John Ostrander: Star Wars – The Trouble with Quibbles
Spoiler Alert: This column will deal with some plot points in Star Wars Episode VII The Force Awakens. It’s possible that you may not have seen it yet although I think just about anyone who has any real interest in seeing it has seen it. If you are one of those who haven’t seen it and want to avoid plot revelations, avoid this column. Likewise, if you just don’t give a hang about Star Wars, you might want to avoid it as well. It’ll just bore the life out of you. Fan geek stuff. You know.
I’ve seen the new Star Wars film, Episode VII The Force Awakens a couple of times. Twice at least in the IMAX theater and now on Blu-Ray. Basically, I really enjoyed it. It makes up for the prequels and does what I always wanted in the next Star Wars film – it tells me what happened next.
That said, I do have some quibbles. I don’t mind, as some fans do, that the movie seems to replicate plot points from the first SW film, a.k.a. Episode IV. They had the Death Star, Episode VII has the Starkiller Base. The planet Alderaan gets blowed up real good in Episode IV; the planetary system that included Coruscant got blowed up real good in Episode VII (which, by the way, I think was a mistake). Both films have the mentor figure killed off by the villain dressed in black who wears a helmet. Skywalker males are whiners in all the trilogies. Anakin was a big time whiner in the prequels, Luke whined at least at the start, and now Kylo Ren whines just before he commits patricide. Leia never whines. Han doesn’t whine. Just the Skywalker boys.
Some of the similarities annoy me. Why is it, when the Jedi suffer a set-back, they go off somewhere to pout… excuse me, “meditate”… while the galaxy falls apart? Yoda and Obi-Wan could have found and rallied the remaining Jedi (or created new ones) to go after Darth Vader and Darth Sidious. But no. The remaining Jedi lie in hiding while terrible things happen to the galaxy and the planet Alderaan gets blowed up real good while the remaining Jedi pout. I mean meditate. In the new film, it’s a big plot point that the galaxy is waiting for Luke to come back and save it. The bad guys are hunting for his location so they can kill him and wipe out any possibility of the Jedi really returning. That’s a given. Where’s Luke? Off pouting. I mean meditating. And the flaming Coruscant system gets blowed up real good.
I suppose it could be argued that Luke, after his first attempt to make more Jedi goes spectacularly bad, decides to go look for the first Jedi Temple since he doesn’t really know what he’s doing. However, that’s speculating without any real proof.
In the earlier Star Wars films, it is said that Darth Vader, a.k.a. Anakin Skywalker, still had some good in him. I’ve argued this before: I don’t see it. He killed children, he betrayed the Jedi Order, he helped hunt down remaining Jedi, he was complicit in the destruction of the planet Alderaan but it’s okay because, at the end, he turns on the evil Emperor because the latter is electrocuting Vader’s son.
Now, in the latest film, the new Man In Black, Kylo Ren, a.k.a. the son of Han Solo and Leia Organa, kills people, wrecks Luke’s nascent new Jedi Club, orders the destruction of a village, is complicit in the destruction of a whole planetary system and he commits patricide. Yes, this a-hole kills off his Dad, Han Solo, who is one of the favorite characters in Star Wars, who is trying to help him at the time. Kylo does lots of other nasty stuff but we know he will be around for the next film and probably the one after that. If the other films follow the pattern of the earlier films, we may see a desire to redeem the little bugger as Vader was redeemed.
Let me repeat. Kylo (Ben Solo) Ren commits patricide. Throughout history in Western Civilization, that is considered an unspeakable crime, an unforgivable sin. I loved Han Solo and, before he buys it in this film, we’re given some great moments that reminds us all why he’s such a favorite character. And his little snot of a son kills him.
I suppose in the next film or so we’ll get some of Ren’s backstory and maybe understand him better. As it is, I feel no sympathy, no empathy for him. I don’t think he is redeemable any more than I think Vader/Anakin was redeemed. IMO, he needs to die as soon as the plot can arrange it.
However, as I said before, these are quibbles. I don’t want to give the impression that I didn’t like the new Star Wars because I enjoyed it immensely. I found it satisfying and a great return to a galaxy far, far away. I think the female lead, Daisy Ridley playing Rey, is a wonderful addition to the saga. At recent conventions I’ve attended, I’ve seen a lot of young girls cos-playing Rey and I think that’s great. It invigorates Star Wars with new energy.
But they can shoot Kylo Ren any time.
Here’s a quibble: patricide is less unforgivable than destroying a populated planet.
(Also, just FYI, it was not the Coruscant system but the Hosnian system that was destroyed. I made that mistake when I first saw the movie as well, because, well, maybe it’s another quibble but if you’re going to blow up a planet you should probably give us some reason to care about it first, but, yeah. Not Coruscant.)
The odd thing is that they also didn’t actually give us that much reason to care about the destruction of the system afterwards. There’s no moment of mourning like Leia and Obi-Wan did for the planet Alderaan. Instead, everyone is more like “whelp, it’s us next.” That’s a real risk, but Battlestar Galactica has really shown how to handle that sort of thing without being yet another example of disaster spectacle.
John, I had a couple of minor quibbles, too, but nothing that stopped me from really loving the movie!
Good points about Kylo Ren…though as far as Vader (Annakin)…well, the whole point of the original trilogy was Vader’s redemption. Although I honestly do see your point.
My minor quibbles?
1) Though I get that it was a plot point, I still think it should have been Han and Chewie flying the Falcon when we first saw our beloved ship swooping and soaring and flying–although I admit that is an emotional reaction. (But tell the truth…didn’t we all think it was Han and Chewie “at the wheel” when we first saw the trailer? (And by the way, I think, as I told Mike, that Rey’s ability to be able to fly the Falcon was another “hint” at her being strong with the Force.)
2) I would have liked to have seen more interaction between Leia and Han–though I heard/understand that those scenes were shot, edited it out for the screen release, and are available on the Blu-Ray version.
What I absolutely loved:
The mirroring sequence on the catwalk between Kylo/Ben Ren/Solo and Han Solo, mirroring the scene on the catwalk in Empire between Luke and Vader.
I freaking loved Kylo Ren; so did a ton of people who voted him best villain. He IS a Darksider, and he IS fighting a war- you don’t have to like the side he is on, but it is what it is. I think he will get redeemed…why? Because Han sacrificed himself just for this very purpose- Harrison Ford even said so- look it up. He-after getting ran through- reached up and caressed Ben’s face in an act of forgiveness, trust and unconditional love. If Kylo does not get redeemed, Han would have died for nothing- and that just WILL NOT HAPPEN. Also, Leia deserves her son back- she’s suffered enough. As a mother, I will tell you that I would stop at nothing including sacrificing myself as well in order to have this happen if it were my son.
Also, Ben ALLOWED Han to carress his face and was genuinely grieving. This will sit with him and resonate throughout the next two movies.
I wanted so much to love Episode VII but just couldn’t.
It did what it had to do – set out the stall for further instalments, with plenty of re-heated moments from earlier films and a smattering of new stuff, most of it bland.
And killing off Han? Ridiculous.
I can only hope he is reborn in Episode VIII as Grim Han :)