Everything Old Is New Again

Last year when I reviewed Star Wars: The Force Awakens, my biggest complaint with it was that it was pretty much a remake of the original film, Star Wars: A New Hope. Virtually everything in The Force Awakens has an analogue in the Original Trilogy. There's even a third Death Star that needs blowed up!

I didn't just imagine that. In an interview earlier this week JJ Abrams actually admitted copying the original:

“The weird thing about that movie is that it had been so long since the last one. Obviously the prequels had existed in between and we wanted to, sort of, reclaim the story,” Abrams said. “So we very consciously—and I know it is derided for this—we very consciously tried to borrow familiar beats, so the rest of the movie could hang on something that we knew was Star Wars.”

Basically, they felt they wanted to give audiences a reminder of what made Star Wars great. Something simple and familiar. And then, Episodes VIII and IX could have the freedom to get weird.

“This movie was a bridge and a kind of reminder,” Abrams said. “The audience needed to be reminded what Star Wars is, but it needed to be established with something familiar, with a sense of where we are going to new lands, which is very much what 8 and 9 do.”

Yes, I can certainly see why Abrams needed to remind the public just what Star Wars is. Because lord knows, in the past thirty nine years there have been no animated TV series, comic books, novels, reference books, newspaper strips, magazines, video games, plush toys, action figures, board games, prop replicas, t-shirts, bedspreads, pillowcases, rugs, posters, art prints, pajamas, outerwear, hats, costume replicas, museum exhibits, shoes, jewelry, toasters, waffle makers, makeup, shampoo, soap, soup, dog toys, Lego sets, coffee, coffee creamer, tea infusers, bike helmets, lawn ornaments, Christmas decorations, Christmas tree ornaments, chopsticks, clocks, watches, towels, cake pans, cakes, key rings, phone cases, guitars, oven mitts, gloves, necklaces, belts, kites, toy cars, backpacks, cardboard cutouts, headphones, bandaids, skateboards, underwear, dishes, mugs, glasses, lunch boxes, furniture, toilet seats, purses, wallets, dog bowls, model kits, cereals, soups, candies, facial tissues, trading cards, DVDs, blu rays, CDs, and even theme parks based on the property.

Thank you, JJ Abrams, for reminding me that Star Wars exists.