ST Sequel or Spin-Off?

I enjoyed The Force Awakens, but I'm surprised as to how attached I must have been to how Lucas did things. He always envisioned the saga as Anakin's story, and it has a clear cycle which had completed and ties all the previous episodes together. However, beyond that, the OT and PT have striking similarities in terms of world building, superb scores, slow paced scenes, great editing. And of course, episode III bolts the two together as neatly as it can.

TFA is totally in the hands of others, so I expected a change. However, the fact that many themes and plot devices are repeated, I personally find it difficult to shake the feeling that it's almost like an emulation of what they think George Lucas might have done; or a direct attempt to recreate Episode IV; whereas if Abrams had gone in a totally new direction (his own direction) I might have had an easier time accepting it as a direct sequel. With Disney in charge, any director's creative hands will likely be tied to an extent, and I wonder how much 'new' stuff we will really see without a single creative voice in total control.

So for me, I will enjoy the new Disney Canon, but I think I will always view it as one possible future, with no greater or lesser claim to follow on from the previous 6 than the now defunct EU.

 

Sequel

 

A sequel with the split personality of a soft reboot. Although the film is clearly set after ROTJ, there's also very much a sense that Star Wars is being reborn and for the long term. This is why I think there were so many throwbacks to the classic trilogy; not just for fan service but also to place the new generation of fans into precisely the same boat that Star Wars fans sat back in the late 1970s.

 

I view it as a continuation of the saga. There has been a great deal of unfounded speculation about how the Disney corporation is in control now and directing the plot. We have not seen that so far. While Disney was looped into how things were progressing, the evidence so far is that they allowed JJ Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan the creative freedom to move this forward in the direction they saw fit. It looks like Disney is smart enough to take a back seat to what the creatives are doing. It's clear that JJ/Kasdan adopted the tone and approach of ANH and TESB. I think that's appropriate for the first film in this new trilogy. I believe Rian Johnson will expand on and add depth to what they did and continue take the saga in new directions.

 

90% sequel and 10% reboot. But 'reboot' only in the sense that JJ and Disney did what they had to do in terms of making it feel like Star Wars again, even if that meant going as far as following the basic story structure of A New Hope.

 

Sequel not a reboot rehash or anything like that............

 

I hope you are right about Disney! Though it does mean we will have a multitude of voices going forward, I would expect some corporate guidance would be needed to hold it all together on a canon/world building level.

 

I also see it as one possible future. The happily-ever-after ending and the EU future have already been coexisting in my mind; the ST is just another "what if". I'll still go along for the ride.

 

I can't believe threads like this actually exist here.

How do people get banned all the time about saying things they dislike about certain movies in the series but questions in topics that ask .. " Is this a sequel to you or does it feel like a spin off?" are able to exist.

Come on.

To answer the question, of course it feels like a sequel and it feels very reminiscent of the OT. So not getting the..it doesn't feel like how George would do it.

 

Calm down, it's a point of debate. Many posters have commented on the different feel to the movie, and it's a reasonable position imo after 38 years of George Lucas Star Wars.

 

Yeah but Mickey logo still shows up in the film. In the Version of 3 Stars after the Opening Scroll ends. I though it was quite clever actually. Very subtle!

 

It's a catch 22. Emulate how George did the OT and people will complain, do it nothing like the OT and people will complain. It is a no win situation. I think they tried to honor the spirit of the beloved OT and make the best movie they could for modern times and I think they succeeded. It doesn't please everyone but it has certainly pleased enough to generate major Star Wars buzz again for which I am stoked.

 

You know I can't see why people are complaining! Its the best Star Wars film since a long Long time ago! It brought back Star Wars in a big way! The only one of the Prequels I wanted to see more than twice was Episode III. I have seen TFA 3 times now and I'm still loving it if not more! This movie is Awesome. But I guess haters gotta Hate! When I'm loving it! Can't wait to see it again in IMAX!

 

It was a very good film and I thoroughly enjoyed it, but you could tell it wasn't George Lucas it was still clearly Star Wars. Maybe I just need to see it more and accept it as part of the saga but it is strange as Lucus' saga focused on the fall and redemption of Anakin skywalker where as with this we don't know where it's going to go yet although we do know it's not about Anakin/Vader becuase that's all over, although I shouldn't really judge it as its only the first film of a new trilogy which I'll probably grow to love, it does feel weird though right now.