Here are five things we hope J.J. Abrams brings to his insanely anticipated Star Wars sequel, which opens Friday (look for our review online at Wednesday, December 16, at 3:01 am Toronto time).
1. A Sense Of Play
The original trilogy – Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi – are delightful, thrilling, properly swashbuckling adventures in which a group of friends race from one perilous situation to the next, falling in love or growing into themselves along the way. The Phantom Menace, Attack Of The Clones and Revenge Of The Sith dutifully hit the same structural points, but without any of the exuberance. Yes, the pod race was awesome when you were a kid. But you were a kid. The simple fact that The Force Awakens has cocky rogue Han Solo in it makes us believe Abrams knows that hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side.
2. The Knowledge That It’s Okay To Leave Some Things Out …
We don’t expect to see Jar-Jar Binks returning, and that’s okay: no one actually wants that chattering idiot to show up 60-odd years after his last appearance in the Star Wars universe. But hopefully Abrams doesn’t feel compelled to include every last character to pander to an audience driven entirely by nostalgia. Return Of The Jedi ended with Yoda, Obi-Wan and Anakin Skywalker reunited in the afterlife. It would be great if The Force Awakens left them there so both the surviving characters and the audience can feel their absence.
3. … Because It’s Good To Move Forward.
Abrams literally restarted the Star Trek franchise by creating a fresh timeline in which Kirk, Spock and company could begin their adventures anew. That’s not possible with The Force Awakens, which picks up about three decades after the events of Return Of The Jedi, letting series veterans Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher interact with new characters played by Oscar Isaac, John Boyega, Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver. And because this isn’t a reboot or a prequel, there are no inevitabilities. Except, of course, that C-3PO will complain about something. You can’t mess with tradition.
4. Humanity.
Of course there will be a bunch of nifty new aliens in The Force Awakens apparently Lupita N’yongo is playing one of them via motion capture. But we are confident Abrams will encourage his human cast to search their feelings no matter how weird the planets or how menacing the space monsters, the Star Wars universe is where people – both human and not – grow, change, forge lasting friendships, and even fall in love. The new movies need a lot more of that if they’re going to stand with the originals.
5. Knowing What Fans REALLY Want.
Imagine a scene in which some minor character starts yammering about the importance of trade negotiations, and Chewbacca walks up and rips his arms off. The applause would be heard in galaxies far, far away.
