So this was yet another topic I've been meaning to tackle for some time because this new era of Star Wars may have brought about its critics and toxic fanbases, but there has honestly been so much good to come out of it. Communities I found online who get the same amount of joy from all eras of the franchise as I do. But honestly ever since the announcement of Lucasfilm being sold to Disney and of a new slew of films that included a new trilogy consisting of Episodes VII-XI, I can honestly say this took me on a journey I never realized I was on. And I wanted to take you all on this specific journey from the first announcement to right now since this new era has been one of the best things to happen to me in my film-loving life. This is my journey through the Disney-Era of Star Wars and how it's connected with me so much now.
Back in 2012, I remember always loving Star Wars, but more so of the movies. The Clone Wars show was currently on, but it didn't have me all intrigued (and if you want some more background on my Clone Wars journey click here). Long story short I wasn't intrigued by the new stories being told in The Clone Wars show and at the time only accepted that the Star Wars I enjoyed stemmed from the 6-movie saga. And I remember earlier that year The Phantom Menace had its 3D release to cap off all the Star Wars movies being re-released in 3D every single year since there weren't plans at the time to continue the saga. And this was the first Star Wars movie I saw in theaters. I went with a big group of friends and while had my thoughts of the movie at the time (though I love it now) I still appreciated having the opportunity to watch a Star Wars movie in theaters and was excited about what was to come. Then, the unthinkable happened months later. I heard a massive announcement that I never thought I'd hear in my Star Wars loving life. Disney buys Lucasfilm for $4.4 billion, the world explodes, and my reaction...was not very positive.
Shocking right? Times change I suppose and I guess since this news came out when I was a teenager, I had that critical phase and had to be a contrarian about things. My only concern was that the franchise could go in a very childish turn since Disney is known to have light-hearted and family-friendly content. Why would I want that for Star Wars? When I posted my disdain on Facebook at the time, a very close relative of mine commented on the post saying this could be a chance for new writers and creators to come in and be different than the controversial prequels. And that felt like enough to sway my opinion. I think at that point I didn't put much thought into the new Star Wars movies and it wasn't until I heard the announcement about the next director that I was even more intrigued. J.J. Abrams who directed that great Star Trek movie and Super 8 was directing Star Wars Episode VII? This could be great since his movies so far were already awesome and Star Trek Into Darkness was about to come out, which had its share of controversy, but I still loved it.
And the more to come out of the Episode VII announcements just got me more and more excited, finding out who was cast, seeing the photo of the first cast table read, a new title, THE FORCE AWAKENS, and eventually a TEASER trailer of the brand-new Star Wars movie. This was exciting because for the first time in my life I was able to appreciate and get excited about a new Star Wars movie coming out. This would be perfect, right?
Yes and no.
I was excited about the thought of a new Star Wars film coming and had to wait quite a while to see it and one of the things I found in the meantime was a plethora of online movie reviews and film-related talk shows.
Now, to call the anticipation for Episode VII The Force Awakens high was an understatement. This was probably one of the most hyped movies in the history of mankind. So in the meantime on top of rewatching all the movies, I found reviewers, film talk shows and podcasts online like AMC Movie Talk (later Collider Movie Talk), Jedi Council (AMC/Collider's Star Wars show) podcasts like ForceCenter (which is still near and dear to my heart), and reviewers like Schmoes Know, Hello Greedo, Chris Stuckmann, and Jeremy Jahns. Everyone was so excited for this movie in the film fan community that the thing people did was speculate about what would happen in this next movie. Everyone broke down every bit of news and every piece of footage about what was to happen and honestly that got me thinking as well. I started to come up with ideas about the movie in my head and even tried to convince (but also annoy) my friends and family about what was to come and that all signs were pointing towards a certain way. And if people were to disagree, then, to put it bluntly, I thought they were wrong.
I would say I was still open-minded about the movie itself, but I thought it would be a lot different from the past Star Wars movies we've seen. I even wanted the opening night to be perfect and have the perfect type of comradery among the people I went with. I even went to wait in line at the theaters way too early than I intended because I thought Star Wars would be bigger and better than when I saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 at midnight back in 2011. Getting to the theater 6 hours early for that screening? Sure, let's add a couple more hours to waiting for the 7 pm showing of Star Wars VII. But I will say the screening was decent and the audience was very much alive and excited. But I wished my attitude going in and the interactions I had were better. I mean it was just another movie after all. The point of going was really seeing a new Star Wars movie and having some fun. And I saw the movie and remember really liking it when I first saw it, but part of me wished it was something a little more. Sure, there were similarities and homages to previous Star Wars films, but maybe I wanted it to go all out more with the fantasy elements of Star Wars and something we hadn't seen before. And I wound up being disappointed that the interactions and comradery I had during the night should've been better and that the movie could've been more amazing. But my advice from that experience is to remember that things aren't going to always go exactly as you envisioned. Just enjoy the now for what it is. And don't just apply that to movies, but life in general.
So, I was a little letdown opening night, but something happened when I saw the film again the next day. I bought tickets for 2 nights in a row because that's how excited I was. First night with friends and the second night with some family. I was still thinking about the movie and even listening to the brand new soundtrack the morning after by John Williams and really enjoying the score. My mother even commented on how good the music was and she's not even a big Star Wars or movie fan. I was having more positive thoughts about the movie than I thought and I was excited to see it again. And once I watched it again knowing all that was going to happen, I loved it. Sure, I've had the conversations about nitpicks and teeny criticisms with close friends of mine and trying to convince myself I didn't love it to its fullest extent (even though I very much did). For the amazing film it turned out to be, it was the Star Wars movie that reinvigorated the franchise so brilliantly with new characters and entertaining spectacle. It was a movie that new generations who never grew up with Star Wars could enjoy as well. I was so happy it existed and even the people I followed online thought it was great. So all's well that ends well, right? To put it bluntly, not really.
I think I just want to cut to the chase now with Episode VIII The Last Jedi because while I thought the first spin-off Rogue One was fun and had a stellar third act, in time the first couple acts introducing this new ensemble of characters grew on me the more I watched it and I think it's a fantastic movie as well. But it wasn't until The Last Jedi where I noticed a change in the way people watched these movies and how the expectations have been tampered with after The Force Awakens came out. The Last Jedi was a movie that even when I heard the news about Rian Johnson directing it, I had a thought to myself that what if this turns out to be a sort of slow-burn Star Wars movie that has more of an artistic edge that not a lot of people will like and will have a few defenders behind it? And it kind of turned out to be that way, but there are still so many firm defenders of this particular entry in the saga and it was even one of my favorites for a while.
I even noticed a shift in the online film community. The reviewers I used to follow had sophisticated observations about the movie rather than, "Hey, here are some thoughts I had of this movie and it was still so much fun!" I mean sure criticisms aren't necessarily a bad thing, but during this time I was starting to see things with a more positive lens. I learned to appreciate the film I wound up with, also because of how serious the online backlash was for merely space movies that have people shooting lasers at each other in spaceships and on planets and space wizards with glowy swords. Seriously? Why are we complaining about fiction? And the people complaining about The Force Awakens being too similar to the originals are complaining about The Last Jedi being too different than the rest of the saga? It's fine if people don't like these movies, but I wouldn't waste so much energy tweeting or making hour-long YouTube videos about how these movies are 'objectively' bad that YouTube, unfortunately, likes to recommend me. Move on with your life. There are other types of art and plain old hobbies in this world to enjoy.
The Last Jedi was one of the most emotionally resonant films for me because of how epic it looked and how human these characters felt. The older Luke Skywalker to me felt so relatable because I've been in scenarios where even if I accomplished goals in the past I can still fall back into rock bottom if I mess something up. I've felt discouraged like Luke and he had to learn that we can learn from our mistakes and make them right by taking action in the present day. Don't dwell on the past. Move on and do things that will help your well being. That's what The Last Jedi taught me is that we all fail and like Yoda says, "the greatest teacher failure is." Also, Canto Bight was another fun look at the Star Wars universe that had some brilliant real-world inspirations. Also, how is a casino in Star Wars considered goofy and out of place when we've had scenes at space bars and even a diner in Star Wars before? But a casino is wrong? Some viewers are very interesting specimens.
And yes, Solo should've been more of a success at the box office, but I feel maybe it was a little rushed to release it so many odd months after The Last Jedi released rather than a whole year. And that was a movie I've grown to love as well (I'll link below my thoughts on that at the bottom of the page) and I wish it did better. It was an adventure-filled entry in the saga that reminded me why Star Wars can be so much fun. And of course, let's not forget how Episode IX The Rise of Skywalker broke fans who hated the sequels, who loved The Last Jedi and hated this movie and certain members of fanbases that were rooting for certain characters to be romantically involved. And what I learned from the podcast ForceCenter is to "accept the story presented to you." "Speculate responsibly" they even say. I love these phrases because that's how I want to go into these new stories. Not expecting what I want to happen, which is what I did with The Force Awakens, but to expect the unexpected and to enjoy the movie that I end up seeing. Life is short and for life, in general, I want to see the good in it.
I want to see the good in the stories and franchises I like because why would I want to set myself up for disappointment. Star Wars is my escape and I want to have fun with it and talk to people about it. And I'll be honest it does break my heart hearing a differing point of view that's more negative. Criticisms are one thing if it doesn't make you enjoy the movie, but if it's more like these new movies are filled with nothing, then that's where I get kind of angry. Because I've had conversations about the sequels being "trash" and that the people who worked on them didn't know what they were doing. And this might sound bias, but those people don't love Star Wars the way I do and look at it through my lens.
I want to see the good in the stories and franchises I like because why would I want to set myself up for disappointment. Star Wars is my escape and I want to have fun with it and talk to people about it. And I'll be honest it does break my heart hearing a differing point of view that's more negative. Criticisms are one thing if it doesn't make you enjoy the movie, but if it's more like these new movies are filled with nothing, then that's where I get kind of angry. Because I've had conversations about the sequels being "trash" and that the people who worked on them didn't know what they were doing. And this might sound bias, but those people don't love Star Wars the way I do and look at it through my lens.
This was a franchise that's always swept me off my feet and not only introduced me to very wholesome characters but a universe that rocked my imagination. There's so much I just love about this franchise and a lot of fun to be had with how crazy and wild the fantasy aspects can get. I think these new movies aren't fully connecting with some newer audiences now is because with a franchise like Marvel (and I love Marvel to its core almost as much as Star Wars) I feel that connects more with newer audiences because of how it raises the stakes for big high spectacle moments while you're also caring about the characters. And they're great for doing that. But a film like The Last Jedi hits because of the big character moments like Luke Force projecting himself to apologize to Ben Solo to face his past while also helping reform the war as we know it. Ben and Rey fighting side by side in both The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker has so much to it because you can tell how much these characters care about each other and what's at stake through that sense of urgency in their fighting styles. It's bold and incredible because Star Wars, to me, is more than the fun spectacle, which is another reason to love it, but the characters and story being told are what makes it stand out from the rest. And people probably don't like to watch Star Wars for that and that's okay.
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| "There are more of us"...who love Star Wars. |
I even talked to a close friend of mine recently who had problems with The Rise of Skywalker, but he said he could still enjoy it. Art doesn't have to be so binary where you have to fully hate or love it. Personally, I'd rather see the good in it and enjoy things for what they are. Sure, not every movie I watch I think is a masterpiece, but if it's just a perfectly fun movie, then it's good for being just that. That said all these new movies have serious weight to them and reminded me why this franchise is so good in the first place. Like I can't get behind seeing tweets ranking all the movies, or pouring so much energy into ONE Star Wars movie or ONE show because there's so much variety of amazing stuff in this franchise. That's why I don't have a favorite Star Wars anything. I just love this franchise overall for being so diverse. The moral drama amongst all the characters still stand out, there's a rich spectacle to it for how different each set piece looks, and the team at Lucasfilm still knows how to deliver when designing all these new worlds and planets that we see. Seeing new things in Star Wars, like new characters and worlds, is like discovering it for the first time. I'm always in awe seeing a brand new adventure in full and you get to do that with each new story you experience on screen or the page. These new movies, shows, comics, books, and video games have done that for me so very well and I'm ready for more.
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