Star Wars Episode VII: The Final Death Star


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

Comments