The best compliment that can be given to “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” is that it wasn’t bad. Since its release on Dec. 18, 2015, “The Force Awakens” has been breaking box office records and currently is the highest grossing domestic film of all time.
Along with the Marvel franchise, Walt Disney Studios has proven it knows the formula to making a blockbuster hit, yet it seems with each subsequent release from the media juggernaut Disney, each movie becomes a little bit less substantive, a little more predictable and a little bit less creative.
After the nostalgia faded, the excitement of the franchise rebirth has dwindled and the film stands less of a an actual movie of its own and more of a mere salute to a great franchise “The Force Awakens” did not propel the story forward. It took few risks in the story arc, and arguably failed to fully develop new, complex characters.
J.J. Abrams’ Episode VII attempted to avoid mistakes of the prequels and repeat the successes of the original trilogy, but any original contribution to the story was lost in the crosshairs.
Kylo Ren was a clear mix between the adolescent Anakin Skywalker and shadowy Darth Vader, Rey was a blatant homage to Luke Skywalker, even coming from a homeworld that looked little different from Skywalker’s desert world Tatooine. John Boyega’s character, Finn, had clear parallels to Han Solo: he is a former storm trooper who is uninterested in the plight of the protagonist and desperately wants to stay as far away from the First Order as he can. Solo’s death was done in the exact same manner as Obi Wan Kenobi’s: with his loved ones — as before, the new, younger generation of protagonists — helplessly watching from afar, powerless to stop his tragic fate.
Each plot point in the movie seemed to either mirror George Lucas’ “A New Hope” or throw back to the fond memories “Star Wars” fans have of the old films.
There are many mysteries and unanswered questions behind the events that happened in the latest film, but in the end the movie lacks a truly compelling story. Rather than creating an original work of art, Disney and Abrams put a larger emphasis on making a movie that would not upset anyone and in turn make as much money as possible.
Disney owns an absolutely massive amount of media, including but not limited to Disney Pixar, Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm, the production company that in addition to “Star Wars” owns the rights to “Indiana Jones.”
This lack of creative risk-taking is all part of a business model. Major companies are increasingly buying up the rights to studio networks. This business practice is known as conglomeration.
In Bill Moyers’ book “Moyers on Democracy, he explains the dangers of conglomeration.
“Conglomerates swallow up newspapers, magazines, publishing houses and networks,” he said. “Profit rather than product becomes the focus of corporate effort.”
The consequence of this is what Stanley J. Baran, author of “Mass Communication: Media Literacy and Culture,” calls blockbuster mentality. Baran defines blockbuster mentality as “filmmaking characterized by reduced risk- taking and more formulaic movies.”
He even goes so far as to say that “business concerns are said to dominate artistic considerations as accountants and financiers make more decisions once made by creative people.”
The only evidence needed to demonstrate that profit has been the main concern of the latest “Star Wars” installment is the absurd amount of marketing and promotion dedicated to the movie prior to its holiday release.
The lack of creative storytelling in “The Force Awakens” is nothing new. We are seeing more and more sequels to franchises such as Batman, Marvel, James Bond. And there is currently another “Indiana Jones” movie in the works.
Unfortunately, it seems not even “Star Wars” is immune to the destructive effects blockbuster mentality has on creativity.
Although there is still some magic to the sound of a lightsaber unsheathing or the music of those iconic closing credits, without a compelling story and characters that magic will lose its virtue with each new installment.
