A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...
We start with a traditional front crawl, explaining that after the fall of Palpatine and the death of Darth Vader, factions of the empire have broken up and and waged war for many years to step into the imperial role. The strongest of these being the First Order, which will have completely stepped into the role of the Empire by the beginning of The Force Awakens. The First Order is led by Supreme Leader Snoke, a motion capture character played by Andy Serkis that will only appear ambiguously in this film, as he will be a more prevalent antagonist in later sequels.
After the crawl we see an upgraded Star Destroyer slowly fly in from the top of the screen and move towards a small green planet. Inside the destroyer we are introduced to Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) who is told by his second-in-command Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie) that it is time to go to the shuttles that will land on the planet. Ren complies and as he's leaving he is told by General Hux (Domnhall Gleeson) something to the effect of "this wild goose chase better be worth it." There is obviously tension between Ren and Hux reminiscent of the displeasure between Darth Vader and some of the Imperial Officers.Down on the planet, there are alarms sounding and members of the resistance are preparing for infiltration. Poe Dameron (Oscar Issac) is running through dark corridors of a hideout with his droid BB-8 when he comes to a control room with high ranking rebel officials. Notable characters in this room are C3-PO (Anthony Daniels), Admiral Akbar, other familiar faces from the battle of Endor, but most importantly, General Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher). Dameron urgently explains that the First Order is coming and the leadership needs to flee.
In the last 30 years it was never made clear what really happened that caused the defeat of the Empire. The Jedi and the force have passed into legend, and everyone still remembers Darth Vader as a tyrant instead of the man who defeated the emperor and brought balance to the force. What is known, or at least perceived, is that somehow, Luke Skywalker defeated and killed both Palpatine and Vader. Therefore he is the most wanted man in the galaxy, especially by Ren, who is something of a Vader worshipper, and wants revenge. Ren justifies this revenge to the First Order by saying Luke Skywalker's death will be the greatest blow to the resistance, who over the last 30 years has grown and holds almost as great an influence in the galaxy as The First Order.
Because of this, Ren has been searching for Leia, as he believes she knows the location of her brother. As Ren descends to the surface of the planet, there are many other shuttles filled with new and improved stormtroopers preparing themselves for battle. The shuttles land and Ren exits. A stormtrooper then brings a man dressed in resistance garb and puts him on his knees in front of Ren. This man was clearly captured by the First Order and gave up the location of the rebel base. Ren asks the man if he is sure that the General (meaning Leia) is here. The man says he's not sure right before Ren promptly orders the stormtooper to kill the man. 
The stormtrooper hesitates, looking at the man, before Ren orders the execution again. Once again the stormtrooper hesitates, saying something like "he could still be useful to us." Ren stares at the stormtrooper intently, there is something mystical about his glare, and it is clearly effecting the trooper. Ren then quickly draws a red, cross-bladed lightsaber and executes the rebel. Ren looks again at the stormtrooper and walks away. As soon as Ren is gone the trooper drops to his knees, he then retreats to the shuttle and takes off his helmet. He is sweating and breathing heavily, the feeling of Ren in his head like that, he has felt it before. This is our introduction to Finn (John Boyega).Back to Poe Dameron, who was conceived after the battle of Endor, has been raised among the resistance his entire life, and after his parents were killed Leia acted as somewhat of a surrogate mother for him, so he is adamant about her escape. Leia is resistant at first but eventually agrees and she is hurried to an escape shuttle. She argues with Dameron for a moment, who demands that he stays behind to hold them off while the leaders make their escape. The leadership gets away as Dameron and BB-8 run back to the control room.
When Dameron reaches the control room he finds Kylo Ren, who is holding a rebel by the throat. He sees Dameron and drops the corpse to the floor and asks where the General is. Dameron says something like "Out of your reach," to which Ren replies something to the effect of "I sense you are close with the General, perhaps you will be equally serviceable to us." Poe fights for a moment but is quickly taken into the custody of the stormtroopers. BB-8 is ignored by the troopers, but follows them in hopes of staying with his master. Poe is placed on one of the shuttles (which BB-8 then sneaks on to), sitting across from Finn (whose helmet is back on now). Finn is staring at Poe, noticing how beaten and bloody he is. It would be awesome here if Poe said something like "Aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper?" But more likely it will be some wisecrack that makes Finn question the morality of his employers.
Leia looks on from the shuttle as the Rebel Base goes up in flames. This is intermittent with shots of the stormtroopers and Captain Phasma destroying everything in sight. She is sad but she does make it out. Next we see Finn and another trooper ordered to escort Poe off the shuttle and to his prisoner cell on the star destroyer. BB-8 rolls off the shuttle but stays hidden in the docking bay. Finn and the other stormtrooper put Poe in his cell, and once again Finn looks on in a sympathetic way before he leaves.
No comments:
Post a Comment