: Already posted something like this on FB, but wanted to come join the conversation here, too.
Personally, I think this movie was something of a no-win situation for the producers, and that Force Awakens was pretty much the best case scenario: something that sparks life into the poorly-treated but much-loved franchise, restarting a new series of films with new characters, and still heaping on the nostalgia for all that's come before (at least in the 70s and 80s).
That's not to say there weren't some mis-steps: Han's death was fine, but if that wasn't a great opportunity to see Chewie go completely nuts, I don't know where they'd find one. It would have been amazing to see Chewie cut loose through a horde of Troopers, taking out his wookie rage on those that just killed his best friend. And the overall reaction to Han's death was badly handled. Rey seemed most affected by it, frankly, and Leia and Chewie were robbed of a moment there.
I'm also not sure how they bring Kylo Ren back, as a character. Other than a Vader-style deathbed conversion back to the Light, I don't see how they reclaim the character of the asshat who killed his father (who just happened to be the beloved Han Solo).
But the movie was a ton of fun. Was it derivative? Sure. But I'd argue that derivative is exactly what fans have wanted for the last thirty-plus years. We wanted to see our old friends again, and now we have. We can see them climb out of another Sarlaac-pit-of-their-own-making, and see the ends of their stories, and the beginnings of others. Again, best-case scenario: respect the old, invest in the new.
Most of all, I think that those of us who lived and loved the Star Wars franchise as kids (I was 7 when the first one came out) can't be objective about this, because we're not comparing the new movie to the old. We're comparing the joy of the experience of Star Wars, and Empire, and Jedi, to one moviegoing experience--playing with the toys, talking about the movies with friends, wearing the underoos, dressing like them at Halloween, all of it. We're comparing an entire childhood to one flick; and no matter how good that flick is, it's never going to compare favorably to all the fun you remember as a kid with a toy blaster at your side.
My daughters (12 and 16) love the new movie. They want the toys, they want to see the next one. They know enough about Han to care that he was killed, but love Rey because that's THEIR Star Wars now. That, to me, is an amazing accomplishment. I am so happy to be able to share this with my girls. And the fact that I can take them and talk about it with them and anticipate the next movie? That's a great gift.
Just my two credits.
