Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (heretofore known as TFA) has been a part of the world at large for over a month now. It's made all of the money, looking to break literally every box office record, and has been well received if not embraced by the general public. And yet, as there always is, there are major criticisms. The difference here is that I have issues with the arguments being made against the film and this blog gives me the opportunity to retort.
I have seen TFA a number of times now, and have enjoyed each viewing more than the last. And while I have always been a believer that everyone is entitled to their opinion and can accept that some might just not like the movie, specific issues with the film keep being brought up that I can and will defend. Frankly, I could talk about this film, and Star Wars in general, all day and invite anyone to that discussion as I don't want this writing to seem one-sided. Many of my friends have voiced negative opinions of TFA and they have vexed me. Since I'm not as good in expressing myself in person as I am on here, this is where I present my opinion on what I believe to be the second best Star Wars film released to date (Empire Strikes Back FTW).
Oh, yeah. Spoilers. But seriously, if you're reading this, then you've seen it already anyways.
- TFA is not A New Hope, it's better.
I've never been a fan of Episode IV. It does a good job of setting up story for two better films, and is an excellent part one of a trilogy, but as a stand alone film it doesn't hold up for me. There's too much reference to past events that don't end up explained until the prequels are released, and nothing in the film has any lasting impact. We learn characters' names, the setting is explained. that's about it. I find it deeply ironic that TFA receives that same criticism considering we know for a fact that Episodes VIII and IX are inbound. The fact that the two films are similar in this way doesn't make TFA worse, it makes it better. There's an expectation that a story is in the process of being told, not that it will be told now from start to finish. We know that any unanswered questions we have by end credits will be addressed. We just need to shut up and be patient.
The big complaint is that TFA is a carbon copy of A New Hope. I have two issues with that.
One, it's really not. TFA abides by a long standing tradition that every successful film franchise adheres to. A formula that applies from the first film to the last, as an identifier that this film is part of a bigger whole. It's why so many films telling superhero origin stories are similar. It's not unoriginal or lazy storytelling, it's an established and effective way to begin a story. Star Wars is just a specific example. TFA is an effective combination of new stories and familiar content. We can identify the beats because that's how a Star Wars story is told, but with new faces, words, and context. For example, if TFA were the copy of A New Hope that people are claiming, there's no way we find out Kylo Ren is the child of Han and Leia. Putting that up on front street already speeds up the pace of the established pattern, meaning there's more story that can be told in Episode VIII. To infer that this film is a recreation of an older one means that we know what's going to happen. We don't.
Two, and more importantly for me, what's wrong with it? If the new trilogy is going to match the original three films beat for beat, isn't that a good thing? We can't ask for what we don't know we want. That's what happened with the prequels. We didn't know what we wanted, other than wanting MORE STAR WARS. We got the prequels and they were what they were. If I were charged with the task of continuing a franchise with as volatile a fanbase as Star Wars, after living through the notorious reaction that the prequels got 15 years ago, you bet your ass I'd be going back to what I know worked.
- Character Development is a fundamental part of the story.
This film is structured around the choices and changes made by the central characters of the story in a way that the other Star Wars films aren't. We see the lives of Rey, Finn, and Kylo Ren change drastically from the beginning of the film to the end in a way that is meant to, and succeeds in, creating a contrast with TFA's predecessors. We are given necessary background information on each character without too much detail (the movie can only be so long) but enough to understand them and can watch them progress from that point. Finn was conscripted into being a stormtrooper, but his moral fibre goes against his training and programming. It takes one opening scene and a throwaway line from General Weasley to establish all we need to know about a main character for the purposes of this film. He goes from that to trading lightsaber blows with his old boss in the span of two hours, and the story makes sense for that result to happen.
While Rey has the most question marks left about her after TFA, the film is able to establish her as a better focal point than either trilogy before it. It's made clear that she has the same inherent skills as both Luke and Anakin had, only instead of having one specific skill (Anakin and podracing/piloting) or being a bitchy farm boy (Luke and power converters), she's more well rounded. She can do a little bit of everything but can't explain why. The audience can. We've seen it before. As the old saying goes, The Force is strong in this one.
Development is most apparent and important in regards to Kylo Ren. It would have been so very easy for him to just be a younger, newer version of Vader. Clean cut bad guy, one dimensional face of the enemy. While Vader is and always will be #1 in the canon's villains, we don't really see who he is until the last 10 minutes of the last film he's in. Here, we see enough of Kylo to know he's dark side bound, but we get to watch him achieve that goal, we see him become Big Bad proper in a way we don't get to see with Vader. In short, Kylo Ren is what Anakin Skywalker should have been in the prequels. We have a clearly conflicted young man in the middle of being seduced by the dark side finally submitting to it by getting rid of the monkey on his back that might redeem him. In the beginning, we have a bad egg who could be influenced to either side of the spectrum, complete with inner turmoil and uncontrollable fits of rage. By the end, we have a focused, decisive, albeit injured, villain of the piece.
- The true weakness of the dark side is addressed.
At first viewing, I had one major complaint that fits with all the rest, and that's the retreading of the Death Star. OK, so it's been super sized, it's still the god damn Death Star. Until I thought about it for a second and realized that Starkiller Base fits a pattern that the Empire has been following since Episode IV and hasn't ever paid off. We've gone through 3 Death Stars now. Why? It's simple. Hubris. Overconfidence. It's what allowed a one-man fighter to be able to destroy Death Star I. It's why Vader was sure that Luke would join him. It's why the Emperor not only knew he would beat the Alliance, HE GAVE THE FUCKERS HIS HOME ADDRESS. They were wrong every single time. And they keep on being wrong because in their mind, there's no way the good guys can pull it off AGAIN. The devil-may-care attitude of the antagonist is textbook bad guy, and the repeating/escalation of the Death Star formula is a case in point example of it. Don't be surprised if by Episode IX we have a bunch of planets combine to make the equivalent of a fucking Death Star Megazord.
- The 'Big Death' meant something.
So, Obi Wan died for literally no reason. Everything that Luke accomplished after that point, could have been done just as well if Ben didn't straight up stop trying and let Vader cut him down. The TFA equivalent to this is the death of Han Solo at the hands of his son. This accomplishes two things that are going to play out big in the story to come. First, as previously stated, it cemented Kylo Ren as Dark Side faithful. It effectively killed Ben Solo, the boy he once was, and now Supreme Leader Gollum can finish his training. The second is from Leia's point of view. The leader of the Resistance had a major conflict of interest going into the climax of TFA. She simultaneously wanted to defeat the First Order and to bring her son back to the light side of the force. That conflict of interest is, for all intents and purposes, null and void. If Kylo Ren had the capacity to kill Han in cold blood, there is no saving him. So now Leia can pursue her fight against the Order with a new focus. Although, I doubt she'll feel much need for vengeance at this point, for after all she's been though at this point, she still hasn't been tempted by the dark side. Because Leia = Head Bitch In Charge.
Basically what I'm saying with all of this is TFA needed to be a reboot as much as it needed to be a continuation. It accomplishes enough of both. I've talked a lot here, so congrats on making it through, but I could go on more. That's how much I love and appreciate this movie. Not because it's perfect, but because it's flawed in the same ways that the films of the original trilogy were flawed. They all tell incomplete stories for either future films or our own imaginations to complete. TFA is equal parts new adventure and heartwarming nostalgia. And after all the waiting for justice to be done, all the hype and disappointment...sure, it's not the film we might deserve after all this time. It's just what we needed.
If George Lucas did indeed 'rape our childhoods', this is the therapy.
Knight Owl
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| She knows. |
- While not the Star Wars film we might deserve, it's the one we need.
Basically what I'm saying with all of this is TFA needed to be a reboot as much as it needed to be a continuation. It accomplishes enough of both. I've talked a lot here, so congrats on making it through, but I could go on more. That's how much I love and appreciate this movie. Not because it's perfect, but because it's flawed in the same ways that the films of the original trilogy were flawed. They all tell incomplete stories for either future films or our own imaginations to complete. TFA is equal parts new adventure and heartwarming nostalgia. And after all the waiting for justice to be done, all the hype and disappointment...sure, it's not the film we might deserve after all this time. It's just what we needed.
If George Lucas did indeed 'rape our childhoods', this is the therapy.
Knight Owl
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