*SPOILERS* Star Wars: The Force Awaken

[Diakonov]

OK, so. I saw this last night, and...I'm not exactly sure how I feel. I really hate to be a downer on something like this, but there were some aspects that disappointed me. Overall, I did enjoy it!

The Good:

• They really nailed the atmosphere. The props, the setting, the scenery--all fantastic. It felt like the Star Wars universe.
• Characters were (usually) convincing, and the back-stories are good.
• Nice balance of adventure, action, comedy, drama, etc.
• Non-white and non-male characters wielding lightsabers felt refreshing.
• There were a lot of tasteful references to the past (but also a number of pushed ones).

The Not-So-Good:

• There were a few too many heavy-handed references to the previous films.
• The plot is a bit too safe. It seems like Abrams was afraid to stray too far from the original trilogy formula, so for the second half of the movie it ends up feeling predictable and rehashed.
• Related to the previous point, almost every scene felt like it was a "redo" of an original trilogy scene. Like, did they really need to have a whole new Cantina with an alien band playing quirky music almost exactly like the original?
• The existence of the Star-Killer seems to come out of nowhere, and then just as quickly is dealt with. It did not feel immense or epic at all.

Specific moments that irked me:

• I really had trouble connecting with Kylo Ren. Surprisingly, they got the Darth mode right, and the human mode felt tedious, which was the opposite of what I was expecting.
• The "new emperor" was unexciting. Old. Slightly deformed. Gravelly voice. Hologram. Says emperory things. OK.
• Han using Chewbacca's crossbow and being impressed. After all these years, how has Han never fired that thing?
• The alien monsters on board Han's ship were way over-the-top and just felt goofy.

Other:
The structure for the character dialogue is interesting. Characters from the old movies still acted and felt like they did back then. I'm not good at describing this, but basically the way they talked felt how movie characters from the 70's would talk. New characters talked more how Abrams characters would talk. So, it was actually a very fascinating juxtaposition, because you could feel the old beside the new, in a charming way. HOWEVER, there were moments of weakness where Han or Leia (or even Chewbacca) would say something that just felt out of character, usually in service of something humorous.
I'm going to stop here for now but I have a lot more to add as it comes back to me.

 

[James Stevenson]

I thought it was good. What would have made it great was a great plot, I agree it wasn't too interesting. Hopefully the trilogy plot becomes much cooler!

 

[Jason Waddell]

I liked it. Your list of critiques felt pretty spot on. Rylo killing Han felt very similar to Darth killing Obi Wan. Both stood there and took it while an emerging Jedi watched on.

The new bot felt good. The film started quite well, but as you say, ended routinely. Hopefully they can take some more chances with 8 and 9, after they've proven they can do "Star Wars" in 7.

 

[MCMcEmcee]

I thoroughly enjoyed it. Could improve but I'm hopeful for the future films.

I did like that Kylo Ren was an angsty teen with daddy issues, anger issues, and also superpowers... and despite all this setup to become the hero, he falls in with the bad guys. I also liked how much he seemed to dislike the First Order standardized base decor. Minus points for turning into a Darth Vader cosplayer as his life's goal.

Also, anybody else notice that the movie is about a black man who is constantly attempting to procure firearms as he desperately avoids law enforcement??????????????

 

[Face]

There was a lot of executive pressure that kept Abrams from deviating too far from the Disney Star Wars feel, fortunately. The mix of puppetry, animatronics, and cgi was just completely perfect for me. Overall, the movie felt like a proper entry into the series and is a powerful lead in for the new kids who didn't really get to grow up with star wars. I'm part of the generation that had to grow up with episodes 1-3 and I'm glad another generation doesn't have to be put through the same thing.

As for things that bothered me, Po's and Fin's budding bromance was just so unnaturally forced. And the Kylo Ren scene was hilarious. There was a lot of tension built up during his unmask. It was humorous the way the rest of the theater sighed at his underwhelming casting. Your villain voice is gorgeous, Adam Driver... but your face is... geeky.

I love the casting of John Boyega as Fin and Daisy Ridley as Rey. Their scenes together were my favorite of the movie. Especially Daisy Ridley who some theorize to be casted based on her resemblance to Natalie Portman/Padme--though she looks more like Kiera Knightley sometimes.

 

[Tanner K.]

Plot stunk; everything else was great. If they get more adventurous with the plot in 8 and 9, the re-hashing of 7 won't bother me much. Character development was quite good (although Leia was underwhelming).

A minor point, but I loved the way they gave BB-8 several comedic moments but didn't go overboard with the sorts of gadgets he might have (i.e. R2D2 with fucking jetpacks).

Kylo Ren didn't look the part, but I enjoyed his acting. Far superior to Hayden Christensen. He looked like Alan Rickman's slightly pimply-faced son. It was an interesting and Disney-ish twist to make the main villain as young as the heroes.

 

[safra]

star wars has literally never been about the plot though

 

[Jason Waddell]

How likely is it that Rey was abandoned on fake Tattoine to save her from people hunting down Jedi / people related to Skywalker? There's gotta be something to her background.

 

[safra]

Just saw it, loved it a lot actually

I mean afaict she's Luke's daughter, kylo is the last of his students after they turned Dark Side on him, Rei was abandoned when Luke went to train his students, of whom KR was the only one to survive their mutiny.

Carrie Fisher gives me life, Harrison Ford was fantastic and v reassuring after Crystal Skull, sound design ruled as it always does (quoting old motifs always chokes me up), 3D was tasteful and really brought out the space battles more, damn it I need to watch Babylon 5 again

 

[Jonas]

I liked the throwbacks to the earlier movies a hell of a lot more than I liked it in Jurassic World. All in all, I liked it a lot.

 

[James Stevenson]

Have now seen it twice. 3d is dreadful and I just always wonder why they're still going with it.

 

[safra]

counterpoint: 3d rules and this movie used it perfectly

 

[Aston]

I've just seen it, and really enjoyed it. I did think the first half was a lot stronger than the second, but it was still a good time overall.

I watched the others yesterday, and I never noticed before how often characters say "I have a bad feeling about this", and then laughed out loud when Han said it in this one.

 

[Jason Waddell]

Have now seen it twice. 3d is dreadful and I just always wonder why they're still going with it.

$$$

 

[James Stevenson]

I've just seen it, and really enjoyed it. I did think the first half was a lot stronger than the second, but it was still a good time overall.

After the second viewing, I think the movie moved really well all the way through, up until they destroy the republic we've never seen, and they have that ridiculous scene where they plan to destroy starkiller base. Even after that though, the scenes on the base are really good.

$$$

Yeah. I guess Safra is the only person I've heard say they liked 3d. The movie is darker and the images bleed a little bit, it does nothing but annoy me and I just can't see how anybody is excited to see a movie in 3d.

 

[Aston]

I was a bit confused about the fact that whilst the Emperor was killed at the end of Return of the Jedi (spoilers) and the Empire apparently destroyed and replaced by a Republic sympathetic to the rebels, there still seems to be an Empire who rule over....not sure, and the same people resisting them although they are actually governed by a Republic who is on their side?

 

[James Stevenson]

I was a bit confused about the fact that whilst the Emperor was killed at the end of Return of the Jedi (spoilers) and the Empire apparently destroyed and replaced by a Republic sympathetic to the rebels, there still seems to be an Empire who rule over....not sure, and the same people resisting them although they are actually governed by a Republic who is on their side?

Yeah, more political explanation would have really benefited this movie. Seems to me like the First Order are basically a terrorist group ruling a bunch of storm troopers.

 

[safra]

Yeah, more political explanation would have really benefited this movie. Seems to me like the First Order are basically a terrorist group ruling a bunch of storm troopers.

afaict this is true. I think that even another 10 or 15 minutes might have made the movie feel too long, though - it was an incredibly tight 2hr15. A few scenes, maybe between Leia and New Republic politicos, could've helped contextualize stuff though. At the same time, Finn doesn't (seem to) know this shit either, and he's clearly the audience proxy, so I'm not sure.

The New Republic beat the Empire in episode VI, so in episode VII they're the Galactic Government. The unquashable rebellion this time are some Dark Siders, using Clone Troopers and a long-distance faux-Sith master-apprentice thing. I really like the inverted repetition actually, it's one of the things I like about Homestuck too, and here it's handled quite well (the opening shot of the belly of a ship is different from all the other ones but doesn't break continuity, for example).

 

[Aston]

Yeah, but....a terrorist organisation with the resources to build a planet sized star powered super laser?

 

[Jason Waddell]

I should point out that Death Star blowing up planet in A New Hope also happened super early, but the way they sold it with Leia's reaction was way better and made it feel more impactful (also Obi Wan's reaction).

 

[Aoret]

Finally saw it. 3d was fine; my only issue with it were white light sources off in the background which I found blurred more often than not. Overall I enjoyed it, agree with a lot of the above, it may have gone back to the well one too many times with certain things. I didn't mind the cantina scene, but when we go "oh there's ANOTHER death star and this one is like 10x the size!!!1" it kinda just starts feeling like I'm watching a Star Wars fan fiction (which I guess is actually what it is tbh)​

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Either way I thought it was fun and despite the few issues I had with it, I'm glad we get to have this and however many they do moving forward.​