On Force Awakens. (No spoilers.) in Whey and Sonic Screwdrivers.

Yeah, I usually don’t have spoilers when I talk about movies. If it’s a lesser known movie, I might mention something I really liked. Maybe a specific scene to explain why I liked it.

It passes the TimmyTest™. It’s entertaining, memorable, and rewatchable. As I’ve elaborated before, this doesn’t mean it’s necessarily a good movie or a movie I like. In this case? It’s a good movie that is good.

I hate watching hyped movies. Oh sure, Creed had good reviews, but is anybody talking about it? It’s a really interesting contrast, as the Rocky franchise also had six previous movies with a rich history. But I’m sure someone could write a dissertation on the contrast between the two franchises. Rocky, all seven stories, are about self-belief and “going the distance” and “defying odds”, not about necessarily about winning. I digress.

I’m a Trekkie. I’m not really invested in some holy nature of the 70’s films like some fanboys and fangirls are. I respect the 70’s films for what they are, but I actually don’t like any characters. Nor do I really understand how an expanded universe cropped up around it. Han Solo? Yeah, he shot first, but he’s also kind of a dick. Chewbacca annoys the hell out of me every time he opens his mouth. Ditto C3-P0. Leia is cool, I guess. Luke annoyed the crap out of me. And Obi Kenobi? I understand the hand-waving of wanting to hide Luke but YOU NEVER TRAINED THE BOY? WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU. Even without the prequels, it makes no sense. But, that’s bleeding into nit-picking territory.

Speaking of the prequels, I found them entertaining upon first watch. And guess what: I’m still entertained by them when I rewatch them. Those 70’s films? First time I watched Star Wars as a kid, I fell asleep. To this day, they kind of make me sleepy. This is coming from someone who likes Star Trek: The Slow Motion Picture. Do I think the prequels are flawed? Oh, fuck yeah. They’re movies that are fun to pick apart. (See: Mr. Plinkett.)

Since I saw Creed recently, I was astounded by the fight (in Creed) towards the middle of the movie. It feels like one really long take over a couple rounds. You’re expecting a cut. But the camera just keeps going. Obviously it’s very intelligent editing at work, but I saw a LOT of that in this movie. I recall a sequence where you’re looking over a planet, then on the planet, then following our protagonists, then in another location, then focused on someone we don’t know yet. And only after the fact would one consider “....That looked like one long camera pan.”

What are the two jokes about the prequels? “It’s like poetry, it rhymes.” And. “It’s so dense.” Imagine if those two drawbacks were strengths.

In terms of denseness, I think of those tracking shots again, long pans. I think of how the camera makes it obvious what you’re supposed to be paying attention to, rather than a bunch of muddled chaos. Our protagonists running between explosions is one thing, but another comes to mind. The camera pans to a protagonist, then in the background you see an x-wing. While there is a LOT going on in the scene, the camera is clearly centered on this x-wing. Then it comes back to the protagonist, and there is a reaction. Clear, vivid, and one pan.

As for poetry, Star Wars has a certain style. There’s going to be Good Guys and Bad Guys and lightsabres. In SPAAACE. Fanboys complaining about it seeming like past movies, well. That would be like a Trekkie saying “But they’ve been to the final frontier before! They’ve used phasers and the deflector dish before!” In other words, the themes are similar, but unique and different. A twist, if you will.

Rey is the kind of female protagonist we’ve needed for a long time. Finn is a style of character we’ve never seen before. And BB-8 has more personality than padme/anakin over three movies. (Don’t forget that padma/ani was the de facto bad romance until Twilight was released.) Han feels like 30 years has actually happened. And Chewbacca? He actually amused me, and made me feel feels. That’s saying something. As for Kylo Ren, I found him comedic at times. Look for two stormtroopers deciding to walk away in a corridor. He isn’t Darth Vader nor Darth Maul nor Dooki nor Sidious; they establish something about him we haven’t seen before in Star Wars mythos.

The crux of the story is Finn and Rey’s story. In the prequels, we know who the heroes are, so there’s no tension. In the 70’s movies, Luke is told he’s supposed to be a hero, and we watch him evolve. In this movie, we have two heroes thrust into a role, without ever asking or being told to do so. Something I enjoyed was the very self-aware nature of the characters. The kind of “WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON.” I mean, if some bad shit started happening to you, wouldn’t you say to someone, “I’M HAVING A BAD DAY.” I appreciate this reaction, rather than a bunch of calm people.

I can’t say anything else without spoilers.

(The last lightsaber fight made me have feels. Twice. Shush. IT’S DISTINCT RELATION TO THE PROTAGONISTS.)

At the end of the movie, you’ll be left wanting to see more. You’ll be left wondering, “Okay, that was awesome, but A LOT OF STUFF WASN’T ANSWERED.” This isn’t an intrinsic script issue, but something we remember from the prequels. Remember Master Sifo-Dyas? Wouldn’t it have been nice if it had lead to something? Instead, nothing. Now, fanboys will argue “IT’S BEEN THIRTY YEARS, EXPLAIN THINGS TO ME.” But I’m okay with some of the hand-waving. The prequels failed due to the loads of exposition. Telling, rather than showing. Yeah, it’s cool seeing the senate. But a simple HEY, YOUR HOMEBOY JAR JAR PROMOTED PALPY TO CHANCELLOR is all that’s needed.

But, I suppose that’s Star Wars and how the Extended Universe came to be. It asked more questions than it answered. That’s the unintentional genius of George Lucas, he just didn’t realize it at the time. And when he tried to flesh everything out HE FAILED MISERABLY. There’s a lot of loose ends at the end of the movie. You’re going to leave feeling like you just had an awesome experience. And then you’re going to go, DAMN YOU MARKETING AND JJ AND DISNEY, NOW I WANT TO SEE THE NEXT ONE. This isn’t any death-of-spock stuff. I don’t know what else to say except that only so much is revealed about the characters, and it’s obvious some characters don’t even know themselves.

Whether all of this comes around into a decent three or four or five part story remains to be seen. (Never forget that Empire and Jedi weren’t written when Star Wars the Star Wars was written.)

As a Trekkie? This is my favorite “Star Wars” universe film I’ve seen. As for my worries about Star Trek Beyond, that’s another story.

Last updated December 19, 2015