Day #311: New Star Wars = New Levels of Awesome

Okay, I have now seen Star Wars: The Force Awakens twice. I'm still processing my feelings.

I know it's just a movie (and it's not a perfect movie), but at the same time, it's a fulfillment of my childhood dreams. The prequels were very important to me because they visually depicted so many boyhood debated hosted by my friends and me. I speculated endlessly about what happened between Anakin and Kenobi. How did Vader become a cyborg? What were the Clone Wars? What misadventures did the droids entangle themselves in?

I've said before, and I'll say again -- I love the prequels, flawed as they are; the films further explored an imaginary universe that has fascinated me for decades.

I have spent the last two years doing my best to avoid trailers, images, spoilers of any kind. (Although I did know that Han, Luke, and Leia would be in this.) The result: a whole lot of surprises. I won't give much away except this.... Because this was the only aspect of the film that disappointed me: There's a Death Star knock off... I don't know why they decided to do yet another spherical planet blaster as a pivotal plot point. There are MANY parallels to the original STAR WARS (Episode IV) and most of them work, many are pleasing, but the Star Killer weapon seemed lazy in comparison to so many other aspects that were fresh yet fitting.

That caveat is minor in contrast to the sheer joy it has been to see Han Solo and Chewbacca together again.