What has 'The Force Awakens' awakened? (SPOILERS)

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Methinks the time for a proper conventional overview + review of The Force Awakens has come and passed. Judging by those incredible box office numbers I feel pretty much everyone who wants to see the film has seen the film, or is planning to see the film, or even planning to re-watch the film (which I did on Christmas Day) and thus needs no further recommendation from me. The hype was definitely warranted; the seventh instalment in the Star Wars franchise is every bit as exhilarating, epic and entertaining a venture into the galaxy far far away. Performances are universally excellent (with one or two exceptions more possibly down to writing), the effects were flawless, the pacing was on par with A New Hope's relentless and constantly engaging speed of exposition, the script though a bit on the nose, and with a few awkward moments, was mostly very good, and just on a general point it played so well into both the nostalgia of just having more Star Wars while also doing many new and exciting thing with the existing conventions.

So anyway, where do we go from here? Well I don't confess to being any sort of fortune teller insofar as movie plot points are concerned (The Force Awakens constantly took me aback) but I do enjoy a bit of theorizing and analzyzing of how where the franchise stands, has implications for its future. So without further ado my (potentially completely wrong) predictios...

1. The story beats will follow that of The Empire Strikes Back

The apprentice shall become the master

The ending of The Force Awakens seems to have directly taken inspiration from the beginning of the second act of The Empire Strikes Back, with what I now assume will be the new trio of the new trilogy--Rey, Finn, Poe Dameron--split into two by necessity. I thoroughly applaud this. Though it's clear the three actors have fantastic chemistry with one another already (actually I take that back--namely, John Boyega's Finn has great chemistry with the other two. We've yet to see Rey and Poe meet, but I'm sure they'll be great together too), splitting the dynamic up can only be a good thing as we'll presumably get more focus into Rey as an individual, and her relationship to the force, and Finn and Poe will get to show more of that incredibly entertaining dynamic they showed in their few scenes together in The Force Awakens. Let's look at how the 'teams' have split up now:

Rey with R2-D2, Chewbacca, Luke. Mark Hamill's taking on the mentor role he was placed under the tutelage of all those years ago by Obi Wan and Yoda, is just such a tantalising prospect. I assume though he'll probably be a much more haunted figure seeing as his best friend's just died at the hands of his own son (and Luke's former apprentice), and that he and Ridley's dynamic will be decidedly more dramatic than Yoda-Luke-esque comedic. So I guess it's a good thing there'll be R2 and Chewie to lighten things up a bit.

Finn, Poe, Leia, BB-8, C3PO and The Resistance. I see this as being the grander adventure contrasting with the quieter character developments of Rey and Luke. The Aragorn + Gimli + Legolas shenanigans in contrast to the Frodo + Sam + Gollum interplays. Anyway, have no idea what's in store for them, but hoping for a lot more excellent piloting by Poe, comic beats and more development of Finn's aptitude as a hero to match his enthusiasm, more development for Leia as a character, and who knows? A certain someone, I hope, will pop up.

2. Watch out for Captain Phasma

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They clearly didn't cast the fantastic Gwendoline Christie to just turn up, say a few throwaway lines and act as a plot device and setup for a sanitation joke. I'm sensing that Rian Johnson will have more than a few tricks up his sleeves regarding her character in Episode VIII. Is she a full-on baddie? Is she a Resistance mole? Does she have a relationship with any of the existing characters? Will she lead a coup of the First Order? My guess is that things won't end up pretty between her and Domnhall Gleeson's Admiral Hux, and that there will be a power struggle between the two at some point in the next instalment. Can't wait to see what they make of her character. (also in terms of shortchanged characters I think Max Von Sydow could make a return, in a flashback or something. He was clearly a very crucial character to the 30 years post-Endor and perhaps, had a strong relationship to Luke or something)

3. Snoke is not a lost cause

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I'm still not a big fan of the whole conception of the character of Supreme Leader Snoke but upon re-watch I was struck by several things. One, the hologram images of his guise, though distinguishing his features well enough, doesn't really show him in light yet; the lacklustre design of his exterior may well be a product of darkness. Secondly, we've only seen him in brief snippets, and though he's yet to make anything close to the impact Sidious had in his initial appearances in A New Hope and The Empire Strikes back, perhaps more screentime in the sequels will help flesh him out a bit. Thirdly, it's Andy Serkis. Uninspired voice acting aside I really don't think he's intentionally slumming it. There must be something more to the role that's yet to be revealed.

4. Is Finn Force-sensitive?

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I know some people who had a bit of an issue with how sidelined in terms of 'doing' anything, Finn was in the third act of The Force Awakens. Han fearlessly sacrificed himself for a glimmer of Hope, Chewie set off the explosives, Poe destroyed the Starkiller, Rey maimed Kylo Ren, but apparently lots of people had issue with how Finn didn't really do anything of not besides hold his own for a while with a lightsaber.

I disagree. I thought his very act of rescuing Rey in itself was incredibly brave and in fact, his whole decision to stay behind and help the resistance instead of escaping. He DID have an arc in this film, contrary to what some people say; he turned from a fearful grunt for the First Order, having no identity and nothing to fight for, to a daring, fearless and selfless Resistance member who is willing to do whatever it takes to save Rey, even if it means straying out of his depths and endangering his own life. The lightsaber battle I though was made all the more powerful because Finn, despite lacking any sort of proper training or Force sensitivity, still valiantly jumped into the fray and was prepared to fight Kylo Ren to the death.

Which leads to the question: is Finn Force-sensitive? Though this film would seem to indicate not, hold on to assumptions for a while. He actually managed to get a few good blows off against Kylo Ren, and displayed little instances here and there in The Force Awakens of an awareness and aptitude for battle far more than the usual Stormtrooper (and yeah, also, he could shoot at targets which is never a given for a Stormtrooper). Regardless of what they do with him I hope they keep utilising Boyeha and his character well; he was my favourite part of The Force Awakens.

5. What about Kylo Ren? What sort of arc will he have?

To this I will say I have no idea and I don't want to know. The way they've set up his character here is just so intriguing, I don't want to theorize at all, but rather just sit back and see what they get up to. It was an ingenius stroke of writing to set up Kylo Ren as this Darth Vader figure and instead subvert him as more of a petulant Anakin sort, prematurely encasing himself in the armour of a Sith.

6. Who is Rey's father, and mother?

I thought Luke when I first watched the film. On second watch though, I've begun to question my main basis for this (her flashbacks upon touching Luke's lightsaber) as those flashbacks are not necessarily from Luke's perspective, which I took to be a sign of her lineage. In fact the voices you hear over that flashback are Yoda's, and Obi Wans (of both the Guinness and McGregor sort).

So who are her parents? Who knows. I'm suspecting there will be a strong link to the Original Trilogy, but not necessarily through Luke. Here's to the writers pulling off a BIG reveal sometime soon. I can't wait.

7. What role will the new characters play?

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From what I've heard the only 'new' actor to cast for Episode VIII is Benicio del Toro, hopefully he'll have a more substantial role in this sci-fi universe than he did in the Marvel universe. Other than him though I haven't heard of anything else. I would think they'd probably be more preoccupied with further developing the existing characters...which is a good thing in itself, too.

8. Who's next on the kill list?

Okay that was a lot more ominous than I meant for it to sound. I'm thinking Leia, Chewie are probably going to get through this trilogy unscathed. Same for C3PO and R2-D2 although don't count out one of them making a heroic sacrifice just to give them something to do. Luke...hm. I am willing to bet money that they'll definitely NOT kill him off in Episode VIII. But the way they're developing his character I could see them delving with him, into dark waters where the prospect of death is high...

Hux I think is a goner. Gleeson's a fantastic performer but I feel like the character has almost reached the end of his purpose. Kylo Ren's arc is yet to be fully realised yet so they'll keep him around (again, I can't wait to see whether he turns to the light or further into the dark). As for our new three leads...I genuinely worry for all of them. Mortality rates in this new Star Wars universe have been very high thus far, and no one is safe. Funnily enough, though he's had the smallest role (so far), I think Poe, despite his dangerous line of work, is the one untouchable for Episode VIII. I don't think they'll kill Rey off, but something bad might happen to her a la Luke in The Empire Strikes Back. As for Finn...hopefully that Stormtrooper tendency to be constantly on the precipice of death and danger will wear off. It's testament to the performances of Boyega, Daisy Ridley and Oscar Isaac that I want to see a LOT more of them together in the upcoming instalments, so hopefully their characters will survive...for now.