Looking back on Star Wars, part 9: The Force Awakens (2015)

Mike McNulty

HOLLYWOOD, CA - DECEMBER 14: The cast and crew speak onstage during the World Premiere of Star Wars: The Force Awakens at the Dolby, El Capitan, and TCL Theatres on December 14, 2015 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)

It’s the movie some believe brought Star Wars back to its former glory, but did The Force Awakens become a victim of own nostalgia?

"HAN SOLO: “I used to wonder about [the Force] myself. Thought it was a bunch of mumbo-jumbo. A magical power holding together good and evil, the dark side and the light? Crazy thing is, it’s true. The Force, the Jedi — all of it. It’s all true.”"

George Lucas always wanted to continue to Star Wars saga after Return of the Jedi, and not just with the Prequel Trilogy. Depending on who you talk to, Lucas envisioned either a total of nine or twelve “chapters” for Star Wars. Yet after Revenge of the Sith (2005), Lucas decided to just let things be. He and Lucasfilm could still tell more stories within the Star Wars universe with video game tie-ins and animated series like Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Besides, given how fans reacted towards the Prequel Trilogy, Lucas wasn’t all that keen on directing another movie any time soon.

One of the first things [George Lucas] did after Disney’s purchase was present Lucasfilm’s new producers his treatments for the new trilogy up to Episode XI. Disney would end up rejecting all of it.

Then in October of 2012, the entertainment world was rocked by a startling announcement. Lucas had sold his company, Lucasfilm, to Walt Disney Studios for $4.05 billion. Considering that Disney already purchased Marvel three years earlier, the “House of Mouse” had suddenly become the gatekeeper of two huge fandoms in less than a decade. More importantly, they had the money and the drive to make more Star Wars movies, including a brand new trilogy continuing where the Original Star Wars Trilogy left off. Lucas himself had every confidence in Disney, especially in Lucasfilm’s new president, Kathleen Kennedy. Over time, however, Lucas’ decision to sell Lucasfilm would be something he would come to regret.

Although he was no longer in charge, Lucas still acted as a creative consultant. And just because he had no desire to write and direct new Star Wars movie, it didn’t mean he didn’t have any ideas for future Star Wars films. One of the first things he did after Disney’s purchase was present Lucasfilm’s new producers his treatments for the new trilogy up to Episode XI. Disney would end up rejecting all of it.

He did, along with his friend Steven Spielberg, suggest who they believed was the ideal director: J.J. Abrams. Beating such candidates like David Fincher, Ben Affleck, and Guillermo Del Toro, Abrams felt like a natural choice given how he reinvigorated Star Trek with his 2009 revamp. Not to mention he had pedigree in bringing geek culture to the masses with television hits like Alias and Lost. Him spearheading the new film, which would be called Star Wars: The Force Awakens, seemed like a no-brainer.

However, there was a major problem: the screenwriter hired to work with Abrams, Michael Arndt, was having trouble coming up with the script. He had already spent eight months working on it and told the producers it would take another eighteen months to finish. Having lost all patience, Abrams let Arndt go and brought on Lawrence Kasdan. Kasdan, of course, wrote The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, so he seemed ideal to write the new films along with Abrams himself.

…if Kathleen Kennedy is to be believed, Abrams and his fellow Bad Robot Productions crew didn’t have any answers [for The Force Awakens]. As she infamously stated in an interview with Variety, “We haven’t mapped out every single detail [of the new movies] yet.” Because Mystery Box!

What they came up, while technically a new story, was also a deliberate throwback to the Original Trilogy. It wasn’t just bringing back Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), and Han Solo (Harrison Ford) after thirty-five years; The Force Awakens is essentially a reskinned version of A New Hope. Abrams himself justified this by saying they were “embracing the history that we know to tell a story that is new — to go backwards to go forwards.” Nevertheless, even he acknowledged the blatant comparisons he had made. Lucas also wasn’t thrilled by Abrams’ decision in doing this at all. As he would later explain, “[Abrams and Disney] wanted to do a retro movie…Every movie, I worked very hard to make them different, make them completely different with different planets, different spaceships, to make it new.”

In addition, Abrams and Kasdan decided to begin the New Trilogy in medias res, with a whole new galactic war already underway without explaining how it came about. That was left up to various novel and video game tie-ins Disney would use to promote the film. Thus, we have Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) missing, while the Empire-like First Order rampages through the galaxy and General Leia (Carrie Fisher) is frantically looking for him. While this certainly makes for a great story hook, it also raises loads of questions, including:

If Luke didn’t wish to be found, why did he leave behind a star map to his location? Why also divide said star map in two sections, leaving one with R2-D2 and another with Max Von Sydow’s character?
Speaking of Max Von Sydow, who is he even supposed to be? He’s credited as “Lor San Tekka” but what was he? A retired Rebel general? A Force-user? Why did Luke entrust part of the star map to this guy?
Why do the Resistance call themselves the Resistance? The dialogue indicates that the New Republic now controls the galaxy and are funding the Resistance. But are they called the Resistance because somehow the First Order took over part of the galaxy?
How did the First Order amass such a huge army, complete with several Star Destroyers, TIE Fighters, Stormtroopers, and, of course, the Starkiller Base? Granted, there’d still be Empire loyalists and fanatics like General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson) lingering about. Even so, how did they even amass an army of this size with this much capability and resources under the New Republic’s nose?
Why doesn’t Finn (John Boyega) feel remorse or guilt in gunning down his fellow Stormtroopers? After all, it was seeing a fellow Stormtrooper getting blown up that broke his conditioning and made him realize he was on the wrong side. Wouldn’t he feel the least bit sad killing men and women he once served with?
Who is Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie), and why make such a big deal out of her in the marketing if she does even less than Boba Fett in the movie?
Who is Rey (Daisy Ridley)? Is she a Skywalker? A Solo? A Kenobi? Someone else? Why was she left alone on Jakku? Why is she so strong with the Force? How is that someone untrained in the Force–which we’re told more than once–can use Jedi Mind Tricks, telekinesis, fight with a lightsaber, and even fly the Millenium Falcon without a co-pilot?
Why does Anakin and Luke’s lightsaber call out to Rey? If she’s not a Skywalker, Solo, or Kenobi, then why she having visions related to them upon touching the lightsaber? For that matter, how did Maz Kanata (Lupita Nyong’o) find that lightsaber considering how Luke lost it after Vader chopped off his hand in The Empire Strikes Back? And just who is Maz Kanata anyway (aside from being a character based on Abram’s high school English teacher)?
Who is Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis)? Where did he come from? How did he turn Ben Solo into Kylo Ren (Adam Driver)? Why does he act like Emperor Palpatine if he’s not Emperor Palpatine?
Who are the Knights of Ren? Are they former Jedi students and Darth Vader cosplayers like Kylo Ren? Dark Force Users? Bounty Hunters?
Why did R2-D2 suddenly come back online after so many years? Why didn’t he power up the moment BB-8 first arrived with the other half of the star map?
Why does C-3P0 (Anthony Daniels) have a red arm for most of the movie? Considering it’s replaced with another golden arm by the end of The Force Awakens, what bearing did it have on the story at all except as a throwaway gag?

The answer to all these questions in The Force Awakens is one big, “Who cares? Just enjoy movie. And don’t worry, we’ll give you all the answers in the next one.” Then again, if Kathleen Kennedy is to be believed, Abrams and his fellow Bad Robot Productions crew didn’t have any answers. As she infamously stated in an interview with Variety, “We haven’t mapped out every single detail [of the new movies] yet.” Because Mystery Box!

It also has the odd effect in that, while it certainly evokes the original Star Wars, it feel nearly as iconic. Even John Williams’ score seems merely adequate. This isn’t to say The Force Awakens doesn’t have its moments. The scenes on Jakku, particularly those of Rey scavenging through ruined Star Destroyers, are visually striking. The same can be said for her and Kylo Ren’s lightsaber duel in the snowy forests of the Starkiller Base, as the planet crumbles around them. But too much of it feels like pastiches of classic scenes, particularly the long cut of Maz Kanata’s bar which, of course, is intended to remind you of the Mos Eisley Cantina.

But even though The Force Awakens does share far too many similarities with A New Hope for comfort with too many loose ends, there’s no denying that it’s fun to watch. After the prequels abundant usage of green screen and CGI, it was refreshing to see a Star Wars movie return to having some practical effects, puppetry, and location shooting. More importantly, despite being almost as long as Revenge of the Sith, it moves incredibly fast. Dutch angles and pan-and-zooms are the norm, so that even though it definitely looks like Star Wars, there’s no question it’s still Abrams’ movie.

[Star Wars: The Force Awakens] didn’t just become the top-grossing movie of 2015, but would go on to become the fourth-highest grossing movie of all time. Only when you adjust the other Star Wars movies for inflation did A New Hope earn more.

There’s also something magical in seeing Harrison Ford reprise one of his most iconic characters again. If you’re not giddy when Han steps aboard the Millenium Falcon for the first time in decades and tells Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) “We’re home,” then you’re probably in a coma. There’s also something a little bittersweet in seeing where Han’s journey ultimately led him. He’s trying to relive the good old days as a coping mechanism, but he’s definitely not the same space pirate that he once was. That he’s become a mentor and a substitute father-figure, but not losing his cockiness, works really well.

It’s also clear from his acting that Ford hasn’t had this much fun playing the fast-talking, good-hearted smuggler since The Empire Strikes Back. Even a near-fatal accident on-set that broke his leg–which stopped production for two weeks–wouldn’t deter him from playing Han again. And there’s likely one reason behind Ford’s renewed enthusiasm–he finally got his wish that Han Solo should die.

Remember, this is something Ford wanted to happen since at least Return of the Jedi because he thought the character had nowhere else to go. Ironically, it’s because Solo survived that makes what happens to him in The Force Awakens work so well. That said, Solo’s death at the hands of his own son is an extremely powerful scene. And, for the audience, the death of this beloved rogue proved just as controversial as it did shocking.

Yet this pales in comparison when it comes to the character set up to be the hero of the new trilogy, Rey. Some saw her as a symbolically empowering character, while others criticized her for being a “Mary Sue.” In truth, because we know so little about her even by the movie’s end, she’s essentially a blank slate. We’re certainly meant to see her as a female version of Luke and Anakin given her wardrobe, her living on a desert planet, and her abilities.

Much of the criticism towards Rey also comes the fact that, in the build up to The Force Awakens, it was John Boyega’s Finn who was built up as the Sequel Trilogy’s main protagonist. He certainly has the more unique backstory and the only character in The Force Awakens who has a legitimate arc. He’s also the closest thing Star Wars has ever had to an everyman. He’s not guided by destiny like Rey, and he isn’t a hot-shot pilot like Poe Dameron (Oscar Issac). He’s just a lowly, scared runt who wants to get away from the First Order and, by circumstance, learns to sacrifice his own needs for sake of others.