I didn't have one. I wasn't going to risk missing a thing. And as the man once said:
So, scatological internet humour aside, how was it? Pretty good. Overall I'd say it's quite possibly the most Star Warsy thing I've seen since... Well, Star Wars.
I'd say that's probably a good sign.
What I think is interesting is how it feels naturally Star Warsy, rather than coming across as, if you'll forgive the unintended pun, somewhat forced. That it manages this whilst cramming in what basically amounts to the entirety of the original trilogy in terms of locations, visual reference and even story beats is pretty spectacular. All whilst actually being it's own thing and setting things up for future instalments.
It's impressive. Most impressive.
So, yes. We have a desert world, an ice world, a forest world. We have monolithic high tech facilities and low down hives of scum and villainy. There are space battles, lightsaber duels, commando raids, sneaking about and blowing stuff up to take down the shields. There's a an evil masked guy dressed all in black with a family connection to the heroes, under the thrall of some shadowy even more evil type dude.
Although I fully admit the giant space Gollum angle came somewhat unexpectedly.
Young heroes rise up from obscurity to embrace their destiny and save the galaxy. Catalysed no less by the death of an older mentor figure at the hands of the evil masked dude in black.
Seriously, are you not getting just how Star Wars this shit is?
It's not that they've thrown things into a blender, so much as as refinery. They've very carefully distilled the essence of what made the originals so beloved and said, "Hey, why don't we do that? Only MORESO.". It's kinda weird really. We've become so used to things being rebooted and sequelized with what in most cases seems like open contempt for the source material. To see someone even TRY to do it well is slightly jarring. To see them SUCCEED is deeply heartening. That this movement seems to be primarily coming out of the fucking DISNEY corporation is almost baffling. But between this and what they've been doing with the Marvel films it looks like somebody has finally made the connection between making stuff that doesn't suck and making ALL THE MONEY.
So... To go into more detail is probably going to involve spoilers, although to be fair I've already said too much.
I don't think there's really any one particular element that strikes me as being out of place or problematic. The lack of Luke is the basic MacGuffin driving the plot, and since the film is trying to introduce a new set of characters as well as pass things over from the old, choosing to focus on Han Solo as the main classic hero makes a lot of sense. It gives a lot more room for everyone else to do stuff and establish themselves, as well as saving something up for the next instalment. And this is, after all, proper Star Wars. It's only right that Han gets first shot.
As for the new characters... Well, admittedly Poe Dameron is bit generic, but it's not like he really get's all that much to do. A bit more of a supporting character so far. Finn is actually pretty great, in that he's actually kind of rubbish, but is trying his best to do the right thing. That gives him lots of nice character growth here, as well as a firm foundation to build on for future instalments. Plus you get some nice comedic touches with the whole space janitor thing, and making him an (ex) Stormtrooper gives a nice alternative perspective. But what's really interesting is that whilst all the trailers and promo pics have concentrated on him holding the Lightsaber, the real hero is Rey.
What can we say about her? Written as an apology to all womankind for that whole ghastly drippy dying of sadness Padme debacle? Kinda. But she does kick all the ass. Almost excessively so. But then when you're strong in the force and have a mysterious past, who's to say what's going on? I'm sure it'll be interesting finding out.
Also, it's nice that we finally someone with a British accent in Star Wars who isn't evil.
The stuff with Rey's past is of course just one unresolved plot thread. Along with questions like just who Giant Evil Space Gollum is, what went down with Kylo Ren and why it is that when Jedi masters fuck things up they seem to think that best thing to do is go hide somewhere for a couple of decades and wait for someone else to sort it out. It does give the film a slightly odd vibe, in that it does end up feeling a little like part 2 of something. It's Empire Strikes Back syndrome.
Let me explain. This is something you see in a lot of trilogies. Be it films, games, whatever. You'll have a part one telling a nice self contained story. Then it's popular enough that sequels are wanted. And you get a part 2 that expands on the first ones set up, changes things around slightly and explicitly sets things up for at least one part. Empire is the most obvious and relevant example here, but there are plenty of others. Go play through the first three Halo games. Or if you're feeling particularly masochistic watch all the Matrix films. You get the idea.
The Force Awakens is of course doing the same bridging the gap kind of job, only in the leading spot in a trilogy as it's a sequel to the existing ones as well as an into to the next 2. And yes, I realize that it says part 7 on the tin, and so calling it part 1 that feels kind of like part 2 is a bit odd, but it's my damn blog so I'll gibber incoherently about whatever I damn well please.
So, does it work as decent movie? Yes. Does it work as a decent Star Wars movie? Yes. Does it set things up interestingly for further instalments? Definitely. Will those further instalments fulfil the promise shown here? I've no idea. I'd hope so, but only time will tell. It's a promising start though.
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