Episode VII (CAUTION - SPOILERS)

[mattn792]

Star Wars is fun again!!! AGAIN, *** SPOILERS ***

 

ONE LAST TIME -- SPOILERS CONTAINED. STOP HERE IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE MOVIE AND PLAN TO DO SO.

 

My wonderful wife was kind enough to make "The Force Awakens" the first movie we saw as a married couple, and as JJ Abrams has proven wont to do when he takes the reins of a beloved franchise, his first effort spurred mostly positive feelings within me.

 

So I'll start with a few things that didn't quite sit right. As we've seen, the occasional lack of originality and some mind boggling plot failures have been known to bog Mr. Abrams down. Yes, I'm talking to you "Star Trek: Into Darkness", with your terrible "Wrath of Khan" rip-off and your magic Khan blood. Fortunately, this movie didn't devolve into "Star Wars: The Empire Strikes the Jedi's Hope Back."

 

Anyway, yes, another desert planet, another bar filled with intrigue, another planet blowing up dealie that gets subsequently blown up itself. We've seen those before, though they were hardly movie killers. In fact, I thought the crashed Imperial fleet on Jakku was a nice touch, especially with the lack of explanation as to how it wound up there.

 

However, there's been one thing that I absolutely haven't been able to wrap my head around: If the Empire was defeated, and the Republic returned to govern in it's place, and the First Order arose from the Empire's remnants, shouldn't the Republic be battling the First Order? Why is there a resistance (staffed by many prominent rebels) and who are they resisting? Wasn't the rebellion's entire purpose to restore the Republic, and shouldn't they have hitched on with the Republic once the Empire was defeated? Did I miss something during my viewing?

 

Oh, and why did the Republic put seemingly their ENTIRE FLEET around one planet? Doesn't anyone pay attention to history in the galaxy far, far away?

 

BUT, despite all that, I had a freakin' blast watching the movie. I grabbed the wife's arm in glee when Han and Chewie walked onto the Falcon again, said "uh oh" when Han and Kylo Ren faced off, and could barely keep from shouting "Get some!" when Rae nearly chopped off Ren's head. While the shoddy acting and plodding stories of Episodes I - III may have given Robot Chicken great fodder, Episode VII gave me a renewed appreciation for just how bad those movies are.

 

Let me ask you this -- for even one minute, did anyone feel like Liam Neeson, Ewen McGregor, Natalie Portman, or Samuel L. Jackson fit into the Star Wars narrative? All great actors and actresses, yet seemingly totally out of place. Surround them with a largely terrible supporting cast and...accchhh. Hayden Christensen's high pitched "I hate you!" at the end of Episode III sounded more like it came from a 15 year old girl who just had her cell phone taken away by mommy rather than an alleged Sith bad . It is what it is though.

 

So in conclusion, huge thanks to JJ Abrams, Harrison Ford, John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, and everyone else who helped make the Star Wars franchise a whole hell of a lot of fun to watch once again. No it didn't dethrone "Empire" as my favorite, but that isn't what I was hoping for. I just wanted to recapture some of that magic I felt when I first saw "Jedi" (I originally saw the trilogy in reverse when I was a kid) some 25 years ago. Mission definitely accomplished.

 

I look forward to your comments.

 

See more journals by Matt

[mzhammer]

I thought it was great! (I also really liked Into Darkness & preferred it to Wrath of Khan, but that may be because i was surprised by the reveal and it was not spoiled beforehand) & yes, I did find the storyline "too much like" the original, but preferred that to being more closely aligned with the prequels story structure. (It's hard to explain, but, it's like seeing a movie you've already seen, but it's nothing you've actually ever seen) I do hope and expect 8 & 9 to be more original in story structure.

 

I've had a ton of conversations with friends who did not like it, mostly it sounds, for that specific reason. (& a friend who just didn't like Rey) - Mainly because of her untrained "wielding the force" abilities. However, I differ, as her past is so shrouded in mystery, that it's simply "assuming" she's untrained and it also "assumes" the force cannot be wielded without training. It's the force. Just because one character needs training & guidance to wield it, does not mean "everyone" needs the same training to wield it. If the force and original storyline are myth to Rey, then I might guess that she knows quite a bit about the force and once finding that myth to be true, "all of it," then, as the force awakens, it might be quite easy for one to wield. Honestly, my biggest problem with the film was much like my biggest problem with ROTJ. In ROTJ, Boba Fett's death was bad, probably the worst part of the film for me. & yes, worse than the Ewoks. (I'm referring to the DESpecialized versions of the films, not the re-edited garbage. The re-editing is probably the worse) - The worse part of TFA, for me, was the chasm that opens in the final battle. (Right between them) - Of all the places to break apart, it's right there. (Much like any TV / Movie where the hero saves someone in the exact seconds they are about to die) - After decades of watching all kinds of media, it just feels dumb. (& the fact that it's suppose to add tension, makes it silly.) It's an overused story trick that is well beyond its prime. (well well well beyond)

 

& one quick note on the prequels. If you've seen Life as a House, it's easy to see why Hayden was cast as Anakin. He's not a terrible actor by any means, as was the case with the rest of the cast. (Excluding Jar Jar) - The problem was really simple. George Lucas wanted to write and direct his "baby." George Lucas is a terrible writer & director. (Yes, Physical Graffiti & A New Hope were great, but he was young and hungry. Those days were long gone.) That's what makes Empire everyone's favorite, he hired great writing and directing. (It's an executive decide thing)