It’s still incredibly hard to believe that it’s been a decade since Star Wars returned to the big screen with Episode VII. It was surreal at the time, and surreal to think about now.
While there are critics and fans of the film on all sides, today and next week we’re going to be celebrating what holds up about the film after all these years. Did I mention I still can’t believe it’s been ten years?
1. A Brilliant Opening Act
The first 35 – 40 minutes of the film have an incredible pace and energy to them. The writing of the dialogue is sharp as we’re introduced to Rey and Finn and their banter is fun, believable and the acting is soundly executed. It’s a thrill-a-minute stuff right up until the Millennium Falcon leaves Jakku and as an audience only then can we take a quick breather to absorb what’s just happened. There’s a lot that’s been set up too. We’re introduced to Kylo Ren, The First Order, and the MacGuffin of the story – the map that leads to Luke Skywalker.
The production design is wonderful to look at in this opening act and the Falcon chase through the remnants of the fallen Star Destroyer is wonderfully executed. It felt fresh, exciting and I remember on opening night of the film there was a brilliant energy in the crowd.
2. Meeting New Characters
Kylo Ren and BB-8 are the standouts here. BB-8 was able to capture the fun and comic relief that C-3PO and R2-D2 had provided a generation before and even if the loveable duo were dramatically underutilised in this film, BB-8 holds his own. I remember seeing it for the first time and the moment when Finn and Rey are trying to fix the Falcon and BB-8 suspects that Finn is lying that he’s in the Resistance – the droid offers a flame that resembles a thumbs up. It got a huge laugh in the cinema and was proof that people were enjoying what they were seeing.
As for Kylo Ren, he dominated the screen whenever he was on. The helmet was a fantastic design and Adam Driver’s performance was, and still is, the highlight of the sequel trilogy for me. He was a strong presence and yet portrayed a sense of vulnerability. He was a villain worthy of the pantheon of Star Wars bad guys and even today when you see him, he feels like a minor icon.
3. Kylo Ren’s Parentage Reveal
The wonderful thing about going into Episode VII was that we knew nothing. Now, some may argue – sometimes justifiably – that Lucasfilm and Disney have been guilty of holding too much back in the run up to films but here it worked perfectly. I remember for a long-time people were assuming that Domhnall Gleeson was to be playing Luke Skywalker’s son and that John Boyega was Lando’s son. That all quickly went out the window when into the second act of the film it’s revealed, via Snoke, that Kylo Ren is indeed Ben Solo, the son of Han and Leia. At the time we knew no further backstory, and I recall collective gasps throughout the cinema at the midnight showing. The ramifications for this plot twist were tantalizing at the time and the team did well to keep this revelation top secret.
4. The Millenium Falcon
If you were there on opening night at any screening and surrounded by fellow die-hards, then surely the sight of the old hunk of junk got a massive cheer when we first glimpsed the Falcon back on the big screen. It seemed that the utmost care had been taken to bring the Falcon back and she, yes she, looked sensational. The dish was different from the last time we’d seen it, but I understood this was merely a plot device to show some passage of time (clearly they never went back to the Death Star to retrieve the circular one Lando lost at the end of Return of the Jedi). The build up to reveal was fantastic on Jakku and when we first laid eyes on Han’s ship it was as if Luke, Han or Leia themselves had returned to the screens. Now, the question was … where was the rightful owner?
5. Han and Chewie
Regardless of many curious questions that we’ve been left to ponder over the last ten years, the obvious being – why did no one of the creative team push to have Han, Luke and Leia together one last time? – we did, at least, see Harrison Ford return as Han Solo. Not only was Harrison Ford in the film, but he was Han Solo. The wry smile was back, the charm, the sarcasm, the energy. It was all there. In this film Han acted as the gatekeeper between the old ways and the new. He was the link in the story to get to Leia, he was a remnant of a time gone by and he told Finn and Rey that he knew of Luke Skywalker, the haunted look on his face and Ford’s delivery in that scene is still my favourite of the entire film.
When Han boarded the Falcon with best pal Chewbacca at round the 45-minute mark it was absolute pure joy. The elation, the love, the cacophony of feelings just erupted in me, as I suspect they did in nearly everyone. We’d been treated to Harrison Ford on a press tour for a Star Wars film and he was having fun, something I’m sure none of us thought we’d ever see again.
When Han Solo said; “Chewie, we’re home.” I thought yes Han, yes we are.
Join us next week for the final countdown as we celebrate ten years of The Force Awakens.