Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens is the best installment since The Empire Strikes Back, but it’s no brave new world; it’s well-trod territory that will make you feel like you’re watching another special edition of A New Hope.
All the signature tropes from the 1977 original are here, such as:
A disaffected orphan loner on a backwater planet? Check.
A beeping droid carrying something vital for the Resistance? Check.
A black-clad, masked Big Bad? Check.
Daddy issues? Check, check and check!
But it’s 2015, so in this reboot for the post-millennial world, the loner is a woman, Rey (newcomer Daisy Ridley), who can really handle herself in a scrap. The movie takes pains to populate the Resistance and the First Order (the evil group that succeeded the Empire) with women of various ages and races. Grrrrl Power!
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