Star Wars. I grew up with it. It's one of my all time favorite stories. It formed a lot of my desire to produce my own stories, as it did for many others. I love and admire the heroes, just as much as I love to hate the villains. The story is generational, and has indeed become classic to our culture. Now, we have a new Star Wars upon us. How does it measure up?
I loved it.
Clearly, the people involved in producing this new trilogy have deep respect and appreciation for the source material. But, this is a new story, with new characters, new motivations, new enemies, and new places. This is not a rehash. This is not fan-fiction. This is a fresh, breathing, alive new universe. This movie did something all great movies do: made me care for the characters! I want to see them succeed, and when they do I cheer and when they don't I cry. Their goals become my own and I feel myself enter their world and ride alongside them.
I won't critique the story (every story has flaws), but I will say that as a storyteller myself, this movie hit all the right notes. It gently brought us to the point where we understood the goals and the stakes. Even the opening title crawl only gives enough to get the ball rolling (hee hee, droid joke there ... you'll get it later). As an audience member, I'm fully invested in the fate of these new heroes. Yes, this is a wonderful story that brings Star Wars to a new generation.
I eagerly await the next installment, because this story matters to me. I'm willing to bet you'll feel the same way. The Force has indeed Awakened.
- M
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