Ivan, my youngest son, and I went back to Star Wars for viewing three. We would not be seeing this film again if it were not playing in our small town theater, which just recently completed a digital conversion. It's literally a mile and a half away. The prices are reasonable, ditto on the concessions. Normally we have to drive 60+ miles to see a film when it opens. Not this time.
My inner kid went nuts. And so did my actual kids. We've enjoyed the discussion, the buzz, the music, and the experience.
There are plot holes in the film, but most of the hullabaloo is forgivable. Seth Abrams, over at the Huff Post does a nice job fanning/ranting about it here. And many of his points, are valid, particularly number two, but most of his beef is with the thin narrative JJ Abrams laid out for the audience. What people forget about Star Wars is that it works better without all the details filled in. In the Star Wars universe the details usually equate to bad pacing, bad dialogue, and bad acting. It's a war movie. The audience doesn't need the details. And Abrams lets the visuals do the talking. Rey's the best character yet, and she doesn't say much until the nervous Finn shows up. JJ knows the most emotive characters speak the least (I'm looking in your direction Chewbacca, R2D2, BB-8). Ditto on keeping Mark Hamill quiet at the end. I shudder to think how the prequels would have handled a similar moment. Shudder.
In ten seconds JJ Abrams obliterates the prequels when the First Order destroy an entire system of planets with Death Star 3.0. The bad guys finally built a weapon for at least they got their money's worth. And thankfully, we can all leave the prequels behind for good. No Republic fleet, no Republic.
Does JJ recycle what worked from the last six films? Yes. Dogfights, snappy dialogue, in-jokes, and plenty of lightsaber moxie. In many regards the Force Awakens is a reboot, and a sequel all at the same time.
Anakin, pictured above, almost made the cut as a ghost. He would have been a shape-shifting ghost somewhere in the yarn. Side note: Obi-Wan and Yoda speak in Rey's dream. Yoda can be heard in the beginning of it saying something mystic, and both Alec Guinness and Ewan McGregor speak at the end. Sir Alec says "Rey," and McGregor says "You've taken your first steps."
But I digress, How Star Wars has always addressed it's Deus Ex Machina plots is via the force. The supernatural force that runs through the universe. It's no different from say, Beowulf, which repeats it plot devices back to back to back. The audience sees the window of action. The fates are in motion. Strap in. It's the force! Whether that means Han Solo coincidentally runs into the Millennium Falcon seconds upon its leaving Jakku, or that scrappy Rey is so damn good at everything. It's the force. Abrams even jokes at the idea when the worst stormtrooper in history, Finn, turns to Solo and Chewbacca and says, "We'll use the force," And Solo snaps back, "That's not how it works!"
Apparently it is.
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