I’m reposting this here because it will be fun watching some of you try to explain it away or insist it’s not the same thing.
It isn’t the existence of those that bothers me, it’s the number and density of them at the beginning of TFA that I disliked. Had they been more spread out, and/or with a couple of them feeling less coincidental, it would have been far better.
STAR WARS had a lot of plot conveniences
- R2 and C3P0 happen to land somewhere conveniently on the side of the planet where Luke is
R2 piloted the escape pod to the location Leia told him to go. The escape pod was navigable, unlike the TIE fighter Poe and Finn were in in TFA, where the TIE fighter was shot and crash landed on Jakku.
- Then later when they’re separated they somehow conveniently meet up on the sandcrawler so they can be sold to Owen and Beru.
They didn’t conveniently “meet up.” The Jawas are scavengers. It’s what they do. All day long. Considering how slow C3PO walks and the rocky terrain, the two droids were not far apart. Not a stretch at all, considering how close the droids were to each other and considering the fact that C3PO actually called the Sandcrawler to him. Moreover this is an inconsequential convenience, like the one below. More storytelling than plot. The droids didn’t have to separate. That was just story telling.
- Then the other Astromech poops out conveniently so that R2 can be purchased
An inconsequential convenience, like the one above. More part of the story than the plot. The “convenience” could be quickly undone by the director or script writer simply telling the actor to buy R2 and not the red droid first and you wind up with the same result.
- Then Luke somehow conveniently finds part of Leia’s message while cleaning R2
Did this person actually watch ANH? R2 deliberately showed Luke an innocuous piece of the message to trick Luke into removing the restraining bolt from R2 so R2 could escape uncle Owen’s farm and continue his mission.
and this doesn’t necessarily bother me because it’s just one of those things that has always been in Star Wars.
Guys, there is a difference between TFA and ANH, as far as the quality of the stories and plot are concerned. But to see the difference, you have to have an earnest, open mind and just allow the evidence to take you wherever it leads.