Episode VII's Repeat Viewings

Since December 17th, fans from across the country have been rushing to theaters to watch Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The response has been overwhelmingly positive and has brought the franchise back with a fury. The acting was superb, action sequences were mind-blowing, and the story kept you locked in from start to finish. I remember my first words after the first IMAX 3D showing on December 17th were, "I'm seeing this again tomorrow," and it seems like many people shared my sentiment.

Watching this film has been my absolute favorite theater experience to date. From the feelings of nostalgia with the Lucasfilm logo, text and opening crawl, to the overall quality of the film. But, one thing I noticed is that this film gets better with each viewing. The first viewing required the audience to process so much information with the film moving at such a fast pace, but after you know what you're in for, its even more enjoyable. Personally, I went into this movie kind of like how I check my bank account. I'm hoping everything will be fine, but I'm not quite sure, and since this is Star Wars, it held much more weight. Thankfully, this film met my expectations and allowed me to watch it a second time without fearing its quality.

For me, the third viewing was my absolute favorite. I think all of the things that I mentioned before contributed to that. I was able to really concentrate and identify certain things that I didn't see the first couple of times. At first, I felt like a critic watching the film because I kept on thinking of a couple of scenes that I really didn't like and certain plot points that didn't make sense at the time. Then, after listening to the Far, Far Away Podcast and Jedi Council discuss the film, I realized that the things I had issues with were very minor and had almost no effect on the immediate story. Specifically, the music became a character for me the third time around. I stopped comparing trilogy's and allowed The Force Awakens to be its own film. Since then, The Force Awakens has produced some of my favorite scores.

Also, you are able to pick up on certain details after each viewing and, as we've seen I the past few weeks, give rise to many theories. The main seen I needed to watch a few times was the scene in Maz Kanata's castle in which Rey has the force vision. There are certain voices and scenery that would be missed if you aren't looking for them, particularly the corridor from Cloud City and Obi-Wan's voice. There are also certain pieces of dialogue and acting choices that can be interpreted differently after each viewing, especially after certain theories become popular. For example, Luke's expression when he sees Rey, Rey's fighting style with the lightsaber,  and Snoke's theme. Many hardcore fans have taken it upon themselves to watch this movie for analytical purposes in hopes of finding clues that may lead to Episode VIII story points.

Honestly, it hasn't become a surprise if someone says they've seen The Force Awakens more than a few times. This film has broken several box office and the repeat viewings could help it reach Avatar for #1 all-time. To all of the Star Wars fans around the world, lets make it happen!