10 Simple Fixes That Would Have Made Star Wars: The Force Awakens Perfect
This is how the Force should work.
Wow. They actually, really did it. They didn’t just make Star Wars Episode VII, a movie people had been waiting for since 1983, but they made it good. Like, really good.
In many ways it achieved the impossible; it was respectful enough to the construction of the originals to not anger fans with major canon changes, but in its new cast still offered up something fresh and exciting. Even now, over half a year on from the media blitz that brought us BB-8 oranges, rude spoilers and TR-8R (more on that guy later) it still feels like a major event, just the start of something bigger.
But, and this is coming from a lifelong Star Wars fan who went giddy the moment that opening crawl came up, cried when Han Solo fell victim to the First Order’s lack of handrails and put it in his best films of the year, it wasn’t perfect. Oh, it was as good as we could have hoped by any stretch of the imagination, but it's not without room for improvement.
Taking a look at filmmaking flubs and strange unexplained moments (but, importantly, not messing with the broader scope of the saga), here's ten simple fixes that could have made The Force Awakens even more amazing.
10. Make Lor San Tekka Someone We Know Or Less Mysterious
The Force Awakens opens very strongly with a sequence that introduces four of our key characters and establishes the basic story motivations. But then you have all the confusion over who the fluff Lor San Tekka is.
Yes, I know there’s a detailed backstory in the extra material that explains it, but that’s not in the movie and makes the whole thing more confusing.
There’s two options here. The first is to make him someone we already know, which he’s almost treated like. That’d also make his abrupt death sting a bit more. Who is a bit hard to decide on - you can’t use a prequel character because fans would have lynched JJ, but perhaps he’s a Rebel, hence the royalty line: Dodonna, Madine, that guy whose official title is Star Wars Commander?
Those are all a bit tricky though, so why not just have him be less mysterious. Make his dialogue less allusion-heavy and explain succinctly how he fits into the bigger picture. All the winking talking about Leia and balance in the Force adds little to the story and is really only there to get you to pick up the books.