We definitely wanted it to be open-ended and we didnt want to dictate where it was going, said co-writer Lawrence Kasdan with regards to the relatively ambiguous nature of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Hmmm... "Open-ended" is kind of an understatement - the long-awaited seventh episode in the world's favourite space saga left a lot to the imagination. Details and explanations for a whole smorgasbord of plot threads were noticeably absent; sometimes even the most basic of narrative points were left waiting in the abyss, with only a mild promise of expansion in future episodes of this sequel trilogy. In a lot of ways, the vague nature of The Force Awakens has given everyone a lot to talk about for the next two years. But in other places, the purposeful ambiguousness feels a lot like lazy screenwriting; as if Abrams and Kasdan couldn't be bothered to figure out some of the intricacies of certain plot points or scenes. And then there's just the odd instances where normal information has been withheld; stuff that didn't really need to be kept secret from the audience. Here, then, are 10 simple explanations that not only should have made it into Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but would have actually improved the movie to a fair degree...
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
