‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ flies to success at light speed

On Dec. 18, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” hit the box office in a blockbuster explosion, calling out all of the obsessed fans who have been laying low since the release of “Revenge of the Sith“ in 2005 to pull out their light sabers once again.

“The Force Awakens” is centered around a new protagonist named Rey, a scavenger on the planet of Jakku. She encounters an ex-Stormtrooper named Finn, who is searching for a loveably round orange droid called BB-8. This droid is carrying important information; namely, the map to runaway Luke Skywalker’s hidden location. Of course, in typical “Star Wars“ fashion, this is the point at which everything goes horribly wrong, and the characters are thrust into the action-packed adventure of a lifetime.

At this point, I should probably give a spoiler warning because if you’ve managed to hide under a rock and avoid having the movie ruined for you, I don’t want to be the one to tarnish that impressive achievement.

Alright, let’s continue.

Aside from the record-breaking amount of dough that director J.J. Abrams is currently rolling in, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” pushed the limits in all aspects of the film franchise’s history. Huge advances in special effects, such as the looming Supreme Leader Snoke and realistic-looking fight scenes, clearly set apart the new film from the shakily animated endeavors undertaken by the original films in the 80’s.

Of course, the most obvious trademark of the modern era in “The Force Awakens” was the actual appearance of diversity. One of the main characters, Finn, is portrayed by John Boyega, an African-American actor -meaning that Lando Calrissian is no longer the only black person in the galaxy (or, rather, the universe). Whether or not this had anything to do with the Black Lives Matter movement, it was definitely a much needed improvement.

The other main character, Rey, is a female protagonist. Even though Leia did have her moments, Rey made a point of not needing male help to get by. When the cliche “rescue the kidnapped girl” plotline started to play out, she saved herself – not to mention that she was in the final battle against the newest villain, Kylo Ren. Essentially, she was the ultimate brain-child of modern day feminism.

Ignoring these advances, however, it’s difficult not to see the parallels between this movie and the original trilogy. BB-8 is the new R2-D2, the droid carrying information that both sides are desperate to get. Kylo Ren is the new Luke Skywalker, the mysteriously orphaned kid whose parents are dramatically revealed in the “ultimate” plot twist. Han Solo is the new Ben Kenobi, the mentor who is killed by the dark side. Rather than being called the Galactic Empire, the bad guys now operate under the almost identical Stormtrooper-infested First Order (which is also led by a weird pale guy).

In spite of this prime example of storyline recycling, the movie seems to be doing quite alright for itself, raking in $740 million in just 19 days. If older “Star Wars” fans still enjoyed the movie, their kids that they dragged along to see it with them probably felt the same way, especially if they had no prior movies to compare it to.

“The Force Awakens” preserved the original spirit of good triumphing over evil and just an overall feel-good mood  in a time of darkness and hardship (who didn’t smile when Han and Chewie boarded the Millennium Falcon again?). The uber-creepy Hitler-esque General Hux gave a whole new level of importance to the Rebels’ cause, one that all fans are glad to unite behind. The invigorating opening music and scrolling yellow text on the star-speckled screen was enough to make a jam-packed theater fill with applause, even after 30 years of waiting.

The force has indeed awakened, but this time in the 21st century.