"The Force Awakens" (with SPOILERS)

It could have been this weird, wild adventure! Which sounds a lot better ... I think?

Turns out Colin Trevorrow’s version of Star Wars: Episode IX was good, actually

 

On the record having enjoyed TROS, but that treatment sounds great.

 

FWIW, the new Jurassic World movies have been pretty underwhelming, so I'm not really convinced Trevorrow would have been able to "land" his version of Star Wars any better than Abrams.

 

Good point. Having a good plan is one thing. Executing it is another entirely.

 

Everyone has a plan until they get their right hand cut off. /DarthTyson

 

All this is absolutely true. I had it proven recently during a very long airline flight, on which all of the Star Wars films except for "The Rise of Skywalker" -- yep, all of 'em -- were offered, in order, for free viewing. I couldn't believe it, but sat back to enjoy the show. And it was the middle three movies -- the oldest ones -- that still held my attention, probably because they were the most engaging, and definitely the best ones of the bunch.

 

Finally saw the last Star Wars movie. I liked it - by now I think people are pretty accustomed to the "beats" of the movies - go to a few planets, encounter a few odd characters, shoot-out on an Empire vessel etc. I'm guessing I was just expecting more call backs to previous movies (why not go back to some previous planets and tie more stuff in) - considering it was the final chapter of a nine-chapter story, no references to Obi Wan?
One other thought - even if this was the "final chapter" - they really didn't seem to drop any possible anchors to future stories (sideways universes, subplots involving cousins, associates etc.) and I was really kind of hoping they'd leave more dangling threads.

I was seeing a future movie where the two surviving sides would band together against some greater evil. One of the things I enjoyed about Rogue One was not having any sense of where the story was going - it was refreshing.

 

I thought everyone knew exactly where Rogue One was heading. It was about how they got there that mattered.

 

That's how I viewed it, too. I guess it was possible that some of the characters survived, but then you'd have to explain why they weren't part of the original trilogy.

 

Yes and no. I wasn't familiar with the characters, the film didn't seem to need to be tethered to the typical "beats" of a SW movie - etc.

 

Gotcha. I took your post to mean that you didn't know what to expect at the end.

Also, am I the only one who didn't feel like this was a "final" chapter, per se? I see plenty of ways they can move forward with Rey, Finn and Poe in future films. It felt like the last one that would feature the old guard, but I'm not ruling out seeing more of the new characters. In fact, I'd be pretty stunned if we don't.

 

But I do agree that the Rebel Alliance v. The Empire is fully played out. Which is why I wonder they didn't drop a few seeds along the way - an Empire reference to associates in another galaxy, same with the RA. Some other conflict or potential conflict.
I don't envy the next screenwriter though. Figure Disney doesn't greenlight a film without a box office projection of under $400m so you kind of have to do some sort of epic battle for the soul of the universe.