Spoiler: show
No, Luke doesn't die. Luke only shows up at the end of the film, when Rey finds him and (presumably) begins her training as a Jedi knight. But let's start with the beginning.
Some bearded old wizard-looking dude has a map that leads to Luke Skywalker. The big bad guys and their fancy spaceships want that map, so they attack the planet Jakku, where the map is. A pilot for the Resistance (the new Rebel Alliance) takes the map in a droid and runs off when their village is attacked. It's only the opening scene, but I can tell already that this movie is a hundred times better than the prequels. It's actually not convoluted and boring!
The Resistance pilot is captured, and a defecting stormtrooper breaks him free. They escape in a TIE fighter, but get shot down by a missile and fall to Jakku. Crash landing there, the good-guy stormtrooper finds himself alone without the pilot. This is where we really start to meet our main characters, and I can already tell you the stormtrooper guy is pretty likable. He's an interesting one, with no memories other than being a stormtrooper. But it's his unwillingness to kill innocents and obey orders that makes him very relatable.
So yeah, since this movie features likable characters that I can actually care about, at this point, it's about a thousand times better than the prequels. The characters in the prequels are really just acters, because it's hard to char about them. But for the first time since 1983, we have full-fledged characters in a Star Wars movie again. And that's a good thing.
The stormtrooper (previously without a name, but now called Finn) meets Rey back on the junkyard planet of Jakku, and Rey has the droid with the map to Luke. This is where the movie becomes infinitely better than the prequels--both Finn and Rey are interesting, likable characters, and their interactions feel natural and unscripted. The droid is incredibly cute in its own way, with qualities subjectively even more likable than R2-D2.
The bad guys know the droid has the map on Jakku, so they attack the planet a second time. Finn and Rey are forced to work together to escape with the droid, and their ship of choice is nothing other than the hunk of junk they don't yet know is the Millennium Falcon. This is one of my favorite moments in the film. The applause when that ship first appeared on the screen was just amazing. It gave me the chills.
After they escape with some physically impossible but impressive looking dogfighting maneuvers, they're in space and free to go wherever their hyperdrive can take them. However, Han and Chewie are flying some type of freighter, and they find the Millennium Falcon in orbit of Jakku. They steal their ship back, and meet Finn, Rey, and the droid. At this moment, there is of course more applause in the audience. It was so satisfying to see Han and Chewie back in their ship, I really can't explain it here. All I can say now is that this movie is two infinities better than the prequels.
After some interesting talks between our new characters and our beloved old ones, they go to another planet. Naturally, the bad guys are following behind, still in search of that map. When they get to the next planet, Rey finds Luke's lightsaber, but isn't convinced enough to become a Jedi yet. We also learn the big bad guy, Kylo Ren, is Han and Leia's son. Kylo Ren's defection to the dark side is the reason why Luke went into exile, and the reason Han Solo and Leia have fallen on hard times.
At this point, I realize this movie is darker than I expected for a Star Wars movie. Aside from Revenge of the Sith, it's the only one with a PG-13 rating, and it becomes clear why. The whole movie has a sort of bleak but hopeful outlook, where our heroes are either too young and inexperienced or too old and beyond their prime--while the baddies are back and strong as ever. Much of the galaxy seems to live in a state not entirely unlike the great depression before World War II; times are tough and things are not going too well for pretty much anyone.
However, soon after we find out Kylo Ren is Han's son, the focal point becomes another battle. The Resistance forces with their badass X-wings eventually rescue Han, Chewie, and the new characters from the bad guy attack, but this time Rey is captured. At this point, we find there's also a new Death Star superweapon thingy. It's a little too similar, but the way the characters acknowledge this makes those similarities less important. Han's comments about finding a way to blow it up and Admiral Akbar's weird fish eyes had me laughing for a few minutes.
So, with the good-guy stormtrooper's help, the Resistance plans an attack on the new superweapon. He's basically one of them now, and it's nice to see how he wants to go back to help Rey. So, you know how these things play out. There's another battle, and all the main characters sneak in and meet up at a critical point on the superweapon. Laughably, after they take down the shields from the inside, one of the bad guys is sent to a trash compactor. It was Han's suggestion.
Unfortunately, Han Solo dies in one of the last scenes. He's killed when he confronts his son, Kylo Ren. Finn and Rey watch Han's death and meet Kylo again after that, and the two heroes use Luke's old blue lightsaber against him. Finn is injured but still alive, while Rey appears to be able to hold her own against him. We don't know who her parents are, so she may be the daughter of Luke or Han/Leia.
Rey strikes down (but does not kill) Kylo, and Chewie helps them escape in the Millennium Falcon. The superweapon blows up, and they go back to the Resistance base. We find that R2-D2 has the missing piece of the map to Luke, and together with the cuter droid, they show the Resistance where Luke is. In the final scene, Rey leaves in the Millennium Falcon, and climbs up to the top of a mountain where she meets a Luke, who now looks a little similar to Ben Kenobi in A New Hope.
Rey gives Luke his lightsaber, and that's when the movie ends. I've never heard so much applause in a movie as I did at that moment. And quite honestly, that final scene almost brought a tear to my eye.
Welcome to the Jedi Order, Rey.
Some bearded old wizard-looking dude has a map that leads to Luke Skywalker. The big bad guys and their fancy spaceships want that map, so they attack the planet Jakku, where the map is. A pilot for the Resistance (the new Rebel Alliance) takes the map in a droid and runs off when their village is attacked. It's only the opening scene, but I can tell already that this movie is a hundred times better than the prequels. It's actually not convoluted and boring!
The Resistance pilot is captured, and a defecting stormtrooper breaks him free. They escape in a TIE fighter, but get shot down by a missile and fall to Jakku. Crash landing there, the good-guy stormtrooper finds himself alone without the pilot. This is where we really start to meet our main characters, and I can already tell you the stormtrooper guy is pretty likable. He's an interesting one, with no memories other than being a stormtrooper. But it's his unwillingness to kill innocents and obey orders that makes him very relatable.
So yeah, since this movie features likable characters that I can actually care about, at this point, it's about a thousand times better than the prequels. The characters in the prequels are really just acters, because it's hard to char about them. But for the first time since 1983, we have full-fledged characters in a Star Wars movie again. And that's a good thing.
The stormtrooper (previously without a name, but now called Finn) meets Rey back on the junkyard planet of Jakku, and Rey has the droid with the map to Luke. This is where the movie becomes infinitely better than the prequels--both Finn and Rey are interesting, likable characters, and their interactions feel natural and unscripted. The droid is incredibly cute in its own way, with qualities subjectively even more likable than R2-D2.
The bad guys know the droid has the map on Jakku, so they attack the planet a second time. Finn and Rey are forced to work together to escape with the droid, and their ship of choice is nothing other than the hunk of junk they don't yet know is the Millennium Falcon. This is one of my favorite moments in the film. The applause when that ship first appeared on the screen was just amazing. It gave me the chills.
After they escape with some physically impossible but impressive looking dogfighting maneuvers, they're in space and free to go wherever their hyperdrive can take them. However, Han and Chewie are flying some type of freighter, and they find the Millennium Falcon in orbit of Jakku. They steal their ship back, and meet Finn, Rey, and the droid. At this moment, there is of course more applause in the audience. It was so satisfying to see Han and Chewie back in their ship, I really can't explain it here. All I can say now is that this movie is two infinities better than the prequels.
After some interesting talks between our new characters and our beloved old ones, they go to another planet. Naturally, the bad guys are following behind, still in search of that map. When they get to the next planet, Rey finds Luke's lightsaber, but isn't convinced enough to become a Jedi yet. We also learn the big bad guy, Kylo Ren, is Han and Leia's son. Kylo Ren's defection to the dark side is the reason why Luke went into exile, and the reason Han Solo and Leia have fallen on hard times.
At this point, I realize this movie is darker than I expected for a Star Wars movie. Aside from Revenge of the Sith, it's the only one with a PG-13 rating, and it becomes clear why. The whole movie has a sort of bleak but hopeful outlook, where our heroes are either too young and inexperienced or too old and beyond their prime--while the baddies are back and strong as ever. Much of the galaxy seems to live in a state not entirely unlike the great depression before World War II; times are tough and things are not going too well for pretty much anyone.
However, soon after we find out Kylo Ren is Han's son, the focal point becomes another battle. The Resistance forces with their badass X-wings eventually rescue Han, Chewie, and the new characters from the bad guy attack, but this time Rey is captured. At this point, we find there's also a new Death Star superweapon thingy. It's a little too similar, but the way the characters acknowledge this makes those similarities less important. Han's comments about finding a way to blow it up and Admiral Akbar's weird fish eyes had me laughing for a few minutes.
So, with the good-guy stormtrooper's help, the Resistance plans an attack on the new superweapon. He's basically one of them now, and it's nice to see how he wants to go back to help Rey. So, you know how these things play out. There's another battle, and all the main characters sneak in and meet up at a critical point on the superweapon. Laughably, after they take down the shields from the inside, one of the bad guys is sent to a trash compactor. It was Han's suggestion.
Unfortunately, Han Solo dies in one of the last scenes. He's killed when he confronts his son, Kylo Ren. Finn and Rey watch Han's death and meet Kylo again after that, and the two heroes use Luke's old blue lightsaber against him. Finn is injured but still alive, while Rey appears to be able to hold her own against him. We don't know who her parents are, so she may be the daughter of Luke or Han/Leia.
Rey strikes down (but does not kill) Kylo, and Chewie helps them escape in the Millennium Falcon. The superweapon blows up, and they go back to the Resistance base. We find that R2-D2 has the missing piece of the map to Luke, and together with the cuter droid, they show the Resistance where Luke is. In the final scene, Rey leaves in the Millennium Falcon, and climbs up to the top of a mountain where she meets a Luke, who now looks a little similar to Ben Kenobi in A New Hope.
Rey gives Luke his lightsaber, and that's when the movie ends. I've never heard so much applause in a movie as I did at that moment. And quite honestly, that final scene almost brought a tear to my eye.
Welcome to the Jedi Order, Rey.
. Just a hunch. Hehe. But yes very pleased with this film.
