January 21, 2016
Taku LaClair
Staff Writer
It’s been just over a month since the rebirth of the “Star Wars” franchise. “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” has brought in $764 million, according to Forbes, since it has released in the United States. Worldwide, the movie has made $1.73 billion, according to Variety. Since the movies release Jamesville-DeWitt High School staff and students have flooded the theatres and decided that the force was strong with this movie.
At J-DHS the movie created a positive reaction in students and staff. Sophomore Marcus Johnson, Sophomore Caelen Constantino, and Freshman Fahim Mohi all said that the movie was really good and exceeded expectations. Mohi said, “It was a great new movie” and “it brought back this nostalgic Star Wars feeling.” Music teacher Daniel Blumenthal thought the movie was good but also thought the movie was “a little over hyped.” “It wasn’t quite as good to live up to (the original movies) but, with the amount of hype it got I feel like it was an impossible choice,” he said.
People’s favorite characters differed in the movie. Some liked the new characters and others liked the old familiar faces of the franchise. Mohi’s favorite character was Finn because he was funny and had “the spirit” of the resistance. Johnson’s and Mr. Blumenthal’s favorite character was Han Solo. “He still had his same snarky personality that maintained through the entire series,” Johnson said. Mr. Blumenthal said he liked Han because he was part of the first trilogy generation. He also appreciated how Harrison Ford managed to capture the same personality and way of delivery from the origanl movies. Constantino’s favorite character was Chewbacca. “He’s just Chewie, he’s iconic to the films,” she said.
The movie was packed with memorable scenes, some with action packed fights, and others gathering applause from the audience when beloved characters (or when the Millennium Falcon) appeared on screen. Johnson’s favorite scene was the battle at Maz’s castle. He particulary enjoyed the part where Finn and the stormtrooper fought each other. Mohi and Constantino both liked the scene where Kylo Ren and Finn (and then later Rey) had the lightsaber duel. Constantino thought that Kylo Ren’s lightsaber was interesting in the way it was used. “(Kylo Ren) used the cross guard on his lightsaber to stab Finn in the shoulder,” she said. Mr. Blumenthal’s favorite scene was at the very end of the movie, even though he thought it was carried on for too long and too dramatic. “You were waiting for the whole movie for the reveal of Luke and there it was at the end,” he said
There are three more movies set to release after Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is set to release on Dec. 16, 2016. Star Wars Episode VIII is set for May 26, 2017 and the initial release date for Star Wars Episode IX is in 2019.