7. They Handle Fan Service With Subtlety
A little bit of fan service is great. Everyone loves a brief nod to a previous event or story hearing character's naturally reference their past is an effective way of pleasing the audience while also creating a sense of connectedness. For the most part, the prequel trilogy integrated its fan service with grace and dexterity. When Yoda shows up, it makes sense he's a Master on the Jedi Council. The Clone Troopers in Attack Of The Clones are a great nod to the Storm Troopers, too not just visually, but they provide an interesting explanation for the vast number of nameless, faceless soldiers in the original trilogy. They're an homage that serves the plot. In The Force Awakens, the use of fan service is entirely different. Excusing the appearance of Han, Leia and Luke (because let's face it, they're awesome) the fan service is much more for its own sake. For a start, there's a crowbarred reference to the Kessel Run. There's a collapsed AT-AT on the desert planet of Jakku how on earth did it get there? C-3PO has no actual role in the film, but he has plenty of dialogue anyway at least R2-D2 has a reason for being there. Then there's the plot of the film there's the Death Star, but now it's bigger. Heck, there's a trench run, but now it's bigger. Adam Driver revealed in an interview at the London premiere that he shot a scene with Kylo Ren saying Darth Vader's famous line I sense something, a present I've not felt since.... In the end, that was left on the cutting room floor, but it sums up just how unsubtle the fan service was in the film.
Brian Wilson
Contributor
Commonly found reading, sitting firmly in a seat at the cinema (bottle of water and a Freddo bar, please) or listening to the Mountain Goats.
See more from
Brian