A while back, George Lucas, the man behind Star Wars, sold the franchise to Disney. Lucas himself made six films with the franchise and Disney seems to have bigger plans for the galaxy far, far away. When Disney announced the launch of a new sequel trilogy many Star Wars fans have been waiting to see what is in store for Han Solo, Chewbacca, Luke Skywalker and the others along with a new cast of characters shown in the previews for the first movie to this “sequel trilogy”, The Force Awakens. Now it’s time to see if it was all we had hoped for or if the hype was all for nothing. The Johnny Green interviewed various students and teachers at Weedsport to see what their thoughts were on the film.

SPOILERS AHEAD!!! Do not read further unless you have seen The Force Awakens or do not mind the movie being spoiled!!! Read at your own risk!!!

I interviewed Mr.Smith, Mrs. Smith, Mrs. Defazio and Anthony Defazio to get their thoughts about the movie.

Me: What in specific about the film did you like?

Mr. Smith: “I like how they went back to the roots, with characters that had the same background as Luke did, as Anakin did, Just having this nomadic lifestyle, in the desert and looking for a greater purpose in life. The storyline is by far my most favorite part and they did a nice job of incorporating characters like Han Solo and Chewie”

Anthony D.: “The characters connected well with each other, there was little to no CGI and if there was it was really good. The movie also had some very iconic scenes, like Han and Chewie entering the Millennium Falcon and saying ‘we’re home.’”

Mrs. Smith: “I really liked Rey’s character because it reminded me of Leia in the older movies. And we don’t really see many prominent female jedi so this was a nice change.”

Mrs. Defazio: “My favorite part was probably When Han and Chewie walked into the Millennium Falcon and said that they were home. It reminded me of the older movies and I connected well with that.”

Me: “I liked Rey and Finn along with the older cast (excluding Leia) and it was not a bad story, it was a bit repetitive though.”

Me: What in specific did you dislike about the film?

Mr. Smith:” I wish that Han didn’t die and instead that they took care of Leia, because her acting was terrible, but that’s a personal opinion. But other than Leia, there really isn’t too much I disliked about it. I mean, it’s a valid point to say that they tried to hard and it’s too similar to the original episodes, but there really is not much I disliked about it.”

Anthony D.: “We were kinda left in the dark on a few things and the Starkiller base was basically a third Death Star, so that felt repetitive that the resistance had to take out a new “death planet”.

Mrs. Smith: “I feel like they could’ve done more with Kylo Ren, and I feel bad for Adam Driver because maybe they cut some things that would’ve developed his character better. Maybe they could’ve given us some more scenes with him and told us why he is so obsessed with his grandfather.”

Mrs. Defazio: “I disliked when they would talk to Snoke because we don’t know much about him, His connection to Kylo Ren,  his role and so on. I disliked that because I didn’t really understand what was going on. I also think that Captain Phasma was strange. We didn’t know much about her, so the scenes she has in the movie are really odd because of that.”

Me: “I disliked how the plot seemed a bit repetitive. Rey came from a desert planet like Luke and Anakin. Then the group meets up with the “Resistance” and they destroy a “death planet”. It just seems to repetitive. I didn’t like the Starkiller planet because it basically gave us our 3rd technical Death Star. I thought Leia didn’t seem like herself at all and I was not a fan of Kylo Ren from the get go. In my opinion Character development was weak except for Rey and Finn, all of the others need to improve. I did not connect well with many of the other characters like Captain Phasma and Kylo Ren.”

Me: Would you recommend The Force Awakens?

Mr. Smith: “ Oh absolutely. I’ve seen the film twice, and I’ll probably see it again. Because you always pick up on something new that you didn’t the first time, like I  did the last time I saw it. I like it because it means that someday, before I retire, I will have a course centered just around Star Wars, because you can definitely relate it to government.”

Anthony D.: “Yes, the movie was really good. I would definitely recommend it.”

Mrs. Smith: “Yes, I would recommend it to anyone who likes science fiction and/or is a Star Wars fan.”

Mrs. Defazio: “Yes. I’ve seen the movie twice. Obviously the first time just taking it in and the second time I picked up on lines and things that I didn’t the first time. I definitely think it’s one of those movies you have to watch a couple times because I think there is information you will miss if you’ve only seen it once. But I think it was awesome and it was great.”

Me: “Despite the things that I did not like about the movie, it was still good. I would recommend it.”

Me: What were your thoughts on Han’s death scene? It was obviously building up throughout the movie and his last words to Ben?

Mr. Smith: “ I saw it coming, you knew when he was walking out out on that bridge that he was going to get it. It was nice to see how Chewbacca reacted and you also see the inner conflict within the villian, so it was a very powerful scene for Star Wars. I think Han’s last words are very symbolic and I think he’s right. Look throughout history, that’s what governments do to their people.”

Mrs. Smith: “You kind of knew, when he called out for “Ben” or “Kylo” on that bridge that that was going to happen. But I honestly think Kylo was struggling to choose what to do when he started to hand Han the lightsaber. I could be wrong but that’s what I think.”

Anthony D.: “This scene was a bit concerning to me. Because Han is one of my favorite characters and it seemed like Kylo was going to give up on his destructive life and come home and then he kills Han. It was a very sad scene, very emotional and very powerful.”

Mrs. Defazio: “Being a fan of Han, this scene was so sad and emotional for me. I’m not really a fan of Kylo after this and it’s definitely a sad scene.”

Me: “It bugged me that Han had died and at hands of his son. But obviously there were issues between Han and Ben, so Ben killing Han isn’t all that surprising. But what’s the backstory of Han and Snoke, because he talked like he knew him. So maybe there is a history there, but anyway, I think Han is completely right. Because apparently during the scene where Rey is dueling with Kylo, Snoke tells her to kill Kylo. So we see a bit of that.”

Me: What did you think about the Starkiller planet/base, or as I call it the third Death Star?

Mr. Smith: “ I thought that was cool, them making it a planet. But you would think that they would realize that, after the first two failed, that there is always a way to blow it up. And they even state in the movie that there is always a way to blow it up. But what was cool was that it was powered by the sun.”

Me: “As I said, I was not a fan of it. Felt really repetitive and it makes sense narrative wise why they’d do this, but anyone with half a brain knows that the same military strategy over and over again is just stupid. You’d think after the first one was a horrible failure that they’d move forward and do something else, but here we are 30 years later and they are STILL using the same military strategy?!? That is so stupid and i think they may have overlooked that. 3 of them is enough for me. I’d rather not see a 4th one ever.”

Anthony: “I’m a bit concerned by this. I don’t want another Death Star ever. It’s getting way too repetitive at this point.”

Mrs. Defazio: “ (laughs) You know, someone brought this up to me the other day, I think it was you Chris. But yeah, they need to do something different because this whole Death Star thing has got to go. I mean they keep blowing it up and it’s getting old, so they need to be more creative when they make the next base. And I guess I didn’t realize it until they sent out a laser from the base or something. To me, it looked like a command center and not like a weapon until they used it.”

Mrs. Smith: “Oh god, I sure hope not, because that would just be a bit too repetitive.”

Me: What character theory do you have?

Mr. Smith: “I think Rey is Luke’s daughter, Chewbacca is Chewbacca and I think Snoke is Darth Vader.”

Anthony: “ I think Rey is Luke’s daughter and Snoke is a new sith lord we haven’t seen before.”

Mrs. Smith: “I don’t really have any, I think Rey is connected to Luke and I think it would be cool to see Snoke be Kylo Ren from the future, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

Mrs. Defazio: “I think Rey is Luke’s daughter and I think Snoke is Darth Plaegus. I’m not sure about the others.”

Chris: “I’ve been speculating, I think that Snoke is Darth Plaegus, Rey I’d Luke’s daughter and Finn is Lando’s son.”