Reasons why I’m not thrilled about The Force Awakens

1)      Right out of the gate, the first thing that will be different is that it won’t start with Alfred Newman’s Fanfare (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DnpAQegDXE).  Yes, it’s 22 seconds of disappointment, but I’m scared of what they might replace it with (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMyHnZ4lV54 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BC-eFU6OgxA).  Did you know that George Lucas (not John Williams) brought Newman’s Fanfare back to 20^th Century fox in 1977?  It hadn’t been used in over 10 years.

2)      While we’re on the topic of music, Disney hasn’t released the soundtrack yet.  And the only tidbits that they showed on 60 minutes really didn’t relate to the original scores much at all.  I know that the music to the prequels was quite a bit different as well, but the beauty of Revenge of the Sith was how the music tied the prequel themes to the original trilogy.

3)      Also related to music, while I’m glad that they hired John Williams to do the music, they are using a Disney studio orchestra instead of the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

4)       BB-8:  Let’s just say that I now understand everybody else’s hatred of Jar Jar  :)

5)      All of the other movies were released from May 16^th to May 25^th.  A December 17^th opening date just confirms that J. J. Abrams wasn’t paying any attention to details.

6)      There’s a character named Ello Asty – pronounced L-O S-T.  J. J. is more focused on self-promotion than the traditions of the saga.  (It’s minor, but how many other Abrams easter eggs are hidden in this movie?)

7)      A local concern:  All the good theaters are dead.  The Cooper and Century 21 have been gone for years.  The only good auditorium left in Denver for the Special Editions/Prequels was the Continental.  And now the Continental has been converted to stadium seating, and I just can’t bring myself to even go to see what it looks like.  I had a favorite seat at the Con – I sat in the same seat for all 6 of the Star Wars movies and the Lord of the Rings (and the extended editions).  I’m guessing that my seat is now about 12 feet below the stadium seat the proper distance from the screen.

8)      J. J. Abrams is known for not writing strong endings (Lost anyone?).  So why would Disney hire him to write the end of the greatest saga in movie history?

9)      Most of the people who are excited about the new movie are the same people who hated the prequels.  While I agree that there were things that I didn’t like about the prequels, the original trilogy wasn’t any better.  “But I was going into Tosche Station to pick up some power converters!” isn’t any better than “I don't like sand. It's coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere.”  And Nien Nunb was worse than Boss Nass.  The Ewoks were just as silly as the Gungans.  And “It’s a trap!” became famous because it’s just as dumb as “Now this is podracing!”  Sorry folks, but the dialog and acting were not why we liked the original series.  It was the music and the great improvements in special effects. The prequels had better music and fantastic special effects if you were paying attention.  All that I have seen in the new movie is action, explosions, and I higher body count – which is the same thing that I’ve seen in every other movie coming out of Hollywood in the past 10 years.

In short, I’ll go, I’ll enjoy it, but there are just so many things that make this not a Star Wars movie.  Please don't screw it up Jar Jar Abrams.