So as I restate about every time I do make exceptions and post here, this will be brief due to limited time. I’m not even going to write an original post. I sent an email to a childhood friend today after he shared his love of TFA and asked me my opinion. This friend still holds a special place in my heart (see this topic I started: http://originaltrilogy.com/topic/A-Lengthy-Stroll-Down-Star-Wars-Memory-Lane/id/15211). Here is my discussion of the movie, which is my my review of the film and my suggestions for a fan edit:
Now on to Star Wars: The Force Awakens. I have to say, I find myself somewhat less optimistic than you. That’s not to say that I didn’t like the movie; I just found myself a bit disappointed, hoping to be blown away, and truthfully just watching a movie that I found to be an enjoyable, if derivative, flick. Too much of the story was predictable, and when I say derivative, it felt like a carbon copy of A New Hope. The Republic capital (named Hosnian Prime) was little more than Alderaan, blown up by what is basically a third Death Star. The First Order is of course an outgrowth of the Empire, but the setup with it and the Resistance are too much like the Rebellion/Empire dynamic. Kylo Ren’s murder of his father Han is reminiscent of Vader killing his father-like former master Obi-Wan. There was an X-wing run much like the trench run of A New Hope, a latent Force-sensitive discovering her powers who comes from a desert planet, a cutesy astromech droid carrying essential information that the bad guys don’t want in the wrong hands and are also trying to obtain, a large hologram of the hideous leader of the bad guys with Force abilities speaking to his evil Force using minion (this is obviously more reminiscent of The Empire Strikes Back), etc. I honestly feel like it was too much of a rehash.
Furthermore, the pacing was too fast for my tastes, the product of overall poor editing choices (the worst offender being what you mentioned about the lack of any caring at all when Hosnian Prime was destroyed), contrived solutions (again, as you mentioned, R2 waking up for no understandable reason), the problem with the map (I could understand if it was some “small” section of the Galaxy, which would technically still be a huge area and could be more difficult to identify), and this is compounded by the fact that their galaxy must be tremendously smaller than ours, where Starkiller is apparently no farther than Mars and Hosnian Prime than Venus from Earth, considering how the heroes could observe the destructive beam and the destruction of the other planets with their naked eyes–if planets and systems are so close, then it shouldn’t be that hard to explore all the planets in the Galaxy and find Luke. Furthermore, what is the relationship of the Republic to the Resistance? Is the Resistance essentially state-sponsored terrorism, but of course with good guys? Why are the good guys still in the minority? It seems to me that we should be seeing a legitimate government ruling over numerous systems battling another legitimate but tyrannical government. And finally, I was really disappointed in John Williams’ score. In the original trilogy I can imagine every moment of the movies just by listening to the music. In the prequels it was more forgettable but still had highlights. I honestly cannot remember a single moving piece of music from this newest entry–a real disappointment for me. Granted, I’ve only seen it once, but nothing really stood out to me. Even the opening theme sounded weaker, and was recorded by a different orchestra than past entries.
That said, I did enjoy it, and all the above criticism, while legitimate in my eyes, surely sounds far worse than I truly feel about it. Yes, I was a bit disappointed. But I reflected a great deal on the movie the next day, and thought how in reality, I think I really enjoyed it. It was simply much different than I expected. So let me enumerate that which pleased me, with a few suggestions to improve the film.
Kylo Ren was cool and interesting, with his conflicted nature giving him greater depth. His face reveal would have been more potent in my mind if the first time we saw him was when Han went to face him. Speaking of which, Han’d death was a good thing as well, if a bit predictable (of course, though I did a great job avoiding spoilers, I knew Harrison wanted him killed in Return of the Jedi, so I kind of guessed it would happen anyway). The new characters were great: Finn, Rey, and I was surprised at how much I liked BB-8. Some characters were underdeveloped, Poe in particular, but he too was cool. I agree, the lightsaber fights were very fun, and though a subject of criticism from some, I enjoyed Kylo Ren’s saber.
As you know, fan editing is an art where I hang out on the Net–not an art at which I am skilled, but which I appreciate in others. If I were to suggest a fan edit, I’d try to cut Kylo Ren’s face from Rey’s torture scene, possibly even cutting him removing his mask, though I don’t know if either is possible while retaining the display of her latent Force abilities. I would cut the visibility of the Starkiller’s destruction to the heroes on the Resistance base planet, and to give it weight, I would add the scene(s) listed here clarifying the relationship between the Republic and the Resistance and actually showing Hosnian Prime before its doom.
http://www.slashfilm.com/star-wars-the-force-awkens-deleted-scenes/
With that, I’d give some indication that this base existed before it all of the sudden unleashes its power. It seemed to be a sort of ghost in the machine for the bad guys, and I always am bothered by such things. Such could be at least suggested in the opening crawl, along with further clarification on the politics of the Galaxy today. As I’ve read others say, while the prequels were bogged down with politics, there wasn’t enough in The Force Awakens.
Another interesting thought and suggestion from a site I watch would be to even arrange the story so that Hosnian Prime is the planet in danger at the end, and that the Resistance manages to destroy the Starkiller, but only after it blows up Hosnian Prime, thus further distinguishing the movie from A New Hope. It would be a bittersweet ending and wouldn’t offend future installments in the series, as the Republic capital would still be gone.
I would probably add musical cues from older Star Wars movies, even from the prequels if need be. I’d also add less important scenes, if only to slow down the pace a bit, and hopefully some would clarify other mysteries (like where Luke’s lightsaber came from). I think this movie is far better than the prequels, but I’ll never enjoy it like the originals without some serious editing. Lots of great setup in the movie, but not executed as well as I’d hope. I probably need to read the novel, as I have a feeling I’ll enjoy that far more. It’s written by Alan Dean Foster, a great author who ghost wrote the original Star Wars novel before it even was changed to A New Hope. I know it includes a number of these deleted scenes and I think that will help me appreciate the story better.
Anyway, I know my feelings are harsh. I need to see it again, but probably won’t till it’s Blu-ray release. I’m sure I’ll like it better then, as I won’t have the same sorts of expectations and will have more opportunities to appreciate it for what it is and look for the minutia. I greatly enjoyed the dialogue, the introductions and first half of the movie with little complaint. I’m excited for the franchise’s renewal and hope it will pan out far better than the prequels. I don’t love the movie, but I do like it.