That a Star Wars film functions as a recycling machine is hardly out of character, but what began, in Lucass first incarnation, as a fantasyland cobbled together from outside sources (Buck Rogers, King Arthur, Akira Kurosawa, Silent Running, Triumph of the Will) now mostly borrows from inside of its own world. Theres still some old Hollywood hokum bleeding through the burgeoning Luke and Han-like friendship between Poe and Finn in The Force Awakens, and theres generally more original trilogy-grade nostalgia to this installment than in Lucass prequels, which, with their enthusiasm for advanced digital effects and realizing their makers previously impossible dreams, were more forward focused. I kept waiting for a moment that would bring meaning to this feeling of infinite return, a forceful indicator that theres philosophical depth to these echoes through generations of trilogies and the viewers who love them. But it never arrived, at least not to my satisfaction. Theres no idea behind the new films echoes of the past, outside of making those echoes feel pleasurablebe they Fords begrudging summoning of his Solo-era charms, the brassy triumphalism of John Williamss transporting score, or the perennial joys of robots cavorting with a man in a bear suit. Abrams brings to this film more humanity, and a greater appreciation for his performers, than Lucas managed for all three of the prequels combined. That goes a long way toward making his entertainment click, and furthermore toward making us care. Im just not sure what were caring about, other than the furtherance of Star Wars itself.
For all of its sins, which are very, very, very, very many, The Phantom Menace had a captain, and it was fueled by ideas. Well over a decade after he concluded the original trilogy, Lucas had a vision for what revisiting this universe he had drummed up might look and feel like with the benefit of digital technology, and had a slew of new notions for how to populate and define it. They werent particularly good ideas. In fact they were mostly bad, dramatically inert, visually ossified ideas, filled with inexplicable logic, deadening self-seriousness, misunderstandings and mishandlings of what made his own creation compelling, bad writing, worse directing, floundering acting, and endless expository passages about taxes, senates, and genetics. It was like watching a magician listlessly explain whats awesome about the art of illusion without making magic happen anew. Yet the films emerged from the inside out, and its maker worked passionately to realize them. After abstaining from directing and writing for over two decades, he wrote, directed, produced and financed all three movies. That he became the problem in most estimationsthat he shouldnt have directed, he shouldnt have written, he should have let other voices and ideas challenge his ownpoints to a failure in execution, but not in provenance, nor in integrity. That you could blame Lucas for the failings of those movies only proved how much they belonged to him.
By contrast, The Force Awakens belongs to a corporation. It is a product meant to make good on an investment. Disney purchased a property from Lucas, and made a movie related to that property in order to start recouping its outlay. The best way to recoup that outlay was to very carefully and deliberately court and flatter a fan base that has kept the Star Wars brand popular for 38 years and counting; to guarantee that no floppy-eared CGI alien minstrel show will embarrass and shame everyone in sight, that there will be no bogged-down weirdness about midi-chlorians or intergalactic trade agreements, no thespians in bathrobes barely tolerating pantomiming swordplay in front of a green screen (disregarding the fact that those missteps still led to a half-billion box office haul in 1999); to make certain that this new thing is nothing but a sure thing; to make this corporate product at least seem like a public trustcounteracting Lucass failure to understand that this is what his creation had evolved into, in effect if not in actuality. Theres no WTF in The Force Awakens because WTF cant be afforded. Its smart business, but its not an ideaquite the opposite, actually. First comes economics, and then you hired some artists, and then, maybe, you make some art. Any ideas or inspirations come further down the line, in whatever any of the participants might bring to certain aspects of the enterprise. None of this need invalidate what the film winds up being, but it does inform, and to a large degree define it.
