Welcome to the Legion!

force awakens theatrical poster

In an interview on The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast, J.J. Abrams, who directed Star Wars: The Force Awakens, responded to criticism that the film sticks to close to the plot line of A New Hope.

“What was important for me was introducing brand new characters using relationships that were embracing the history that we know to tell a story that is new — to go backwards to go forwards.”

I tend to side with J.J. Abrams on this one. I’ve heard the rip-off criticisms as well, from friends, family members, and of course, the internet. But I think The Force Awakens, premiering a whopping 10 years after Revenge of the Sith and nearly forty years after A New Hope, was wise to look back to its roots. While the plot points are similar to those in A New Hope, the characters are new and the way the reactions to the situations are new. There’s something to be said about history repeating itself–its how we approach that repetition that defines us. In the case of the new saga, it will be about how Finn and Rey confront that repetition.

Abrams was tasked with bringing Star Wars to a new generation while pleasing older fans–no small order. It makes complete sense that he couched the new aspects of the franchise in the familiar before veering off into uncharted territory. He was appealing to nostalgia while setting the stage for an entirely separate saga.

At any rate, Rian Johnson will be directing Episode VIII, due in 2017. J.J. Abrams mentioned both the burden of pleasing fans and being away from his family as reasons for not choosing to do the next film. This film was tons of fun, and I think we’ll start to see the sequel trilogy take more of a turn in the next one.

(via The Hollywood Reporter)

About author View all posts

Nandita Seshadri