The Force Awakens Review for Younglings

This is a letter that was written to a family with younglings that are quite interested in whether The Force Awakens is appropriate for them.  

I was very happy to be able to see the new movie Star Wars: The Force Awakens last night with my two boys who are ages 10 and 14.  Together, we watch a lot of Star Wars movies and cartoons because it is a good story with interesting characters and exciting battles.

            The new movie is just as exciting.  There are lots of new characters and aliens that make it really fun.  Rey, the young lady who seems to be the center of the movie, is a clever person that has lived on her own in the desert for many years.  She doesn’t complain about how harsh it is to live there, but she hopes for the day when she will be rescued.

Jedi Lessons from Skellig Michael

The last time we saw our Jedi Master, he was in triumphant celebration of the destruction of Death Star II. He was also in mourning for his newly-reclaimed father. His journey as a Jedi and as a man was headed in a unique direction after these events. In the poster for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Luke is conspicuously absent. We do not know why, but speculation abounds. We do know that Mark Hamill was seen filming at a remote location in Ireland. This location will become part of our enduring fandom consciousness, just as the desert of Tunisia, the glaciers of Norway or the redwoods of Northern California have. We are talking about Skellig Michael, an ancient island in Ireland that was once home to Christian monastics.