. . . revolve around a man and 2) A caring, loving, platonic relationship between the male and female protagonists. Though some internet speculators still “ship” characters to their pleasing, Star Wars did right by me in showing us that platonic love is in fact an option in Hollywood. The new casting also breaks boundaries for gender and race by… well… treating it like no big deal. In contrast to the original trilogy with its astonishing diversity of one lead female character and one black character, the new movie has made tremendous strides. There was not a position held by a white male in the Resistance that was not also held by a woman and/or a person of color. Thanks to The Force Awakens we now have female Stormtroopers like Captain Phasma (played by Gwendoline Christie) and Latino pilots like Poe to look up to. One can only hope that the boundaries continue to be pushed as the franchise takes off again.
Now, as for the movie itself - it’s good. No, it’s great. But personally, I don’t think it is quite the genius that other awestruck fans seem to. The plot was intricate and action-packed in true Star Wars fashion, but as I mentioned before, I was hoping for slightly less nostalgia. In nodding at tropes from Star Wars past the plot felt (at times) like something I had seen before. Specifically the idea of a massive planet-destroying fortress for the villain, and oh look! The only way to destroy it is shooting this single concentrated spot! At this point the plot walks a very fine line between paying homage and using the same idea for the third time. You would think the villains would learn not to make their bases out of giant spacecrafts with singular Achilles’ heels by now.
The only other flaw I see in this movie is the. . . comedic