Abrams' real coup with The Force Awakens was making the film feel like a Star Wars film, especially after fears that the movie would simply end up looking and feeling like his Star Trek output. But a great director is someone who can easily switch up his style between two gargantuan genre franchises which differ in tone and content, whilst also retaining a distinct sense of his own personality across them. The Force Awakens and Star Trek could not be more different, other than a prevailing sense of heart and humanity that spreads across both. Abrams understands the inherent themes of family and friendship that run through the Star Wars saga, and avoids getting hung up on plot machinations and CGI spectacle, as with the prequel trilogy. The fact that he actually managed to put his stamp on it in the process - with only one lens flare along the way - is a testament to the man's skill. That said, this film is not the finest done-in-one film that JJ Abrams has directed, due to its subservience to a grander trilogy plan. Say what you will about The Phantom Menace, but it had the benefit of being a story that started from the absolute beginning with a very specific ending in mind. The Force Awakens is effectively glue, from end to end; there are elements from the original trilogy that JJ has to address, and then there's a whole lot of set-up to be done for Episodes VIII and IX. This left the movie almost without a beginning or an end - elements that any movie needs, no matter what point in a 9-chapter saga they lie, to stand on its own two feet. To Abrams' credit, the film splits between franchise-continuation and enjoyable sci-fi flick for the uninitiated with ease, appeasing fans and acquiring new ones alike.
Cinephile since 1993, aged 4, when he saw his very first film in the cinema - Jurassic Park - which is also evidence of damn fine parenting. World champion at Six Degrees of Separation. Lender of DVDs to cheap mates. Connoisseur of Marvel Comics and its Cinematic Universe.
