Star Wars: The ForceAwakens will go down as one of the most eagerly anticipated films of all time.
In this respect it may only be bested by 1999’s The Phantom Menace, a movie
that turned out to be such a colossal misstep that it set the franchise back greatly,
leaving fans scratching their heads at the labyrinthine narrative, bizarre
dialogue and one-dimensional characters.
That film — and the
sequels that followed — showed many of the things that don’t work in a Star
Wars movie. They were generally panned by critics, with audiences lamenting as
well. Add to it George Lucas’s tendency to rerelease the original trilogy with
newer, often jarring special effects, and you are left with many fans feeling
vexed and despondent.
A lot of people are
looking forward to The Force Awakens with careful enthusiasm, but thankfully,
with all of the factors we’re aware of — and the precious few movie trailers —
this newest film in the Star Wars canon looks to be a more intense, more
grounded take on the Star Wars universe. Perhaps you can thank Dark Knight
director Christopher Nolan for the movement toward realism in action movies in
the last few years. Maybe it’s the new franchise-owner Disney, or director JJ
Abrams, knowing what not to do this time around. Perhaps it’s the diminished
control of Lucas, who is only involved as a creative consultant. Or, it could
be the addition of Empire Strikes Back co-writer Lawrence Kasdan.
Here’s to hoping that
the franchise doesn’t fall into its old bad habits, nor create new ones. Regardless,
here’s Screen Rant’s list of 10 Things We’re Hoping NOT to See from Star Wars:
The Force Awakens.
TOO
MANY LENS FLARES
No one can say JJ
Abrams doesn’t know how to entertain his fans. He’s a triple-threat, adept at
writing, producing, and directing. Perhaps best known for his fun and flashy
revamp of the Star Trek franchise, Abrams was also the creator of multiple hit
TV series, like Felicity, Alias, and Lost. So when news broke in 2013 that
Abrams would be the director of The Force Awakens, the world let out a
collective sigh of relief. His addition to the project was mostly welcomed by a
great deal of enthusiasm, but there was also some skepticism.
Like any great
director, Abrams brings confidence and flair to all of his projects.
Unfortunately, though, he also tends to bring a lot of lens flare. In
particular, 2009’s Star Trek featured a great deal of blinding flash effects
that audiences found distracting. The crew achieved the special effect in a
surprisingly simple way: They waved a powerful flashlight towards the camera
lens.
In Star Trek, the
flares were a distraction, but that didn’t stop the film from being a fun
remake. With Star Wars though, where many fans will be looking over every frame
from their theater seats with a mix of expectation and wonderment, it would be
a cheap trick to have waited so long for this moment only to for it to be
visually impaired.
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