Nago Words - The Dork Awakens

The dork runs strong in my family. At least 4 of my kin went to "Star Wars, The Force Awakens" on pre-opening night (Thursday, December 17th). Personally, I was in a strange (to me) place and I talked myself into going, alone, during a Summerville, SC sales trip. 

The week had been stressful. Work pressure and the usual mixed bag of other demands on me had me unable to get as excited as I wanted to be. 

Still, I was driven to go. I didn't want the world to spoil the movie for me. I was gravitating toward potential spoiler info on the web weeks before the release. If I didn't go, I would have had the displeasure of reading spoiler information, messing up the whole experience for me. I checked online and saw seats available very close to the hotel I was staying in. I bought one not sure if I would actually go.

I worked till 8:45 PM. I made a game time decision to turn off my laptop and make the half mile trek to the cinema hoping I could maybe turn off work for a minute. I got there at 9:00 (for the 9:50 viewing). 

Lines of fans were already wrapped around the lobby (as best as management could pile them in with rope barricades). It was a bit of crowd control for the theater workers and local law enforcement. Excitement was at a fever pitch for fans of all ages. Overall the vibe was very good.

They had us all corralled into our seats by 10:10. The movie started around 10:20. I was impressed by the organized chaos. The young attendants were on point and even double checked to make sure all in the theater had 3D glasses. 

The movie starts, and we get a gimps of the First Order. I admit, for the first 10 minutes or so, I watched half hearted. I wasn't able to let go of the weight on my mind right away. By the entrance of Rey (and the impressive backdrop of her desert planet), I became all consumed by the story on the screen. I easily set aside my worries for the remainder of the film.

2 hours later, when the credits ran, I was in a much better place. I felt good, my mind was at ease and I was able to sleep that night without interruption. For these reasons I believe the movie is good. All the hype, marketing and pre-sales aside, it's a good story.

Any intelligent person who knows the saga of Star Wars can see the direct correlation between the 1977 original and this new chapter. The formula is so similar it felt familiar in more than just old faces. It steps forward by slowing down. We are dropped into a moment where a perfect storm of players all intersect by coincidence, yet one wonders if destiny is at play?

JJ Abrams, and his entire team, did a fantastic job of figuring out how to bring Star Wars back to basics. I imagine a conference room filled with Star Wars staffers. The entirety of that room grew up on Star Wars in some form or another. If I were in the lead chair, I'd ask a question of my staff: "What about the original Star Wars movies made them great?"

The answers would be aplenty. The ones that I think are addressed include:

"Characters"

"Keep it simple stupid"

"Moral Conflict"

The characters? New and old, this generation nails it. Rey is a strong powerful lead, beautiful in her independence, shrouded in mystery. Fin and Rey have a chemistry needed for the continuation. And Poe Dameron? Finally a character with a bloody sense of humor! I almost forgot how funny the originals were. Kylo Ren is the classic evil lord of this film, and he has tantrums! It's great to see the Skeletor sort of evil in a Star Wars flick. BB8 makes the classic droids seem antique, and children will naturally flock to it's innocent appeal.

Keeping the story simple was difficult, I'm sure. It did follow the basic format of the original film, and introduced us to the much needed rebirth of the storyline. Lucas attempted to wrap the whole thing up with the "bringing balance to the force" plot, but there was always room for much more. In a way, the 30 years between Jedi and Force is the balance. Good and evil always exist, and cannot thrive without one another. Waiting for an awakening, making the Jedi and Empire legend in memory versus recent history works on many levels for this reason. Our new heroes have the ability exist in a time all their own. A good story develops with respect to the past, not completely owned by the baggage of it. We don't have to know how we got here, only that we are here. The story stands alone, making it palatable to anyone not hugely familiar with Star Wars.

Conflicted much? Every major character in this movie is conflicted. It's brilliant and brings them down to a human level. We connect through their struggles. Family issues, mysterious backstories, reunions and epiphanies galore. 

Taking on the Star Wars franchise could not be taken lightly. I'm guessing it wasn't a horrible conflict itself as Lucas set the bar pretty low with his confusing and contradicting prequels (even lower still with his cartoony CGI "permanent" additions to the original classics we love). A turd of a movie would still do well at the box office. The hype machine and fan foaming would take care of it regardless of the actual films content.

But it rocked... A gift for every Star Wars fan past, present and future.

I'm not going to be the guy who bashes Lucas for following his heart on the prequels. He created the franchise, and it was his vision that made Star Wars in the first place. 

I re-watched the original films last weekend. It's easy to get drawn in. It's driven by strength of story. The concept of Space people battling for power in a fictional universe is pretty stupid overall. It's the simplicity, the conflict, and the basic good versus evil story-line that sets it apart from other dumb space movies. 

If you can detach the last 40 years of hype from the original Star Wars, you realize how silly some of the movie looks. The special effects are great, there's no denying it, but the aliens are puppets, Chewbacca looks like a large dog, the droids are nervously not robotic, and the dialog... It's not exactly a literary triumph (albeit very fully developed in its ridiculousness).

Lucas believed in his story, and despite all odds, he made a classic which still fascinates children of all ages. We often neglect this detail when criticizing the prequels (it is assumed).

Many a critic have written things like "The Force Awakens erases the mistakes of the prequels."  I don't buy that. The prequels, for all of the flaws, introduced a generation of fans to the series. Once step further, millions of kids identify with "The Clone Wars" cartoon series as their gateway drug. The series couldn't exist without the prequels, so it's not all bad.

The dense storyline of the Prequel movies are their downfall. I think most fans agree that the contractions are very hard to get over as well. Some accuse them of being racist, some say the acting is awful, others think they are sexist. Personally, on first viewing, I was most offended by the CGI. Upon seeing "The Phantom Menace" I thought, "this is more cartoon than live action." I knew they would regret it. 16 years later, I can safely say it doesn't hold up at all.

At some point maybe I'll write all of the contradictions that I hate about the prequels. The contradiction trumps the racism, sexism and bad CG for me today. I can wrap my head around the Senate, I like the Emperor. I even dig a badass little Yoda. Qui Con Gin is a good character and I'm not but-hurt about Hayden's portrayal of Anakin.

The biggest fault of the prequels is the complexity. It's not simple enough drama. The complexity trumps Star Trek, which dove deeper into waters left alone by Star Wars. Unfortunately, when you play to the crowd obsessing over nerdy detail, you better get it right. Star Trek always understood that. There are moments of Star Trek even Trekkies dislike, but never universally. 

JJ understood this as well. I also re-watched the 2009 Abram produced Star Trek relaunch over the weekend. He got it right too. Star Trek is allowed to be complex, yet a little simplified from the expanded universe, giving it legs in the uber nerd realm. It's tasteful. I haven't followed any backlash about the Star Trek movie(s), yet I can imagine some criticism. Making Spock a bigger player works for me just fine.

Same conference room, same questions? Probably similar. Trek definitely worked as training ground for Wars. As much as people want to be weird about JJ having control over both, it makes perfect sense and adds to each saga. There will be a time when fans refer to this day as the "Abrams era," debating the pros and cons of the man running the ships (behind the scenes) from a historical point of view.

Is "The Force Awakens" a perfect movie? No, but it's better than the hugely forgettable "Avatar" previously holding the box office record. It is good though, worthy of succeeding "Return of the Jedi." History will judge it well, and it is destined to be a front runner for fan favorite. I need to see it at least 6 more times before I can say if it's even close to my favorite. I view Star Wars as a collective sum. It works for me there, for sure.

Nago.