The Force Awakens - Thoughts and Reactions (SPOILERS WITHIN)

Shiuzu

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So, I enjoyed this movie, but upon reflection there's a couple gripe I've got.

Is the only plan the bad guys will ever have in these movies, build a bigger and better laser cannon? It's fucked up to complain about this, but the lack of politics explanation in this movie was sorely missed. Was The First Order part of the Republic? If so why did they just blow them up? And if they're a splinter group that acts outside The Republic why is The Resistance working in secret outside of The Republic as well? How do you build a planet sized super laser that eats suns without anybody noticing?

I would have given a damn about those planets blowing up if I understood what was going on. It's a weaker version of Alderaan being blow up, except we don't have Leia to help us know why we care.

I loved a lot of the new characters but Rey is a Mary Sue, I'm not really gonna gripe about the lightsaber fight at the end, Ren got hit with a bowcaster that we saw the entire film pushing peoples shit in and Finn who we'd already seen had training with melee combat got a couple hits in too before Rey took over. But Rey is just naturally good at everything in the film, we never see her struggle with anything and she's in trouble one time in the woods when Ren holds her arm behind her back. Han Solo instantly likes her, she can fix the ship better than Han Solo can, I get that the difference between her and Luke is her belief in The Force but it's just not really all that fun watching a character succeed at everything for two hours and have no real struggles or risks to her.
 

Marcus

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@Shiuzu I agree with most of your complaints.
I agree with you on the Rey part - that was a bit disconcerting. I actually liked Poe as my favorite throughout the movie - I can't wait to see where his character goes. I kind of wonder if he's a FS of some sort, but I doubt it. But I did like how Rey came out of her shell a bit in the end. It was a bit Mary Sue for sure, but it made for an exciting climax. While Kylo was beat up, she did kind of demolish him. lol And he deserved that and the blaster bolt from Chewwie after his little psycho murder.

Also, who was Sydow? They didn't explain that, so hopefully we come to know more later. Heck they didn't give much on Maz, although we had more on her from context to guess she's been around the block a few times.

I don't think this is a spoiler, but the First Order is a remnant of the Empire, not the Republic. They are what's left of the empire after Luke and the Rebellion destroyed their pyramidal leadership structure. That said, why the Resistance is different from the Republic itself is strange, and I hope they go into that in VIII. I also hope they tell us which planets were blown up, as you say, as they mentioned a "system" which didn't ring a bell for me. And one of the bigger questions is who is Snoke and where has he been hiding? Maybe a Plagueis reveal comes in VIII?
 

Brandon Rhea

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Luke Skywalker is also a Mary Sue.

Central Star Wars heroes, when done correctly, are blander because they're characters you can project yourself onto.

It wasn't until Episode V that we learned more about Luke as a person.
 

Bee-Den Iosis

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Alright, I went and saw this again yesterday with my girlfriend before posting this. I wanted to really get a feel for everything before just fanboying all over the place.

I'll be damned, I still love it, maybe more, than the first time. First off, Finn, Poe and Rey were casted perfectly. Once the escape from the Star Destroyer happens, you immediately get the feel of Poe and Finn's chemistry. Their friendship is great and I can't wait to see where it goes. I loved Rey and Finn's friendship too(possible romance?), it was great and you can tell Finn will do anything to get Rey back.

Some might have thought Kylo Ren to be a lame villian, but honestly, I think his character was one of the best of the movie. Every complaint I heard about him, they really address in the movie.
"They're just trying to make him Vader 2.0"
So what do they do to Kylo Ren? They make his character idolize Vader, how he wants to be the next Lord Vader, even though he fears he'll never become him. They also complain when he takes off the mask he's just a whiny kid. And yes, I agree, that's his character. He really is just a young man, he's a wanna be Vader in this movie and I love that. Because I believe that by the next movie, he'll no longer be Vader 2.0, He'll be Kylo Ren and scarier than ever. Also, while I think Vader is one of the greatest villains ever, I've never wanted someone more dead than I want Kylo Ren right now.

Which brings me to Han Solo. I was blown away how much I loved his performance. I heard no spoilers going in, but I assumed by how happy Harrison was doing promotion, that Han was going to bite it. And what a way to go out. The walkway, calling out to Kylo to please come home, and the red light on one side, and the light from the sky on the other. Kylo looks like he'll give it up.....and then the sky light goes out...only red...and you know what will happen. Both times I watched this my heart was beating so fast, it's chilling, and while I hate my favorite character dying, he died trying to bring out the good in his son, and you can tell even after the blade goes through him, he holds his son's face, he still believes in the good. What a climactic scene.

Also probably my favorite lightsaber duel so far, I have a secret pleasure with the prequel duels but honestly, it's them flinging the saber around for 6 mins always missing, then the only hit they make is a losses hand or death hit. This one looked gritty and the trees breaking apart gave it atmosphere. The tiny cuts left and right made me cringe, what a great battle.

All in all, people can be disappointed, as with any movie, but I believe this movie did what it set out to do, bring back Star Wars. I watched it with my girlfriend who hasn't seen one, and I, who's seen them all at least 20 times. Boy, did she love it. But, whenever something came up from the original trilogy, I would fanboy and she wouldn't know why, but she, like Finn and Rey, are apart of the new group, who know nothing about Jedi and the force. While I'm apart of the old group, like Han and Leia, who saw all of it. The fact that we loved it and are still talking about it and waiting for episode 8, tells me they did a damn great job.
 

Prudence

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I too watched it with my girlfriend who had never seen Star Wars. After watching TFA she asked me for a copy of 1-6.
 

Darkwasp

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I loved Star Wars: The Force Awakens. There isn't much that I didn't like about the film.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens was a strange amalgamation of a Remake and a Sequel. I expected it to barrow some plot devices from the original trilogy, but you can almost find the entire A New Hope plot nestled neatly among the story and motivations of the new characters. This unfortunately had me thinking to myself, several times, "Are they really doing this again?", which brought me out of the film a couple of times.

Character creation, character development, and acting was AMAZING (as was dialogue)! I felt that almost every character that had a line existed outside of the situation that they were currently in. I felt that I could understand why they were saying, what they said, without it feeling forced (no pun intended). I understood every character and wanted to learn a little more about all of them.

A lot of people felt kind of short changed by the amount of time some characters spent on the screen, but I thought it was perfect. Learning too much about too many characters tends to mire down the movie and plot. Giving the characters' personalities in the little time that they were on the screen was done well, and I hope to learn more about them in upcoming films. Poe is definitely a favorite of mine (his interaction with Kylo Ren made me laugh and reminded me of a character that I played here (Bahati Rehn)... and have the itch to play again now (Perhaps I can rehash a version of her for the next timeline)). I would love to see more interaction with him outside of an X-Wing cockpit.

Speaking of Kylo Ren... What an amazing creation?! He has the depth and (possible) arc that I was hoping to see from Anakin in Episodes 1 - 3. I want to see how this character changes and grows, as much as the protagonists. BRAVO!

I'll stop now, because I don't want to right a book, but I thought the movie was pretty amazing!
 

Sin

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To be fair, a lot of light was shed on some of these topics in books like Lost Stars and Aftermath. Disney/Lucasfilm Story Group launched a series of books called JOURNEY TO STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS. Also, the novelization of TFA elaborates a bit more on some of these things as well.

The First Order is what remains of what used to be the Galactic Empire. Supreme Leader Snoke in the novel says that he witnessed the rise and fall of the Galactic Empire. So apparently he has been around for a while. We also know that he's got some sort of connection to the Dark Side of the Force. Maybe he's one of the Inquisitors or something? Idk...

As for the Resistance, the aforementioned books told us that the Republic was looking to demilitarize a fair amount. We know that Mon Mothma talked about staying ready for the Empire to strike back (again), but that would explain why the Republic isn't seen as largely connected to the Resistance. I suspect that will change now that the First Order destroyed the capital of the Republic and current home to the Galactic Senate. So I'm sure the Republic and all the politics will be better represented in the next movie.
 

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I really enjoyed it. I need to watch it again and think about it before I can give a really proper review but, here's my two cents:

First of all, the film was extremely aesthetically pleasing. Unlike the Prequels, it actually looked like the Star Wars universe, capturing that "lived-in" feel of the original trilogy. In that same vein, the cinematography was a big departure from both the Prequels and the Original Trilogy. Shots were more varied, grander, and I don't think I saw a single swipe transition. Really well done. No complaints about the acting, everyone was on point. The film was really well paced, and the humor was situational, not an after-thought used to entertain children.

The biggest aspect of the film that I enjoyed was how they utilized the themes of the Original Trilogy. The most striking was the theme of redemption. The scene in which Han confronts Kylo mirrors Luke trying to save his father in RotJ, except the redemption is rejected (so far). It's also nice to see an evil character struggling with a pull towards the light, rather than the tragic fall from light to dark. I also love that the film tastefully touches on PTSD with Finn watching a fellow stormtrooper die. Finn's banter with Han over the nature of the Force paints it in a less austere "magical guiding force" and more of something to be used situationally.

I have a few nit-picky complaints. First, and foremost: Why does the Republic rely on the Resistance to fight the First Order, an organization that is clearly bent on their destruction, and has built a giant, star-system destroying weapon as the means to do so. There's also a few things that are done for the convenience of the plot that bothered me a little, otherwise, it was an extremely enjoyable film.
 

Gamov

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I think the biggest thing that irritated me about the First Order - because I'm a big fan of the SW bad guys, always have been.. lol - was how stupid all the names were. Snoke? General Hux? Starkiller Base? Finalizer? Were they even trying? None of those names are even remotely memorable/intimidating/creative.

Snoke sounds like some random alien we should have seen in the background of a scene in Jabba's palace. And Hux just sounds like a lazy name trawled from the depths of a terrible AU fanfic. Kylo isn't a bad name, but I really can't take the others all too seriously.
 

Sin

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Starkiller has two meanings in Star Wars... One, I think it's a pretty freaking intimidating and memorable name. Two, Lucas at one point was going to have Luke's last name be Starkiller instead of Skywalker and Starkiller was also the name of Darth Vader's apprentice in The Force Unleashed series.
 

Gamov

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Well, yes I picked up on the TFU reference first. But I suppose since I didn't much care for those games by virtue of not liking Starkiller, perhaps that colored my opinion of having the bad guys base named after the thing I detest.
 

Jira

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Also I like the tensions between Kylo and Hux. They both want to be Snoke's golden boy, and are quick to call eachother out on their screw-ups. It's refreshing to see a "Sith" character who isn't irreproachable because he's bad and scary.
 

Cailst

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I enjoyed it though it may have been hard to screw up too badly. Plus, I saw the Star Wars Holiday Special a week before.
As others have stated, it felt a bit of a rehash of episode IV with some novel elements.
Also thought the Falcon would be a little dustier than it was. While it did have some issues, it seemed that it would look a little more abandoned.
When Rei had her vision, did anyone else get the impression that she was the daughter of Kylo? It seems the dates wouldn't quite work out unless he was a teen dad and she was a teenager herself. Nevertheless, it seemed the parts of the vision showing her and parents were pretty close to parts with him.
Also, anyone else guessing that Snokes might be a holocron of some sort?
 

Jira

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I doubt Snoke is Plagueis. Plagueis is associated with the prequels, and I doubt Disney, or any of the writers and directors, want anything to do with the Prequels.

@Cailst, I doubt he's a holocron either. That would require a hefty explanation of Sith Holocrons. It would be more straightforward to just make him a big bad Sith alien.

According to Wookieepedia, "Snoke is around 7 feet tall and very thin and frail with large hands."

My theory is that he is Yarael Poof:
 

Livgardist

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So, I loved the movie. My son loved it, and my wife who was completely turned off from Star Wars by the prequel movies (specifically, Jar Jar, near as I can tell), loved it. She said she could probably watch it all over again, and then again one more time.

When Luke Skywalker finally showed up, I was pretty much at tears. God, how I love Star Wars. How do you create something so great that so many million people love with such incredible passion? It really shows the best and greatest that us humans are capable of.

Edit to add: I wasn't originally planning to go see it at the cinema. I figured the tickets would be sold out, and I figured I'd just see it when it came out on DVD. My wife was like, "Oh no you don't. You love Star Wars too much for that. Surprise, we're going to go see it." She wasn't excited to go, but she did it for me. In the end she too ended up loving it. :D
 

Green Ranger

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Also I like the tensions between Kylo and Hux. They both want to be Snoke's golden boy, and are quick to call eachother out on their screw-ups. It's refreshing to see a "Sith" character who isn't irreproachable because he's bad and scary.

Absolutely agreed with this. It calls back to the Tarkin/Vader tensions, which I've always loved. I absolutely loathed the idea that Sith were somehow above reproach by their non-Force using peers in the Legends canon.
 

GABA

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So, I enjoyed this movie, but upon reflection there's a couple gripe I've got.

Is the only plan the bad guys will ever have in these movies, build a bigger and better laser cannon? It's ****** up to complain about this, but the lack of politics explanation in this movie was sorely missed. Was The First Order part of the Republic? If so why did they just blow them up? And if they're a splinter group that acts outside The Republic why is The Resistance working in secret outside of The Republic as well? How do you build a planet sized super laser that eats suns without anybody noticing?

I would have given a damn about those planets blowing up if I understood what was going on. It's a weaker version of Alderaan being blow up, except we don't have Leia to help us know why we care.

I loved a lot of the new characters but Rey is a Mary Sue, I'm not really gonna gripe about the lightsaber fight at the end, Ren got hit with a bowcaster that we saw the entire film pushing peoples shit in and Finn who we'd already seen had training with melee combat got a couple hits in too before Rey took over. But Rey is just naturally good at everything in the film, we never see her struggle with anything and she's in trouble one time in the woods when Ren holds her arm behind her back. Han Solo instantly likes her, she can fix the ship better than Han Solo can, I get that the difference between her and Luke is her belief in The Force but it's just not really all that fun watching a character succeed at everything for two hours and have no real struggles or risks to her.

Meh, beginners luck.
 

Brandon Rhea

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I enjoyed it though it may have been hard to screw up too badly.
Yeah, Star Wars is really hard to screw up.

latest
 

Brandon Rhea

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Also, didn't catch this on my first viewing, but Ewan McGregor recorded lines for this movie. You could hear Obi-Wan's voice in Rey's vision. He's the one who said "Rey" during the vision. I also think he's the one who said "These are your first steps" at the very end of the vision.
 
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