So JJ Abrams is to direct Star Wars episode 7. I have to write an obligatory article about this, I’m not a big fan of the franchise, though I am a film fan so it’s hard to ignore it. The concept of Star Wars is ripe for exploration and it’s a shame that its taken this long for it to be opened up to other film-makers.

I want to see a chaotic descent into sexual madness between a wookie and battle droid charted by Lars von Trier. I want to see a Sith lord team up with a Jedi to fight a greater force envisioned by the Wachowskis. I want to see a buddy bounter hunter action comedy gracing our screens courtesy of John Woo. Yes I’m that crazy.

JJ Abrams is a decent director, making entertaining movies, and I think (and hope) the only reason they’re for the most part disposable and crumble once you spend more than five minutes thinking about them is because he’s worked with mediocre writers.  His take on Star Trek and Mission Impossible were written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. These two have been flinging excrement at our screens for the last five or so years with the likes of the Transformer movies.

Star Wars VII has a great writer and aficionado behind it, so coupled with Abrams’ visual sense and habit of keeping his cards close to his chest, I am for the first time intrigued by a Star Wars film. I found the prequels utterly forgettable, uninspired and a gigantic waste of money, talent, and effort.  Plinkett’s satirical critique of those movies say it all, I don’t have much to add on it.

However there is one thing that still concerns me, and it’s Lucas’s attempt at creating a ‘mirror’ trilogy to his original. For example, the template of Phantom Menace copied A New Hope, with a Skywalker saving the day in a battle against a spherical battleship, an elder Jedi figure dying, etc, etc. Each movie tried to mirror aspects of the original, and they were so forced and obligatory they just came across as pale imitations.

I hope this new trilogy does not make any attempt at mirroring the previous two. We need completely new stories, new characters, and new memories to remember fondly in the future. No slavish adherence to the past, but bold new myth-making.

And no fucking trade federation!