Revisiting Star Wars: The Force Awakens on its 10th Anniversary

It’s been a decade since the release of Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens. The once fabled movie, the first in the sequel trilogy, is now old hat, buried under a mountain of Star Wars storytelling and ten years of discussion and debate. It feels crazy to me that there’s the same distance between now and The Force Awakens as there was between The Force Awakens, the new beginning, and Revenge of the Sith, which we all thought was the end.

I’ve changed as a Star Wars fan in that time, secluding myself from the wider fandom as the discussion around the franchise became more insufferable with each release, now enjoying what I enjoy and largely ignoring what I don’t in peace, like Luke on Ahch-To but more content. The perception of Star Wars, the story of Star Wars, and the sheer quantity of Star Wars has radically shifted in the ten years since The Force Awakens, and I thought I’d go back and revisit the film itself and see how it holds up.

What is its place now in the franchise? That’s the question I thought I’d try to answer when conceiving this article. But after rewatching the film I realise what a foolish thing it would be to attempt an answer to that question. I don’t even fully understand its place in the series for me, let alone in general. It’s impossible to answer because it’s different for everyone. Revisiting the film left me with a mixture of emotions, all of them personal to me. That’s why it garners such extreme reactions but we have to know how best to deal with them. I’ve decided all I can do is rewatch the film and discuss the specific things that stood out to me this time, both memories of the past and how my thoughts might have changed now. Nothing definitive or even that expansive (to avoid writing a novel on every aspect) but merely a snapshot of my thoughts about The Force Awakens ten years on.

For a film used as an argument for modern cinema’s overreliance on nostalgia, now that a decade has passed I feel strongly nostalgic about The Force Awakens itself. As much as I revisited the film wanting to view it with fresh eyes, I found that an absurd and impossible endeavour. I can never separate it from the pop culture fervour of the time, the years of anticipation, and my eventual first viewing. It was my first Star Wars on the big screen, after falling in love with the prequels on DVD as a kid.

I travelled to London to see it the Empire Cinema in Leicester Square, a massive IMAX screen. It was an event, a beloved memory I can never separate from the film when I come to rewatch it, and I don’t want to. I still feel that energy and excitement before the music hits, while the crawl crawls, and when the Star Destroyer eclipses the planet in the opening shot. It’s magic.

But right from the crawl I was struck with a couple of details in retrospect. Firstly, that Luke is referred to as ‘The last Jedi’ right there and then. Second is the mention that Leia’s Resistance fights ‘with the support of the Republic’. The politics and state of the galaxy is left unclear in this film. J.J. Abrams was obviously wary of including politics after the backlash against the prequels and so overcorrected. What are the factions, how powerful are they, how do they interact? The film largely ignores these questions, barrelling along as a fast paced adventure film. It’s a wise call for the most part but I could have done with something more, even now. Books and additional material have helped fill in the gaps and it’s interesting that the one line of context in the crawl now seems almost incorrect. The relationship between the Resistance and Republic was frosty.

Whatever happened to BB-8? Is he the most hyped Star Wars character of all time that then disappeared from popular culture the quickest? Don’t get me wrong, I like the droid a lot. I think most people still like him, despite the contentious feelings on the sequels at large. But in 2015 BB-8 was everywhere. The new face of Star Wars. Looking back, it was a brief phenomenon. I love the design, the movement, but he quickly became overlooked. Once Grogu, or Baby Yoda, appeared, BB-8 was discarded by the franchise and many fans. There was a new cute character in town. Although I’m in the real minority: I’m still aboard the Porg train.

There are issues I have with The Force Awakens, and these have grown over time for me. Not like the people who loved it opening weekend and then completely turned against it when YouTubers told them they should, but I’m now a touch more negative on certain choices in the back half of the film. None of that relates to the first act however, which on this rewatch I loved just as much as the first time. Honestly, the first 35 minutes of this movie are perfect. I adore them. I remember the shot of the Falcon rising from Jakku after the chase and almost having an out-of-body experience, looking around the cinema that first time I watched it, thinking ‘wow, that was incredible’. I had been totally locked in up to that point, lost in the film, and I looked around in wonder. They’d done it. They’d recaptured the magic.

I love The Last Jedi, it’s my favourite of the sequels, but nothing comes close to the opening of The Force Awakens. The character introductions are excellent. Poe is introduced as the obvious hero and then during the shootout, that moment where the camera lingers on a stormtrooper, at first for just a second longer than usual, and then a whole lot more. Usually they just fall over dead and the film cuts away, but the pull-in to the downed trooper and Finn’s introduction, a disposable trooper horrified at what’s happening, a surprise lead character, is excellent. Then Rey’s introduction is a perfect little short film. And that music! New John Williams Star Wars music! The theme as she slides down the hill is one of the best pieces in the franchise. And I love the choice to have the three leads all wearing masks when we first see them, Finn, Rey, and Kylo, and they remove them to reveal who they truly are as the film progresses.

Immediately following the film’s release, theories surrounding the characters, their backstories, what’ll happen next, began boiling over and continued as such for years. This was a major part of the fandom, a major part of just watching the movie at that time, which has now died down and the film can be viewed for what it is. The story it is actually telling. Abrams does have a habit of ‘mystery box’ storytelling but nowhere near to the degree the Internet claims. Watching now without having to worry about that stuff was a relief.

When Rey says to BB-8, “classified, huh? Me too. Big secret” she’s clearly being sarcastic! But, of course, fans theorised and mysteries that weren’t intended to be mysteries became disappointment and then fed back into the films again with Rise of Skywalker. Watching today, I was struck by how straightforward the film is in this regard. We get the information we need and I don’t think there were any big purposeful misdirects or mysteries. I remember two years’ worth of theorising about why Luke was alone on that island. The Force Awakens has Han say what happened to Luke and his academy and it totally tracks with what we see in The Last Jedi.

The most poorly aged line in the film is the first spoken line of dialogue: “This will begin to make things right.” Oh, naïve innocent screenwriters. It’s a meta jab at the franchise, stating that now it’ll be back on track. Of course, the sequels became just as controversial as the prequels. The Force Awakens was targeting fans of the originals left cold by the prequels, which spoke of the common feeling towards the franchise at that time. The prequels were avoided. Now newer storytelling embraces the prequels, fans who were kids when those films were released being the ones spending money, and the sequels are the ones being avoided.

The sequence that feels most like the prequels is the rathtar escape. So much was made at the time of practical effects and animatronics, a throwback to the old ways of doing things, but of course these movies are going to be CGI heavy. And that’s fine if handled well. It became such a buzzy conversation, now replaced by arguments over ‘The Volume’. I always liked the rathtars as a prequel kid. They are big CGI monsters that could have appeared in those earlier films, and I love the unique sound design. If anything, I’m disappointed in the lack of rathtars anywhere else. Especially when compared to how many creature designs from The Force Awakens reappear elsewhere. Part of the fun of watching the film now is seeing all the costumes that’ll continue showing up in the next decade (and beyond, I’m sure) of films and TV.

My issue with the rathtar sequence is its placement. At that point I want the film to settle down, to slow and have the characters bond, but J.J.’s fast-paced filmmaking adds one action beat too many. I like then when it does slow down a little, with Han’s “it’s all true” moment and Maz’s castle. Rey’s “I didn’t think there was this much green in the whole galaxy” is a lovely little moment. I don’t like every decision with Rey in the trilogy, mainly in the final film, but here I think she’s wonderful and Daisy Ridley is so endearing. Likewise John Boyega as Finn. Rise of Skywalker maybe taints my perception of his character too much. I like him a lot in The Force Awakens and he’s good at the comedy, bouncing off Harrison Ford. I don’t think the film gets the credit it deserves for maybe, as controversial as it may sound, being the funniest Star Wars film.

Did you know the film’s plot and structure resembles Star Wars: A New Hope? It’s only the favourite talking point of the Internet, endlessly pointing it out. Is it true? Yes, to an extent. I think the film does a lot of new stuff but I agree The Force Awakens does rely on the familiar too often. I like the new characters, ideas, and the almost meta themes of new characters dealing with the history and legacy of what came before and finding their place within it, but the specifics, the nitty gritty of the plot, is overly familiar. Starkiller Base is the one major aspect of the film I dislike, and that dislike has grown over the last ten years.

New canon stories have made me like the lore surrounding Starkiller Base: its past as Ilum and the almost cosmic horror of the hyperspace shockwave felt across the galaxy. But its use in the film feels repetitive and simplistic and, yes, a little lazy. It’s too similar a weapon to the Death Star, the plan to take it out is too similar, and the planning meeting on D’Qar is, again, too similar, too. The film could have used some new designs here rather than harkening back to the original so much. I like the X-Wings and TIE Fighters and would say the First Order stormtroopers are my favourite stormtrooper design but D’Qar being so similar to Yavin bothers me. After the prequels expanded what alien Star Wars planets can look like, it felt too much like going backwards.

Before seeing The Force Awakens for the first time, I avoided the Internet like the plague. Or rather I should have done. I refused to go on social media (back when I still had it) and kept away from all the film sites. But then, the night before seeing the film, I foolishly glanced at the comments of a YouTube video, something completely unrelated to Star Wars, and saw a single sentence that is seared into my brain: “Han Solo is killed by his son Kylo Ren.” I freaked out, and then convinced myself it was probably a trick, a lie. But no, when watching the film, it became clear it was a very real spoiler.

While I wish I hadn’t seen it, ultimately it did little to negate my enjoyment of the film. Han’s death was powerful in 2015 and remains just as powerful in 2025. It’s not like it was a twist anyway. It’s pretty obvious what was going to happen. And I hate that as a criticism, that people don’t like it because they saw it coming. The surprise isn’t the power of it, the power of it is knowing that even to Han it feels inevitable, the most likely outcome, and yet he strides out onto that walkway anyway, a mere chance to save his son and finally act like a father. That scene is brilliant and both actors nail it. I think The Force Awakens is Ford’s second best performance as Han after Empire. And I actually think Rise of Skywalker makes the scene even better. Knowing ultimately this moment will replay in Ben’s mind, that Han succeeds. The moment Han touches his son’s cheek, after being stabbed, showing he still loves him no matter what, eventually saves Ben and the galaxy.

And then Chewy blanks Leia and walks straight past her upon returning to D’Qar rather than them mourning together, enveloping her in a great big Wookie hug. Now that’s a common criticism I can get behind. I’m over it, it doesn’t ruin the movie for me, but every time that scene plays that’s all I can think about. Honestly I’m not entirely sure I’ve ever paid attention to what Leia says to Rey because that’s all I’m thinking about. Like how I could never tell you a single thing Tarkin says in Rogue One (other than “you may fire when ready”) because I spend the whole time staring at his weird CGI face. Thankfully there’s no bad CGI faces in The Force Awakens, although Maz, while I’m sure she looked great ten years ago, now would benefit from a special edition touch-up.

And then we get to the final sequence and I love it. It’s flawless. I think the opening act of the film is perfect and I think the closing sequence is perfect. I have some issues with the stuff in the middle but overall I’ll always love The Force Awakens. This revisit, ten years on, once I got to Starkiller Base, I thought the magic was wearing off. But no way, the ending reminds me of why I enjoy the film so much, of the power it still holds. Rey climbing the steps, Luke standing on the cliff, the raised lightsaber beckoning, a call to be answered or perhaps not? I love the decision to end it on a helicopter shot, very very different to how George Lucas would compose his final shots.

It’s mythic, fantastical, a pulpy cliffhanger from an old movie serial, and yet grounded because of the wind and feel of the real incredible location. It’s Star Wars. To this day it’s the best ending to any Star Wars film and one of the best scenes in the franchise, too. Ten years on, it’s still as fantastic as it was that day I walked out of the cinema onto Leicester Square, into the cold and rain warmed by what I had just seen, because at the end of the day it’s not the nitpicks or the specific details or criticisms, it’s the feeling the film creates.