Top Ten Things I DO want
to see in The Force Awakens
For the lucky Star
Wars fans who got tickets to the early screenings, tonight is the night all
will be revealed in the newest installment of the most-beloved intergalactic
saga of all-time. For me, Friday night is the big night, and the wait is
killing me. The anticipation for The
Force Awakens can be felt around the globe, and ever since it was announced
over three years ago (!), fans have been speculating as to what exactly will feature
in this newest adventure in a galaxy far, far away. I have some theories, as
well as this list of things I hope to see—things not already confirmed by the
posters and three main trailers I’ve seen. If I see all of these things, plus a
well-told story with three-dimensional characters (and minus the stuff on my
Top Ten things I DON’T want to see list), I can’t see how it won’t be as good
as the original.
10. At least half-a-dozen
lens flares
This is probably a gross underestimation, but c’mon, it’s
J.J. Abrams directing, we know there’re going to be more lens flares in The Force Awakens than there were Ewoks
on Endor. The only one I’ve noticed in the trailers is the red flash of light
outside the window Kylo Ren is looking through (I probably missed a bunch)
but I’m sure there will be many more, so it comes more as an obligated
expectation than a desire. If there are less than half a dozen lens flares, I
might actually get concerned J.J. didn’t truly direct this thing. If you don’t
know what I’m talking about, google lens flares. J.J’s Star Trek movie is one of the results. It should explain
everything.
9. Aliens that look
like dinosaurs
I love the creatures that occupy the Star Wars universe, and from the brief behind-the-scenes images and
videos I’ve seen, it looks like The Force
Awakens will feature many new aliens, and hopefully, many of them look
reptilian, or dinosaur-like. Think back to some of the main creatures
throughout the original trilogy and prequel trilogy: what do the Acklay, Reek,
Dewback, and Rancor all have in common? They all kind of look like alien-type
dinosaurs. I really hope The Force
Awakens sticks to this frequently-reptilian-looking aesthetic for any new
critters that make their way on screen.
8. “I have a bad
feeling about this.”
Someone’s going to say it. This simple little line that’s
been in every Star Wars movie ever is
going to pop up somewhere, the only question is: who’s going to say it? I hope
it’s someone from the original trilogy, maybe Han Solo, or Luke Skywalker, the
originator of the line (Though he specifically said: “I have a very bad feeling about this.”). It
doesn’t really matter who says it,
just that somebody says it.
7. A new Sith Lord
From what I’ve heard, there are potentially three villains
that will be in The Force Awakens. We
already know the look and name of one: Kylo Ren, played by Adam Driver. We know
he’s a Darth Vader fanatic, constructed his own lightsabre complete with a
hilt, and is going to finish what Vader started (though what he’s referring to,
exactly, I’m still not sure). But is Kylo Ren the new Sith lord for the trilogy?
I’m not so sure. It seems like the dark side of the force is strong with him, and
Star Wars has always had a dark lord
of the Sith as the principal villain, but two other actors are listed as
playing villains, Andy Serkis and Max Von Sydow. We know Serkis is playing a
motion-capture villain character named Supreme Leader Snoke, but we don’t know
anything else about him (not even what he looks like), and nothing is known
about Von Sydow’s role. I have a feeling one of them will be the true Sith lord
our heroes will come to fear over the course of this new trilogy, similar to
the emperor from both previous trilogies.
6. Chewbacca pulls
someone’s arms off
In Episode IV, C3PO
and R2D2 play a game of weird alien chess with Han Solo’s furry sidekick
Chewie, and their conversation is as follows:
Chewbacca: “Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrgh!” C-3PO: “He
made a fair move. Screaming about it can't help you.” Han Solo: “Let him
have it. It's not wise to upset a Wookiee.” C-3PO: “But sir, nobody
worries about upsetting a droid.” Han Solo: “That's 'cause droids don't
pull people's arms out of their sockets when they lose. Wookiees are known to
do that.”
Please, let me see Chewie pull someone’s arms off. Even
pulling one arm off would be great. I’ve wondered if this is the reason C3PO
has one red arm in the new movie, but I want to actually see Chewie pull C3PO’s arm off! Or anyone’s arm. Or anything’s arm. Please.
5. R2D2 and BB8
interact
It’s already well-known there will be a new droid named BB8
cruising around in The Force Awakens,
and I have to say, even without having seen it in the movie, I already love
this little droid. The fact that it isn’t cgi and actually exists and operates
is even better. We also know a more famous droid will be returning, one that is
similar to BB8, and that is the beloved R2D2. From the trailers and toys
showing what BB8 is capable of, it looks and sounds an awful lot like Artoo,
and I’m guessing we’ll have the usual method of other characters knowing what
BB8 is saying and then the audience will figure it out based on their
responses. But what if BB8 and R2D2 actually get to meet up and have a
conversation? Imagine Artoo beep-boop-beeping to BB8, then BB8 beep-boop-beeps
back, then Artoo rocks back and forth and makes another response, then C3PO is
there and he’s all “Oh my, Artoo, how rude!” And BB8’s all rolling around
beeping back… I really hope we get to see that interaction, it would be
hilarious and a perfect way of meshing the old with the new. Chances seem good
it’ll happen.
4. Something huge
make an even huger explosion
Do I even need to explain this one? Things in the Star Wars universe always go boom. J.J.
Abrams likes to make things go boom. It’s a match made in heaven. I almost
guarantee we see the new Starkiller Base (as seen on the poster) blow up a
planet or two. Or three. Or a whole star system. It will be glorious.
3. A Stormtrooper
actually hits someone with a blaster
Seriously. It’s been thirty years. Discounting the one guy
who stunned Princess Leia in the original and the other who grazed her in Return of the Jedi, not one of these
guys has ever shot anyone with a blaster, let alone actually killed someone. In
Jedi the Stormtroopers got their
asses handed to them by a bunch of teddy bears with rocks and sharp sticks. I
hope someone trained them on using the sights on their blasters so they can
actually hit something! In the
trailers we’ve seen Stormtroopers getting blasted as per usual, and some of
them have flamethrowers, which is cool, but let one of them hit something with
a well-placed shot from a blaster. Hell, let them kill one of the heroes with a blaster! And that brings me to my
next point…
2. An important
character dies
There’s a serious lack of stakes in big budget blockbusters
these days. Is it a brand-new problem Hollywood’s facing? Absolutely not. There
have been moments all throughout the Star
Wars films with a false sense of dread, because you know the main
characters aren’t going to die. It’s a problem that keeps popping up in
superhero movies especially, and I’m getting tired of it, particularly when
there are TV shows like Game of Thrones,
with a cinematic-level of production value that kills main characters left and
right, which keeps the tension constant, because you’re never sure who will
make it. Star Wars has enough
characters as it is, and many of them are beloved, so if it worked within the
context of the story (don’t just kill a character for the sake of being
shocking, that’s as dumb as having no one die), I don’t see why they wouldn’t
do it. Now, take this with a grain of salt. When I say important, I mean more like one of the new heroes that will be
introduced, like a Poe Dameron or Finn, not a Chewbacca or Princess Leia or,
dare I even say it, Luke Skywalker. I think it could go either way at this
point, as to whether an original trilogy character dies or not, but either way,
someone better bite the dust.
1. An awesome
lightsabre duel
Here’s the thing: Star
Wars should always be about the characters first, and the action should
come second. In Episode IV, we cared
about what was going on because of the characters and the way they played off
each other and interacted (also part of the reason we didn’t care about what happened in the prequels). Obi Wan’s brief
battle with Darth Vader was cool not because of the actual fight itself (which
was actually kind of slow and, to be perfectly honest, awkward) but because of
what we knew about both characters and their history. Hopefully The Force Awakens takes this same path,
but at the end of the day, all that character work just won’t be as memorable
if those characters aren’t put to the test in the ultimate Star Wars-ey action scene of all, and that is the absolutely
crucial lightsabre duel. Every Star Wars
movie has had a light sabre duel, and with each one, the duels keep getting
bigger. If you go by order of release, the last Star Wars movie, Revenge of
the Sith, had the most over-the-top lightsabre duel of all, but it was so over-the-top and so full of visual
effects, it lost the human element. I know The
Force Awakens is going to have a lightsabre duel, but I don’t know who it
will be between (Finn and Kylo Ren? Rey and Kylo Ren? Kylo Ren and Luke? Leia
and Snoke? Luke and Leia?!?), and I don’t know what the stakes are going to be,
and that excites me not to know, but I also don’t know if J.J. Abrams is going
to try and out-do the battles of the past and make this one bigger than ever. I
hope he doesn’t, and I don’t think he will. He seems to know what he’s doing,
which is why an awesome lightsabre duel is the number one thing I can’t wait to
see in this new movie.
So there you have it
folks! I’ll return tomorrow fresh from the theater to give you my initial
thoughts on the movie—not so much in a review-style format as it will be just
my overall first impression. May the Force be strong with Episode VII!
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