Disney also did the Avatar story and called it Pocahontas. It's basically the "White Messiah" story that dates back at least a couple thousand years. It's been in English lit for at least a couple centuries, and if I dig I can probably turn up a few Roman era plays that revolve around someone in a foreign land "going native" and helping the natives rally to kick out the invaders -- his own people. And always something those natives hadn't been able to do on their own. But even an arrogant, condescending story premise can be tweaked to make it less heavy-handed or offensive. Still, the only variation on the story I've seen done well was The Last Samurai. I've still not been able to sit all the way through Avatar for boredom. I've seen all of it through patchwork. It's impressive as a tech demonstrator, but as a story in earnest? No. A very similar complaint about Titanic. To quote George Lucas, a special effect without a story is a pretty boring thing. I think Cameron peaked with the first two Terminator films, Aliens, and The Abyss. I haven't really liked any of his movies since.
Meanwhile, Star Wars... Without looking to the spoiler thread, and just going by the trailer:
I'm in agreement with those who think that first shot of Rey opening that hatch is, in fact, the opeing shot of the film -- that the starfield of the opening crawl turns out to be those corrosion holes. So that would mean the movie starts by introducing us to her and her life on Jakku. She seems to acquire BB-8 early and when things are less hectic, so I'm thinking Poe gets shot down on Jakku, he gets captured, and his astromech escapes. Which still begs the question of what either Poe or the First Order were doing there in the first place, if it's such a forgotten armpit of a planet.
I'm seeing three main conflicts so far -- Jakku (presumably chasing Finn), the temperate planet (I see hints of an attack and counterattack, over time), and the ice planet.
And I think we've only still seen hints of the first half of the movie. No reveals, no twists, no Luke, no C-3PO, no trace of Max von Sydow or Andy Serkis, and the merest glimpses of R2-D2, Maz Katana, Phasma, and General Hux. I really am amazed at how close to the vest they've been keeping things, despite almost a year since the first teaser.
--Jonah
