Star Wars TFA thoughts

[Zane aka Magic Space Jesus]

It goes without saying but there are massive spoilers in this article

Star Wars has been a pillar of my life from when I was a small child seeing that famous text scroll on the screen as the orchestra belted out that famous theme. Witnessing the adventures of Luke, Leia, Han, Chewie, and the Droid Duo fight the evil Empire led by darkness incarnate Darth Vader set me on a path of nerdom that I have never come back from, or probably ever will.
Then came the prequels. Of course there was no way they would even come close to the majesty of the original but they had their own moments. The amazing Lightsaber fight between Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon, and Darth Maul was the huge redeeming factor in The Phantom Menace, and the full circle fights between Obi-Wan and Anakin (Skywalker overacting aside) and Yoda and Palpatine were very well done too.
Now a new era begins. And it pains me to say that the trend has continued. Star Wars is like watching your favorite childhood show as an adult. It was better back then. Episode 7 was a good movie….but not a great one. What follows is a list of the Hits and Misses that Episode 7 gave us. Strap in, it’s going to be a bumpy ride

HITS

Protagonists

No one can dispute that 2015 was the year of the strong female protagonist and Star Wars delivered in a huge way. Rey was a headstrong, sharp as a tack, stand on her own feet, ass kicking of a woman who’s snarky attitude harks back to a certain hard headed princess whose first real line of dialog is a blatant insult to the man who eventually destroyed her home. From leading Finn away from their attackers to fixing the Falcon single handedly she cements herself as a strong role model for young woman (something that has really been lacking in cinema)
Finn answers an age old question. How does the Empire get all those soldiers. He is a textbook example of the Dark Protagonist. The man who has done terrible things and now seeks to atone for it. The different is Finn didn’t have a choice to become a Stormtrooper, he was taken as a child. That further cements the First Order as being Evil (Which considering the Empire was modeled after the Nazi’s makes total sense)
Poe is your typical hot shot pilot who can fly just about anything. But deep down you see that he isn’t just your run of the mill cocky pilot. He is a loyal soldier who is willing to sacrifice anything to complete his mission. It takes a bit to see that seep through in some ways but I did like the complexity of the character.

Kylo Ren

Kylo Ren had some large shoes to fill. Following in the Footsteps of great Sith like Darth Vader, Darth Maul and Count Douku he needed to find his own little character niche. And find it he did. From the Crossguard lightsaber to the ability to stop of blaster bolt with the force, and hold it, shows a uniqueness we have come to expect. His ruthlessness and disregard for life, and electronics, gave him a character we hadn’t really seen before. A Sith trying to stay in the darkness. (More on this character later)

Old Faces

Seeing old faces show up in minor ways made the child in me very happy. Seeing Admiral Ackbar, Nieb Numb, and even 3PO and R2 were nice reminders that the people we knew as children are still around.

Dogfights

One of my favorite parts in any Star Wars movie is the space battles. From the On the edge of your seat Battle of Yavin to the Intense at every moment Battle of Endor, and even the Battle of Coruscant in Ep 3 I always loved the visual of the X-Wings and Tie fighters fighting it out (One of the reason why I love Battlefront 2 is because of those Space Battles). Ep 7 delivered not one, not two, but 3 different battles like that and they did not disappoint.

MISSES

Kylo Ren

You must be asking. “How can Ren be a hit and a miss?” The answer is simple. The Sausage Principle. The Sausage Principle states that if you love something, never find out how it was made. And that principle applies to Kylo Ren in a huge way. Ren, before we knew anything about him, was an amazing character with so much mystery behind him. Why is he so obsessed with Vader’s legacy, why is his lightsaber imperfect. While some of those answers were good (the lightsaber) some I think missed the mark in a huge way (his back story). Now before you all start raging on me about his backstory hold onto those thoughts because there is more and it will all make sense soon.

Overall Story doesn’t make sense.

There are many parts of this story that just don’t make any sense. Biggest one being if the First Order was such a threat to the Republic then why didn’t the Republic themselves fight back? Why do you need a Resistance? I really doubt that the First Order was able to completely wipe the Republic out in one blow like they implied.Again, save your rage because this also ties in later on

Was I watching Ep 7...or Ep 4?

Way, way too many times did this movie feel like it was trying to rehash A New Hope. Let’s go through the list
Starts on a desert planet...Check
Main Lead is a resident of desert planet...Check
Droid is given Vital information by Hero...Check
Main Lead finds said Droid...Check
Hero is captured by Villain and Tortured...Check
Main Lead meets up with other Lead and leaves Desert Planet...Check
Heros are in Cantina trying to barter way to Good guy Base...Check
Good Guy base is on a wooded planet...Check
Heros have to stage rescue in Bad guy Base...Check
Main Lead fights out they can use the Force...Check
Old Hero dies at the hands of Evil Bad Guy...Check
Bad Guys show off new weapon...Check
Bad Guys blow up seconds before using said new weapon on Good guys...Check
There are a ton of other examples but I won’t go into them.

Comedy

I don’t mind comedy in a serious film if it is used sparingly and at the right times. Early on in the film the comedy was fine. Right in the middle of the conflict and Finn was taunting Phasma over and over was not necessary at all.

Kylo Ren...Or should I call you Darth Canis?

I’m going back to Kylo Ren because he is a perfect example of the biggest issue I have with Star Wars now. For many of you who don’t read the novels…(And you call yourselves Star Wars Fan) Let me tell you a little story. After the Defeat of the Empire Han and Leia eventually got married. They had 3 children. Twins Jacin and Jaina, and young Anakin. Luke eventually married a woman named Mara Jade who was an agent for the Emperor and whose sole purpose was to kill Like. eventually they had a child named Ben (sound familiar?). They were all trained as Jedi by Luke and became leaders in the Republic during the Vong war and the years after. Jacin, troubled by the experiences he endured during the Vong war, eventually gave himself over to the Dark Side and became Darth Canis. His reign of terror culminated in him killing his own Aunt Mara, which convinced his sister Jaina that he had to be stopped and she eventually killed him.
Now that is an amazing story but thanks to Disney none of that exists anymore. So what do they give us in Ep 7? Han and Leia’s son...who was trained as a Jedi….who gives himself over to the Dark Side….who kills a member of his family…..see a trend here?

EU no More

This was the quintessential reason why I was not over the top excited about a new Star Wars film. When Disney announced that the EU was no longer cannon they dumped years and years of hard work into developing the Star Wars Mythos into what it was. Books, Comics, Video games, and countless other media were used to develop Star Wars from a small ice floe to the Titanic busting Ice berg it became. Great stories like Shadows of the Empire, The Truce at Bakura, The Courtship of Princess Leia. Timothy Zahn’s trilogy (Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, The Last Command), The Corellian Trilogy, The Black Fleet Crisis, The X-Wing series, The Darksaber duology, The Kyle Katarn trilogy (Dark Forces, Jedi Knight, Jedi Outcast), I, Jedi, Knights of the Old Republic… the list goes on and on. Seeing all that rich history and substance just tossed aside because they want to do it their way now is something that I can not...and probably never will...accept

CONCLUSION

As I said before. Episode 7 is a good movie, just not a great one. It has not given me a reason to abandon Star Wars as a whole. And there are other films coming out that still hold my interest (Rouge One is a perfect example) but Ep 7 will never be the greatest thing ever.

Total score. 3.5 out of 5

[Sauce]

Finn's hot.

[Zane aka Magic Space Jesus]

That's nice, Sauce

[ArisFlackerbee]

Before I post my own review, I wanted to respond to yours, Zane.

First of all, as for Kylo Ren, I can connect all plot holes including him into this response. And that response is, if you follow J.J. Abrams, not just him, but the fact that this is the beginning of a new expected and planned trilogy, then you must relinquish all doubt or confusion about missing links when it comes to characters and storylines. Coming out not only 10 years after the last Star Wars release, but also over 30 years since the last chapter connecting this new movie, the whole point of this film is to set up the next two parts, as Empire did so good for the original trilogy, we are now in a day and age where we expect and come to love cliffhangars and continuous storylines. There was no need (and thankfully it didn't come off this way) for an "all experiences here" movie, as A New Hope and The Phantom Menace was for so many people. We will get more answers as to why Kylo Ren did what he did, and who Rey really is connected to, same with Finn, et al. But for now, this was the perfect foundation to lay for the ensuing two chapters. For myself, I was very pleased with all the setups and mysteries.

And second response comes to your issues with the canon, which I feel is a solid 1 point loss in your rating, giving the last .5 to Kylo Ren. In my mind, all of those other novelizations and creations that have been made over the last near half a century have all come from original minds. So why would this new saga/trilogy/experience have to connect to any of it? Why can't it also be just as original? I, too, read the Thrawn Trilogy among other things, and while those stories were great, what I DIDN'T want, is a re-imagined, re-hashed version of something already created, because in all fairness, wouldn't we be judging that just as hard? For the things they decided to change or completely take out? My personal opinion is "give me something fresh, new, something I haven't seen and can't predict." And for me, and my experience, that's exactly what I got.

Similarities to the original Star Wars (A New Hope) aside, I thought they did a brilliant job at bringing the old to meet the new and give us a modernized, present day experience that we can't duplicate, or could even try. And I expect no less from Episodes VIII and IX.