A new hope for the franchise – movie review
By David Josselyn
It is finally here; the seventh movie-chapter in the Star Wars saga which began almost forty years ago in the mind of George Lucas. When Star Wars was released in 1977, we didn’t know it was A New Hope and there was no talk of sequels. And then, The Empire Strikes Back opened with “Chapter V” printed in the opening scrawl. From that point, not only did fans start discussing what might have happened in chapters one through three, but also eagerly discussed rumors that this was a nine-part story and there would be parts VII, VIII, and IX. Well George Lucas did decide to tell the origin story in the first three parts, but by that time, Lucas lost sight of what made Star Wars such a big hit in the first place. Perhaps he was tired of the series, or perhaps his loss of creative vision helped his decision to walk away and allow someone else to take the helm. The Force Awakens will be the first in the Star Wars franchise practically untouched by the original creator as direction is handed over to J.J. Abrams. The pre-release hype has been crazy and at times manic with anticipation of a movie that recaptures the feelings we had the first time we saw Star Wars. So, how well does this movie stack up to the hype, and is it any good? Or did Lucas make a big mistake walking away?
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