7) The Return To A Worn, Lived-In Look For The Universe
About that spectacular design work – The Force Awakens has exactly what fans were looking for after the squeaky-clean, sterile-looking prequels. Episodes I-III were packed with shiny environments and technology that appeared a million miles away from the cluttered-up look of the original trilogy. With Episode VII, J.J. Abrams wisely takes Star Wars back to its down and dirty origins.
The universe in The Force Awakens is suitably worn and packed with little details, prompting the feeling that we’re just stumbling into a place that’s been lived in for centuries. There’s history in the look of Jakku, its landscape littered with the wreckage of war; in Takodana, with Maz Kanata’s home built on a ruin; in D’Qar, the Resistance base that looks like an old hangar from wars past. Such places are more vibrant and exciting than any location found in the prequels.