman if he plans to have the kryptonite himself?  Why did Lex allow his right hand girl to get blown up?  If Diana Prince gave up being Wonder Woman years ago, is she just carrying around the outfit "just in case"?  How did Lex get the kryptonite into the U.S. after Senator Finch said she'd block it?  Did she not think he'd simply smuggle it in?  Was that just an idle "please, don't" and was thrown in simply to justify Lex later killing her?  Just how much of Batman's suit is bullet proof?  Do people really not recognize Clark as Superman simply because of the glasses?

Quotable Quotes

• "Clicks his heels three times and he's back in Kansas, I suppose." -- Perry White regarding Clark's disappearance
• "It's okay.  I'm a friend of your son's."  "I figured that.  The cape." -- Batman and Martha Kent
• "Is she with you?"  "I thought she was with you." -- Superman and Batman regarding Wonder Woman
• "Even you've gotten too old to die young ... not for lack of trying." -- Alfred to Bruce Wayne

ISFS

Zootopia

Year: 2016

Director: Byron Howard, Rich Moore, and Jared Bush

Starring: Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Idris Elba, J.K. Simmons, and Jenny Slate
Tagline: Welcome to the urban jungle
Synopsis: Judy Hopps is the ZPD's first bunny officer.  In order to prove she's no token bunny, and no meter maid, she teams up with a con-artist fox to crack the city's biggest case.

Review

I've been excited for Zootopia since the first teaser trailer came out.  I was not disappointed.  Zootopia is terrific, another great film from Disney Animation Studios' latest revival era.

Visually, the film is outstanding.  The fur on all the animals is so realistic (you know, for animation).  There is also so much going on in every scene.  It's too much to take in in one viewing.  There are so many visual gags and so many interesting things going on in this richly imagined world.  It's beautiful.

Zootopia has a two very strong messages.  The first is the standard follow your dreams and your heart.  But the second is a message against prejudice and stereotyping, a message that could easily become preachy or overbearing.  Putting those themes in a world of animals works really well and divests them from their real-world baggage.  The themes spring naturally from the story's premise of predator and prey living (mostly) in harmony.  We humans can then fill in our own blanks about the real world applications.  The themes also work because they grow out of the story and from the characters' weaknesses and strengths.  The film sets up all the stereotypes we expect from the various animals, then proceeds to break them down as characters are fleshed out and understood.

If Zootopia had just been a social commentary, it likely would have fallen flat.  Fortunately, it is also a well-crafted crime drama / buddy cop film.  It unfolds as a clever mystery that takes us through various parts of Zootopia, including Tundratown, a rainforest, and a sector for small rodents.  The unfolding mystery keeps everything hopping along at a good pace.

Anthropomorphic animals are certainly nothing new to the "House of Mouse."  But what was so fun about Zootopia is that animals are proportional.  Rather than having a mouse, a duck, and a dog that are all roughly the same size, the animals in Zootopia are true to their real-life counterparts.  One of the joys of the film is seeing the clever ways the film-makers came up with to accommodate and poke fun at the differences.  There's something so amusing about seeing a huge polar bear gently turning round the chair of a tiny arctic shrew or seeing a mouse's car blow away because of a parking ticket on the windshield.

Which brings me to my last point.  Zootopia is funny ... so, so funny.  I laughed aloud throughout the film.  There's something for everyone, but especially for the adults it seemed like.  There were a lot of references to The Godfather (references I got even without having seen the film).  There were clever puns.  The DMV sloth scene had the whole audience laughing.  And there were so many other inside jokes and fun characters that I basically had a grin on my face the entire movie.

I heartily recommend seeing Zootopia.  It was the most fun I've had at a movie this year and the best animated movie I've seen since Inside Out.  It's fun, clever, and carries a worthwhile message.  Do yourself a favor and go see it on the big screen.

*** Spoiler Section ***

Judy Hopps is a good, likable character.  She exudes optimism and gumption.  She's endearing from her very first scene.  That's why having Judy be the one who truly sticks her rabbit foot in her mouth works so well.  She has the best of intentions ... and she totally botches it at the press conference.  She's a good character who makes a very regrettable choice.  I like the believability of that.  Everybody makes mistakes.  And to her credit, Judy sees the folly of her actions and later does all she can to fix the problem, starting with her own narrow-mindedness.

One question though: where are all the birds, reptiles, and other non-mammals?

Quotable Quotes

• "Never let them see that they get to you." -- Nick Wilde
• "I came here to make the world a better place, but I think I broke it." "The world has always been a broken place.  That's why we need good cops." -- Judy Hopps and Chief Bogo
• "Life isn't some cartoon musical where you sing a little song and all your insipid dreams magically come true.  So let it go." -- Chief Bogo
• "It's called a hustle, sweetheart." -- Nick Wilde
• "Complimentary delousing each month." -- Judy's landlady

ISFS

Eddie the Eagle

Year: 2016

Director: Dexter Fletcher

Starring: Taron Egerton, Hugh Jackman, Jo Hartley, and Keith Allen
Tagline: Inspired by a dream come true.
Synopsis: Eddie Edwards' lifelong ambition is to become an Olympian.  At age 22, he decides to become a ski jumper so he can compete in the 1988 Winter Games in Calgary.

Review

On my computer, I have an Excel spreadsheet listing every movie I've ever seen.  It is broken down by genre and sub-genre.  Out of the nearly 900 movies that I've seen over the years, a paltry 15 of those are sports movies.  They just aren't my thing.  So when I say that Eddie the Eagle is a terrific, uplifting, feel-good film, that's saying something.

In analyzing the movie, it's really quite cliche.  It predictably hits every sports movie beat with every trope in the book, including the requisite training montage.  There's the supportive mum cheering him on; the cynical dad telling him to get his head out of the clouds; the antagonistic doubters and scoffers; and, of course, the drunken, fallen-from-grace sports hero who becomes the reluctant coach.

But as predictable and cliched as the movie is, I wasn't thinking that at all as I watched it.  I was too busy enjoying it.  Most of the credit for that goes to Eddie himself, brilliantly portrayed by Taron Egerton.  He's such a likable underdog.  He's nerdy.  He wears glasses.  He's awkward (he manages to knock over the entire British downhill skiing team).  But he's so full of optimism and buoyant perseverance that you can't help but cheer him on in his dreams.  Every time he falls he gets back up again.

What I appreciated most about Eddie the Eagle is that it's a realistic underdog story (it is, after all, inspired [very loosely] on a true story).  Eddie doesn't miraculously go from complete novice to gold-medal winner at the Olympics.  Eddie's dreams aren't about winning a gold medal, or even a bronze medal.  Eddie wants to be an Olympian.  And Eddie the Eagle is a film that celebrates participation.  It's not about the glory of winning; it's about the the glory of doing your very best and never giving up, no matter what.

The film itself is very well made.  The soundtrack has an authentic 80s feel to it.  It's not like some movies where they plug in the most famous 80s songs so that you know what decade we're supposed to be in.  They use obscure songs in such a natural way that it feels like the movie could have been made 30 years ago.  The film uses various camera shots during the ski jumping scenes.  Some of them work better than others.  Some give you a sense of the rush.  Some look goofy.  A few look quite fake.

The movie is rated PG-13 for smoking and some thematic content (Jackman's character compares ski jumping to intercourse).  If there was any swearing, it was mild and forgettable.  There are some naked Norwegians (nothing is shown).

Cliched as it may be, Eddie the Eagle is a fantastic, inspiring film that had me cheering (silently) in my seat.  It's very fun and it's very funny.  I highly recommend it ... even if you don't like sports movies.

*** Spoiler Section ***

My favorite moment in the movie is the final interaction between Eddie and Matti Nykanen, aka "The Flying Finn."  Throughout the film, the gold-medal champion has been dismissive of the novice Englishman.  When the two men get in the elevator together for their ride to the top of the 90 meter slope, I was expecting a brief, slightly begrudging compliment from Matti.  Instead, there was a great moment in what was probably an impossibly long elevator ride.

Rather than patronizing Eddie, Matti insists that the two of them are not so different.  Win or lose, all each of them wants is to do their personal best.  They cannot be satisfied with anything less.  If they were to give less than their best efforts, it would forever haunt them.  I really liked that message, probably because it is me to a T.

Quotable Quotes

• "I was wondering if you could give me a few pointers....  How do you land?" -- Eddie to the Norwegian team
• "Personal best!  And we're a disgrace!" -- Bronson to Eddie
• "And where do you think you're going?"  "The Olympics." -- Eddie's mum and Eddie
• "He's going to break his neck."  "I'm going to break his neck." -- Eddie's mum and dad
• "What's that fluff on your face?"  "My mustache?"  "Is that what you call it?" -- Bronson and Eddie

ISFS

Hail, Caesar!

Year: 2016

Director: Ethan Coen and Joel Coen

Starring: Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Alden Ehrenreich, Ralph Fiennes, Scarlett Johansson, Tilda Swinton, Channing Tatum, and Michael Gambon
Tagline: Lights.  Camera.  Abduction.
Synopsis: A day in the life of 1950s Hollywood "fixer" Eddie Mannix.

Review

This was my first Coen brothers film.  It will also likely be my last.  As I left the theater, all I could think was, "Well that was pointless."

I didn't get it.  I just didn't.  There were moments that were mildly amusing, and that's about it.  What was the point?  What was the message?  That Hollywood was (and is) messy, sordid, and full of hypocrisy?  I didn't need a movie to tell me that.

The characters are amusing, but not particularly likable.  And most are on the screen for one, maybe two scenes.  The story is a drawn out series of disjointed events.  The main plot revolves around a kidnapping that ultimately proves completely pointless within the world of the film.

As far as production values go, yes, it is a well-made movie.  The cinematography is top notch.  The musical sequence is likable, but can't compare to any of the movies it's trying to spoof.  It's obvious that a lot of time, effort, and talent went into making this movie ... which makes its pointlessness all the more perplexing.

Hail, Caesar! is supposedly a comedy and a mystery.  I kept waiting for it to be funny or mysterious.  If you're a fan of the Coen brothers' style, maybe you'll like it.  I have no idea.  I didn't hate it; I hate that it wasted my time.

Quotable Quotes

• "Would that it were so simple." -- Lawrence Laurentz
• "So, you're a professional person?"  "That's correct." -- DeeAnna Moran and Joseph Silverman
• "It's in the hips and the lips and the eyes and the thighs." -- Carlotta Valdez, explaining how she dances with fruit on her head (a la Carmen Miranda)

ISFS

The Finest Hours

Year: 2016

Director: Craig Gillespie

Starring: Chris Pine, Casey Affleck, Holliday Grainger, Graham McTavish, and Eric Bana
Tagline: 32 survivors.  Room for 12.
Synopsis: In 1952, a nor-easter broke a tanker ship in two.  As the storm continued to rage, the Coast Guard was sent to rescue the survivors.  Based on the remarkable true story.

Review

Every year, about this same time, I seem to see a movie that is based on a true story.  Two years ago it was Monuments Men.  Last year it was Unbroken.  And this year it was The Finest Hours.  All three films are about remarkable actual events.  Unfortunately, all three movies have been disappointments where the film fell far shy of the stories' potential.

My hopes for The Finest Hours were never particularly high.  I'd seen the trailer and it looked like a nice, inspiring story.  And it is.  It is a nice, inspiring story told in a nice, old-fashioned way ... that takes way too long to get to the good stuff.  The film's main problem is pacing.  It starts slow.  Very slow.  I'm all in favor of taking time to get to know the characters ... but this was just belabored setup.  The story felt sluggish up until Bernie (Chris Pine) and the other three men are on their little lifeboat headed out to the rescue.

I should clarify.  The buildup on land is sluggish.  Every scene of what is going on aboard the stern of the S.S. Pendleton is gripping and solid.  The men are trying to figure out how to get themselves rescued before their half of the ship sinks.  Maybe it's because their situation is more dire or because they have more to do, but those segments were never dull.  And Casey Affleck as the ship's reluctant new leader is fascinating to watch.  His character is instrumental in saving the crews' lives and he is instrumental in saving the film.

The film tries desperately to give Bernie's fiancee, Miriam, something to do.  But aside from worrying, and accepting that that is part of the deal when you date/marry a man in the Coast Guard, there's just not much for her to do.  The more she was on screen, the less I cared about her.

When it comes time for the actual rescue the film does itself credit.  It is edge-of-your-seat action with intensity and drama as 30+ men are trying to get off a sinking half-of-a-ship and onto a lifeboat meant to hold just over a dozen men.  The visual effects are also solid and keep you invested in the moment.  From the rescue to the end of the film, the story telling and pacing are where they need to be.  It just took so long to get there.

One thing that stood out to me in the film were the subtle religious references.  It didn't seem quite sure what to do with them, but they were at least there and I give the film props for not omitting them.  Though we do not hear any vocalized prayers, the men aboard the ship are shown praying together.  And at other times, a character would bow their head, possibly in thought, but just as possibly in prayer.  Also, when Miriam is in the home of a sailor's widow, there is a direct reference to Psalm 23 and Warner Sallman's painting "Christ Our Pilot" can be seen hanging on the wall.  Having no way of knowing how religious the men were in real life, I can't say if more emphasis on those religious themes would have been appropriate or not.  At one point Bernie says they found the wreckage by "luck"; I personally don't think "luck" had anything to do with it.

The Finest Hours isn't a great film.  But it's a fine film about a great story.  There's no sex, no violence, no swearing.  It's an old-fashioned rescue tale.  It's a story about ordinary men with the courage to do something extraordinary for the good of others.  Although it starts slow, the climax is (mostly) worth the wait.  Overall, it's worth a view on Netflix some night.

Quotable Quotes

• "Please tell me we're taking that boat to a bigger boat." -- Ervin Maske
• "We all live or we all die." -- Bernie Webber
• "How'd you find us?"  "Uh, we kinda just got lucky." -- Ray Sybert and Bernie Webber (Sybert had previously expressed his disbelief in luck)

ISFS

Kung Fu Panda 3

Year: 2016

Director: Alessandro Carloni and Jennifer Yuh

Starring: Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Bryan Cranston, J.K. Simmons, and James Hong
Tagline: The weight is over
Synopsis: In order to defeat a new threat, Po must discover who he really is: as a panda, as a teacher, and as the Dragon Warrior.

Review

How many times can a pudgy panda save China?  Well, at least three times it would seem.  And how many times should you watch said pudgy panda save China?  All three times.

This third installment of the franchise is new in some respects but also very familiar at the same time.  A new danger threatens the valley and the only hope is for Po to learn some new lesson in order to defeat the villain.  It's a tried and true formula for these movies, and it works here.  The film also furthers the story line of Po's heritage, as we find his father and a hidden valley of pandas.

As with the other two movies, Kung Fu Panda 3 is beautifully animated with all sorts of vibrant colors.  There is also a fun blend of 2D animation from time to time.  If nothing else, the film is eye candy.  Also, in keeping with its predecessors, the music is beautiful.  And with the spirit world return of Master Oogway, we get to hear his beautiful theme a few times.

All the usual humor is also in place.  Po is his typical ever-hungry, stair-hating, geeking-out self.  The Furious Five lend humor to every scene they are in (and I wish they might have been in more scenes).  And Shifu is as lovably droll as ever.

Much of the heart of the story lies in the initially strained relationship between Li and Mr. Ping, Po's biological and adoptive fathers.  In a world of talking animals, jade monsters, and kung fu master chickens, there's something down to earth about their interactions as they try to figure out their new roles in Po's life.

My only disappointment with the film was Tigress.  She had such good character development in the second installment.  This go round she doesn't have as much to do besides support Po.  Alas.

I was impressed with how well Po's lesson for the film worked.  It resonated with me even.  In his quest to discover who he is, Po gets fixated on one aspect or another.  His breakthrough is as he realizes he is all those things.  Combined, they make him who he truly is.  His quest isn't to become just like Master Oogway or Master Shifu.  His quest is to become the best Po he can be.  And that is a worthwhile lesson we could all stand to be reminded of.

I thoroughly enjoyed Kung Fu Panda 3.  It is beautifully animated and has humor and heart.  While the story is familiar, it also brings the story of Po full circle and is a worthy sequel.  If you've liked Po's previous adventures, you'll likely enjoy this most recent outing.

Quotable Quotes

• "We learned that Tigress is flammable." -- Crane
• "If you only do what you can do, you will never be more than what you are." -- Shifu
• "Never underestimate the power of a dramatic entrance." -- Po
• "Your son got angry at you.  Welcome to parenthood." -- Mr. Ping to Li

ISFS

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Year: 2015

Director: J.J. Abrams

Starring: Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Peter Mayhew, Domhnall Gleeson, Andy Serkis, Anthony Daniels, Mark Hamill, and BB-8
Tagline: Every generation has a story.
Synopsis: Thirty years after the Empire's destruction, new heroes and new villains battle in a galaxy far, far away.

Review

It's taken me a while to get to this post, so long that The Force Awakens has had time to become the highest grossing film ever in the United States.  The Force is strong with this one.

Considering that most people have seen it already, or seen it twice already, I'm not going to bother with a spoiler section.  This whole thing will contain spoilers.  So if you haven't seen the film yet, please stop reading.  Seriously.  Stop.  If you've ever enjoyed a Star Wars movie go see this one.  And then come back and let's compare notes, so to speak.

Are we good now?  Let's proceed.

To borrow a meme, this is the Star Wars you are looking for.  It looks like Star Wars: there are familiar faces, familiar ships, familiar motifs, and familiar practical effects.  It sounds like Star Wars: welcome back John Williams with the latest installment of one of the best soundtracks ever.  But most importantly, it feels like Star Wars.  It feels serious one minute, humorous the next, and epic throughout.  The Force Awakens is a thoroughly enjoyable film.

That said, the film is not without its flaws.

It is one thing to be nostalgic and hark back to what made the original trilogy so compelling.  And I'm all in favor of the idea of having new stories that echo the past and characters that walk -- purposefully or otherwise -- in a way that shadows previous characters.  But when it came down to the Starkiller Base destroying a planet and in turn being destroyed ... it was just too similar to A New Hope.  It needed a different climax than that to be its own story.

There are also some holes in the story.  Granted, maybe some of them were on purpose and will find resolution in the next episode.  But it seems highly improbable that someone like Captain Phasma would just give up and lower the shields because Finn and Han Solo held a gun to her.  And Maz Kanata ... she seems important, until she no longer has anything to do.  Then poof, she drops out of the story.  We don't even definitively know she survived the stormtrooper attack.  She comes.  She delivers important exposition and plot devices.  She vanishes.

Enough of that.  Let's get back to why the film is terrific, albeit imperfect.

As a fan of the original trilogy, seeing Han and Chewie return "home" to the Millenium Falcon and watching them in their old roguish ways was a whole lot of nostalgic fun.  The new characters were good and all, but it was seeing the "scruffy looking nerf-herder" and "walking carpet" that made the film so enjoyable.  They brought the heart and fun of the originals with them.  That, of course, gives greater impact to Han's death.  Yes, it seemed somewhat inevitable given Kylo Ren's desire to complete his passage to the Dark Side.  And once Han stepped on that bridge, he was a goner.  But it was still sad to see the coolest Star Wars character go down in such a soul-wrenching way.

Of the new character additions, BB-8 is hands down my favorite.  I didn't think R2-D2 could be rivaled for role of awesome/adorable robot, but the rolling BB-8 gives it his all.  He's quirky, fun, and surprisingly practical ... as fictional droids go.  He wins the award for best "thumbs up" in a feature film.

One of my favorite elements of The Force Awakens is the humanization of the stormtroopers.  They are no longer cannon fodder clones with poor aim.  We've learned they are (or at least some are) taken from their families at birth.  They are given numbers not names.  They are raised to be soldiers and nothing more.  We start the film with the death of a stormtrooper that is clearly meaningful, at least to the shell-shocked Finn.  We see stormtroopers with well-honed fighting skills (making General Hux proud).  But my favorite part in the entire movie is when two stormtroopers turn a corner, hear Kylo Ren having a lightsaber-wielding temper tantrum, and quickly turn back the other way.  It's funny.  And it shows that there are real people (brainwashed people, but people) beneath those helmets.

Which just leaves Kylo Ren.  While he's not as instantly epic-cool like Darth Vader, he's a very intriguing villain.  I know enough about the "extended universe" to not be the least bit surprised that Kylo Ren is the son of Han and Leia.  And I'm glad they didn't belabor that reveal.  You can't top "No, I am your father," so don't try.  What makes Ren so interesting is that he is under construction as it were.  He's a tortured soul.  And when he takes off the helmet, you realize he's still so young.  This isn't the mature Darth Vader who calmly Force chokes people.  This guy has temper tantrums and is as volatile as his jagged lightsaber.  He's obsessed with being strong, or at least Snoke's ideal of strong.  I look forward to seeing more of Kylo Ren.

The film does a good job leaving the audience guessing and wanting more.  There are enough clues dropped throughout to leave lots to speculation.  Who is Rey?  Is she a Solo (doubtful)?  A Skywalker (possibly)?  A Kenobi (intriguing)?  Who is Snoke and how did he rise to power?  What really caused R2-D2 to "awake" with such perfect timing?  What happened to C3PO's arm?  How did that old guy get the portion of the map to Luke's whereabouts?  How did Maz Kanata get Luke's lightsaber?  Will we ever see General Leia confront her son?

Through it all, Star Wars: The Force Awakens is an entertaining film.  It's fun.  I look forward to seeing it again.  And I look forward to Episode VIII.

Quotable Quotes

• "Chewie, we're home." -- Han Solo
• "Why are you helping me?" "Because it's the right thing to do." "... You need a pilot." "I need a pilot." -- Poe Dameron and Finn
• "I've got a bad feeling about this." -- Han Solo
• "And I'll drop my weapon." -- Stormtrooper
• "It's true.  All of it.  The Dark Side.  The Jedi.  They're real." -- Han Solo

ISFS