Now that two-years have passed and the initial hype has subsided, how does the film hold up? Overall, I still enjoy the film, but my critical eye picks out the flaws easier. Aesthetically, it’s closer to the original trilogy than the prequels were. While Lucas did use practical effects on those films, the post-production rendering made some hard to spot amidst CG. Think of it like the color-blindness test; where do green end and yellow begin? Special effects have improved greatly in the decade following Revenge of the Sith, allowing the two to blend exquisitely; the CG models are even given a practical tint, and the puppet-suit work makes me explode with joy.
The story is where the flaws are noticeable, although there’s only one that leaves me shaking my head. Many have called Force Awakens a remake of a New Hope. While I understand the sentiment, I respectfully disagree. There are similarities—and both films share similar beats—but the main Star Wars films have always been cyclical, recurring elements drawn from the Hero’s Journey archetype popping up over and over. To use a musical analogy, think of the series like a symphony: there’s a handful of recurring notes, with new ones sprinkled in between. To me, complaining about Jakku or the Cantina is nitpicking. The Droid McGuffin I concede partially, but it’s not a bad way to store information; who’s to say Leia is the first person to execute that idea?
Starkiller Base I will concede. While an interesting conceptual idea—while I would have preferred something akin to the Sun Crusher, a weapon that stores and unleashes solar power is cool—did we really need another Death Star? It was asinine already that Palpatine built a second one in Return of the Jedi—even though it did fall in line with his character’s overconfidence—but a third is ludicrous. We’ve entered Spaceballs territory now. That said if the base is a necessity, why push it out this early? Starkiller should be an endgame problem. At least Lucas having two Death Stars has a real-world reason behind it: was meant to be endgame, but he pushed it sooner in case Star Wars was a one-off.
Another common criticism is that Rey is a Mary Sue. A Mary Sue is an idealized, seemingly perfect character, often the result of author insertion; this part is especially common in fan fiction. They can perform tasks better than others, usually above what their training or experience should allow. What does Rey do that garners this label? She’s a great pilot and picks the Force up quickly, allowing her to defeat Kylo Ren in a lightsaber duel.
On the surface, an argument could be made for Rey being a sue, but when one looks deeper and takes moments into proper context, things make sense. Rey grew up on a scavenger planet, and she’s around junk starfightersters all day. She was also Unkar Plutt’s ward—film never fully states this, but the flashback infers—and he had possession of the Millennium Falcon. While Rey does state it hasn’t flown in years, that doesn’t mean she hasn’t seen it fly, or handled the controls herself. She did know the specifics of Plut’s additions, so it’s not a far stretch. There’s also the possibility of flight simulators and bumming lessons from outsiders, but that’s a large IF.
As for the Force, each moment has a reason for why it makes sense. Although she’s untrained, Rey’s raw potential is immense, and like her predecessor’s she likely used The Force subconsciously her entire life. This changed when she touched the Lightsaber and the Kyber Crystal called, giving Rey her first step into a larger world.
Given her potential, it’s not farfetched that Rey would be able to turn Kylo’s mental probe back on him, especially since he approached the action nonchalantly with his conflicted mind. Also, other than what drove Kylo’s turn most of his life and training haven’t been explored deeply; for all we know this is the first time he’s attempted to probe a fellow Force Sensitive, and he has the unfortunate luck to come across one with immense potential.
I will concede that she does pick up the Mind Trick and Force Grip rather quickly. That said, the progression still feels plausible. By that point, Rey knows she can manipulate the Force—from a combination of Kylo’s probe and the Kyber crystal’s call. It’s only natural that she’d stretch out and test her capabilities, with raw power balancing out finesse and training. Her persuasion attempts take several passes to yield success, and Rey is surprised when she calls the lightsaber to her hand.
This moment I concede partially, as on the face it is absurd that Rey could overpower a trained Force User. However, there are precedents for this in Legends. Darth Zannah comes to mind. In Darth Bane Path of Destruction, Zannah rag dolled two experienced knights simply with her rage. While the knight’s level of power isn’t specified, Zannah pulling this off with minimal training is still impressive. This president factored in with Kylo’s wound and mindset—along with some bias from the Kyber crystal—and it’s plausible for Rey to pull the saber.
Kylo had two major disadvantages doing into the duel: his conflicted mind—worsened by patricide—and his abdominal wound. While Kylo could draw strength from his pain like other Dark Siders, his mind would prevent this ability from working properly, especially if his training were incomplete. While it’s mere speculation since this time hasn’t been explored yet, I’d say Kylo’s skill level is between ROTJ Luke and AOTC Anakin. He’s trained decently, but still has much to learn, getting by on raw potential instead of finesse. Even so, this potential allowed him to disarm Finn and dominate Rey. That’s right, Kylo dominated a majority of his duel with Rey, his strength forcing the initiate to give ground. It was only when she gave into the force—inadvertently tapping into Force Augmentation—that Rey turned the momentum and Kylo’s wound became his Achilles. If Kylo hadn’t been injured, I have no doubt he would have eventually disarmed Rey. Power alone can only get one so far.
As for how the duel is choreographed, I find it more satisfying than the prequel trilogy. While the duels are the highlight of those films, there were many moments that came across as unnecessary fluff; stage choreography at its finest. Here, the duel is staged in a manner akin to Empire and Jedi; most motion isn’t wasted and strikes make strategic sense. It also has the advantage of advances in film techniques, making it an amalgamation of both trilogies styles. I know some complain that the duel is boring, but given the combatants it made sense. These aren’t fully trained Jedi and Sith hacking at each other; these are—for lack of more appropriate phrase—novices.
Rey isn’t perfect. While she does pick up on the Force quickly, she has one fatal character flaw: she refuses to accept her family isn’t returning for her. Because of this, she lingers on Jakku for years, with nothing but herself and hope; her need to linger is so great Rey doesn’t wish to leave for five minutes. It takes outside forces to pry her away. Despite this, she’s willing to help people—BB8 and Finn come to mind. Some might thrust this under SUE, but the willingness to help others doesn’t a SUE make; by that logic, dozens of other characters are sues. Besides, this willingness could be exploited by the Dark Side.
Family issues aside, Rey doesn’t have much else that makes her an engaging protagonist. She’s rather basic. Luke was the same, but Mark’s acting balanced things out. Daisy accomplishes the same thing here. If an actress of lesser talent had been cast, we might be in a prequel situation, with fans lambasting both the writing and it execution. While I did enjoy the sequel, this issue remains.
While I mainly wished to keep this discussion to Episode 7, The Last Jedi brings up an interesting point that can be applied here. As Kylo puts it, Rey looks for father figures to fill the void in her heart, jumping from Han to Luke; it’s safe to say she has a paternal complex of some sort.
As I’ve mentioned several times, Kylo Ren is a conflicted character. He views himself as Darth Vader’s true heir, but like his grandfather before him he’s sentimental. While the movie cut this part out, the novelization made it clear that Kylo knows about his grandfather’s redemption, but views it as a moment of weakness. He claims not to have the same weakness, but he’s burying it inside. Therefore Snoke demands that he kill Han Solo, to kill this part of him. Vader thought he had killed his wife, and buried the guilt with anger; to avoid making the same mistake, Kylo MUST kill his father. He succeeds, but the action unbalances him.
Some might call foul at this, but there is a precedent within the films: Anakin’s duel with Obi-wan. Anakin was unbalanced the entire fight, caused by Padme’s supposed betrayal. This unbalance is what lead to his defeat, and his incarceration in the iconic suit. It’s also responsible for one of the duel’s most memorable exchanges: the Force Push impasse. Anakin’s potential was far greater than Obi-wan, yet his old master matched him. How could this be so? While Obi-wan’s dedication and finesse played a part, it alone wouldn’t be enough to overcome the Chosen One’s raw might. Even with all his strength, a lack of mental balance prevented Anakin from overpowering his former friend.
Just a little aside, to me, Kylo Ren is Anakin executed correctly. While the Chosen One’s arc in the prequels makes dramatic sense, Lucas’s direction and writing brought it down.
Finn and Poe most viewers seem to be happy with. Finn’s desertion of the First Order feels natural, especially after what he witnessed during the opening scene. Hs desire to flee to the Unknown Regions can be viewed as cowardly, but given his first-hand knowledge of the First Order it’s understandable. He makes up for it later anyway. He had several awkward moments, but they made sense within the context of their scenes. He’s also responsible for one of Han’s best lines in the movie: “That’s not how the Force works!” His lightsaber fight with Kylo can be considered wish fulfillment audience insertion, as everyone who’s watched a Star Wars film has wanted to wield the elegant weapon for a more civilized age in combat. Poe is an ace pilot in the spirit of Han and Wedge. The two have a good repour, but it is a headscratcher how he managed to escape from Jakku. The film explains it offhand when the pair reunites, but it’s vague. One area where the novelization is better.
Now we come to Han Solo’s demise. I understand the anger, and it’s not misguided. No one enjoys seeing their favorite characters die; Lord knows there’s plenty of Red Wedding Reaction Videos to prove this point. However, just because we love the character doesn’t mean they should be exempt from death; as much as I love many of the Legends stories, it became predictable over time, especially when Lucas’s edict was factored in. No possibility of death neuters consequence, and drama. Chewie did eventually get a meaningful death, but he was the only one. Disney’s buyout killed the edict, and with Harrison Ford onboard it was only a matter of time before Solo died; we all know Ford wanted him to die in the original trilogy. Ford got his wish, and Han received a meaningful death, one that impacted the dénouement and aspects of the sequel. A divisive dramatic choice, but it’s one I find myself siding with.
While not at the same level as the original trilogy, The Force Awakens is a step up from the prequels when all elements are considered. The acting and direction are great, the special effects are far more pleasing to the eye, and Williams delivers another epic score—although that’s one element I will admit the prequels executed better. 3.5 Kyber Crystals out of 5.
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