7) The Overriding ‘Cool Factor’
Remember crossguardgate, the controversy that arose from the fact that the new Star Wars villain’s lightsaber had an impractical hilt on it? Ewan McGregor certainly does, and he knows a thing or two about mistakes in the Star Wars universe:
“If you know how to handle a lightsaber, like we did, you don’t need a hilt,” said young Ben Kenobi, calling Kylo Ren’s weapon “wrong.” McGregor was being facetious, but he highlights a serious concern.
J.J. Abrams is a filmmaker in love with the ‘cool factor’ of his movies. Look at his two Star Trek films, and you see the issue: cool weapons and cool characters doing cool things, even if it’s illogical or impractical.
Abrams is a fine blockbuster moviemaker, but not the most astute, and it can leave his films full of holes. Already we see Finn battling a stormtrooper with a lightsaber-resistant baton in an early TV spot – looks cool, sure, but in the process. it defies the internal logic of the universe and diminishes the power of its most potent weapon. Which isn’t quite as cool.