J.J, I loved Star Wars 7: The Force Awakens. Sincerely, Someone who hates 1–3 and the Special Editions
I’ll attempt to be as spoiler free as possible.
I like Star Wars a lot. I’m not the biggest Star Wars fan, I’ll admit that right off the bat. (In other words, I don’t know a thing about the “Expanded Universe.”)
I was born a few years after Return of the Jedi was released, so the original series has been around for my entire lifetime. Many of my friends had seen the series before I did. I’m pretty sure the first time I saw the trilogy was during a TV marathon, which I carefully recorded using the VCR, capturing as little of the commercial breaks as possible. (Timing the REC button while factoring in the necessary amount of tape wind-up and getting the last commercial of the break right was an art form, dangit.)
I thought they were great, of course. Incredible. A few years later I got to see them in the theater for the release of the Special Editions, which at the time seemed like a pretty awesome idea. CG effects were so cool in 1997!
I don’t think much argument needs to be made nowadays as to the value of George Lucas’s incessant alterations. 2015 Me would be having a big quarrel with 1997 Me about the authenticity of those editions. Everyone points out Greedo shooting first (or at all) as a symbol of how terrible these edits are, and for good reason: it completely undermines something the original film communicates about Han Solo’s character. When we meet Han, he is absolutely ruthless.
You just don’t mess with characters like that.
Things I love about the original trilogy: The characters. The meanings behind their actions. The settings. The practical effects, which are mesmerizing (when was the last time you wondered how a CG effect was achieved, let alone found yourself in awe of it?). The music. The themes that it all came together to support. The questions it raises, like: Who are you, and what can you do next?
A New Hope sets up these wildly endearing characters and memorable situations. The Empire Strikes Back fleshes out an incredible world with writing and direction that is actually a step above the first movie. Jedi reaches a conclusion in the story arc of Luke Skywalker and friends. They’re not perfect. They can be picked apart. But they’re lovable in their flaws, inspirational in their sheer imagination, and amazingly easy to connect with.
Moving on to the prequel trilogy: I saw The Phantom Menace in the theater when I was probably 12 years old. I remember thinking it was OK at the time. Apparently I didn’t find it was much more than OK, because I had no desire to watch Attack of the Clones in the theater. (In fact, it took me another 12 years to watch that Episode, and only because I played a drinking game with friends while watching it. Yes, drinking games exist specifically for these Episodes.)
Episode 3? I did see that one in the theater, and thought maybe the series would redeem itself with the final entry. Nope. Couldn’t care less. What a boring story conclusion. We already know Anakin will become Darth Vader. The journey to that destination is so boring and littered with characters so irrelevant to anything I care about. It’s painful to watch and the whole thing probably should have been left off-screen to our imaginations.
I have two big problems with Episodes 1–3: the characters and the world. The characters are terrible—written with the nuance of a blunt weapon, goofishly directed and performed, their actions woefully unimportant or uninteresting. The world doesn’t feel real at all: obvious CG landscapes embedded in a land of green screen, limiting the camera to movements as stiff as a soap opera’s. In contrast to the original series, they don’t feel lived in at all. They feel simply like someone came up with them in a 3D rendering program, and that was that.
How can you tell a good story without compelling characters living in a relatable world?
As others have pointed out, the world we live in is now very different from the one that existed when Episodes 1–6 were released. Much emphasis has been put on secrecy surrounding Star Wars Episode 7: The Force Awakens, which is an exciting turn of mind for trailer design and generating buzz, and much appreciated. Even the culture on Reddit and other networks seems to be looking out for the fans and helping them avoid spoilers. I tried to avoid as much as I could to keep any potential surprises intact for my viewing experience.
I was lucky enough to fall upon a ticket for the opening show at the last minute, and under the influence of exactly 2 Ranger IPAs from New Belgium (Yeah, the “Big D” “Almost-IMAX” screen in the new theater is cool, but the fact that I can purchase alcohol is awesome!) I really had little idea what to expect, which was a great feeling.
Some Minor Spoilers Ahead!
Okay, Episode 7 time.
In the opening moments: I’m the kind of design geek that notices typefaces pretty quickly, and I was pleased to see “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away” about as identical to the original title cards as it could be, followed by the welcome BLAST of John William’s music, and scrolling text setting up our story, and the camera panning to something going on in space.
I was starting to get excited, but not totally there yet. They got the basics right. (Episode 1 did this, too, albeit with three terrifically dull paragraphs about taxes and trade routes.)
I was cautious during the opening scenes. Don’t get too excited, nothing much has happened yet—it’s just a bunch of stormtroopers. Oh, wait! No, it’s not. This one is about to defect! We might have a character here! Pay attention, self.
Defecting Stormtrooper Finn’s energy plays nicely with super pilot Poe’s in the beginning scenes. Finn is mysterious (I wasn’t even sure Stormtroopers were really human underneath their suits) and endearing: we’re not sure of his motivation, but his goals sure seem admirable. Poe’s appearance is fleeting, but he seems to have the charisma of a Harrison Ford circa 1977.
But it wasn’t until Finn encounters Rey (played brilliantly, infectiously, in a can’t-take-my-eyes-off-the-screen way by Daisy Ridley) that a fork in the road was encountered. Oh, boy. We’ve got a strong female lead in trouble here. Is the male going to have to save her already?
Nope. She’s more than capable. More capable than Finn, even, as she continues to prove throughout the duration of the film. Even when she actually does get captured, she doesn’t get rescued. She uses her own abilities to save her ass.
I’ve become increasingly interested in great female characters after watching a lot of Feminist Frequency, so to see Rey played this way — I couldn’t help but crack a giant smile on my face. Her character is absolutely feels like the modern-day, female equivalent of Luke Skywalker for a new generation. I couldn’t help but think, at that moment and going forward: I’m loving this.
I could go on a bit about Finn and Poe and Kylo Ren and the return of Han Solo and Chewbacca. They’re great characters. They get to be characters. There’s urgency to their actions, and they’re endearing.
And not only are they great characters, they’re in a world that feels real again. A world that is made of honest-to-goodness stuff, that real light had to play off the surfaces of, that a real camera had to track through, that muppet-masters inhabited with creatures.
It’s a huge credit to J.J. Abrams that both of those director’s duties were accomplished in flying colors. It makes it real to me. It makes it Star Wars.
Yes, there are problems. Things happen that raise silly plot questions. People don’t seem to be all that affected by planets being destroyed. Important items appear out of nowhere. It requires a certain suspension of disbelief. But hey, that isn’t really at odds with the tone and plotting in Episodes 4, 5, and 6, so I’m okay with that.
I mean honestly, in A New Hope, Luke is a huge actor in taking out the entire Death Star seemingly within hours of learning about its existence.
There’s a big reliance on tropes in Episode 7, but this franchise created a lot of tropes, and this movie’s execution earns their implementation. There’s definitely low-hanging nostalgia fruit here, and the studio did grab it. My friend and I counted the number of times this movie got applause from the audience. Most of them were returns of familiar characters: the Millenium Falcon, Han, Threepio. But there was another moment the audience applauded, too, and it was for something that happens during a scene with Rey and Kylo Ren. That put a big smile on my face.
Much like before I saw the movie, I’ve been restraining myself from reading too much commentary and criticism surrounding it, because I want it to sink in subjectively for me. Close to 24 hours later, I’m still thinking about it a lot. I don’t know what other people are thinking, but as of right now: I loved it.
Rock on, Abrams. You too, Kasdan. Really, a film like this is the result of many many people coming together. Incredible job, team.
OK, Rian Johnson, you’re up next.
