A long time ago in a galaxy far far away....
I was born in 1990, so my Star Wars fandom did not begin with a story of going to see the Original Trilogy. And while when I first saw Phantom Menace, I loved it (because I was 9, which is the perfect age for Phantom Menace) that was not what truly hooked me into Star Wars. No. I am one of those rare almost mythical people you've heard of (and probably made fun of) who was a Star Wars fan via the Expanded Universe, known as the EU. My favorite characters in the Star Wars Universe were Jacen Solo, and Mara Jade Skywalker. I was terrified of the Yuuzhan Vong, and thought the coolest Star Wars villain was Grand Admiral Thrawn. I continued to read the books, even at the point where it started to feel like the quality was declining, and the characters I loved had either died or changed beyond recognition. But I still was a fan.
So when it was announced that George Lucas had sold Star Wars to Disney, who was going to make new movies, and also destroy the EU, I was devastated. I really did not want an Episode VII, because there was no way it could be good enough to justify destroying something that was such a large part of my childhood.
I was wrong. Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens WAS good enough to justify doing away with the EU.
If you have not seen it yet, go do that. And if you have, you can continue reading my spoiler filled thoughts below.
Because I loved this movie, and want to focus on the great aspects of it, I'm going to real quick get my small quibbles out of the way. Now, most people have complained about 3 things. The repetition of Episode 4, The Starkiller Base, and the political situation. My quick reaction to those complaints: didn't bother me, didn't bother me, and bothered me for a little bit, but then I came up for my headcanon explanation and moved on.
So here are my actual complaints.
The early dialogue with the old man was clunky.
I though Kylo Ren being a Vader fan boy was dumb and weird.
I wish Jakku had done more junk, so it could be the Junkyard Planet. As is, there really didn't feel like there was an original new Star Wars planet. I know its hard to come up with a new planet, when it seems like Lucas burned through every original idea, but still I wish there was like a new planet to go in the pantheon with Tatooine, Hoth, Endor, Coruscant, and Mustafar.
So if the plot was a rehash, and there was no real knew setting, why was this new movie so good? Because of the characters! So let's spend the rest of the time writing about each of these characters, both old and new.
1. Luke Skywalker
Luke Skywalker was only in one scene of the movie, but it was a great scene, and in a way the whole movie was about one question. Where the fuck is Luke Skywalker? As it turns out, Luke was hiding on this Island Planet, where only BB8 and R2D2 could find him. But interestingly enough, Rey had force visions of an Island, so its possible that he was reaching out to her.
So what has Luke Skywalker been doing since Return of the Jedi. Well, thankfully he did go and start a new Jedi Academy, which is what I begged for him to do, but that Academy was ended when Ben Solo and the Knights of Ren turned against him. So he went into self imposed exile. What are the questions we're left wondering? Is he Rey's father?
My answer is yes, and my biggest hope is that Luke will reveal a EU easter egg, where Mara Jade was the mother.
Luke Skywalker left us all wanting more, and I can't wait for Episode VIII to have a LOT more Luke Skywalker in it.
2. Poe Dameron
Poe Dameron is the Resistance's best pilot, and that's all you really need to know about him. He is a fun character, and I enjoyed him on screen. Okay, I didn't mention it above, but him randomly surviving like Glenn from Walking Dead was dumb, but I was fine with it. He was great, and I hope to see more of him.
3. Chewbacca
I love Chewbacca, and was so sad that he lost his best friend.
4. Kylo Ren (aka Ben Solo)
Other than him being a Darth Vader fanboy, I loved Kylo Ren as a character. He is much more complicated than Darth Vader was in the original trilogy, and Driver is a better actor than Christiansen was in the prequels. The question is, will the writers make Kylo Ren be redeemed. I tend to think they will, but it could be interesting to kill him off, possibly in the next movie. We definitely need to find out more about why Ben Solo turned, although I think we got the rough sketch from what we already saw.
The first time through I was sort of cringing at Fisher's portrayal of Leia, but the second time I didn't notice it anymore. She didn't get a lot to do in this movie, but I do like the idea of Leia being in charge of sort of the next generation Rebellion. I hope she does more with the force in future movies.
For me, The Force Awakens really kicked into high gear once Finn and Rey met. Which was a testament to how good both of them were. I'm not 100% in on them as a couple or anything yet, but Finn himself was very very fun. His character was broader and more modern seeming than I would have thought, but I enjoyed it. I also loved how he was window into the First Order, and how Stormtroopers work in the Galaxy. I waver back and forth as to whether he is force sensitive, and on the second viewing I decided against it. I think he had a good arc in this movie though, and I am interested to see where he goes from there.
7. Han Solo
NOOOOOOO!!!!
Seriously, was this Harrison Ford's best acting performance ever? Han was excellent in this movie, and I was glad that they had him and Leia have a kid, and I felt like their failure as parents was believable and also tragic. Han's death was inevitable (in part because of Harrison Ford's refusing to do a whole trio) but also because he was this movie's Obi Wan. And also his death allowed for the passage of the Millennium Falcon.
8. Rey (Skywalker?)
Rey was my favorite new character, and I think my 2nd Favorite Star Wars movie character. She was awesome. My favorite scenes in the movie involved her force battling Kylo Ren, learning how to force manipulate people, and then that awesome lightsaber fight at the end. A lot of people are complaining that she was a Peggy Sue or whatever, but those people are wrong. She had conflict, including her weird desire to stay on the Junkyard Planet, that she had to overcome. She is force sensitive, and I think she's a Skywalker, so her incredible power is believable to me.
My other theory is that she was born on a special Force Planet, and she had her mind wiped, or that both her parents were Jedi which caused her to be super force sensitive.
Seriously though, Rey was so amazing, that I was happy that she got Luke's old lightsaber, and the Millennium Falcon, and is basically everything good about the original trio rolled into one amazing character.
Thank you all for reading this. I just wanted to share how much I loved this new movie, and these characters, both new and old.
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