Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens

The highly anticipated sequel to Episode 6, Star Wars: The Force Awakens lived up to its hype, breaking record after record after being released in December.

Photo courtesy of Eleanor Tremee

The highly anticipated sequel to Episode 6, Star Wars: The Force Awakens lived up to its hype, breaking record after record after being released in December.

Kathleen Amann, Viewpoint Editor

The Death Star is not the only thing that blew up—”Star Wars: The Force Awakens” smashed box office records earning 758.2 million dollars in 20 days.
We all know and love the Star Wars series. The world premiere of “Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens” came out at the perfect time, holiday season. Millions of fans flocked the theatres draped in Jedi garb and Princess Leia hairstyles to witness the history in action.
“The Force Awakens” was exciting, but I think it was way too similar to the fourth episode, “Episode IV A New Hope.” The continuation of the Star Wars series takes many of the original ideas from George Lucas’ 1977 film, “Episode IV: A New Hope.”
Kylo Ren is influenced by his own grandfather (Darth Vad”er aka Anakin Skywalker) as Anakin Skywalker was influenced by Darth Sidious. The Starkiller Base was just like the Death Star, except bigger. Coincidence? I think not.
Many other Star Wars fans feel the same way.
“It was basically the same story line of ‘A New Hope,’ just with better graphics,” said junior Matt King.
One of the main protagonists, Rey, is a young woman who was abandoned from her family and lives on the planet Jakku. With her past being a mystery throughout the movie, my theory is that she must be Luke Skywalker’s daughter.
In the beginning of the movie, Rey talks about how her family left her as a child and they haven’t returned since. Later, the movie explains that Luke Skywalker is the long lost Jedi and is nowhere to be found and the only way to track him down is through a map that the Resistance must piece together.
R2D2 mysteriously shutdown when Luke Skywalker disappeared; and once Rey appears to where he is shutdown, he magically turns back on. Could it be because she has the same bloodline?
Lastly, Luke’s original blue lightsaber, an heirloom to the Skywalker family, calls out to Rey while she’s in in the basement of Maz Kanata’s bar.
JJ Abrams creating a female Jedi in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” was a definite change for the series.
“It’s a good change for the Star Wars series, Daisy Ridley [Rey] is pretty attractive too,” said senior Collin Farquhar.
Overall, the actors’ performances in the film definitely lived up to the extremely high expectation. The returning roles of Han Solo, (Former) Princess Leia, R2D2, C3PO, Chewbacca, and of course, Luke Skywalker felt like they never left the Star Wars galaxy. If I could change anything about the performance, if would definitely for Luke Skywalker to say at least one word. Come on man.
It will be interesting to see how the next few movies will explain who Rey really is and if the evil empire will arise, once again. It’s a good thing the droid, BB8, was so cute. Still, 10/10 would recommend watching if you haven’t already.