So this little movie came out almost two weeks ago on my birthday. Not sure if you've heard about it. (Just kidding, who hasn't heard about it.)
STAR WARS EPISODE VII: THE FORCE AWAKENS!
I've now seen it twice, and I've decided that I really shouldn't see movies more than once in theaters, because the second time always ruins it for me. But, Star Wars is, well, Star Wars, so it was bound to be different, right?
WRONG!
I guess I'll go ahead and offer a second SPOILER ALERT, just in case you missed the one in the title. (Seriously, who reads a movie review expecting no spoilers?)
Upon my second viewing of THE FORCE AWAKENS, there were just a couple of things I noticed that bothered me. I'm probably over analyzing and being hyper critical, but indulge me.
1. Poe's Jacket - So we were all a little surprised to see the return of Poe Dameron when the Resistance arrived at the now ruins of Maz' cantina. His explanation of waking up after landing a great distance from the crash site was acceptable until I remembered the jacket. You know what jacket I'm talking about; the one Poe was wearing on Jakku and Finn later recovered from the crash site. Have you figured out the problem yet?
Poe was wearing his jacket during their escape from the First Order, so how does Poe land far away from the crash site while his jacket is found hanging from the Tie fighter? Yes, I am probably nit-picking, and this is the least of my issues, but come on!
2. What happens to Maz? - Yes, her castle/cantina was destroyed, but last we see her, she is climbing out of the rubble alongside Han, Chewie and Finn. We don't see her joining the Resistance, so was she killed in the last moments of that battle or did she live to fight another day somewhere else?
3. Kylo Ren's face - Yes, his face. It's revealed to us that Kylo Ren is the son of Princess Leia and Han Solo, so why did they pick Adam Driver who looks nothing like either Harrison Ford or Carrie Fisher? I enjoyed his performance, he made a great antagonist, but seriously, couldn't they have found someone with similar looking facial features at least? If this is what Han and Leia's son looks like to those in charge of casting, I'm concerned what young Han Solo is going to look like.
4. Kylo Ren's obsession with Darth Vader - I wonder just how much Luke, Leia, and Han told him about his grandfather when he was younger. You know, I bet they didn't mention him much because they were concerned about what he would do if he knew the truth. Why do grown ups always do that? "Oh, this information about his/her relative is awful, I'd hate for them to know the truth."
"I have a solution: let's not tell them."
How often does this work? Never, because the kid always finds out somehow and makes a bigger deal out of it since his/her parents didn't trust them enough with the truth and/or the truth they find out is sightly off. Instead of telling little Kylo Ren that his grandfather was on the dark side until he turned just before he died, they probably didn't say much about him at all, so he got his information from somewhere else (likely Snoke), and this distorted information gave him the fuel he needed to create a glorified image of his grandfather to idolize.
5. Who is Lor San Tekka? - You might not know who that is, because I'm not sure his name was ever said (and if it was, sorry, I missed it), but he's the man who gives Poe the map at the beginning of the film and is soon killed off by Kylo Ren. The first time I saw the movie, I wasn't sure if we were supposed to know who he was already (since the title sequence said he was an old friend of Leia's), so I consulted my resident Star Wars expert.
My brother, I consulted my brother. He just shook his head. "No idea!" So we have this older gentleman who at the very least sympathizes with the Resistance and the Jedi, lives in Jakku (or as I like to call it, the middle of no where), and hints that he knew Leia before she was "General Organa." We also know there's some backstory between him and Kylo Ren because he knows who he is, and Kylo Ren comments on how old Lor San Tekka has become. Perhaps this will be answered in the films to come, or perhaps this question will remained unanswered til the end of time.
6. R2D2's pouting and C3PO's missing arm - So when Han, Chewie, BB8 and Finn arrive at the Resistance base, C3PO explains to BB8 that R2D2 has been in "low power mode" ever since Master Luke left. I get it, he's feeling lonely and depressed, but then he miraculously comes back out of low power mode as soon as Rey shows up at the base after they've blown up the First Order's Star Killer, and reveals that he has the rest of the map to finding Luke. How helpful! NOT! Come on R2D2, get your life together! You're in low power mode because Luke is gone, but you have 90% of the map to finding him. Why doesn't he wake back up when BB8 brings the rest of the map? I'll tell you why: because that would have made sense! If R2D2 had got up out of his funk earlier, they could have sent someone to go find Luke while they were trying to destroy the Star Killer, and Luke could have helped them out somehow, that is if he's not as useless as his pouty droid.
And it wasn't just the map R2D2 was holding on to. I didn't notice this until a friend pointed it out later, but C3PO was missing an arm when we first see him, and after R2D2 wakes back up we see C3PO with his arm back. That little droid knew exactly where C3PO's arm was and didn't say anything, probably for years. Some friend you are, R2D2!
I'm just going to reconcile myself with it but assuming it had something to do with Rey being Force-sensitive and her presence with the light saber somehow waking R2D2 out of his funk.
Alright, enough of my griping, here's some of my favorite parts:
1. That scene when Kylo Ren is having another temper tantrum after Rey's escaped and those two Storm-troopers stop and turn around. You know those guys have probably seen many of those tantrums before and they know that they don't want to be anywhere near him right then.
2. Kylo Ren's real name - You might have missed this one (but you probably didn't), when Han cries out to his son, he uses his real name, Ben. Calls to mind another Ben from the original series (Old Ben Kenobi, anyone?) So is it Ben Solo or Ben Organa? The world may never know.
3. Light saber dream sequence - I just loved the beauty of this scene, when Rey touches Luke's light saber and suddenly sees all these visions. We see a cloaked Luke Skywalker reaching out to R2D2 (connects light saber to it's past owner), a young Rey crying for her family to come back (future owner of saber?), and a clip of the duel to come between Rey and Kylo Ren. All the feels... right there.
4. Han Solo's death - Yes, I was in tears. Why would they do that to Han? I also saw it coming as soon as Kylo Ren said he knew what he needed to do and asked his father to help him. So, what was to like about this scene? A lot, actually. I love how it mimics that famous scene between Vader and Luke when the truth is revealed. I love how we see another side of the normally tame Wookie as he lashes out at the Stormtroopers in his grief and doesn't miss a shot. But most of all, I love how Han Solo reaches out and caresses his son's face as he is impaled by his light saber. When you look at Han's eyes in that moment they are filled with shock and sadness, yes, but also love. He loves his son and does what he can to show it in those last moments of his life. Based on what we know about Han Solo, I bet he wasn't the most sentimental father, so it's no wonder he blames himself for his son turning to the dark side. I think deep down Han knew what was coming too, but he still chose to make that effort and try to bring his son home because he loves Leia and their son to death.
5. Poe and Finn's instant connection - These two became brothers the minute they got on that Tie fighter. Poe clearly respects Finn for being such a risk taker and deciding for himself what was right, and Finn has someone cheering him on and celebrating him for being himself, which is something he surely didn't have as a Storm-trooper. And that brings me to #6...
6. Finn - How does a Stormtrooper become aware of the concepts of right and wrong if he's programmed to do as he's told from birth? You know what, Finn is so cool, I don't even care! He pretty much single-handedly plans his and Poe's escape and he quickly learns to fire a wide assortment of weapons aside from a blaster. He's meant to be comic relief, but I think everything about him is just so tragic and beautiful. First of all, he says he was taken from his family to become a Storm-trooper and was never given a name, if that doesn't make you want to cry, you have no heart. Finn reveals so much about the true darkness of the First Order and how he can still put on a smile and make jokes after all he's been through is eyeopening and shows his resilience and heart. Plus, he's the first Storm-trooper I've ever seen to be competent with a blaster, so I think that speaks for itself.
7. Rey - She's a solo female scavenger, expert pilot on a variety of aircraft (even though the first time she leaves the planet is on the Millennium Falcon), skilled communicator with various species and droids (how is it that Stormtroopers aren't trained to understand droids or languages other than English?), and she's for all intents and purposes the "chosen one" of this film as Luke's light saber calls to her. Rey is who I aspire to be when I grow up: eager to learn, has an incredible work ethic, and deeply longing to connect with others and find a place of belonging. Plus, she doesn't need a man to hold her hand!
P.S. I hope all of my ramblings make sense. In my defense, I am writing this at 2 AM because I can't go to sleep until I get all of this out.
MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU ALL!
