Can't We All Just Admit That Force Awakens Is Not a Very Good Movie? [SPOILERS GALORE]

I just saw Force Awakens, a few weeks after waves of collective adulation greeted its premiere. That’s why I did not expect to slowly sink into a viscous puddle of disappointment as I watched it. It is just not a very good movie. It’s not anywhere near as bad as the prequels (a low bar if there ever was one). It’s just enthusiastically, competently mediocre -- and an utterly unworthy successor to the core franchise.

To me, the real wonder is there aren't millions of geeks rioting in the streets right now, enraged that JJ Abrams, its widely-admired director/co-writer, brought nothing like the creative ambition or thematic register which made the original movies so cherished. (I have a theory why, which I’ll come down the way.) Abrams is being universally praised for what's essentially a dodgy, inconsistent, repetitive, poorly told, frankly careless $200 million Star Wars fan fic movie.

How non-great is Force Awakens? Let me highlight just three profound shortcomings among many -- and from this point (last warning!) it’s spoilers all the way down:

Discontinuity

The troubles with Force Awakens begin even with the opening crawl. When Return of the Jedi ends, the Emperor is dead and his fleet is in disarray; with galaxy-wide celebrations, we are meant to think that the rebels have decisively won. Yet somehow despite this, fragments of the Empire have become even more organized and powerful. Has the Republic already waned due to internal corruption or infighting, and if so, how? (Which would probably make for a better and more original story, come to think of it. In fact, Lucas originally planned episodes 7-9 to be about the Republic’s rebuilding.) No answer to that, or even a hint at how the Empire could return so quickly, so effectively. How did the First Order get the money to build a THIRD Death Star -- Stormtrooper bake sales?

Speaking of which, these leaps across vast crevasses of continuity and internal logic only hint at even worse problems:  

Repetition

Force Awakens recycles key plot points and character arcs that have already been done once or even twice in the previous movies. Among them:

• Rylo Ken: Like Darth Vader... only Darthier!
• Starkiller Base: Like the Death Star - only deathier!
• More secret plans hidden inside a droid… only secreter! In a droid even rollier!

And so on. I sank in my chair when I realized the story was lurching toward yet another planet-destroying superweapon that must be stopped yet again at the last possible second by yet another ragtag band of outmatched rebels who must dive into yet another trench to attack still another vulnerability -- for the third time in seven movies. The derivativeness here is so evidently embarrassing to the filmmakers, they actually stop the action to show a 3D infographic whose only purpose is to illustrate how much larger Starkiller Base is than the Death Star. (As if we’re then supposed to think, “Oh it’s bigger -- totally different, then.”)

Disregard

I am not categorically opposed to the idea of killing off Han Solo, actually, but the way Abrams does it is unbelievably reckless and uncaring. And on a far more basic level, it’s just bad storytelling. To understand why, consider the first time Han’s death was contemplated: At the end of Jedi. This idea was proposed by the filmmaker who knows Han Solo best: Harrison Ford himself. As Ford recently explained:

"I thought the best utility of the character would be for him to sacrifice himself to a high ideal and give a little bottom, a little gravitas to the enterprise, not that there wasn’t some already but I just wanted in on some part of it. That was at the third occasion of filming the original three.”

Ford instinctively knows it would have made sense for Solo to die at the end of the first trilogy, because it vividly dramatizes -- and makes we the audience keenly feel -- the years of pain and sacrifice the rebels and our heroes in particular just went through, over the course of three films. And we would have seen Solo die after evolving from being a mercenary scoundrel to the best and noblest version of himself. It would have hurt to see him go, but it would have also felt inevitable, even necessary. (Most Star Wars fans rank Jedi on a level of quality far below the first two movies; its absurdly cheery, too-pat conclusion is a key reason for that.)

Contrast that with how Han Solo is killed in Force Awakens:

By a son we know little about, after a long period of estrangement we don’t witness, for reasons we are not shown. His death is not the necessary end to a long story arc, but a jarring unearned plot twist that is shocking only in its total arbitrariness.

It gets still worse after Han’s murder, because the impact of his death is barely touched upon. One of the franchise’s most beloved characters -- and in the story, one of the rebels’ most legendary figure -- is mourned onscreen for a minute or two at most. And the story keeps rumbling along, scarcely undeterred. Everything we know about Chewbacca, for instance, suggests that he’d be permanently devastated at losing Han; here, instead, he just emits a few mournful howls and then cheerfully hops back onto the Falcon with his new captain.

These are not subtle or inconsequential flaws, but tied up into the core plot of the film, and contradict the letter and spirit of the first trilogy. So why are Star Wars enthusiasts so uniform in their love for this movie? That answer is a whole other post (book?) but I believe it roughly goes like this:

We’ve reached a point in our popular culture where the franchise has become essential to who we are and how we understand ourselves. And for decades, we’ve collectively told ourselves an exile narrative in which the “true” Star Wars has been exploited and besmirched by its corrupt and indifferent creator (I mean Lucas), forced to flee into the past. So we need to see Star Wars redeemed and set back into its rightful place, part of our everyday present.

And Force Awakens is the last, best chance for that to happen. People love this movie no matter what because to do otherwise is to lose a piece of our shared folklore forever.

 

Note to regular readers: No, New World Notes isn’t taking its core focus off VR and games. But given Star Wars’ massive influence on all that, I think all this needs to be said.

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Comments

[Mike K.]

Well, I agree with most of your points but at the same time it made me feel like a little kid again so I can't complain too much. That said, I think that Star Wars got off lucky. JJ Abrams completely destroyed the new Star Trek movies (and Star Trek Beyond looks completely ridiculous). I'll never understand why he is lauded as a filmmaker. He doesn't have the best track record (Lost anyone?)

I suppose we should just be glad that he didn't kill Han, Chewie, Leia and BB8 in the first 15 minutes of the movie by crashing the Falcon into some kind of space rock made from red death matter. Then Luke would have to use his force powers to go back in time to warn them all and save the future.

It could have been worse. So. Much. Worse.

[sirhc deSantis]

"Stormtrooper bake sales" Best Line of 2016 ! More spoilers please.

(And against all odds actually liked the 2 new trek films)

[Marjorie F]

Mostly agree with you, WJA. The movie was a disappointment. And the reasons you cite are valid ones.

Thanks for speaking out.

[Bixyl Shuftan]

Too bad they didn't make movies based on the Thrawn Trillogy - https://foodonthetablesite.wordpress.com/2015/12/28/the-best-star-wars-story-that-will-never-make-the-movies/

[UCMO]

The Death Star contractor should be fired... always with the trenches, you would think they would learn not to put in trenches!

[Toon Raider]

The Force Awakens was the same thing as A New Hope?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdDVWh-1loU

Transformers no.5 might be a flop! if they make Unicron the size of a Football stadium instead of being a Planet that devours planets!

flops like Silver Surfer making Galactus into a rain cloud in the movie.

Short term they made money at the box office but alienated many fans forever the ones who buy all the cheesy aftermarket stuff.

[Metacam Oh]

Im glad someone else thought it was mediocre too.

[Orca Flotta]

Nothing wrong with Abrams's direction but the scriptwriter should be hung by his balls!

... oh, that was Abrams as well ... :o

[Riesstu]

Discontinuity? Three decades have passed in the Star Wars universe since the end of RotJ. That's simply too much ground to cover in one film, so shortcuts had to be taken. If you want the real story of what happened after the Empire's defeat, go to the Expanded Universe literature (which Disney unceremoniously declared non-canon, a massive slap in the face to both the fans and the people who worked on it). The Empire survived, albeit much reduced in size. It even had a name: the Imperial Remnant. It remained a powerful threat to the restored Republic, under leaders such as Grand Admiral Thrawn, Admiral Daala, and the truly evil Ysanne Isard (she murdered her own father, and frankly made Darth Vader look like a boy scout).

As for Han's death, I agree, it was shockingly casual, and far from the heroic sacrifice he deserved. Leia didn't get to do much except stand around looking miserable, and Luke's reappearance might as well have been held over to Episode VIII. Maybe he'll actually get to say something next time?

Plot elements and character types from Episode IV admittedly were recycled, but this happened many times in the EU: vengeful sith lords, power-hungry Imperials, planet-killing superweapons in the hands of despots, and a beleagured Republic fighting to stop them all...a cycle only broken by the appearance of the Yuuzhan Vong, which forced Empire and Republic to become allies.

That being said, Episode VII is better than the prequel trilogy - but then, so would sitting in a barrel of manure for six hours.

[Aliasi Stonebender]

I don't feel like admitting it because... I don't think the Force Awakens was a bad movie?

[Iggy]

I'll be a contrarian. I loved the film. I'm not a SW fanatic (Star Trek TOS or GTFO). I despised the prequels and disliked "Return of the Jedi." Yet "The Force Awakens" worked as a good Space-Opera yarn for me. Rey, Finn, and Poe are welcome additions.

SW has always been Space Opera, like Trek. It's not deep or intellectual SF in spite of the hokey religions and ancient weapons. But at its best it is tremendous fun. And I was at a local cinema in 1977 on opening day, you young whipper-snappers.

BTW, Han shot first and always will, Lucas you punk.

[Eleri Ethaniel]

pretty much the best rebuttal to all the over-dramatic FA HAS PLOT HOLES, AND IT SUCKS! articles out there.

https://www.facebook.com/notes/matty-granger/at-long-lastmy-star-wars-episode-vii-review-the-force-awakens-the-rise-of-idiot-/10153163095086277

[Catten]

Being a huge Star Wars fan I truly enjoyed it. I went out of the theatre with a huge grin on my face :D

Looking at the votes on IMDB, so did the majority of people.

[Desmond Shang]

I'm not sure, in the nearly infinite mathematical set of possible 'Star Wars Movies', that any particular one of them could have been universally good.

It's a generational thing. I think a lot of us really connected to Luke and his being stuck with chores and responsibilities, and a very uninspiring future, while the call and magic of greater things finally drew him to his hero's journey... and growing up in the process.

It's almost more fun watching a young person connect to that element of the story in the new movie, than watching the movie itself. You can see it on their faces, see them laugh at the funny parts, and actually relate a bit to the dysfunctional Han and Leia, much like young people today relate to aging hippies from the 60's. That was the whole point of the experience, I think.

* * * * *

Also, sort of like remembering you enjoyed Pizza Planet as a kid. And upon your return as an adult you find the pizza a bit lacking, and there's a lot of racket from all those darned kids at the next table. What's changed, is us.

[Mr. Obvious]

After reading Eleri's review rebuttal-to-end-all-rebuttals...

...THE MOVIE STILL SUCKS.

[Taste In Actual Quality]

The hugest LOL possible at the worryingly pathetic, laughably tasteless, trolling geek prick you are and your equally retarded, cringe-worthy cryfest here, fucktard.

Force Awakens is still FACTUALLY the highest grossing/most critically and commercially acclaimed movie of 2015, shyte for brains. And no amount of pre-school level bitching and moaning will ever change that.

The sooner you learn this level of basic common sense, the sooner a human female will actually touch you for the first time ever.

You're welcome X )

[Taste In Actual Quality]

And little FYI for ya, nerd-boy.....

"Film Critics are people who GET PAID to write actual intelligent writing pieces for websites that actually generate money, not embarrassing stunted man-children who anonymously post pre-school quality, incoherent garbage to a fuckin' worthless, irrelevant BLOG URL.

XD XD XD XD XD XD

Even more actual facts/basic common sense. And all free of charge too!
You're oh-so welcome ; )

*out*