Aspiring Jedi
Alright, thought I'd start a little debate, and discuss a few thoughts on how this went, now I've seen it for a second time.
Oh, and btw, did anyone think it was weird that the Millenium Falcon is smaller? Definitely doesn't look like the same ship we're all used to.
Now, I've seen and heard a lot of different perspectives on the kid, and I thought I'd offer my take on it:
- Although he does appear to be whiny and conflicted (emo, even), I think that's absolutely perfect for what I suspect Abrams is trying to convey: the idea of a boy trying to become a man, living in the shadow of his Grandfather and parents (all of whom were major figures in Galactic history), unable to really pick a side, and struggling to know what exactly it is he wants.
- Vader started out as pure evil in A New Hope, the very definition of a bad guy, and tops many 'most evil' lists simply because his portrayal was strong, certain (and a massive contrast to his later Anakin persona). I think, in some ways, Kylo is being presented as Anakin with a Dark Side starter: he's a 'Sith' conflicted by the Light, rather than a Jedi conflicted about the Dark. It's a bit of a shift, but a clever one, because now the whole trilogy centres around which way he's gonna go: will he be Vader, or will he be Anakin redeemed into the Light?
- I'm not going to win any fans by saying this, but the way he killed Han was absolutely spot on. Sith demand sacrifice: unless they;re willing to let go of everything, they can't effectively be Sith. We learned that with the whole Darth Caedus spiral, and Abrams has played it out beautifully there - even the imagery was great, because while the local sun was dying, you had that gorgeous red-and-blue light tableau, that shifted to complete red as the sun died: what more subtle way to represent the conflict at play there? Ben showed that he wasn't man enough to do what he needed to do to become Sith, but when Han said he would do anything, that gave him what he needed, and he acted on it by sacrificing his own father. That's genius.
- Also want to throw out the point that Kylo/Ben is being massively manipulated by Snoke - I think the fact that both Han and Leia believed this shows exactly why Ben is so conflicted. Looks to me like Snoke is playing on his heritage (i.e. Vader) as a means of nudging Ben towards the Dark Side, but the kid himself isn't sure, because he doesn't entirely want to be a bad person. Where Abrams failed is in explaining that: why does Kylo feel the tug of the Light? It might be because of Luke/Han/Leia, but that's very poorly explained. The only indications we get are in his behaviour towards Rey, and the fact that he sees her as someone he could train and mould in the ways of the Force - maybe there's that sense of kinship? He does mention when interrogating her that he knows that she sees Han Solo as a surrogate father. Maybe by turning her, he feels like it might justify his turn? Does make me wonder.
- Okay, maybe I'm too used to EU/Legends Grandmaster Luke Skywalker, but I did not buy the premise of the film: that Luke trained his Jedi, had one turn bad and thus found himself a failure and ran. That's not the Luke Skywalker we know: the one that risked everything to redeem his father, and certainly not the Luke who tries to turn Gantoris, redeem Kyp Durron, and even tries to save his own nephew from being a Sith Lord. We all know that Luke would move Heaven and Earth trying to redeem someone that had fallen - so what the hell? Why would he run away? Only thing I can think of: either Snoke is too powerful for Luke (unlikely), or Skywalker thought he might find something at the 'First' Jedi Temple that might help. Either one seems like a pretty weak explanation, and I don't buy it.
- It was clever to save him until last, but I honestly didn't think they'd set up the reveal that fast: if Luke's disappeared and people have spent so much time and energy finding him, it doesn't make much sense to find him so damn fast. Also: both R2-D2 and the Imperial Archives had 80% of the map? Who the hell created the map, and why? And what was it doing buried in the Imperial Archives - if Luke created it, you'd expect it to be in the hands of the Republic/Resistance, not buried where the First Order would get hold of it. I guess maybe they were referring more to the First Jedi Temple than to Luke specifically, but it's still a rather weak plotline.
- The way they've written Luke at this point makes me think that he's going to step into Obi-Wan's shoes a little bit, and be the wise detached mentor, rather than the major player he used to be. Why? Because they all speak of him as a major player: the First Order's out to kill him, and the Resistance act like he'll be their saviour, and help rid the Galaxy of the First Order. That's a lot of expectation, but also places him in a god-like position where he's a game-changer. Something tells me that he's going to shy away from this, and perhaps mentor Rey to take on the role that he had in the first Trilogy.
- On a related note, about the lack of dialogue: I've heard a lot of complaints about that, and I actually think it's a touch of genius, because I don't think Luke is gonna be happy to see Rey. She brought a lightsaber which has a lot of memories attached to it, combined with the fact that (if we accept the premise that Luke ran because of Ben) she's a Force Sensitive sitting on his doorstep. Maybe he's thinking "Oh, god, what if I screw up again?", or "What if she asks for my guidance and I make a mess of it?", or something along those lines. If that's truly the reason for his absence, I think it would make that initial reticence pretty powerful. Also, let's be honest, what could he say at that point that wouldn't require a 20-30 minute explanation, and lots of additional scenes? Keeping it short, Abrams...
Oh, and btw, did anyone think it was weird that the Millenium Falcon is smaller? Definitely doesn't look like the same ship we're all used to.
