14 replies to this topic

[Veteran]

Before we start I just want to say how great it is to make a topic like this. I remember when we were making Episode II theory threads and wondering how things we going to unfold in that trilogy! Here we are only 13 years later. Holy shit.

 

 

On a similar vein, I feel The Force Awakens is in a state of dependance on its future sequels. There are giant holes of world-building and plot conveniences in TFA that if deliberate and to be addressed will make this one a better movie. If not, I think history won't be kind to it similar to Episodes I and II.

 

But for the next year and a half I'll remain optimistic. Because if there's one thing this new movie should bring is optimism. Let's get down to it:

 

 

1. The biggie - who is Rey really? I've seen plenty of people championing both Solo and Skywalker with equal vigour. I'm in the Skywalker camp. TFA had no plot swerves at all, almost un-Abrams-like, and I expect this to continue into Episode VIII. I'm predicting the twist to come in IX with...

 

2. Rey was caught up in the dissolution/execution of Luke's Jedi acadamy explaining her dumpage on Jakku.

 

3. Why is Luke in hiding? R2-D2 being 'asleep' for the last 20 years was the worst part of the plot for me so I hope this gets some explanation, even if only a hand wave. Why was there a need for a map in two parts? Who was Max Von Sidow's character, was he watching over Rey?

 

4. Supreme Leader Snoke. Why oh why did they not just call him 'Supreme Leader'? They didn't go around shouting 'Palpatine' in New Hope did they? Snoke is a crap name. He also looks terrible. A disembodied voice would've been much better and more ominous for me than a giant hologram of CGI. If you've got to show him, slap some makeup on Andy Serkis please! Anyway - who is this guy, what does he want, what does he gain from detroying a whole star system? All I can come up with is extra-galactic new species invasion a la Vong.

 

Another gripe I had was the lack of bad-guy death. There was no Tarkin equivalent. I know there's Hux (who should've been played by a decent Brit like Mark Strong or Jason Isaacs) but he didn't die. The triumph was only the Starkiller Base destruction housing only mooks. We needed a death counterpart to Han.

 

Last thought:

The decision to make TFA a homage to ANH was excellent in my opinion. Plenty think this a bad thing, but I'm all for little kids having this as their first Star Wars movie because it's as awesome in the precise same ways ANH is awesome. It can only get less awesome if it's not built on with stellar sequels.

[Twinrova]

I liked this movie a lot and am frustrated with people blaming Rey for being a Mary Sue for all sorts of different reasons I don't feel I have to name and quite frankly don't have the energy to.... I loved her and can't wait to see more of her. GIRL JEDI GIRL JEDI GIRL JEDI GIRL JEDI GIRL JEDI!!!!!!!!!!!! 

 

I did think the Death Star 2.0 thing was kinda....eh.... like I appreciated all the nods to the original movies but this was a little much. Why introduce a newer bigger Death Star only to destroy it in like exactly the same way? Oh it has this *one* vulnerability, and if we just get in there and shoot it a lot...!

 

I hope Phasma isn't gone. I really wanted to see more of her and I promise it's not *entirely* because I love Gwendoline Christie..... just mostly.

 

 

BB-8 IS FUCKING ADORABLE AND I WANT ONE. That little thumbs up with the lighter, oh my god. ;___; <3

[DarkJuno]

I really liked all the characters, they all managed to avoid the "Hip New Kids!" syndrome that characters like that tend to fall into and all be genuinely compelling and likable, and you really did feel for them. 

 

Rey was amazing and is one of the best female leads in anything I've seen in awhile. I also really like the fact that they didn't push the strong tough independent woman thing so far that it got hammered into our faces. She definitely got miffed at Finn for always pulling her by her hand, but as soon as she realized he wasn't being patronizing and was just being concerned and helpful she stopped snapping at him. From that point on, she was grateful for his help, and hell, she helps him just as often, and gets herself out of sticky situations very well. I don't think she'll end up being Ren's sister, I'm more on the Luke's daughter boat, if only because of Kylo Ren specifically mentioning her dreams of an island surrounded by water, with Han to replace the father she never knew. Definitely glad to see her believably progress in her Force powers, in that she's just that powerful in it despite being untrained. Both her and Finn managing to use the lightsaber competently was naturally explained by both just being good in melee combat as well. Super looking forward to Episode VIII if only for that cliffhanger.

 

Finn was also amazing. Very likable and fun, and pretty much exactly the hero you'd want him to be. You definitely could see what he was going to go through a mile away, but he's played so well it's fine - "Tropes Are Not Bad" indeed. Definitely wanted to see him stop running and start being a hero, and his interactions with everyone is what made him. Especially with Poe, who in lesser hands could o easily be super grating and annoying with the snarky smug jackass routine, but played off so well it's fun. I'm perfectly happy with how they sorta glaze over how he doesn't die after the TIE crash because it meant he was alive - this is Star Wars, so I'm sure he'll have some novel or comicbook explaining how and why if it bothers me that much.

 

I never would've guessed that Kylo Ren would've essentially been an angsty teen who can't control his emotions, and even more I can't believe how well it works! He's menacing right off the bat from his first scene, and his wild outbursts where he just starts breaking stuff were actually pretty entertaining, and not in a crap movie way - I even like how it's known within the First Order he does that sort of thing regularly and it's best to just walk away. Once he takes off the helmet he.....definitely loses the menace, but they tend to be for emotional scenes, so the emo teen nerd look actually works out. Kinda regret not buying the 6" Black Series figure now since it'll be tougher to find until they dump a bunch more out after Christmas.

 

The old cast were good, Harrison Ford was exactly like he was, despite being older, and holy crap, Carrie Fisher was lucid and sober the entire time! They were both believably the exact same characters as before, just older, and with the sense that they both went through a lot of crap between movies. Han Solo's death.....well, come on, as soon as they revealed that Ren was his and Leia's kid, you KNEW he wasn't going to make it past this movie, and as soon as he confronted Ren that was it. The "Help me have the strength to do what I have to do" line was just slowly twisting the knife in before it happened. Luke didn't do anything beyond turn around and look badas with a beard, but dammit, like I said earlier, that last scene just makes me want to see more.

 

The First Order seemed like an answer to people who thought the Empire just wasn't Nazi enough. I did feel a little robbed that Hux didn't die when the Starkiller blew up, since the first movie at least had Tarkin go with the Death Star. I suppose it'll make it more satisfying when he inevitably goes. I raised an eyebrow at their being ANOTHER thing that destroys planets, but it was at least kinda different enough, though I appreciated Han Solo's lamp shading of it. Did they totally just blow up Coruscant though? Or is it some other planet that's explained in some novel I'll never read? I kinda hope it's the former, but whatever. I'm still not sure why The Resistance wasn't just The New Republic, but again, whatever. I hope we see more of Captain Phasma later on, 

 

At first I kinda liked Snoak, because he was just this giant guy, but then it turned out to be a hologram and I got less and less impressed. He has two more movies to be built up, and I'm curious if he's a human who got super messed up or some alien. Maybe he's the original race of Sith? I don't know enough to even guess, though Clone Wars had another giant guy, though it was just in Yoda's weird Force Vision Quest.

 

I'm sure I can nitpick a whole lot more, but it doesn't matter. I did enjoy it a lot, though I'm still not convinced they can make a Star Wars movie every year without it wearing thin. My worry is that each of the "Other" movies might dilute it all and make the next two proper episodes seem weaker for it, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

[Elvenlord]

 

I did think the Death Star 2.0 thing was kinda....eh.... like I appreciated all the nods to the original movies but this was a little much. Why introduce a newer bigger Death Star only to destroy it in like exactly the same way? Oh it has this *one* vulnerability, and if we just get in there and shoot it a lot...!

 

This was really my only major gripe with the movie. Weee another death star, 3 movies of 7 have basically the same plot.

 

There are some others, like why the Resistance isn't just the Republic and others, but they're really just nitpicks. I overall liked it

[Selena]

Loved all the characters. That doesn't happen often. They're all amazing in their own way -- their negative traits are smoothly balanced out by their positive ones.

 

I agree that including yet another Death Star was a little underwhelming, and it sort of came out of left field in the last act. A race to Luke's coordinates probably would've been more gripping. Although I suppose destroying the Republic's main worlds and the Republic fleet served a clear purpose that will be revealed in the sequel.

 

Coruscant is safe. According to the internet, the not-Death Star actually destroyed the Hosnian System.

 

http://makingstarwar...actic-conflict/

 

tl;dr version of that link:

• The Empire still exists, but is in deep disarray after the Emperor's death
• Imperial forces are confined to a region in the Core Worlds and Inner Rim
• Coruscant is still likely an Empire-controlled or Empire-sympathetic planet, though details on that are a little vague
• The Empire and Republic signed a shaky armistice -- neither side can cross into each other's territory
• The First Order are fanatics that branched off from the Empire
• Leia formed the Resistance to combat the First Order, operating without the Republic's "official" consent. 
• First Order vs. Resistance is basically a proxy war within a Cold War
   
• Meaning, in the new movie, the Empire and Republic will probably go to war again
   

 

Would've liked more world-building in the actual film, but I trust we'll get more of that in the sequels. The original trilogy was actually pretty limited on details about the galaxy as a whole. We got most of our information from novelizations and other additional material. That'll probably be the case with this one, too. Which does feel a little lazy, I suppose, but the films are ultimately about the characters. 

 

 

 

 

I think Rey is Luke's daughter, given her skills with technology, the Force, and flying. As mentioned, there weren't many plot twists in TFA, and most diehard nerds saw these things coming, so I presume they'll be just as straightforward about Rey's parentage.

 

She could be Han and Leia's daughter -- but I think they would have told her about it upon reuniting with her. Han's willing to take a lightsaber to the gut in order to bring his son back, after all. Revealing a secret is infinitely less dangerous than that. Hiding that she's Luke's daughter make sense, though, given that Luke is the galaxy's most wanted man right now.

 

 

 

 

One gripe: I wish Kylo had just fled after the death of Han. Even if he was injured, having him struggle against two untrained noobs made him look less effective as a villain. 

[Oberon Storm]

My gripe is the damn lightsaber.

 

When the new trilogy was announce I remember it getting out that Luke's lightsaber from The Empire Strikes Back was going to be central to the plot. I always thought that was dumb. How do you explain how it got from Bespin to Tatooine, where everyone thought it was going to found? It was found on Jakku, and it turned out not be as big of a thing as originally thought. It's still a bit of a stretch. I hope they don't leave it at Maz Kanata's throw away line about another story. Explaining Poe's survival that way is one thing. This slightly pisses me off.

 

I also would have been happier had it really been a third Death Star. Turning a whole planet into a weapon like this was an Expanded Universe novel was bit much.

 

But I still loved it. Everyone has already mentioned how great the characters are. I wound up loving BB-8 rather than getting annoyed. All of the nods to the first Star Wars made me smile like a little geeky boy. I hope to go see this many more times.

[DarkJuno]

You know, as much as it pains me to say this, thinking it over, there is one thing the Prequels did better then this movie - I can tell you all about Naboo, Geonosis, Kamino, and Mustafar, and even point out "that one planet with the deep gorge" just from having watched those movies, but I can't tell you the names of anything other then Jakku and Starkiller, and even then it's just "another desert planet with a ship graveyard" and "another ice planet except it got turned into a Death Star, and has forests." Granted, I very much prefer the great character building and relationship building and gladly took that over it, but still. The fact that I have to go to Wookiepedia to even know the name of the Republic capital and don't remember where the Resistance is based is a little disappointing. Hopefully it picks up a bit in the next movie without becoming overbearing.

 

This being a proxy war a la the Cold War definitely seems more interesting, though I wonder if thy'll be brave enough to show that there are maybe some not-so-great people within the Resistance beyond Leia's main force, and show that Fin isn't necessarily the only decent person in the First Order. Then again, if it gets too complicated then never mind, I can live with a simple story if it's good.

[Elvenlord]

Ok, this isn't really on topic, but I feel this is the best place to say something. You guys might have seen someone spoiled Han's death and who Ren is to Soap, but they also told him Chewbacca dies too. I managed to convince him the Chewbacca part is true but not Han's death, so if he talks to you guys try to keep that up. Thanks.

[Delphi]

Called Han's death several months ago so I now have "Called it!" privilege in my family. Yesssssss.

Odd thing to mention but my parents really liked it. They were seniors in high school when ANH came out and they said this was a lot like when they first saw Star Wars. The prequels couldn't hold my parents' attention worth a damn but this movie definitely hit the nostalgia chord with them. So good sign?

I was nervous about the oldest actors because Harrison Ford isn't the biggest fan of Han and poor Carrie Fisher can't find something to keep her from being thrown into a manic or agitated depression and ends up drinking or doing drugs again. Treatment resistant depression is a bitch... But there she was, sober and quick witted trading banter with Harrison like it was yesterday. Older, voice a little ragged, but it fit. She wasn't the slightly prissy princess she could be in the original trilogy. You believe she actually leads these people as a general. I'll be honest, I kind of cringed at first I heard she was a general but then she showed up and Carrie made me believe it.

I was afraid Harrison's portrayal would display just how tired he was of the character but he slipped back into the role like it was a pair of well worn shoes. Sure Han is older and a bit curmudgeony now but, well, would you expect anything different when you just take the trilogy and not the EU. I was kind of weirded out that he went back to smuggling and seemed to have some kind of death wish with the tenticle monsters but it made sense later on. He doesn't go on about it but he's pretty messed up about Ben becoming Kylo Ren. I like that. It adds depth that was kind of missing before, as Carrie Fisher herself has pointed out in the past.

Can't really say anything about Hamill yet since we just got the end shot and the hand on the droid but I'm optimistic. I really like Mark Hamill and feel like he gets a lot of flack he doesn't deserve. He can definitely act but in the original trilogy since Luke is basically Lucas's author avatar, he got the brunt of the Lucas School of Acting attention. He also got the most flat of the big three characters. So here's hoping Abrhams will actually let Mark act like we now know he can and develop Luke a little. It's already a good sign that Luke appears to have had this mental/emotional crisis of some kind that he doesn't immediately bounce back from. It has me intrigued. And man they nailed the Luke has become Obi Wan look. I thought he looked kind of doofy with the beard off the set but holy crap it actually works in the movie! We'll see if it continues to.

So on to the new characters.

I did not think I would like BB as much as I do. I wanted to just give the dagger eyes and be like "You're a two bit replacement for R2!" But despite filling similar roles and having the same communication method, they somehow have distinctly different personalities. BB being more like a happy puppy happy to just follow someone and R2 is the puppy that is always getting in to trouble. It works.

Poe is a magnificent jackass. I thought he'd be annoying but dammit his actor makes him so likable somehow! Normally you'd want to punch his character archetype in the face. So he kind of breathes new life into a normally unlikeable character. I guess kind of how Harrison Ford made Han Solo likable when he's a really shady character. So hopefully a good sign.

Fen is hilariously adorable. Poor little tyke bomb trying to be a good guy and act normal when he has no idea what he's doing. His journey will be a fun one.

Kylo Ren/Ben. I'm very intrigued. What made him so obsessed with his grandfather? How did he turn from a relatively good kid to youngling/apprentice slaughterer 2.0? Is he power hungry? Think he's doing good somehow? Or just so deeply infiltrated by the Dark Side that he can't think straight?

The actor does look like he could be related to Han and Leia. Definitely a pretty boy but it works in his favor. And despite trying to cast them aside, he has a lot of his parents in him. Both Leia and Han are quick thinkers with charisma that more often than not got their asses out of hot water with clever deception, words, or lies. His temper tantrums also made sense once his parentage was revealed. Han and Leia spend a lot of time rather angry at a lot of things in the original trilogy. Neither one was probably a great model of serenity for a very Force Sensitive kid. I mean as much as we want happily ever after where Han and Leia never fight and somehow get over their war and life inflicted emotional issues overnight, it just didn't work out that way. They're both screwed up people that end up yelling at each other when frustrated. They're not going to raise a paragon of patience and tranquility. So while kind of laugh worthy, Ben's temper tantrums aren't so out of place.

Him luring Han within Lightsaber reach is interesting. Does he truely have conflicted feelings? Or is he using the aforementioned family ability to expertly bullshit to get Han close enough to kill while also stalling to give the station more time to fully charge? I hope we get an answer.

I like Rey. I'm curious about her. I'm about 80/20 split on who she belongs to, leaning in Luke's direction.

It was in the very early trailers but there's a voice over from Luke saying, "The Force is strong in my family. My father had it. I have it. My sister has it. And so do you." if I'm remembering right. If he's talking to Rey, I'd be strange to bring up the family connection if she wasn't part of it. So yeah, I'm mostly in the Rey got separated and then hidden when Ben went all batshit on the Jedi. Whoever her mother is was likely killed in the massacre and with Luke off in his funk he probably believes Rey to be dead like the rest of his students. Cleanly wraps up the issue of why he wouldn't go looking for her if he is her father. And Rey seems to have fallen off the Force Radar similar to Leia so searching in the Force wouldn't have let him know she was alive.

But the 20% that pushes me in the direction of her being Han and Leia's daughter is her similarity to Jaina in the EU. Ben parallels the later storylines of Jacen turning to the Dark Side so it wouldn't be too far fetched. Rey is a natural pilot and a talented engineer much like Jaina. She also has more in common with Han than Leia like Jaina. But that's as far as the clues take me.

But she has far more connections to Luke. Luke was also a natural pilot and seemed to know his way around machines like both Rey and Anakin. The lightsaber that once belonged to Anakin, then Luke, calls to her. Both the saber and Rey would be lost from Luke then suddenly awakened and found. Coincidence or foreshadowing?,

Abrhams is drawing heavily from ANH and I'd be surprised if he didn't study The Hero With a Thousand Faces like Lucas did to get a feel for a big piece of what inspired the plot progression in the first place. So the parallels go further than homage I think. We have clear progression from the Call to Adventure (BB dropping into Rey's lap, the lightsaber calls to Rey), Supernatural Aid (The Force, naturally), the Refusal of the Call (her fleeing into the woods), the Mentor (Han) and the death of the Mentor. The Temptation to strike Kylo Ren down in anger and revenge, the Revelation/Awakening of her power in the Force and her transformation from salvage rat to Hero. I'm interested in how he'll continue Rey's path on the journey.

But that's also how I knew as soon as Han stepped foot on that catwalk that he was a gonner. He took on the Mentor role. The Mentor almost always dies. Plus the staging. Almost identical to Obi Wan's death. The choice of the Mentor to reveal himself to the Villain on the Villain's turf, the Mentor's protegee accidentally trips across the confrontation from a vantage point where they cannot render aid, the Mentor is killed in front of the Protegee. Rey running to that ledge just confirmed that Han was going the way of Obi Wan.

Unless I'm wrong and somehow, someway, Han survives just for a "Gotcha!" moment a few years from now. I leave the door open to this possibility. Abrhams did write Fringe. I've seen more bizarre things on that show.

As for the Death Star on a Budget, the Empire never really learned the real lesson from the Death Star. No, don't fix the exhaust port. Super weapons are a bad idea. At least the vulnerable area here had a lid on it and it wasn't half constructed. So I guess they kind of learned?

Anyhow, I enjoyed the movie. I wasn't blown away like the first time I saw Star Wars in theaters in 1997 but I'm also not nine years old.

I am tentatively hopeful. You could say I have A New Hope for Star War-

*We're sorry. The writer of this post has been shot for beyond groan worthy puns.*

[Doctor Pogo]

I just have to get this off my chest and then I can speak rationally:

 

THEY LET HAN MOTHERFUCKING SOLO GET KILLED BY HIS PUNK KID WITHOUT A FIGHT.

 

The Han who shot first would not have taken that lying down, not even from his only child. I can buy confronting Ren without starting a fight, he'd promised. I can buy making himself vulnerable on the chance Leia was right. I can even buy taking the lightsaber thrust he knew was coming: it's his son, plus this is the final threshold, now Leia will really know the kid's gone, and he knows that even if Leia won't, Uncle Chewie will pay the little brat back.

 

But what I can't buy is that, after his own son had the unmitigated gall to puncture him with a lightsaber, he didn't grit his teeth and slug that recalcitrant son-of-a-nerfherder square in the jaw before falling over. It was like Joseph Campbell had come to him in a dream and shown him his new role in the monomyth.

 

*ahem* Anyway. I thought the movie was pretty great. Prime example of the usefulness of showing, not telling. So much of the prequels' endless exposition was delivered here through passing references and context clues that I really had to pay attention to the details, and I want to watch it again so I can see what I missed the first time and fill in more details. Which is pretty much everything I want from a work of art: to have it slowly unravel in my head for a few days after experiencing it and want to go back and take it in again.

 

I'm almost 100% certain that I'm wrong about this, because the movie is just bursting with foreshadowing that Rey is a Skywalker, but I hope that she isn't. My deepest wish is for her not to be a Skywalker or a Solo, that she's not related to anybody, she's just some nobody orphan girl who just happened to grow into mad force powers. And that she comes to save the galaxy from the warring dynasties of Sith and Jedi that have been engulfing it in their petty religious squabbles for centuries.

 

Again, that's absolutely not what's going to happen. But if I were writing a star war, it's what I'd do.

 

What actually happened in this movie is about as good as a brand new modern Star Wars movie could be. Even if they grant no part of my wishes, I feel pretty sure I can trust that the next one will also be quality.

Edited by Doctor Pogo, 05 January 2016 - 01:16 AM.

[Fëanen]

I saw it today. Really, really, impressed. I watched the original trilogy over the past few days (the bonus DVDs with the laserdisc versions, with Han shooting first and the late Sebastian Shaw in his proper place) and in that light I feel Episode VII was a proper continuation. Definitely hit a lot of the notes of the original movie (desert planet, cantina, planet destroying weapon) but the new characters really did feel new, it wasn't just a straight-up clone generation. I also love that our new heroine is highly tech-savvy and managed to orchestrate her escape before the boys got a chance. Not that Leia was a stereotypical damsel, especially by the standards of a 1977 action film. Finn had just the right mix of bravery and "I'm done with this crazy stuff" in his attitude, and honestly I think there's a lot more to him than even he knows.

[Egann]

TL;DR:

 

Grade: B-, Modestly disappointing, but not surprised.

 

Darth Emo? WTF?! Who thought this was a good idea?!

 

 

OK, on topic. 

 

Most of the new characters are passable at worst. Finn and Rey both lack sorely in the backstory department, but they have chemistry and work as a team. It almost feels like the first session of a Tabletop Role Playing group; the players (a married couple) are too lazy to make up a backstory, so the GM says, "you're a storm-trooper. You're a scrapper. GO!" This movie pretty much writes itself with that set-up.

 

There are also a couple really nice touches, like the storm trooper doesn't understand Chewbacca or BB-8. Also, Rey resorting to thrusting with a lightsaber (I believe one of the books mentioned a gyroscopic effect, which would make thrusting almost instinctive for a novice.)

 

Disappointing? Well, Han Solo's death was just kinda...bland. It wasn't good. It wasn't bad. It's just "we have to kill this character because Harrison Ford wants an exit." I of course grieve the character as a fan, but compared to most character deaths this one felt...empty. Also, Darth Voldemort is a complete waste of time and the Death Planet is just plain stupid. Can't you think of a more menacing thing than the Death Star? How about a MULTI-SHOT Death Star? Just no. 

 

My biggest disappointment is that they cut up the EU with a hatchet, not a scalpel. I understand the need to cut the content off--it's something like pruning to keep your options open--but there's really no sense the Extended Universe exists in this, which is a DAMN shame considering the depth it could have added. 

 

Consider, for example, Darth Voldemort (I know his name is Snoke, but that's a terrible name and you know it.) Imagine if, instead of evil dark lord, Kylo Ren had a dark jedi girlfriend named Tavion, who dresses and acts exactly like Tavion from the video games. No explanation needed; she's just there being an evil influence. What would happen?

 

Well, first of all, you would be able to get rid of the terrible filler stuff with Supreme Leader SMOKE, but more importantly EU fans would go absolutely NUTS debating over how Tavion got there and if that means Desann is a thing. If you like any of the ideas fans come up with, you can roll with them in the next movie. If not, well, this is it's own canon and you're under no obligation to explain anything.

 

Now imagine if they had dropped perhaps a dozen or so EU names in the script; you would leave a strong implication that most of the EU characters do still exist in the new canon, just that they're not where you remember and they aren't the focus of this story. They become easter egg bonuses for loyal fans who know the material to fawn over, but will just fly right by everyone who doesn't recognize them. 

 

 

 

[Selena]

Egann, I think it's time to make like Rose and let go of the EU, because, just like Jack, it already died some time ago. At least as far as the new trilogy is concerned. It is actually more liberating to watch TFA knowing that it's doing a totally different thing.

 

As for Snoke (which, yes, is a stupid name and should have never been cleared), I'm fond of the theory that he's actually Darth Plagueis, which will anchor the new movies to the prequels in an unobtrusive manner.

[Egann]

[Delphi]

The EU is just way too big at this point for a casual movie goer to keep up with. The movies aren't being written for the hardcore lore nerds. They're there to tell a story.

Keeping the EU, with how each story builds on the others and you get call backs decades later, would have the very alienating effect of canon lockout for a) casual, b) very young fans who haven't even had enough time in their lives to consume a quarter of the EU, c) People who just want to watch and enjoy a movie without needing an entire codex handed out with their tickets.

The EU is fun but it was also way too bogged down for its own good. I mean Abeloth, Flow Walking, the Yuuzan Vong, long lost relatives, enough survivors of Order 66 to fill the Executor, bastards of Palpatine but not really, an entire chunk of the galaxy taken over by the Mnggal-Mnggal, and more dead canon and EU characters you could shake a galaxy gun at.

Yeah I'm miffed that the Thrawn Trilogy is no longer canon but I can still enjoy it in the Legends continuity.

But it's time to start with a clean slate. So much of the EU was so consulted and contradictory and while details are good, too much leaves nothing to the imagination. I'm actually kind of excited, if not also terribly nervous, that all of my previous Star Wars knowledge won't really help me know what's going to happen next. For the first time in forever, I'm going to be just as surprised as the rest of the audience and won't be screaming about how it doesn't fit book or comic xyz. That's kind of cool.