Michigan District CYFM Headquarters

Note: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens was released in the movie theaters in December 2015 and then on DVD/Blu-Ray in April 2016.

“I liked it.” That’s what I said to my wife after we watched Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens in the movie theater.  With all the hype, with all the advertising, with all the commercialization that led up this movie, that’s a pretty strong compliment.  Typically, when movies get over-hyped, I tend to leave the movie theater disappointed and let-down. 

But not with The Force Awakens.  From a movie point of view, it has elements that make it fun and enjoyable to watch.  The movie moves along at a fast pace, but it doesn’t only consist of stuff getting blown up (there’s plenty of that too!).   The acting, writing, and directing far exceed Star Wars Episodes I-III from the late 1990s-early 2000s.  The characters are interesting, and the film’s director and main writer JJ Abrams does a fine job of developing them without giving too much away – he sets-up Episodes VIII-IX well and leaves the movie-goer excited to see the next ones.  Overall, the plot, the acting, and the writing make me want to watch this movie again.

What about all the talk about the force and the dark side?  There’s no doubt that those things fall into what we call a pantheistic view. Pantheism is the idea that God and the universe are one and the same thing, and that God is in everything and is everything – that’s what the “force” is in Star Wars.  Like anything we watch, Christians will be careful and watch with discerning eyes.  Episode VII does make mention of the force and the dark side, but all in all, it doesn’t go into great detail about what those things are.  As long as we go into these movies understanding they’re fiction and meant to be entertainment, I’m not overly concerned from a Christian point of view. In addition, there are a number of themes that we as individuals can relate to – friendship, struggling between good and evil, and willingness to sacrifice for those we care about.

If you are a fan of Star Wars, superhero movies, or movies that are entertaining and fun-to-watch, I’d certainly recommend this one.