History Repeats Itself: Regarding The Force Awakens

While there had been rumors of a sequel Star Wars trilogy as early as there were rumors about a prequel trilogy, the possibility of Episodes VII, VIII, and IX making it to the big screen always seemed a lot more dubious. By the time the prequels were actually coming out, I didn't mind that we'd probably never see anything beyond Return of the Jedi; I was getting over Star Wars with all this sub-par content coming out.

Funny how things change over time.

I had met my future super good buddy Jake at a special screening of Yellow Submarine for my sister's birthday back in 2012. It was brought to my attention by our mutual friend TJ that he wanted to start a pop culture focused podcast. I was about to start my final semester of grad school and was burning out reading and writing the driest material I've ever gone over and wanted to change things up and do something for fun again.

So we went and got coffee at the now defunct-Caribou Coffee for a quick meet-up to kind of feel each other out and see what we wanted to do in starting a potential podcast. Well, it was supposed to be a quick meet-up. We sat down and compared geek backgrounds for about four hours in the first time the two of us had sat down one-on-one; you want to know why the show is called Geek Out? That's what Jake and I did over those multiple cups of coffee. In the midst of all this, TJ sent us a text, not knowing we were hanging out as we received it simultaneously, that Disney had bought LucasFilm from George Lucas and intended to make that fabled sequel trilogy.

Fast-forward three and a half years later and Jake and I are sitting at an Alamo Drafthouse watching Episode VII with over a year of our podcast now firmly under our belts, comic publishers finally starting to give us the time of day and let us interview their talent.

Here's the part where I should actually talk about the movie.

These scenes have such added resonance now.

I think the most obvious criticism of The Force Awakens is how closely it sticks to the formula of the 1977 original: Backwoods outsider Rey/Luke with dreams of something greater than their desert planet of Jakku/Tatooine come across the droid BB-8/R2-D2 being hunted by the First Order/Galactic Empire and the fearsome Kylo Ren/Darth Vader for its map to Luke Skywalker/Death Star plans. Our heroes must then get the droid and data to the Rebel Alliance/Resistance secret base on D'Qar/Yavin IV before its destroyed by Starkiller Base/Death Star.

As a general overview, The Force Awakens basically just plays Mad Libs with A New Hope.

This was very much by design; Disney and filmmaker JJ Abrams wanted to re-position Star Wars for a new generation in a way that felt new and familiar at the same time in a bid for fan goodwill after the lambasted reception to the prequels. And for the most part, it all works.

All of it.

In order to forge ahead, Star Wars needed to remember its roots and get back to where it once belonged. The biggest things that Episode VII has going for it is a fantastic new cast with Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, and Oscar Isaac leading the heroes while Adam Driver and Domnhall Gleeson shore up the villains. One of the recurring features of the sequel trilogy is that it's a passing of the baton narrative between the cast of the original series with the new generation and the actors are certainly up to the task.

And the practical sets as opposed to the over-reliance on blue screens from the prequels is a welcome change; the lived-in quality of Star Wars is back. The lightsaber fights while not as tightly choreographed as the prequels brings the emotion back behind each swing again which makes for more satisfying duels. And seeing Harrison Ford lead the charge for the original cast as Han Solo back in the Millennium Falcon is something I never thought I'd see again.

And neither did he.

So what doesn't work about The Force Awakens? Well, the reveal that Kylo Ren is the son of Han and Leia is made so early and dismissively that it undercuts any and all emotional potential that the role would have had played later/better. I kind of feel like it would've been better when Han confronts Ben Solo for the final time but the big takeaway is that it shouldn't happen as early and offhanded as it does. Also, the climactic space battle feels largely anemic because it isn't well balanced with what's going on the ground; it feels like an afterthought which is the last thing you want a climax to be.

Something that Abrams struggles with throughout almost all of his movies (Super 8, both of his Star Trek films) is that he has trouble keeping his tone even. You can have jokes in serious moments to relieve the tension a bit; Marvel movies have been doing it pretty well for a decade Abrams just struggles with it every now and again. That's something that comes up here though not as glaring as Super 8 or the 2009 Star Trek. A lot of the jokes in Episode VII land but the ones that don't feel very out of place.

At the end of the day, The Force Awakens is a joyous celebration of all things Star Wars while positioning the franchise for the future in a way that the prequels could never quite connect with most audiences. After a lengthy hiatus, I was excited about the possibilities of Star Wars once again.