*SPOILERS* DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS
There are few things I hate worse than spoilers, and I consider opinions to be spoilers. Someone else saying that they like or dislike something can really taint your own view of it, especially if you respect that person’s opinion. So, I’m going to start with a story, so don’t worry if you read the first paragraph on accident. The spoilers will follow after.
I had entirely and completely come to terms with not seeing Star Wars VII on opening night. Or in the first week of the premiere. I was going to see it in theaters, but I wasn’t sure when. As far as I knew, the tickets were sold out, the friend that I wanted to see the movie with, Julian, was sick with mono and not sure he could make it out. I was okay with it. Opening day rolls around, and I’m sitting in my office, working on paperwork, and in comes my wife, Hannah, and Julian.
“So I think we’re going to hang out tonight,” Hannah says, confirming plans we had been working on for a week.
“Yeah,” Julian adds. “Make sure to clear your schedule.”
I look at him sideways, knowing something is up at this point. Our only plan was to hang out with him in the first place. He hands me an envelope. I open it. There are tickets inside. Hannah gives me a wrapped present. Inside is an awesome R2D2 shirt.
I was going to The Wars, and for the rest of the day I was jumping.
I have to say, first, if you’ve read this far, and haven’t seen the film yet, stop. Don’t worry about what I think, because it doesn’t matter. Go watch the movie, in theaters, and enjoy it. It’s not very often you get to see The Wars on the big screen, with the big sound and everything. It’s an experience. If you do keep reading, go see the movie anyway. It’s a fucking experience.
Rather, on to the discussion of the movie...
First off, I want to say that I enjoyed the movie quite a bit, and I never felt bored watching it. I was impressed by the pacing, the visuals, the cinematography, and especially the orchestrations. John Williams never fails to deliver. I was also impressed that JJ Abrams held back on the lens flares. Kudos, sir.
I had two major problems with this film. First, the entire time I was watching it, it felt like it was rehashing the story of A New Hope. Bad guys attack a place looking for a map/plans? Check. Underprivileged teen pulled into galactic drama? Check. Small force of warriors fighting against impossible odds? Check. Evil dude in a mask? Check. Giant death machine? Check. That last one really fucking pissed me off. I mean, c’mon guys, do we really need a THIRD FUCKING DEATH STAR??? And you’d think they could come up with a better name than Starkiller Planet. Ridiculous. Or a better weakness than one spot on the surface of the goddamn thing. It was the same freaking story with some small changes and some new characters. Not terribly impressed.
The second problem that I had is by far the larger, and that is the problem of setting and continuity. I loved - LOVED - the first two scenes of this movie. First, we see something mysterious being passed between two men, a short discussion about things, and then their camp is attacked by The First Order. People are dying left and right, and one of our heroes gives the mysterious item to his droid, BB8. This was an obvious nod to A New Hope, and was great before the story became too much of a copy. In this scene we also get a stormtrooper unwilling to kill people and do his job, which is fantastic and sets up a character that is never delivered on.
The second scene shows us the wastes of Jakku, the derelicts of war, hulls and shells of ships, star destroyers, fighters, etc, and the people who have begun to make a living by scavenging these things for their daily bread. Literally. This barren vista, and the echoing loneliness of the first scene is exactly what I wanted at the start of this movie. It tells me that there was a war, and that the war is passed. People have moved on, and are finding other things.
Then we get to the problem. When I was first introduced to The First Order, I thought they were what I expected them to be: a small remnant of the Empire’s forces fighting to eke out some small portion of the galaxy or something. They weren’t. Somehow, even though the rebels destroyed the Emperor and supposedly took down the Empire, and - according to Ep VII - brought back the Senate to its former glory (although we never see this), The First Order is still some sort of enormous power in the galaxy, and the rebels are still just that, a “ragtag” group of rebel fighters hiding away.
How does that make any sense? If the rebels had won, and brought back the senate, they would be the main galactic force, and they would have the strength of the entire senate and the senate planets behind them. They were shown to pretty much have 3 squadrons of X-Wings, and that’s it.... The First Order, meanwhile, has secretly designed and built a death machine 20x the size of the second Death Star, with a FUCKING SUN at its heart, powering a weapon that can fire across lightyears to blow up every planet of an entire system at once????? I don’t see it. It doesn’t make sense, and I hate it. This is ridiculous, and the reason it’s ridiculous is because whoever wrote this shit is just trying to relive the glory years instead of thinking of where the galaxy would actually stand after the events of Ep VI.
That’s not to say that it was entirely shitty after the first half hour, but it certainly wasn’t what it should have been. The character development was shrouded by cliche lines and throwbacks instead of real, new material that could have built the story and the characters. Kylo Ren was the worst fucking villain I have ever seen, and the disrespectful manner in which they (the writers) kill off one of the greatest Star Wars characters is absolutely disheartening. They had so much potential in this movie, and they went and squandered it on a mirror of A New Hope, done with better graphics and far worse storytelling.
Since I don’t like to bitch about something without giving a solution, here’s what I think, and what I hope:
After the events of Jedi, the galaxy is beginning to settle down, but the inhabitant people’s are still working to find where they fit in this new world, a world without the heavy hand of the Empire hanging over them all the time. The senate is on shaky ground, the politics and alliances are unstable, and the Jedi don’t know exactly what to do with themselves. They have always stayed away from politics when they could, and while some of the new Galactic Forces are dedicated to hunting down and protecting the galaxy against the remnants of the Empire, most of the military might of the Senate and the Galaxy is dedicated to rebuilding. The Sith, in the meantime, have gone underground once more, and are using their wiles to create unrest in the galaxy while while using guerrilla strikes to try achieve some secret goal (possibly still looking for Luke, but more than likely looking for some secret, ancient power or something).
This is what this movie should have been about. This movie should be entirely about the Jedi trying to find their place in the world, and trying to rebuild what was left of their order to bring balance to the Force once again.
That’s not to say that the series can’t redeem itself. There’s still some hope that Ep VIII will bring some of this into the story and not just be another Ep V. If they can build Finn’s character and make him solid, that would be fucking fantastic. But I’ll tell you right now, if I see Death Star #4 on that screen, ever, I’m done. I’m walking out of the theater. That is how the sequel trilogy will destroy itself and end up worse than the prequels could ever have been. We don’t need another Original Trilogy. We need an honest look at the galaxy, and honest continuation of the story.
*Edit to clarify a few things*
With the power that the rebellion had behind it in destroying the 2nd Death Star, they would have had enough power to continue pushing against the Empire. That war wouldn't have ended there, but they would have pushed the Empire back further and split it, especially without no clear leadership for the Empire’s forces. So the state after 30 years would be somewhat similar to how it is portrayed, but the Republic would be stronger - if not stable due to infighting - and the Empire's forces would be split and pocketed, using guerrilla tactics to try and destabilize the Republic again. Which would still leave Luke wondering about his role in the whole thing, and he could run away to try and reestablish a connection with the Force and restart the Jedi Order. Then you can still have Rey and Finn fighting their fight, and Finn could be developed as the rebel stormtrooper. And he could have some actual character
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