As I’m more than sure you’re aware, a new Star Wars film has been released. After a veritable onslaught of ads, we viewers can now see how well Disney has handled the franchise, and without the input of series creator George Lucas. I’d say it couldn’t have premiered at a better time, in the sense that it was a nice break from the holiday hustle and bustle.
Ever since the announcement back in January 2013, I was curious to see what J.J. Abrams would do with it. As I saw some of his other films (Cloverfield and the two recent Star Trek films), I was fairly confident that he would do a solid job on this. That curiosity was further piqued when I saw pictures of new antagonist and Darth Vader fill-in Kylo Ren and R2-D2 fill-in BB-8, especially as to how their performances would be. I’ll admit that at first I wasn’t too crazy about Kylo Ren’s mask design, thinking it was nowhere near as distinctive as Vader’s mask was.
Also, when he was wearing his hood, I’ll admit I actually found myself reminded a little of Spaceballs’ Dark Helmet.
I was also initially unsure what to make of BB-8, in the sense of what kind of presence it would have on the screen. In general I’m wary of mascot characters, but fortunately I found BB-8’s scenes to be overall done well. It offered some levity without detracting from those scenes, and also served as a good way of showing how the Star Wars universe’s technology has evolved since the Battle of Endor (another example would be the TIE Fighters, in that now they’re two-person and have extra weapons on them).
They’re still about as durable as this, though…
As far as the new protagonists, Rey and Finn (a.k.a The Stormtrooper Formerly Known as FN-2187), for me they successfully fulfilled their purpose as relatable and interesting characters. Granted, I think they could have spent a little more time on the buildup to Finn’s defection, considering that until then the First Order was his entire world, like him being treated like garbage because he was the one who handled the garbage. Likewise, I believe that Rey’s Force powers could have been hinted at earlier, such as her or one of the other Jakku scavengers (especially that one that looks like the Merchant from DOTA 2) commenting on how she seemed to have a sixth sense for finding scrap metal, or how she preferred living on her own to keep out the white noise, or something to that effect.
Separated at birth? Also, if anyone’s wondering his name is apparently Unkar Plutt.
I also enjoyed noticing all the recurring elements from Episode 4, such as: opening with the stormtroopers raiding and overwhelming the good guys’ base; the non-verbal astromech droid being given important data relating to the last Jedi leader of the good guys; said astromech droid traversing across a vast desert; civilians being immolated by the Stormtroopers (which I feel was one of the best personal-level examples of the Empire’s evil in A New Hope); meeting the elderly war-hero mentor; Han Solo dealing with criminals that he screwed over big-time and saying how he did the Kessel Run in 12 parsecs; going to a “Mos” cantina; infiltrating the planet-destroying Imperial facility to disable the shields; the mentor killed by the dark Jedi who sought revenge against said mentor, just as they’re about to complete the mission; and X-Wings flying through a trench to attack the sole weak point that leads to the facility’s core, to return to cheering crowds at the good guys’ base that’s lush with vegetation.
I also noticed a few elements of Empire Strikes Back, specifically a new Yoda figure and the bad hallucinations, and Return of the Jedi, or at least I think that was what the writers were going for when they had Captain Phasma unceremoniously be cast down the garbage chute (a la Boba Fett and the Sarlacc Pit).
Although I doubt we’ll be seeing any “I survived the Starkiller Base garbage chute” shirts anytime soon.
On a similar note, I was also definitely interested to see which characters from the original movies (besides Han, Leia, Chewie, and R2-D2 natch) they would bring back. With that being said, I’m still somewhat on the fence about bringing back C-3P0 and R2-D2, as it seems BB-8 does everything R2 can do and more in addition to that BB-8 can be understood without 3P0 translating for it. I also thought it was a little awkward when BB-8 called out exactly how to figure out Luke’s location, only to have it waved away as being a bad idea (let alone the fact that that option never once crossed any of the Resistance brass’ minds, considering that R2 was Luke’s droid of choice). The only other side characters I seemed to notice were Nien Nunb, who you probably recognize better as that short alien-guy Lando had as a copilot in Return of the Jedi, and Admiral “It’s a trap!” Ackbar.
[Who I would also like to add was almost the mascot for Ole Miss]
While we’re on the topic of X-Wing pilots, I was definitely hoping that Wedge Antilles would show up again, even if it was only at the briefing scene in the Resistance base. If I had to give one reason as to why, I suppose it would be because he showed that even a regular, non-Chosen One person could still play a significant role in winning the day. That’s why I’ll be interested to see what happens with Poe Dameron. As a brief aside, I wish they talked even just a little bit more as to how he was able to safely make it back to the Resistance base when he reunites with Finn and BB-8, because as it stands there’s something about him just leaving his jacket in the wrecked TIE fighter, not to mention not looking for Finn so he could have some backup, that seemed off to me; the thought that he might be have been given a post-hypnotic suggestion by Kylo Ren also crossed my mind, which would certainly make for a good twist in the next movie.
And even though it was probably a coincidence, I’m choosing to believe that the fat bearded pilot in the blue helmet is either the son or the reincarnation of Jek Porkins.
Even in death, his name shall endure.
As far as the bad guys went, I would say Abrams did a good job of establishing the First Order as a threat that needs to be stopped and will take multiple films to deal with. I definitely got the sense that Kylo Ren was trying his best to be like Darth Vader (especially the choking), most likely being unaware of the cost Vader paid to achieve that power. His rampages when he failed to live up to that dark ideal were a common occurrence, which I thought helped remind us that this was still just a teenager and added a dimension to the character beyond just another dark Jedi. It’s likely because of this youthful insecurity about himself that I didn’t mind Ren as much as others might have, and look forward to seeing how far down he’ll fall by the end of this trilogy.
And just to address the chihuahua in the room, yes this crossed my mind as well.
I also give him points for the scenes with Snoke, as having his hologram not only be of his whole body but also 10 times as large as Ren and the general added to the sense of looming danger he poses to the galaxy. I also have to say I was impressed when he actually told the general to evacuate the base, instead of the typical “Grr, I won’t tolerate failure, fight on to the last man, grr!” routine that usually happens with the bad guys’ leaders in these kinds of stories.
That being said, there were some things about how the First Order conducted business that I couldn’t help but think about more in depth. For example, I found it interesting when Ren made a point of saying that he didn’t want clone troopers added to the army; considering how the prequels’ clones seemed to be just as capable as the original trilogy’s troopers, I can’t help but wonder if that was done primarily to have the First Order appear more evil.
Then again, maybe their thinking is that they could get their own version of Master Chief that way?
I also found it interesting when Finn told Rey that the stormtrooper helmets don’t filter poison gas but only dust – why even bother issuing them then, as they’ve already been shown not to offer much protection against laser blasts? It looks to me like they may as well just wear some night vision/thermal goggles and a bandana over their mouth – it definitely wouldn’t look as science-fiction-y, but it would probably save them a fortune in supply costs and keep them looking dangerous too.
And to close out this digression about stormtroopers, I definitely thought that the fight between Finn and the riot-control trooper (who already seems to have a minor fan following) was definitely one of the more energetic scenes in the movie, especially because it was just a random grunt with a stun baton knowing full well what that lightsaber would do to him, yet still chose to fight.
This was posthumously awarded to his family, three weeks later.
Another part of the First Order’s strategy I couldn’t help but wonder about – and I’ll be the first to admit this might just be overthinking the movie on my part – was how would their Starkiller weapon get itself to a new star once it used up its current one? I mean, despite that being a far more evil way to power up a super-weapon – literally draining light from the universe in order to kill people – I didn’t see any propulsion system on it that could get it to a new star. I mean, even getting a ship the size of an X-Wing through hyperspace requires super-advanced computers to keep them from crashing into other celestial bodies, and even then there are still parts of the galaxy it’s dangerous to travel through – I can’t even begin to imagine the kind of computations needed to get a planet through hyperspace to get to a new system! Also, wouldn’t firing it have as much of a catastrophic effect on the people standing on that planet? Why was there only the one Star Destroyer there to guard it?
I was definitely pleased with the special effects, especially after I learned that Abrams tried to use as little CGI as possible. The 3D effects were also well done, in the sense that instead of having incredibly obvious moments where objects were supposed to pop out of the screen, it actually went with suggesting a sense of depth instead.
Much like the Nintendo 3DS (now available for $199.99 (Nintendo please give me free stuff)).
Even though you don’t need me to tell you it’s worth seeing, The Force Awakens is definitely worth the full price of admission – even as much as for the IMAX 3D experience. I look forward to seeing the next film, where we should be able to get answers to questions such as: how is Luke as a teacher? Why did he trade his normal-looking bionic arm from ESB and ROJ for a more mechanical-looking one?
Was it so Disney could promote their new line of bionic arms?
Will Captain Phasma become fixated on Finn for the humiliation he put her through (and will we ever see her unmasked)? Did the new Yoda fill-in survive the cantina attack (and will her feelings for Chewbacca ever be reciprocated)? And, more importantly, will there be any chance of any Hutt crimelords, bounty hunters, or even just a certain mustachioed, blue cape-wearing con-man appearing?
You can’t say he wasn’t a popular character…
Trailers included: Kubo and the 2 Strings, which I definitely predict will be winning a few awards if only by virtue of its animation style and/or cast; Kung Fu Panda 3, where he is legion for they are (kinda) many; Deadpool, where I cannot emphasize enough you should NOT let your kids under 16 watch; Star Trek: Beyond, where Abrams is giving the director reins to Justin Lin of Fast & Furious-es 3 through 6; Warcraft, to most likely get even MORE people to sign up for WoW; Indpendence Day: Resurgence, which was smart enough to bring back Jeff Goldblum in his role from the original movie *cough*Jurassic World*cough*; Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, where Lex Luthor, Doomsday, and Woonder Woman finally appear on-screen; Captain America: Civil War, which still has yet to show Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man; and a live-action, star-studded retelling of The Jungle Book.
As always, I would definitely be interested to hear what you thought about the movie and/or previews, or even just your thoughts on what it’s going to be like for the Star Wars franchise from now on.
Random Doesnt Even Begin To Describe It 
Thanks for the in-depth review and clever title. It is a crack-up seeing Dark Helmet!
Nice discussion of the “old” v. “new” focus of the movie. That certainly was a big challenge for JJ Abrams. It was interesting to read George Lucas’ comments on that (he thought too much of the “old”, but then seemed to retract his comments).
I liked the movie very much (4 stars out of 5), but I am a fan from the start and that ranking overlooks some of the good points you make. I was pleasantly surprised about how big Han’s role was, but equally disappointed about how small Luke’s. I do wish they teamed up Han and Luke again in this movie, Luke could have saved the day and Han ride off in the sunset if they wanted to trim the old characters. I was surprised the movie did not have more of a tribute to Han at the end.
I look forward to seeing the next episode.