the force awakens – Author James Schannep

Lessons: The Force Awakens

My final posting on lessons from Star Wars before I start the reboot. What a great week it has been!

In case you missed it, I read and analyzed the Original Trilogy (OT):

Now, time for the fourth film. Stream-of-consciousness impressions follow:

-Opening crawl: Leia’s Resistance has the support of the Republic? Shouldn’t she…be the Republic?
-Apparently Jedi are prone to disappearing into Hermitage after a traumatic event.
-This movie cheats the “always open in space” conceit quite well
-Maybe the old man can be a little kid in the prequels? Hahaha, just kidding
-Plans given to a droid
-Finn being the first “person” stormtrooper is great. But don’t do this in your story.
-Humor!
-Phasma is cool. What a waste.
-By minute 11, we’ve met all our main characters. Nice! What was the timestamp when they meet Han and Chewie? [Went and checked…48 minutes before we see Han? Holy shit! Well, wind up between those two extremes.]
-Rey is a “kid” (dolls, wears helmet, etc) without actually being a kid. Well done.
-Speaking alien/robot language without subtitles, but we get it.
-Jakku is essentially Tatooine. Environments can be reused successfully
-TIE escape: nothing goes according to plan
-This movie sure has action!
-As far as the physics of these movies are concerned, space is just an extension of the sky
-Everyone has their own goals and motivation, but gets pulled into something larger
-Han Solo… goosebumps. These movies are about characters
-Why would the Reptar carry Finn around when it immediately devoured everyone else? Guess it was going to tuck him away for later…be consistent.
-So… what was the Awakening?
-The remote, the chess board, this film is full of member berries
-Cantinas are an important part of the underworld
-Orphans, man…
-That vision scene suggests some strange things about the nature of the Force
-The only thing in this movie from the prequels is Coruscant, nice!
-Stormtrooper energy staff thing is cool. It would make sense if there were other “energy barrier” weapons to combat lightsabers
-How the hell does Rey even know what a mind trick is? Much less how to do it
-The “let’s plan a mission to blow up the big thing” scene. This movie “feels” like Star Wars…and that’s the most important part
-I hate to say it, but Rey is too good at too many things. Mainly, at the Force
-Is it possible for the good guys to have a win without blowing up a superweapon?
-No medal, no hug…what does Leia have against Chewbacca? Haha
-Why did R2 suddenly awaken? Where did he get the rest of the map? Why is there even a map? Who made it? Luke? Abrams sure is good at asking questions. Hope the next guy is up to the task.

That’s it! What’s next? Am I going to analyze the prequels?

Nope.

That’s been done many times over. If that’s what you’re looking for, I’d recommend watching RedLetterMedia’s prequel reviews or BelatedMedia’s if the prequels were good videos.

Instead, I’m going to Reboot the Prequels. The ultimate writing exercise. I’ve spent plenty of time groaning about the prequels, and now it’s time to put my money where my mouth is, so to speak.

I’m going to write three screenplays that do justice to the series and make the OT stronger, rather than weakening it. Craft a series that’s essentially what the prequels should have been.

Thanks for reading! What do YOU think? Will you join me on this journey?

Leave me a comment below, and don’t forget to share and subscribe!

1 October 20161 October 2016 by schannepj Categories: Screenwriting, Star WarsTags: belatedmedia, education, episode VII, new prequels, reboot, redlettermedia, screenplay, star wars, the force awakens Leave a comment

So…there are four Star Wars movies now.

So, I just got back from Brazil (blog posts incoming!) and I had to go see The Force Awakens before I could log onto the internet.

maxresdefault — There is quite a bit I’m glad I didn’t read online. Whew!

Walking to the theater, I determined there were four possible outcomes:

The movie would make me angry (like the prequels).
It would be better than the prequels, but not great.
It would be a really fun movie, but without reaching instant classic status.
It would somehow achieve the impossible task of being as good as the Original Trilogy.

And I must say, I really, really enjoyed the film. Much more than I thought I would. Here I was, prepared to call the director Jar Jar Abrams should he fail me, and all my doubts were unfounded. The movie easily hits #3. Not sure yet if it’s #4-worthy, but I’m already planning on seeing it again. Brian, my collaborator on the Reboot the Prequels project, has already declared the movie his favorite Star Wars movie. Ever.

I’m not sure I’m ready for such declarations, but I can say that I’m genuinely excited to see the next film. By contrast, waiting for Episode III felt like waiting for a dental appointment.

Sure, I have a few gripes. (Spoilers) I still don’t like the crossguard saber. Rey using force-based skills without any training felt rushed, the Skywalker saber seeming to have a will of its own didn’t sit well, and I’m not sure how I feel about Giant Smeagol as the new Big Bad (end spoilers). But I can let those slide, for one particularly wonderful reason:

It felt like a Star Wars movie. Great banter and chemistry. A real sense of fun. Almost no prequel references. No over-explaining everything. No politics. Hell, they blew up the senate!

Which leads to one awesome point: Our prequel reboot is still a go, and now has a stronger case than ever. Especially with a Mandalorian-centered plot.