Jay Sabharwal RWW9 2-16-17

Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens; Did J. J. Abrams accidentally press the restart
button?

Picture: http://screenrant.com/star-wars-7-force-awakens-box-office-milestones/?scrlybrkr=1531ef7a
**Warning: Spoilers!**

Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens brings us 30 years after Star Wars VI: Return
of the Jedi. The First Order have created a weapon that can destroy entire systems.
Luke Skywalker has disappeared and everyone is wondering where he went; the First
Order is especially looking for him, but not to bring him back. They, and more
specifically Kylo Ren, want him dead.

Our two main characters are Finn (John Boyman) and Rey (Daisy Ridley).
FN-2187 is a stormtrooper who refuses to fight for the First Order. Instead of using
clones, the First Order takes children and programs them to be soldiers. When the First
Order captures a rebel pilot named Poe, FN-2187 helps him escape and is dubbed Finn
by the pilot. Unfortunately, they are shot down and Poe doesnt survive (or does he!?).
Rey, on the other hand, is a scavenger on the desert planet Jakku, conveniently the
same planet as where Finn crashed. The characters meet and escape from the planet
on the Millennium Falcon, even though they dont know it's the Falcon at the time.
Another important character, Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), is the force-sensitive child of Han
and Leia. He has succumbed to the dark side, but is still called to the light sometimes
and is torn between the two worlds throughout the movie.

was basically a new New Hope... even the title is similar:

Stormtroopers attack a place with secret information that is put on a droid
to be safe.
The droid escapes into the desert, where it is taken prisoner by people
who want them to sell it.
The main character of the movie finds it and takes it.
The main character and the droid become friends.
The main character helps the droid escape from stormtroopers with, as
always, terrible aim.
There is a journey of getting the information to the rebellion including
going to a cantina with Han Solo.
A flaw in the weapon is discovered by the Rebellion.
And then the main character goes to the weapon and helps destroy it.
(Seriously, if youre going to make a third planet destroying weapon, at least make it
without an easily exploitable weakness like the last two.) This plotline is the exact same
as the one for A New Hope!

This is not necessarily a bad thing: a similar plotline would have reminded the
old Star Wars fans of the awe of the original movies like A New Hope. But is it too
similar? I think so I would have appreciated a more unpredictable plotline.

Even with the same general plot line, the new characters sparked some new life
in the series and brought in a new generation of star wars fans. The characters had a
surprising amount of development and chemistry, which was appreciated. And the
movie brought back the old characters to give advice and guidance, which added to the
rebellions credibility because we already know that they are very experienced.

In addition to the characters, there were more than a few references to the
original trilogy in The Force Awakens. To list a few, we have Finn, in stormtrooper
clothes, taking off his helmet and saying This is a rescue, just like when Luke took off
his stormtrooper helmet to tell that to Leia. Also, we get to hear the infamous Wilhelm
scream, featured in every single star wars movie, just 20 minutes in when Finn is
shooting the stormtroopers with the TIE fighter while escaping the Finalizer. Speaking of
Finn, his stormtrooper code is FN-2187, conveniently the same number as Leias cell.
Cool right? Not only did it reference quite a few things from the original trilogy, but also
remade some of the classic things in the original trilogy- an even bigger giant superlaser
weapon threatening to destroy the galaxy, an even better charming pilot that saves the
day, an even creepier room where the evil people talk to their leader, and even new
wacky alien cantina music. And ironically enough, the giant superlaser drains a sun to
gain power, which makes it the first time a star has been used for war in Star Wars.

After the destruction of the weapon, the movie breaks off with a different plotline
at the end that should make for a great next movie. Rey has found Luke Skywalker and
is most likely going to be trained by him. Kylo Ren and General Hux have probably
escaped the explosion of StarKiller Base and it is time to complete [Kylos] training, as
Leader Snoke so creepily says. Hopefully the next movie will have another exciting duel
in a similarly awesome setting and a less predictable ending, but overall this 92% rated
movie was a great addition to the star wars franchise and a strong base for more to
come.