I was reading an article last night mentioning that Poe
Dameron was getting a solo novel or something.
His character was “popular way out of proportion to his screen
time.” Aside from the disdainful snarky
tone, it finally hit me where the movie went wrong. Yes, it was shockingly unoriginal, but that’s
hardly a crime in movie-making. It had
all the pieces there for a great movie.
They just weren’t used correctly.
See if this “elevator pitch” rewrite works any better for you.
Cool rebel super-spy and ace fighter pilot, Poe, recruits a
stormtrooper with a conscience, Finn, to help him on his all-important data
delivery mission. Along the way, they
make the acquaintance of a noble, but hard-bitten scavenger, Rey. She’s not into any rebellion, but her
association with the boys, just made her an Imperial target too. The group bonds as together, they manage to keep the data safe
while on the run from the fiendish Sith, Kylo Ren. In an encounter alone, Kylo manages to tempt
Rey into betraying her new friends in return his promise for all of their
safety.
Of course, Kylo turns on her, wanting Rey as an apprentice (sensing
the Force in her) and the other two executed.
Poe and Finn manage their own escape as they are being taken to the
Imperial base. They’re able to get the
data back and finally get it to the rebellion.
They meet up with Leia and an attack on the Imperial base is planned. (Kylo is revealed as her son.) Poe and Finn will be part of a strike team to
get inside the base to sabotage it. During
the raid, Finn abandons the group to try to save Rey, whom he’s convinced she
isn’t a traitor, as Poe is, and their sabotage mission is blown.
For her part, Rey has been resisting Kylo after his actions,
though feigning compliance. During the now
hopeless Rebel attack, she disables a critical defense system, allowing a
mortal blow to be struck. As the base
crumbles around them, Finn arrives to save Rey, but the Sith is too
powerful. Before everything blows up,
Poe arrives and either rescues them or dies heroically, allowing them to escape.
(Take your pick. The choice will strongly color Finn’s or
Rey’s motivations from here out). Later,
Rey meets Luke for reasons to be explained in the next movie. Roll credits.
So, it’s essentially a buddy picture here. I have this strange feeling that this
treatment isn’t far off from something that was probably initially pitched for
the story. You’ll notice what’s missing
here, Han Solo. He was out of place in
the movie as a main character. I
wouldn’t be surprised if his enhanced part was some concession to Harrison Ford
and an insistence by the studio.
Whatever. Without him (or at
least only in a minor supporting role), the new characters would have gotten a
better chance to shine and be developed.
The mentor role could have been taken by Poe. Bring Solo in for the next movie for his
final confrontation with his son, building the drama and paralleling Empire Strikes Back in some ways.
Admit it. When Poe
and Finn got separated right after they met for most of the rest of the movie,
you felt a little cheated. You were
looking forward to seeing these guys being friends and having an adventure with
the mysterious girl along to make it interesting. It didn’t happen and the rest of the movie
wasn’t good enough to make up for it. While
this is all academic here, maybe we can get this “buddy” picture for the next
film hopefully. (I’m not hopeful. Luke will probably be a main character and
then get killed. Then Leia and Chewie
will get whacked in the third film.
Maybe the next trilogy will start off better.)
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