In this short and final wrap up of Star Wars: The Force Awakens it's important to remember the two mistakes mentioned previously: Episode VII is a copy of Episode IV and is missing the soul of Star Wars.
Part of the reason why Episode VII
received the great reviews it did (reaching 92% fresh on Rotten
Tomatoes), was the sigh of relief from critics and fans alike. It
isn't as terrible as Episodes I they proclaimed. Also, it looked
more like the original trilogy with both characters and X-wings that
evoked the nostalgia of old fans.
But it wasn't as simple as that.
The Starkiller Base or Super Duper
Galactic Destroyer Death Star, is incredibly stupid. There's no
other way to describe it. You might say the original Death Star was
as well, and if it wasn't surely the unfinished yet fully operational
Death Star (the second one), was both idiotic and repetitive. But
while there's no defense against making the same mistake twice, it
doesn't mean it's less inane to make a third with the same flaws.
And the first two at least had limitations. They had to be in the
same star system as their target. Also, Death Star II at least had a
solid defense system for the Rebellion to destroy (I know, the
Alliance defeated veteran soldiers with large teddy bears). The
first two certainly had their nonsensical aspects, but the third is
the worst. Watching Starkiller Base shoot destructive beams across
the galaxy to destroy planets made me groan in agony. How can the
remnants of the Empire (or whatever the First Order is supposed to
be) have better technology than the Empire at its peak? Lets take a
look.
Fans of Star Wars may know that there
used to be the Expanded Universe. This was the term for all content
contained in books written in the Star Wars universe. They were
approved by George Lucas and were part of the canon. Many of the
books were terrible, but some contained interesting ideas. Quite a
few dealt with the aftermath of the the battle of Endor, the growth
of the Republic, and resistance of the remnants of the Empire. When
Disney bought the rights and planned their new trilogy they
eliminated the Expanded Universe. Yet the creators seem to have
given no thought to the thirty years since Episode VI. Episode VII
seems to start in the exact place the series ended. The
Resistance... Rebellion... is still at war with a the First Order...
you see where this is going... Nothing has changed. Luke, Leia, and
Han (along with all their allies) accomplished nothing, and the
Republic (which is just a name and has no characterization – the
audience doesn't even care when it dies because there is no reason to
be emotionally attached) is shown only as it dies. Even at the end
of this movie everything is back where it began in Episode IV; no
Republic, just rebels resisting against an all powerful Empire.
Except they found Luke Skywalker.
That's what the movie was supposed to be about right? The opening
scene highlight Poe and the Resistance are desperate to find Luke.
Poe is on Jakku for that reason alone. Yet aside from brief
references to their mission, the movie is not at all about locating
Luke. Finn and Rey are always embroiled in fighting the First Order.
By the time they bother to go searching for Skywalker they've
already defeated the enemy. And the use of the data was annoying
too. In A New Hope, Leia's message to Obi-Wan is crucial from the
beginning. In The Force Awakens, BB-8 has a map of the galaxy
showing exactly what planet Luke is on, but they need the map of the
whole galaxy to know where this is? And only R2-D2 has the map? And
he won't turn on? Don't they have some other map lying around they
could compare it to?
Ok, so they complete the map. Rey starts up the
Falcon, enters hyperspace, and seconds later arrives at the secluded
planet Luke is hiding on. It took about as long for them to find
Luke as it took you to read this sentence. Or maybe it took longer?
It isn't clear to the audience. Now, I know hyperspace is more space
magic than science fiction, but even still the journey deserves some
explanation. If J.J. Abrahams had wanted to make a good, original
Star Wars movie he could have written about Rey and Finn's search for
Luke. Along the way they could still have met Han Solo, evaded and
fought the remnants of the Empire, and defeated Kylo Ren. But it
would have been a journey with obstacles to overcome on the way to
discovery. The locating of Luke would have had real weight, but
instead Luke is a mere after thought, encountered after all the
rerunning problems of Episode IV are dealt with.
A final critique to end. Most people
will say I'm old fashioned for expressing this opinion, but Episode
VII was too much action. Too many lightsabers and blasters Go back
and watch Episode IV. I wait. Since you probably didn't watch it
right now, I'll sum up the action for you. Opening with small
firefight between Rebels and Stormtroopers as Vader boards Leia's
ship. Han shoot Greedo. Then the heroes fight, but mostly run from
Stormtroopers on the Death Star. A brief lightsaber duel (barely)
between Obi-Wan and Vader. Luke and Han duel a couple TIE during
their escape. Finally the movie ends with the assault on the death
star. It has action, but it also has downtime. Episode VII has a
lot more action and it doesn't do anything except distract the
audience from realizing that this isn't really Star Wars.
That about wraps it up for Star Wars:
The Force Awakens. Did I cringe through my second viewing of it?
You bet I did. Will I go to see Episode VIII? Of course!
Star Wars VII
Series
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