Phasma) which opens opportunities for greater rather than less dynamism on their side of the conflict. The closest we might come, in fact, is C3PO - and yet, the idea of elevating an empathetic, C3PO-like figure to a first-order protagonist (no pun intended) is itself an example of risk-taking in a film not yet heralded for that quality.Ĭonsider: as noted here, Rey is exceedingly different from Luke Skywalker, and frankly in a way that makes Luke seem a little wooden Kylo Ren is an infinitely more interesting and dynamic figure than Darth Vader, especially comparing the two at the end of the first third of their respective trilogies Finn is an entirely original addition to the Star Wars universe Hux is more homicidal and zealous than Tarkin, in a way that ups the ante in these films substantially Snoke is more mysterious and less committed to his apprentice than Palpatine, and of course Ren does not yet appear to be a Sith, making the Snoke-Ren relationship less predictable and more ambiguous than the Emperor's with Vader BB-8 may not be an improvement on R2D2, but he is thankfully more mobile and, as it were, even "younger-seeming" than R2D2 was in the original trilogy, giving him more opportunities for dynamism the Resistance is smaller and less powerful than the Rebellion - by far - which makes it more interesting and its broader strategic positioning more dire and the First Order is, frankly, less well-organized and competent than the Empire (cf.
Some are understandably irked by that term and all it connotes, but those who see Star Wars: The Force Awakens as merely a remake of Star Wars: A New Hope have some explaining to do when it comes to Finn's character, as no one in the latter film resembles him.
#STAR WARS THE FORCE AWAKENS FULL MOVIE LINK FREE#
In short, Finn is reminiscent of Justin Long's character in Live Free or Die Hard (2007), an imperfect film that nevertheless can be credited with helping to bring the action film into the Age of the Fanboy. In another film, this sort of fan service would have been a three-second gag in The Force Awakens, fans' query about the moral standing of low-level grunts in the Empire is given answer at the level of a top-line protagonist.įinn's well-intended but chauvinistic impulse to take Rey's hand whenever they're running together is the charming emulation of a boy who's read one too many mass-market sword-and-sorcery paperbacks his trash-talking of Captain Phasma at Starkiller Base is the sort of schoolground hijinks many of us like to believe we'd bring to our own interstellar adventures. Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan have now answered by confirming this key fan theory as correct: in other words, no, not all those stuck on a Death Star-like super-weapon are evil. How much moral responsibility does a minion or paid employee really have, when and where he - be he clone or abductee - has either been brainwashed or simply put into a no-win, wrong place-and-wrong time situation? Randal asked that question back in 1994, and, in a stunningly direct reply, J.J. After all, the Stormtroopers of the original trilogy were brainwashed clones, just as the Stormtroopers of The Force Awakens are brainwashed kidnapping victims. It's a silly - if oddly rational - argument, but it also underscores moviegoers' collective sense that at least a few of the Empire's goons must have been undeserving of mass murder. Keeping him strong - but always in desperate need of more training - is part of that. Indeed, as Snoke points out, Ren is only in the early stages of his training and, as Han points out, one reason Snoke has not been training Ren with great attentiveness is that he is really just using him for his own purposes. The result of Ren rejecting his Jedi training so early is that he does not learn to master the Force to the degree that Luke does as The Force Awakens begins, Ren is strong in the Force but also inconsistent in his usage of it. Quite understandably, Luke not only blames himself for this but (given the intervention he received during his own youth) feels it particularly acutely.
But where Leia, Han, Yoda, and Obi-Wan were able to keep Luke on the right side of the Light-Dark divide - a line that Luke, like Ren, found himself astraddle - Leia, Han, and Luke were quite evidently not able to do this for Ren. Ren, like Luke, is a young man born to someone powerful in the Force and someone else with many other admirable skill-sets.
0 kommentar(er)
