With all due respect to the intergalactic rival “Star Trek,” the newest installment in the “Star Wars” film franchise truly is all about the next generation.
Let me establish up front, I’m not the sort of “Star Wars” fan who buys tickets to the next movie the moment they go on sale, who dresses in character on opening night, who analyzes every line of dialogue for scant hints of what’s to come in future ones. But that’s starting to change.
I’ve seen “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” twice since it opened Dec. 17, which places me in a club of roughly equal exclusivity as calling oneself a resident of Earth.
Despite my somewhat passive fandom, the first viewing came on opening night, thanks to the generosity of a friend who’d bought two tickets to a showing at the historic Tivoli Theater in Downers Grove but was unable to attend. A motion picture aficionado of infinitely higher caliber than me, he’d suspected that seeing the new “Star Wars” in the nearly 90-year-old Tivoli would be just the kind of film experience he was looking for.
Suddenly holding two tickets to the biggest theatrical release of the decade, I was instantly confronted with a dilemma: Who in our family of five would go, and who would be left behind? Luckily my wife makes such decisions infinitely easier by proudly professing to never having seen any of the “Star Wars” movies and expressing no desire to ever change that. Our daughter lines up closely behind, though with some hints of possibly easing her stance over time.
That brought it down to me and our two sons, of middle school and grade school age. Dropping them for a 7 p.m. showing by themselves and picking them up later wouldn’t be a responsible option, so it would be me and one of them.
In the end, the choice was a simple one. Sporto’s 12th birthday was the next day, and we’d previously kicked around the idea of perhaps seeing the movie on his birthday anyway. He would go to see “The Force Awakens” with me on opening night, and his younger brother would get his chance later, after we’d completed our home viewing of the original trilogy. That was of small consolation to the 7-year-old, but I assured him that had it been any time of the year other than Sporto’s birthday, The Builder would absolutely have gone in his stead. And that’s true, given that the younger boy is far more likely to construct his own Death Star out of Legos, while his brother would rather check the TV listings for the next can’t-miss college bowl game.
So Sporto and I went, and loved it. The entire theater offered applause at sight of each nostalgic nod to the original “Star Wars” films and erupted with laughter on utterance of every retro quip. As my friend had suspected, enjoying opening night with 1,100 die-hards in the cavernous Tivoli was indeed something special, complete with Stormtrooper escorts to your seats, if so desired.
Then it was on to the business of wending our way through the original trilogy so The Builder could finally see “The Force Awakens,” too. Having already watched the original “Star Wars: A New Hope” recently enough, we picked up with “The Empire Strikes Back” over Christmas break, ensuring enough “I am your father” lines in our house to sustain a year’s worth of Maury Povich.
After “Return of the Jedi,” both boys were up to speed, save for the prequels, which we will view when we get around to it because, let’s be honest, they’re not nearly as good.
On our return trip to “The Force Awakens,” we chose 3D IMAX for an altogether different viewing experience, which was enough to entice Sporto to tag along and see the film for a second time. There we were, my two sons watching a “Star Wars” movie with their dad just as I’d done with my dad when I was 5, an experience I still remember as the first movie I’d seen in a theater. Or at least the first one I can remember.
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That’s where “The Force Awakens” really is all about the next generation. New heroes Rey, Finn and Poe, villains like Kylo Ren and droids like BB-8 are capturing the imaginations of kids today just as Leia, Luke, Han, Darth Vader and R2-D2 did for me and my friends nearly 40 years ago. Watching the wonderment on the 7-year-old’s face as (thing that happened in the movie that I won’t spoil for you), and the stunned amazement when (another thing that happened in the movie that I also won’t spoil for you) brought back all the same memories from my own childhood. Even our daughter had questions about what happened in the film, showing what could be a little growing interest of her own.
Children of the 21st Century that they are, our kids understand that Disney’s acquisition of the “Star Wars” franchise likely ensures the making of new movies in the series for the rest of eternity – or at least until 2020 that we know of. So when I told the boys they would probably take their own children to “Star Wars” movies someday just as I’d taken them, belief wasn’t a hard sell.
The only thing easier was getting me to take them in the first place.
Rob Manker is a freelance writer who lives, works and parents in Naperville.