Fans place a new hope in ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’
Bryan Masuda, of Rosemead, poses in a storm trooper jacket with a bunch of storm troopers around him, with his friend Yesenia Fernia, of La Habra, at the Americana at Brand.
Donning a black cape and red light saber, Isaac Islas eagerly strolled along the trolley route of the Americana at Brand, hours before the premiere of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”
There since 1 p.m., he was a bit let down because there wasn’t another light-saber-wielding fan to duel with — maybe because the assigned-seating tickets at the Pacific Theaters sold out months ago.
But he seemed to relish every chance he got to light up his weapon dressed as the main villain of the latest entry in the epic sci-fi series.
“I like the good guys, but I like portraying the bad guys,” Islas said. “There’s a little more freedom to illustrate yourself with your imagination, so to speak.”
Yet he knew very little about the character he was portraying.
“They’ve done a good job with the trailers. They seem to repeat the same stuff so you you’re not getting a whole lot about the film,” Islas said.
It was to be the seventh time Islas would be seeing a “Star Wars” film in theaters dating back to the 1977 original when he was a kid, and he looked forward to what Disney — the new owner of the franchise with a campus in Glendale — does with future sequels and spin-offs.
Other costumed fans eventually starting trickling in like Ryan Vueta and his friends. Vueta, 20, was sporting a Chewbacca hoodie.
He said he’s avoided Facebook for two days to keep from stumbling upon any spoilers. Vueta said he planned to see “The Force Awakens” in standard format to better concentrate on the plot before giving 3D a shot.
“3D is too much to handle,” Vueta said.
Isaac Islas, of Eagle Rock, dressed as Kylo Ren, the new villain in Star Wars, walks on the trolley tracks outside the Pacific Theaters looking for other villains to battle at the Americana at Brand for the “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” premiere on Thursday.
What both Vueta and Islas are looking forward to the most: the possibility of seeing Luke Skywalker on the big screen after his being left out of the commercials and posters.
Another lifelong fan, Erin Vance, showed up with her hair in buns in the style of Princess Leia.
“It’s cool that she’s a princess, but she’s also very strong and she can handle herself,” she said. “She doesn’t really need any guys to save her.”
In addition to the hairdo, she was wearing a Star Wars sweater, shirt underneath, socks and scarf.
Vance said she’s been looking forward to the movie premiere more than Christmas and had a strategy to avoid spoilers, even when reading reviews.
“When the reviews came out yesterday, I scrolled to the bottom to see the letter grade, but I didn’t read any of the content,” she said. “I’m going in with no expectations; I don’t know anything.”
As for what she’s looking forward to the most, Vance said she appreciates the filmmakers’ return to using more practical effects instead of relying on CGI.
“It kind of feels like it’ll get back to the heart of what everyone liked in the beginning,” she said.
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Arin Mikailian, arin.mikailian@latimes.com
Twitter: @ArinMikailian
