Wow, I’ve been assuming this whole time that The First Order was reusing the Empire logo. I agree, that it can be looked at, as if The First Order has conscription at the “youngling” age, rather than mass kidnapping. Maybe it’s akin to the child-soldiers we read about. However, Finn goes on to say that he was taken from a family he will never know. If Finn’s experience is common, what kind of society does The First Order have? Generational family relationships are virtually abolished in that section of the galaxy? You grow up not having a real name, and not having any siblings or parents. Or is that only for storm troopers? So the storm troopers are these weird people in society that, due to their conscription, don’t have families, don’t have real names, and are brainwashed. Are they trained to fight their whole life? What happens when they get too old? Are the genetically modified? I think what little tidbits were raised in TFA about stormtroopers just brings about way too many questions.
I’m not trying to nitpick it, as I understand it’s merely an adventure movie for general audiences, and as I watched it, things didn’t bother me too much.
However, considering what I know about Star Wars and the production involved, it slightly took me out of the movie because the ideas of proxy wars and armies comes across, really, as just a quick-fix-excuse, to reuse the Rebels vs Empire concept, and to essentially remake A New Hope with sprinkles of Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Disney paid billions and doesn’t want to take any risks with the franchise, so they’re relying on the familiar. They’re recycling things. Nothing feels organic. I can see the reasoning behind what appears on screen, before I see a story.
For example, Finn was taken as a child, and has a change of heart occurring during his first battle. On top of that he’s revealed to be a janitor. It seems like these revelations aren’t organic to the story and feel more like an excuse to make him appear pure of heart, a goody guy, fitting into the black and white concept of good vs evil.
The Star Killer. Most adult Star Wars fans know that the hero’s original name was Anakin Starkiller. Later on The Force Unleashed used the name for their protagonist. Now it’s being used for the Death Star 3.0. I see screen writing taking place before I see a story.
Han went back to what he knew-smuggling. Does it make sense story-wise? Maybe. But it makes more sense that the producers wanted to illicit nostalgia from the audiences by having Han look and act pretty much the same way they remember him from 25 years ago. He’s made no progress. While that’s true of some people in real life, it comes across more like producer-imposed restrictions on the screen writing.
Rey getting Force-knowledge and lightsaber skills out of nowhere? Maybe the Force has chosen her to bring balance once again. Maybe she’s a Skywalker or a Kenobi. But really, the producers wanted a cool light saber battle, but they also wanted to have a Luke Skywalker-like protagonist who’s just finding out about their destiny, and is ignorant of The Force. Just have her close her eyes and play some theme music. It’s the cart leading the horse.
I just want to be clear, TFA was a fun film, and I believe that Abrams, and all those involved, were successful in what they were trying to achieve. But I don’t see myself rewatching it anytime soon.
