Breaking Down Our Entry into Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Luke Skywalker has vanished.

Like all the films in the Skywalker Saga, The Force Awakens begins with a scroll. Luke Skywalker has vanished, and the First Order has risen from the ashes of the Empire. Leia, now a general with the Resistance, is searching for her brother, and she sends her most trusted pilot to visit an ally on Jakku for clues. The first shot in the film is from space, continuing another Skywalker film tradition that perfectly mirrors the opening shot from Star Wars: A New Hope. But while the frame in A New Hope was filled by a brightly-lit Imperial Star Destroyer chasing Leia’s ship the Tantive IV, The Force Awakens begins with the shadow of a First Order Star Destroyer slowly eclipsing the planet Jakku.

As First Order troopers make their approach, audiences meet BB-8 on the ground, as the tiny droid rushes back to a dwelling. There, the explorer Lor San Tekka hands Resistance pilot Poe Dameron a mysterious object connected to Luke. As the village braces for a First Order attack, Poe takes out his macrobinoculars, similar to the one Luke Skywalker used on Tatooine when he was still just a farm boy. But what Poe sees through the viewer is something altogether new and terrifying: As First Order transports slam to the ground, troopers immediately and indiscriminately open fire on villagers, who do their best to defend themselves.

Poe’s efforts to escape the attack with BB-8 are foiled when his X-wing is disabled by First Order fire. But the ever-resilient pilot changes course, giving his droid the datachip and telling him to get as far away from the village as possible. As Poe fires his blaster at First Order troopers, striking one soldier who leaves a bloody print on another trooper’s helmet. Blood in Star Wars is rare (as is a night battle), but it serves to humanize the troopers committing atrocious acts on behalf of the First Order, as well as giving audiences a way to track this particular trooper during the battle.

We don’t know it yet, but the trooper marked by blood is FN-2187, later Finn, and it’s fitting that this pivotal moment was directly linked to Poe, who will play such a large part in Finn’s life in the Resistance. But for now, FN-2187 is visibly panicked, upset at the carnage surrounding him, which he is reluctant to take part in.

As Poe looks on, Kylo Ren’s command shuttle lands on Jakku like a creature with red eyes appearing out of the midnight sky. The audience's first glimpse of this new villain both tells us a lot and opens up so many questions. Dressed all in black, with his face covered by a mask, the character is immediately visually linked to the iconic villain Darth Vader, but who he is or where he came from still remains a mystery.

Poe and FN-2187 look on as Kylo confronts Lor San Tekka, who greets his captor with scorn, mentioning the First Order leader’s past. Kylo wants the map to Skywalker, and he brutally takes down San Tekka with his red crossguard lightsaber. The next few shots are rapidly cut together. Poe fires on Kylo and Kylo responds with a Force power fans have never seen before: freezing blaster fire in mid-air as Dameron is taken into custody.

“Who talks first?”

The first eight minutes of The Force Awakens are dark, violent, and disturbing, as it's clear the jubilation at the end of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi is indeed decades in the past. But although Star Wars films have always been about the battle between good and evil, they have also found ways to lighten even the darkest moments with a touch of humor and levity. Poe, in a move Han Solo would approve of, chooses to mock Kylo Ren when brought before him. Instead of cowering, he asks him who should talk first and comments on his mask, hiding his fear with bravado and quips.

As Poe is brought onboard Kylo’s shuttle, Kylo orders a female trooper in shining silver armor to kill all the remaining villagers. On her command, all the First Order troopers open fire, except one. FN-2187, with his blood-stained helmet, stands with his blaster at his side. As Kylo walks to his shuttle, he stops for a moment and looks in FN-2187’s direction. What Kylo is feeling at this moment is left unclear. Can he sense the trooper’s distress? It’s left up to the audience’s interpretation, but it is clear that our heroes both old and new will have a difficult battle ahead of them to stop the First Order.

The sequence concludes with BB-8 obediently and bravely crossing the sand dunes of Jakku, hoping to find a safe place to hide from the First Order until he can reunite with Poe. Little does BB-8 know that he is close to meeting a woman who will change his destiny, as well as that of the Resistance and Kylo Ren.