Before I say anything, please let me warn you that this post may contain some spoilers and I’m even going to try to list all the throw backs and Easter Eggs that I located in the movie. If you haven’t seen the movie and don’t any spoilers please stop reading and come back after you’ve enjoy the movie. If you are still reading, then that means you don’t care about spoilers or you’ve already seen it. In any case I shall continue on with my feelings about one of the best Star Wars movies out to date.
It may be the adrenaline of seeing it being Sunday evening and mere hours ago I was watching Star Wars: The Force Awakens for the second time. As much as I would have loved to go see it on opening day, I do have a wonderful fiancee that I wanted to see it with. So, as she wrapped gifts on Friday night at home I played Star Wars: Battlefront while enjoying the double XP weekend. I made it a point to see the first showing available on Saturday, so I picked her up at 7:45am and stood in line for an hour for a 9am showing at a local theater. The same thing happened earlier when I took my brother-in-law and nephew to see it, except we didn’t get their early but were the first ones in line. This would be my nephews first Star Wars movies in a theater, and I wanted him to look back and say that he saw it opening weened and was first in line. I know it doesn’t mean much to him now, but later in life he’ll appreciate my early ways.
The movie watching experience was different both times, but the same excitement and happiness was there. I guess it would be better to talk about my first time seeing it, because it was with my future wife and it just felt right. Earlier during the week, I had received a notification from a Facebook group I was in and foolishly I clicked it. Upon clicking the notification I was treated to a three line post containing the biggest spoiler of them all. I was rightfully pissed, but on this cold Saturday morning I wasn’t going to let it show that I know what happens. My fiancee didn’t know any spoilers and I didn’t want to ruin it for her, because she was wearing a Darth Vader long sleeve and had told me that she was very excited to see the movie while we were both there shivering in the California cold. The doors finally opened and we all picked up our 3D glasses and made our way to the theater.
When the words A Long Time Ago, In A Galaxy Far Far Away followed by the Star Wars logo, my eyes begin to get watery. I was here in the theater with the woman I love watching a new Star Wars movie, and no matter what was to happen in the next 2 hours and 16 minutes I knew I would have a great time.
I’m not going to go shot for shot through the whole movie, so let’s just get to the feeling at the end of the movie. I would say that if any word would be describe my mood, it would be happiness. Even though I knew the character death spoiler, it was just a great experience. The story did require some previous knowledge of the past movies to get some jokes and references, but not much. If you were into this movie with little to no knowledge, then you’d enjoy it just the same as someone who had seen the previous six episodes. From the standpoint of someone who has seen all the movies, the animated movies and television shows I can say that this script was well paced and never made you want to leave your seat. If you had to go to the bathroom during the movie, like I did, then you just sat there and ignored it because if you left there would be something that you would miss. All the dialogue was important and every action that the characters took was also just as important. Eyes, hand gestures and body language all helped convey the feeling inside each person, the way that the novelization would explain their emotions in detail. I honestly stopped writing for a little bit because I was just going through the whole movie in my head. The fact that I woke up this morning thinking of the movie, and even after I saw it for a second time I wanted to go see it again is what good writing and directing does to the audience. The First Order is a step up from The Empire, but then again The Resistance is also a step up from The Rebellion. The First Order has Supreme Leader Snoke and The Resistance has General Leia Organa. I can only hope that we see them square off face to face in the future in an epic lightsaber battle. Even thought Leia is an older lady, I think it would great to have her use the force power she has to summon some inner strength.
I now want to go through some of the characters in the movie and give my after thoughts on each and maybe some insight to where they’ll be going in the next movie or two.
Poe Dameron – An excellent X-Wing pilot with the humor of a young Han Solo. There is an awesome scene where the camera follows take out Tie Fighter after Tie Fighter, then attacks some Storm Troopers on the ground then shoots down another Tie Fighter and it looks amazing. That sequence really puts the pin into the thought that this is someone who is going to help The Resistance go far.
Rey – Say hello to the first female Jedi that wasn’t just a background character. Rey doesn’t have any family ties to anyone we know, but she is strong with the force and the slow build of her finding out how to use it was so much fun to watch. I know that all past books aren’t considered canonical anymore, but it did mention that when a person has the force they just know how to use it. So when she did her first Jedi mind trick and then later used the force to grab a lightsaber from 50 feet away, I understood why it happened. She is also the new owner of the Millennium Falcon and has Chewbacca as a co-pilot.
Finn – At first I didn’t know what to think of the sudden turn Finn did from The First Order to being a good person. He did end up being a bit of the comic relief and isn’t much of a pilot, but is first in the fight. I guess this comes from his upbringing in The First Order, which we learn was from birth. He isn’t force sensitive, but he knows the stories of the legends of Ha, Leia and Luke and almost gave his life to save Rey.
Maz Kanata – The former owner of a castle where a cantina like bar was, and a friend of Han Solo. She knows of the force and was in possession of Luke Skywalker‘s lighsaber that was given to him by Obi-Wan and owned by his father Anakin Skywalker. The last time we saw this lightsaber it fell from Cloud City, and the story of how Maz got it actually comes up. Rey hears the lightsaber calling her and when she touches it she has visions of the past and the future, which is a Jedi power. When she lets go Maz meets her and when Rey asks where it came from she says it’s a story for another time. She was still alive the last time we see her, so let’s hope we don’t have to wait for Episode IX to learn about it.
Kylo Ren – The son of Han and Leia, who turned on Luke’s training and drove him to hiding.He looks up to Darth Vader and knows that it’s his grandfather, but deep down is worried he will never be as powerful as him. He’s torn between the light and dark side, so to help his feelings he takes out the person that is making him question himself the most, his father. I don’t know how much training he had, but when he fights Rey his get’s his butt kicked and receives a gnarly scar on his face. The mask he wears is more for an homage and not for his breathing, but his voice is eerily soothing. He’s going to be the villain in the next few movies, so look for him to get even more darker and more powerful.
Han, Leia and Luke – Sadly Han won’t be seeing any of the other movies, Leia will continue to lead The Resistance and Luke was only seen not heard at the end of the movie. The next movie or two will probably have Luke deny training because of what happened with Kylo Ren, but then he’ll remember Yoda and Obi-Wan and reconsider. I don’t know who will do it, but I do see either Leia and/or Luke dying by the end of this trilogy.
Let’s talk Easter Eggs that I can remember
- Rey has a doll in her living area that looks like an X-Wing pilot and she also has found an old X-Wing pilot helmet
- When Finn is looking through some stuff in the Millennium Falcon he comes across the hovering ball that Obi-Wan has Luke train with.
- Rey and Finn call the Millennium Falcon a piece of junk, just like in episode 4
- The Starkiller Base is named after the original last name for Luke and Anakin in the script. It was later changed to Skywalker, but it was then used again in the video games Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.
- When Han confronts Kylo Ren on the catwalk he calls out Ben, which may be his real first name. Kyle Ren remarks that he destroyed his son, much like how Darth Vader destroyed Anakin Skywalker. Snoke also mentions that that Kylo trained with the knights of Ren, so Kylo Ren may be his Sith name.
- Kylo Ren makes mention of having a Clone Army as a threat because the Storm Troopers aren’t doing their jobs
I’m sure there are a lot more, I can’t think of any at the moment. If you haven’t already, please go see this movie. Take some time and watch the previous six movies, even if you heard the prequels sucked. This is an amazing story with unforgettable characters and I hope that they keep making more movies after Episode IX, because I want to be able to take my future children to see them on opening day.