By Hipolito Munoz, Managing Editor/Publisher
There is no question that this is Disney’s version of Star Wars. Not that it is a bad version, its just arrested in a teen age fantasy that allows them to create a new set of followers for the franchise and make sure they are able to recuperate their investment.
They have taken the first story and developed a sequel that would allow a new/continuing story to be developed as a trilogy. The cast is very diverse so that those teens and pre-teens they are targeting feel connected to the story, and I think that is why Disney can be magical. They have decided that the world of Star Wars should be closer to the representation of the world we live in and some people are losing it. I took this opportunity to speak to this because of the recent furor caused by a black actress being cast as Hermione in a stage play of Harry Potter, but that is for another opinionated story in the near future.
The film is certainly a must see because it is fun and if you have only seen the original “Star Wars, A New Hope,” you probably wont need to watch any of the other five films as this version allows any new viewer to continue forward without the hindrance of spending another 10 hours trying to understand what happened.
There are many “Easter Eggs” in the film, which is a phrase that refers to hidden references in a scene to emote connections to the past films, many were hidden in the open so that those of us who have seen ALL the Star Wars movies would be able to catch most of the phrases immediately, especially because most of the references were to Star Wars: A New Hope. It was sort of a wink to us “veterans” from JJ Abrams; “see, I gotcha.” Unfortunately now, I am going to be watching, again, all the other films and going to indulge my mind to meld into the mind of mythologist Joseph Campbell, who inspired George Lucas during the creation of the series, there is an Easter Egg, for some of you who are fans of the other Star series which JJ Abrams also helms.
So, yes, go to the theater, and like the Latino gentleman in front of me, take your whole family, I had to wait in line for my Nachos around 15 minutes as he spent $253.20 at the confectionary station. Yep, guess who the audience is…. May the Force Be With You during these holidays… or if not, try the eggnog.
