There are a lot of opinions that this movie will be a combo retelling of both Star Wars and empire...
...but that actually makes a lot of sense.
Because they don't have to tell a completely new story here to make a good one and rekick the franchise.
Trilogies work best when the middle chapter is best and the third is more uplifting...
As we've seen in many ways with lord of the rings (different scenario, but the stories worked) and nolans Batmans.
Not only that...but kasdan had referenced the principles of storytelling/Shakespeare in interviews...
A story is intro, struggle, and triumph...that is only a consistent winner throughout recorded history.
Now...I'm not sure that I'll absolutely love a new version of the original movie...but will my 8 year old on 12/17? It has been 38+ years...
And that is probably how Disney is going...an update to try and rebuild...
Why can they get away with a rebuild? Why can it be a huge hit?
Three of the most awful movies in history make it so. Everything that was wrong with modern movies circa 2000...
That's the context.
I do agree that Star Trek was a better effort than "into darkness"...
Which may be why they're using "director rotation" for all the planned films...
Every director has probably grown up/dreamed about shooting a star wars...
This way they get 2-3 years of nut/zealot commitment from each director. One shot at immortality.
I still think it funny that Lucas bothered to say "I won't be directing any more Star Wars" out loud...
NOBODY wants you anywhere near it, Bub.
I definitely think The Force Awakens is more for the 8 year olds of today than people who 8 years old in the 70's, but the original Star Wars was basically The Wizard of Oz for little boys any way...
Luke is Dorothy stuck on the farm dreaming of a better life, until the farm is destroyed by tragedy
Old Ben appears at first to be like the bumbling Professor Marvel who later ends up being the Wizard/Jedi with the power to help Luke
Princess Leia is Glinda the Good who sends them on their journey, and Glinda/Leia magically appears after meeting the Jawa/Munchkins
Darth Vader is the Wicked Witch with Storm Troopers instead of Flying Monkeys. R2-D2 is Toto, because both are cute and very helpful on the journey, but the Witch wants to get the "little dog too" because he's carrying plans for the Death Star
Han Solo is the Scarecrow, loyal but not too bright, C-3PO is the Tin Man constantly worrying about rusting/injury/sand, and instead of a Cowardly Lion they have a Chewbacca the Wookie... who's afraid to go down in the trash compactor... which is kinda like the field of poppies
Finally though they defeat the Wicked Witch and her Death Star by exploiting some
really unbelievable weakness, water? air shaft? Then at the end everyone gets medals and the thing that saves the day is a very simple phrase from the Wizard ...there's no place like home ...use the force ...there's no place like home ...use the force or basically "believe in yourself"
Aside from all the main characters and plot points that George Lucas appears to have
borrowed, the first Star Wars is also like The Wizard of Oz because they are both movies that appealed to people of all ages, and have continued to be appealing for generations. The difference with the Phantom Menace was that it tried appealing adults with a lot of high minded talk about politics and the force, and mixed in a few cartoon characters for the kids but it just doesn't hold together as a film. The Phantom Menace is less like a fairy tale for all ages, it's more like an office building that conveniently happens to have a day-care center inside it, and I don't think they will make that same mistake again
But the new Lead Character/Luke/Dorothy seems to me to be Rey, her Toto has a spherical body instead of a cylindrical body, her C3PO has a rusty red arm instead of a shiny silver leg, and when she's sneaking around inside the fallen Star Destroyer she's dressed very similarly to Leia when she went sneaking around Jabba the Hutt's place... so maybe like Luke and Leia, Rey got the force too? and maybe her Old Ben will be her Old Luke? and Old Ben was alive in 4 movies and a ghost in 2, and this will be Luke's 4th movie ...
anyway
Whether Rey is the new Luke and a future Jedi is debatable, but the new Vader seems to Kylo Ren, and keeping with the allusion to Nazis he's got Storm Troopers, and giant red, black and white banners everywhere, plus he's also got a Nazi-like motivation. The devastation of Germany after World War 1 is what lead to Hitler's rise to power... hence the fallen Star Destroyers everywhere. Trying to reclaim their former glory is what drove the Nazis to World War 2 and trying to reclaim the former glory of the fallen Empire is also what seems to be what driving Kylo Ren and The New Order
So getting back to the point of the thread, Kylo Ren is not Luke, Kylo Ren seems to basically be Adolph Hitler, and is being played by an actor who kinda looks like Marilyn Manson... so Kylo Ren is a super baddie, and whether any of this adds up to "a great motion picture" remains to be seen