A New Hope

 Star Wars fans have plenty of reason to be weary of new Star Wars movies. The prequels did a lot of damage to the public opinion of the quality of the franchise. I am going to show why they should be a little more optimistic. Here are three reasons why people should be excited for Star Wars Episode Vll.

    Homage(Super 8)

         What some people call "the best Steven Spielberg movie not directed by Spielberg. Super 8, directed by JJ Abrams, to me is the best showcase in Abrams portfolio that gives credence to the belief that he is capable of successfully helming the new Star wars movie. The tone of the film is very similar to that of a classic 80s Spielberg movie. You can see the influence of movies like ET and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. While the movie is similar to those two movies it also has Abrams own original film style. People will often refer to Abrams work on the Star Trek re-boot as the reason he was chosen to helm Star Wars but I disagree. He was never much of a Trek fan growing up so when he set out to make those movies he wanted to please people who liked Star Trek and those who didn't. This is not the case with Star Wars. When rumors started swirling around that he was the first choice to Direct Episode Vll he often stated that he wouldn't want to direct it because of his personal attachment to it. Of course we know he would change his mind. He knows what made Star Wars special in the first place and when we look at Super 8 we can see that he can emulate the Original trilogy of Star Wars but also take it in a new direction.

Familiar Friends and Fresh Faces(The Cast)

         Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca, R2D2, and C3P0 are all going to be back portrayed by the original cast. It will be great to see these characters again. It also further shows the respect the film makers have filmmakers have for the original trilogy. Another way that the cast is similar to the Original is that the new characters in the film will be played by a mix of new and upcoming actors plus some veteran ones as well. Adam Driver(Girls), Gwendoline Christie(Game of Thrones), Domhnall Gleeson( Harry Potter), Oscar Issac(Inside Llewyn Davis) and Lupita Nyong(12 Years a slave) are all actors and actresses that might have familiar faces but for the most part are not familiar names. They are all actors who are rising stars. There are two actors who have not really been in anything. This movie will be a breakout role for the actress Daisy Ridley and while actor John Boyega is know for his role in Attack the Block and was also recently in the 24 this will also be a big role for him.  There are also two other actors who are veterans at their craft. Andy Serkis who is most know for his motion capture performances in films such as The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, King Kong and the re-boot Rise of the Planet on the Apes. The other veteran actor is the great Max Von Sydow. He is one of those actors who no matter the quality of the film itself, his performance is always a high point. He can be seen in such movies as Minority Report, Robin Hood, Shutter Island, and The Exorcist. In conclusion the cast is very diverse with old and new and in a first for a Star Wars film female actors with important roles.

Back to Basics(Practical Effects)

   One of the many complaints against the prequel films was it's reliance on CGI. Recently there has been some behind the scenes looks of the new film and it has shown that the creative force behind it have returned to practical effects. In a video made for charity you can see a creature that rather than being in CGI is a puppet like Yoda was in Empire Strikes back. There have also been pictures of large creatures being built and the classic Millenium Falcon being worked on as well. The film will also be filmed in 35MM rather than digital film. Just like the original trilogy. John Williams will also be returning to score the film and Lawrence Kasdan who also wrote such classic movies as Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, and Indiana Jones and Raiders of the lost Ark will be writing the script with JJ Abrams. This is proof that there is real talent behind this project who are dedicated to getting this film right.

   There are many reasons to believe that the future of the Star Wars franchise is in safe hands. Disney, who now own the Star Wars franchise, have proven that they can handle such a large franchise with the success of their Marvel films. The Force is strong again and I for one can not wait to be a part of it again.