Star Wars: The Force Awakens is almost impossible to discuss without spoiling something, which meant that my review had to be necessarily vague, constraining itself to what we’ve seen in the trailers and basic general knowledge about the film. But I have lots of thoughts still to share, so this article will be filled with spoilers. There’s a lot to discuss in The Force Awakens, both good and bad, and yes there’s actually a bit of bad. I may have given the film an A in my review but I have more than a few complaints, some of which are entirely a reflection of my own views of the franchise but others are legitimate issues with the film itself. I’m not going to dive back into the fact that I consider The Force Awakens to be (really good) fanfiction, but it’s safe to say that the events in the film felt somewhat inconsequential to me knowing that we weren’t seeing the true vision of George Lucas. But I don’t want this to turn into a nitpicky, whining article, because there were many things I loved about the film. And then there are just some observations and questions I was left with after my first viewing. Of course, my feelings on all of these might change the more I see the film, but let’s take a look at some spoiler filled thoughts about The Force Awakens.
No matter what the last few years of hype might have told us, bringing Star Wars back was always a risky move. It might seem like our current nostalgia-based pop culture consciousness will turn anything new that happens to be based on something familiar into an instant smash. But there’s always the chance that audiences might rebel, upset with the way their beloved stories have been altered, or fans and casual viewers might split, leading to endless debates over the “true” nature of the franchise. So despite the fact that Star Wars: The Force Awakens is poised to break every box-office record imaginable, gathering rave reviews from critics and viewers alike, and will likely catapult Star Wars, Disney, and a cast of faces both old and new to the highest of heights, the question still remains: is it any good? Put simply, the answer is an unequivocal yes. Almost 40 years after the series debuted, and over 10 years since its last entry, The Force Awakens is without a doubt the film that fans were screaming for. In fact, Star Wars: The Force Awakens is the single greatest work of fanfiction ever made.
By this point, every glimpse, shot, or tidbit of Star Wars: The Force Awakens we’ve seen thus far has been analyzed, dissected, and picked apart by anyone and everyone in the hopes of finding all of the clues to unlocking the story’s secrets. I’ve talked enough about my concerns about The Force Awakens as well as my feelings about how the film has been treated by the general populace, and I’m not going to go into that any more now. But I thought it’d be fun to take a look back at all of the trailers released for the film thus far with an eye not to solving all of the mysteries but instead looking at the larger picture. What I love most about trailers is the way they can evoke emotions with just a few images, a handful of musical notes, or the slightest bit of context. So let’s take it from the top with the very first trailer for The Force Awakens, which conveyed quite a lot from very little.
My blogging has slowed down over the past six months or so, and I think Star Wars: The Force Awakens is to blame. It’s like I have a mental block that’s been in place since around the time the 2nd teaser trailer was released (you know, the one with Han saying “Chewie, we’re home”). I used to feature a weekly trailer analysis, but I haven’t done one since the first trailer was released. I haven’t written nearly as many analyses of movies as I would have liked, my Friday Favorites feature has ground to a halt, and in all honesty I even have trouble getting regular movie reviews and TV recaps done. It’s not as if I’ve run out of things to say, and I desperately love writing about movies, but Star Wars is blocking me at every turn. Every time I sit down to write something, I feel like I should be writing about Star Wars and yet I’ve been avoiding discussing my favorite film series any more than I must. But even beyond that, The Force Awakens has almost (but not quite) diminished my ability to enjoy the world of film in the first place. So in an effort to clear my mind of this block, I’ve got to just put my thoughts about the current state of Star Wars before my brain explodes.
The Love Pirate 