8 Problems Nobody Wants To Admit About Star Wars: The Force Awakens

7. Starkiller Base Comes Out Of Nowhere

Where the Death Star was devastatingly iconic, and opened to a fantastic intro ("That's no moon", anyone?), Starkiller Base just sort of... appears. There's little to no fanfare, which is odd for a super mega death weapon that can destroy entire star systems. Whilst "That's no planet" would have been a mite too on-the-nose, JJ and Larry Kasdan could have come up with some kind of suitably grandiose introduction. There's a few elements of the background to Starkiller Base that could have been used to great effect - was the planet inhabited? What if it had been the location of the Luke Skywalker Center For Kids Who Don't Use The Force Good? The creation of the remnant Empire's Death Star 3.0 being built upon the ashes of Skywalker's hopes and dreams would have made for a wonderfully poetic origin for the new base. Having Leia and the rest of the Resistance leaders discuss it in their planning for the assault on Starkiller Base could have warranted the inclusion of a version of that aforementioned obvious line in a rather organic way. Greg "Lucky Charm" Grunberg: "Is this the planet Luke's academy was on?" Leia: "That's no planet anymore." I am in the wrong line of work.