The Force Awakens Something in All of Us
by RGM81


From the first time I saw the first teaser trailer for The Force Awakens I was excited for this movie. J.J. Abrams, who helmed Star Trek into the 21st century, astutely gave the fans a little bit at a time with each trailer and each release of information. Going into the movie’s debut, we only knew a few things: 30 years had passed since the fall of the Empire in Return of the Jedi, there was a mysterious new bad guy named Kylo Ren who threatened the New Republic, and there would be a new cast of heroes unifying forces with the heroes of our youth. What we didn’t know seemed to exceed all of that: why wasn’t Luke Skywalker in any of the promotional materials or previews, which spawned theories that Skywalker had fallen to the Dark Side and taken up the mantle of Kylo Ren; what was the deal with the little orange ball known as BB-8; and how had the Dark Side rose from the ashes after the deaths of Darth Vader and the Emperor?

I did everything I could to avoid spoilers for this movie so that I could go into it with a totally clean and open mind. I didn’t want to be waiting for things to happen or know too much. I liked the ideas of some theories going around in the days & weeks leading up to the movie but as far as knowing any actual major plot elements the only real thing I knew was that Skywalker didn’t play a very major role. To assist my spoiler avoiding I pretty much stayed off social media for 2-3 days in advance; some people were going out of their way to post things online and I just wanted no part of it. The night before, my wife came across something on an Instagram post that wasn’t even related to Star Wars that turned out to be a major plot point. She didn’t tell me about it, and I would neither confirm nor deny the truth of what she read until a few days after I saw the movie myself. So with that said, consider this your warning: what you read from here out will contain major plot discussion points. If you don’t want to have the movie spoiled, stop right now. I’ll wait for you to see the movie and then you can come back to read this.

Simply put: The Force Awakens is the Star Wars movie we deserve. Full disclosure: I liked the prequels, mostly. I don’t understand the excessive negativity directed towards those three films beyond The Phantom Menace. In my opinion, Episodes II and III are very good Star Wars movies that tell the tragedy of Anakin Skywalker and his fall to the Dark Side. Yes they rely too heavily on CGI and yes the dialogue crafted by George Lucas leaves much to be desired and yes the political machinations are delivered in a ham-fisted way that maybe tries too much to be an analogy for Lucas’ perception of how he saw things change in America. All valid faults, but those movies are enjoyable. That said, it was for the best that Lucas pass the torch to a new generation of filmmakers to take custody of his creation. Abrams and his team have crafted an excellent movie that brings back the original feel of Star Wars in a form that isn’t forced or lacking authenticity. You genuinely laugh when BB-8 and Finn share a thumbs-up when the droid shares the location of the Resistance’s base. The scene where Han Solo and Chewbacca reclaim the Millennium Falcon leaves you smiling when Han proclaims that they’re “home”—because in a way, we are all at home once again.

The Force Awakens tells a tale that leaves you wanting more, in the best sense of the phrase. I want to know more about Ben Solo’s betrayal of Luke’s new Jedi Order; I want to know more about why that caused Luke to exile himself; I want to have my theory confirmed that Rey is a Skywalker; I want to see Luke train her; I want to see how General (not Princess) Leia will react to the loss of Han Solo. I am hopeful that we’ll see more of the new Star Wars galaxy in the form of the many books that will be written into the new canon since Disney announced that the previous Expanded Universe were rendered into the “Legends” category. These books will hopefully answer some of those questions while also filling the gaps as we all eagerly await Episode VIII in May 2017.

Back to the death of Han Solo at the hands of his son, Kylo Ren. The first time I saw the movie my jaw literally dropped in shock. I may have exclaimed something in the theatre. I wasn’t the only one. Even after seeing the movie three more times, I still feel the shock and hurt at the sight of the death of the old nerf-herder. The act solidifies Ren as a villain; any sense of redemption or wanting to see him come back to the light (a la Vader in Jedi) is out the window. Fans want to see him get his comeuppance now, as we know he was rescued from the collapsing Starkiller Base after he was defeated by Rey in their lightsaber battle. Whether it comes from Luke in a battle between the former master/apprentice or a more fully-trained Rey who embraces her heritage as a source for good in the galaxy, Kylo Ren must be taken down.

Solo’s death also led to my one heavy critique of The Force Awakens: the lack of an emotional bonding moment between Chewbacca and Leia after they return to the base. Chewie literally walks right past her as she embraces Rey, someone whom she had never even met at that point. It just seemed very odd; maybe there’s a short sequence that got cut there, but after both of them had such major presences in Han’s life not having that moment was a miss. You see them both suffer and hurt individually, but that would have really added some additional weight to Han’s death. It does deserve to be mentioned that Harrison Ford finally got his wish—the actor had lobbied for Han to die in Jedi in a heroic sacrifice to give it some additional weight, but Lucas vetoed it, with Ford sarcastically explaining, “I guess it would have been hard to sell dead Han Solo action figures.”

The earlier action sequences of The Force Awakens really bring you back to the galaxy far, far away. The busting out of Poe Dameron from the Star Destroyer was an excellent scene, as we get to see some space battle action and immediate character development of him and the former FN-2187. The rathtar scene on Han & Chewie’s freighter was also very cool; if you have ever read any H.P. Lovecraft, check out his book At The Mountains of Madness. The rathtars are absolutely the type of cosmic horrors that remind you of the shoggoths in Lovecraft’s book. You strongly suspected the heroes would escape from these horrors, but it’s still a lot of fun seeing Han in fine scoundrel form as he tries to evade both his human pursuers and the space creatures. And of course there’s the X-Wing and TIE Fighter battle over the Starkiller base. Who didn’t want to fly one of those things when they were a kid?

In closing, The Force Awakens is a fun, fast-paced thrill ride that is the ideal introduction for a new generation of Star Wars movies. We get to meet the new heroes and villains, we have the backdrop for a great story about the redemption of Luke Skywalker—not from the Dark Side, but from his own failure, and the ongoing struggle for the fate of the galaxy between the forces of the New Republic and the sinister First Order under the direction of Supreme Leader Snoke will be a main theme throughout the remaining parts of the new trilogy. I highly recommend that you go see the film again and again.

And because this is a collecting-based website, let's talk collectibles for bit. As with any Star Wars movie there is a lot of merchandising and licensing and products and even cards for The Force Awakens. I've been anything but immune to that collecting bug, as I've got souvenirs from the theatre, new shirts, and a few of the new actions figures from Pop! Vinyl. My favourite piece of memorabilia from the new film is the BB-8 app-enabled droid made by Sphero. Using my iPhone I can make BB-8 zip across the living room, scare my cats, and generally put a smile on everybody's face. This was the toy to get this year for Christmas for any Star Wars fan. It is literally hours and hours of fun. BB-8.jpg



Topps has had the license for Star Wars cards for several years now, and they've produced quite a few new sets related to The Force Awakens. There was a lead-in set in advance of the film's release, and presently there are two sets heating up the card market to Mustafar-like temperatures. The High Tek set features a lot of autograph content from all Star Wars generations, including signature cards of Mark Hamill. The set dedicated to the film also just had its "Mystery Redemption" announced as Daisy Ridley--and collectors are in a frenzy to get that card, with recent eBay sales well into the four figures. While I don't delve into card collecting outside of hockey, I am amazed at how cool these cards are and seeing the interest people take in them is exceptional.

Star Wars is definitely back into the public consciousness in a positive way. Whether it's the droves of people helping propel it towards all-time box office records or the inspiration to get people to collect, The Force Awakens has definitely awakened something in all of us.