The Force Awakens Reviews

[Jedieb]

The reviews are starting to pour in! I'm not reading any of them until I get home from watching TFA tomorrow night. But I am keeping a close eye at its Tomatometer. Right now it's off to a great start!
97%
Fresh: 116
Rotten: 3

[Jedieb]

Still at 97% with 144 reviews in!
Fresh: 140
Idiots: 4

[Charley]

Now at 94% but still I'm surprised at the reception

[Jedieb]

It looks like most of the reviews are in and it's pretty remarkable.

94%
169 Fresh
10 Grinches

Wow, that's on par with A New Hope and Empire. It's going to end up being one of the best reviewed films of the year. And you can bet that if that's what it's pulling in with critics, then fans will be in the 90% range as well, probably around 95%-97%. This as good a critical reception as I could have hoped for.

[Charley]

I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve right now!

[Crusader]

Have a wonderfull night/weekend everybody!

[Jedieb]

A few more positive reviews have bumped it up to 95%!!!
Fresh: 183
Fascists: 10

[Jedieb]

With close to 250 reviews in TFA looks like a lock to end its critical run with impressive 90+% score. After flirting with 93%, a batch if reviews came in overnight and it's standing at 95%!
Fresh: 236
First Order Reviews: 13

[Scout Ravenwood]

I gotta say, this is probably the review I agree with the most, in that it's largely positive but doesn't ignore the few things that bothered me:

http://moviebob.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/review-star-wars-episode-vii-force.html

[CMJ]

Eb!!

[Jedi Master Kyle found me a couple of weeks ago and it's kinda like getting the band back together. I decided to log in here and give some thoughts that I sent Kyle earlier today.


Here's my main thesis statement: The prequels had amazing ideas marred by inconsistent execution (though I still am huge fan). This film has inconsistent ideas propped up by great execution.


I'll divide this up in pursuit of fairness.


THE GOOD:
-- The outdoor photography, particularly on Jakku, looked fantastic. Tangible, tactile. Many great epic images, and props to Abrams to keeping the camera still often enough to give some iconic visuals in the vein of Lucas's classical style. It's nice not to have as much CG backgrounds.

-- Daisy Ridley/Rey: She was great...perhaps one of the best characters in the entire saga. A lot of spunk, at times flirts a little too much with "is there anything this girl can't do?" territory, but she's a fun and sympathetic hero to follow. And it's a nice (perhaps unintended) connection to the prequels that she works with junk just like Anakin did.

-- John Boyega/Finn: great comic relief and energy, and a refreshing flip of the well-known faceless stormtrooper. I wasn't sure about him being somewhat adept with a lightsaber, but I did like that the final battle he was clearly outmatched in left him in a pretty serious medical condition, felt more realistic as opposed to him just dusting himself off afterwards.

-- Ford/Solo: A ton of fun to see But he really engaged here and was both funny and dramatic when he needed to be. One could question if someone who's made a living out of surviving would put himself so blatantly in harm's way (approach a villain with a lightsaber who's also standing on a catwalk over a chasm??) but the emotion of seeing him die was real.


-- BB-8. I was bummed about the lack of R2-D2 screentime, but the new droid was really easy to like without getting too cutesy. Looked a lot cheesier going in than it turned out to be. His "thumbs-up" with the lighter probably got the biggest laugh of the movie in my theater.

-- Chewbacca: really got much more varied work to do this time around. How can one not love Chewie?



THE BAD
-- Well, it's pretty obvious. This story was so ridiculously recycled from A New Hope, it ceased to become amusing early on. It's bad enough they ran out of ideas and had a second Death Star in Return of the Jedi, and now we get a THIRD planet-destroying battle station? I really don't understand how anyone can be ok with this and have any kind of self-respect w/r/t critical objectivity.


-- In addition to the "Starkiller Base", so much just felt like a checklist intended to press certain nostalgia centers in people's brains. Desert planet? Check. Snow planet? Check. Forest planet? Check. Alien bar? Check. Secret plans placed in droid? Check. Captured woman who needs to be rescued? Check. There just wasn't much new here. This is really where the touch of Lucas is missed the most.

-- Kylo Ren: this is a mixed bag because I like the genesis of the character and the family connection, as well as the design and physical presence of the character. The biggest problem is how easily Rey beats him in their duel. Even considering that he was injured from a blaster wound from Chewbacca.

When Luke faced Vader, he had legitimate training from Yoda, even if it was brief. But he was completely in over his head with Vader, and paid a very serious price. While Ren is obviously not at Vader's level, he certainly has enough Force training to be able to freeze laser blasts in mid-air, throw people, extract information from their minds, etc. So how does a girl who never picked up a lightsaber before take him down with barely a scratch on her? Especially when Ren just killed Solo which theoretically should have given him greater resolve and intensity with the dark side powers he was playing with? The main problem isn't even logic...how is this guy a good villain if he's defeated that easily by a novice?


-- The film is a little too busy location-wise for the first film in a trilogy. In A New Hope, we got Tatooine, the Death Star, and Yavin. In The Phantom Menace, we got Naboo, Coruscant, and Tatooine. Here we have Jakku, an extended number of scenes on the Star Destroyer, the Rebel base planet, the Coruscant like world that is destroyed, the Starkiller Base, and finally whatever planet Luke is on.

-- I felt like this was the weakest of John Williams scores for the saga. Not one memorable theme. Did enjoy references to older ones.

-- Why the hell does Leia hug Rey (who she's never seen before) but ignore Chewie, who's been her husband's closest companion for decades? Mystifying. Even if you believe, like my brother, that she knew who Rey was through the Force....her first reaction should have been the third wheel in her and Han's relationship. Chewie was probably the best man for God's sake (it could have been Luke I know)!

-- The base attack at the end was completely lacking in any thrills, from the aerial attack by the X-Wing crew to the on-the-ground infiltration by Han & Co. The space battle was kinda blah, and Han and gang pretty much waltz in with no problems. If not for confronting his son, that would have been the easiest sabotage sequence ever. Here, it seems like the whole place was completely understaffed and under protected.


So ultimately, this was incredibly entertaining throughout, but I enjoyed the first half more than the second. The second was way much too close to a New Hope remake. A lot funnier than any of the prequels, and obviously better acted. However, I was disappointed it was such a redo.



Current ranking: (I go back and forth on 2&3 often)

1.Empire Strikes Back
2.Revenge of the Sith
3.A New Hope
4. Attack of the Clones
5. The Force Awakens
6. Return of the Jedi
7. The Phantom Menace]

[Jedieb]

Court!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We're getting the band back together!!!!!!!!!!!!! Got a few things to bounce off of your post.
(spoiler tags aren't working on CMJ's quotes so beware!!


















Here's my main thesis statement: The prequels had amazing ideas marred by inconsistent execution (though I still am huge fan). This film has inconsistent ideas propped up by great execution.
I agree with much of your thesis. Although I'd probably be a bit more harsh on Lucas and the prequels. If I'd write a book on the prequels its title would be; The Director Has No Clothes. ANH and ESB were true collaborations. Not only that, Lucas had limitations and compromises that actually forced him to make better films. He had people like Kurtz and even his ex-wife that helped keep him grounded and weren't afraid to go toe to toe with him. You can't overstate how much his ex-wife helped him with the editing of ANH. Without her help we might not even be here discussing SW films. But by the time the prequels came around he was literally surrounded by people who couldn't talk about him without saying the word "genius" every 5 minutes. That's how you get Han shooting first and that's how you get Jar Jar.


-- Well, it's pretty obvious. This story was so ridiculously recycled from A New Hope, it ceased to become amusing early on. It's bad enough they ran out of ideas and had a second Death Star in Return of the Jedi, and now we get a THIRD planet-destroying battle station? I really don't understand how anyone can be ok with this and have any kind of self-respect w/r/t critical objectivity.
I've spent thousands of dollars on plastic Star Wars figures and vehicles, I have no self-respect!!!!!

I actually think that JJ, Kasdan, and Disney were forced into being derivative. It's almost as if they had to "rescue" the franchise. I don't think it's a mistake that they basically took the outline that Lucas had for this next trilogy and threw it in the trash. They're avoided talking about it, but what does it say that they basically took his ideas for EpVII-IX and threw them away? I think they had to go back to the OT as a framework to give fans and casual movie goers a great Star Wars film. Was it safe? Yes. Could they have shown some more guts? Absolutely. But I think they were under tremendous pressure to get this right and get the new movies off to a solid start. They basically used the OT the same way that Lucas used The Hidden Fortress, The Searchers, and Flash Gordon.


-- Ford/Solo: A ton of fun to see But he really engaged here and was both funny and dramatic when he needed to be. One could question if someone who's made a living out of surviving would put himself so blatantly in harm's way (approach a villain with a lightsaber who's also standing on a catwalk over a chasm??) but the emotion of seeing him die was real.

I never questioned that, not even for a second. It's your son, it's what you HAVE to do. Even if you know it's probably going to cost you your life. If there's even a slight chance you can redeem your son you take it. If it's me and I know my son will probably kill me I'm still going out there. I'm a dead man either way, either my son kills me or my wife does when she finds out I didn't go out there after him. At least my son will make it quick. My wife would make it slow and painful and .... crap, just thinking about it is giving me shivers....


-- Why the hell does Leia hug Rey (who she's never seen before) but ignore Chewie, who's been her husband's closest companion for decades? Mystifying. Even if you believe, like my brother, that she knew who Rey was through the Force....her first reaction should have been the third wheel in her and Han's relationship. Chewie was probably the best man for God's sake (it could have been Luke I know)!

Well, she did hug Chewie when she first saw him and Han. I think your brother may be onto something. For all we know, she may hugging her niece!


So ultimately, this was incredibly entertaining throughout, but I enjoyed the first half more than the second. The second was way much too close to a New Hope remake. A lot funnier than any of the prequels, and obviously better acted. However, I was disappointed it was such a redo.

I also enjoyed the first half more than the second half. There were actually a few moments throughout TFA where I wish they could have brought Lucas in just to set up some shots. Poe's final bombing run on the Starkiller base could have been shot better. I actually didn't like the opening shot of the movie that much. But I still loved the final lightsaber duels and that last shot with Luke and Rey almost had me crying tears of joy. There's just too much awesomeness there for me to be too hard on that 3rd act and epilogue.



1.Empire Strikes Back
2.Revenge of the Sith
3.A New Hope
4. Attack of the Clones
5. The Force Awakens
6. Return of the Jedi
7. The Phantom Menace

1. Empire
2. ANH
3. The Force Awakens
4. Return of the Jedi
5. Revenge of the Sith
6. Attack of the Clones
7. Plinkett's Review of TPM
8. Hardware Wars
9. TPM


Good 'talking' with you again CMJ. The Force is With Us, AGAIN!!!!

[Jedieb]

Forgot one!


When Luke faced Vader, he had legitimate training from Yoda, even if it was brief. But he was completely in over his head with Vader, and paid a very serious price. While Ren is obviously not at Vader's level, he certainly has enough Force training to be able to freeze laser blasts in mid-air, throw people, extract information from their minds, etc. So how does a girl who never picked up a lightsaber before take him down with barely a scratch on her? Especially when Ren just killed Solo which theoretically should have given him greater resolve and intensity with the dark side powers he was playing with? The main problem isn't even logic...how is this guy a good villain if he's defeated that easily by a novice?

I think she doesn't defeat Ben/Ren without Chewie's bowcaster shot. Just look at how badass that baby was throughout the movie! Han was taking it out of Chewie's hands whenever he had the chance! (The bowcaster is another example of JJ giving fans what they wanted. I can't count how many times I've pretended to wreck havoc with my Chewbacca figures and his bowcaster. When I was a kid of course, when I was a kid...) I think that would have killed or incapacitated any normal being. I also think he's in a tremendous amount of emotional pain after murdering his father. He may have thought killing Han would make his journey to the Dark Side complete, but I think the simple act of Han touching his son's face was an act of grace strong enough to actually make part of Ren regret what he'd done. I actually wished the script had called for Han to say "I forgive you..." and then take his swan dive. Also, his training still isn't complete. His power and skills are still growing.

And, Rey is a badass in her own right. She doesn't have training, but she obviously knows how to handle herself in a fight. We know she can fight with a staff, so she has some combat skills.

[Droo]

[-- Why the hell does Leia hug Rey (who she's never seen before) but ignore Chewie, who's been her husband's closest companion for decades? Mystifying.]

[Just noticed this, and thought I'd help clear it up. Having just rewatched the film today, I can recall that, while Rey and Leia hugged, a moment is taken to cut to Chewie, who is alone in the Falcon, mourning the loss of his friend. He's not outside with the others at that point.]

[Vince]

Saw it. Really good. Not as good as Empire Strikes Back, but ESB is one of my favourite films of all time, and in my opinion one of the better films made in the twentieth century. I'd rank this as a tie with A New Hope, but maybe ANH ekes out a win here: both movies are quick, with some glaring plot holes and characters that stick with you but the villains are the weakest parts of both films. ANH ekes out in my opinion because Darth Vader and the Empire are shown to be powerhouses, whereas Ren gets to show off but the First Order wipes out some small towns at best and first strikes the Republic; there aren't any real battles with the Resistance where the First Order is shown to be an unstoppable juggernaut as the Empire was shown to be with the boarding action on the Tantive IV.

Everyone loves Chewie; here, they have been given a reason to. I think Chewie has the best reaction and emotion in the entire film distilled in only one moment.

[CMJ]

So, based on what I've heard (which could prove to be wrong) George Lucas' thrown out pitch was the Solo kids, in the Falcon, searching the galaxy for Luke Skywalker, who may not have even been found until Episode VIII or IX. The initial MacGuffin was indeed to have been Anakin's lightsaber. As you can see, some things changed from that. But some things actually stayed the same. So, the alphabet might have been altered, but maybe we are gonna end at Z like Lucas envisioned.

I know I'll never convince people of the worthiness of the prequels, and I am no JLB nutso with it. However, say what you want about the Lucas films, but at least every single one of them had personality. Lucas might've been a clumsy storyteller (I think that is somewhat overstated personally, but whatever), he may have had issues with directing talent, but he was willing to take risks and he made every single movie experience different to some degree. TFA is safe in every single way, save one or two exceptions. Like by about twenty minutes in I was actually stunned by how many of the same ANH beats it was hitting.

I can see this maybe moving above AOTC someday after I see it several more times...but I can just as easily seeing it annoy me more. Episode VIII better completely change tracks from ESB, or I'll actually be very annoyed.

[Jedieb]

I'm very excited to see where they go from here. Just how much 'freedom' is Rain Wilson going to be given? I thought Looper was excellent, and the episodes of Breaking Bad he directed were some of the best of the series. (Yes, I know he directed the infamous Fly episode. But that episode actually had to be structured that way because of budgetary reasons. They'd gone over budget and needed a self contained episode, and he did a remarkable job under those constraints.) I still think we're going to hit some of the same beats, but hopefully, now that this new trilogy has been successfully established, they can take some risks and go off in some "new' directions.

The problem with expecting something "new" with SW films is that they've always been derivative of previous films. Even the prequels kept hitting some of the same beats as the OT. Qui-Gon = Obi-Wan (ANH), Gun-Gans = Ewoks, Anakin blows up the Trade Federation control ship=Luke blows up the Death Star, and you could go on and on. We've all seen the films with commentaries. We've seen and heard Lucas talk about repeating notes like you would in a symphony. He did this throughout the prequels as well. My problem with the prequels have only grown over time. I just have trouble watching them because the performances only seem to get worse, the green screen sets and miniatures haven't aged well and just seem so... static and uninteresting to me. Even ROTS, which is my favorite, frustrates the hell out of me. The opening sequence is breath taking, I could watch it over and over again. But every time an actor speaks I'm jerked out of my revelry.

I don't mind if you want to have galactic politics play a big role, but let your actors EMOTE! And if you can't write comedic or romantic dialogue anymore then hand it off to someone who can! There was more chemistry between Rey and Finn in TFA than Hayden and Portman in the entire prequels. And AOTC was supposed to be a love story! Characters act in ridiculous ways, there are so many missed opportunities...

But at the end of the day, that's why I've grown more bitter with the prequels over the years. I can't watch them and enjoy them. They force me to pick them apart as I'm watching them. I didn't do that while I was watching TFA. To be honest, the second Poe made a crack about Ren's mask and voice, and the audience I was with burst out laughing I felt a huge inner sigh of relief. I felt like I was going to see a movie that was going to let actors emote, funny dialogue, comic relief that was actually funny, etc.

[CMJ]

There's a difference between hitting on some of the same notes and hitting them all like TFA does. And as you can tell, I was picking it apart and frustrated throughout. I remember about an hour in I thought to myself "where would this rank in the series?" - which is kind of troubling if I was that distant from it at the time on a first viewing. When I am really into a movie, I never really start doing rankings in my head as it is still playing.

The only prequel I have become in anyway bitter in regard to is TPM. Hell, in some ways I am more bitter about ROTJ than it, because I really feel like so little works other than the Luke/Vader/Emperor stuff (which may be the best in the series). Other than that, I find large sections almost dreadful to sit through...and it's even worse because so many people hold it up as some paragon of SW. I like TPM less, but at least most people don't regard it as that great (I find it probably better than most, but that's not saying a lot) either. It's easier to defend (for me) a movie everyone else dislikes like say AOTC than it is to bag on something beloved like ROTJ.

I'd rather watch AOTC and ROTS anyday than ROTJ.

[Jaden Luka]

Personally, I don't mind Episode VII revisiting some familiar elements. It's important to remember that not everyone knows the original movies in as intimate detail as we do. There are people in the world who aren't able to correctly quote entire scenes. There are people (like me) who never got the opportunity to see the original trilogy in the big screen. Heck, there are a lot of people for whom this will be their first big screen Star Wars movie. There are people who may not have watched Star Wars since they were kids. There are people like my mum who vaguely remember seeing Star Wars at some point, or like my dad who has only seen parts of Star Wars. That's a phenomenally broad spectrum of people, and making a sequel that caters to absolutely all of them is an impossibility.

What Abrams has done - cleverly, in my opinion - is reset things. It isn't as extreme as a reboot, but by revisiting those recognisable moments and that recognisable forum, he has basically put everyone on the same page. The people who have never appreciated Star Wars before (perhaps because it was "for nerds", because of the dated effects, having never seen it, whatever) are given the opportunity to revise that opinion: they got to see the greatest hits of Star Wars, presented with 21st Century effects and 21st Century pacing. They got to see all the positives that we lovingly remember, without getting distracted by the wonky dialogue. It gave the franchise it's best opportunity to win the hearts of as many people as possible.

Okay, so people who have been fans of Star Wars for decades may not have needed, wanted, or appreciated the refresher on what makes Star Wars awesome. Bear in mind though that the very next movie we will be seeing is Rogue One, which is going to be a considerable departure from anything Star Wars has tried to do before - and we only have to wait a year. A little longer, and we get another Episode. We've got canon cartoons. We've got canon books. We've got canon computer games. There is so much Star Wars coming out right now that compromising the originality of Episode VII in order to give subsequent movies more freedom (because the whole audience is approaching it from the same place) seems like a price worth paying.


As far as the prequels go, I'm another one of those rare fans who actually likes them. The thing I always remind myself is that while yeah, the Prequels have an over-abundance of CGI... of course they do. They came out right in the middle of that CGI explosion we got at the start of the century, where suddenly special effects were capable of a whole new level of realism. It started with Jurassic Park, and it hit peak saturation at Avatar, and you've got the Prequels and the Matrix movies happening right in the middle. When we watch the Original Trilogy, we're sympathetic towards the juddery stop-motion animation and the iffy/stilted dialogue, because it was the Seventies/Eighties, it was the best they could do, there's a nostalgic charm, etc. I look back on the Prequels in the same way - that's just how people were doing movies at that point.

[Serena Laran]

I feel like this is a space opera and so of course we're seeing a re-composition of familiar themes - it's the story's through line and I didn't mind it at all.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Spoiler reviews should go in the spoiler thread, guys. I'll probably move these over there once I get to my computer. :)

Edit: you have to add the spoiler code to quotes

[CMJ]

Sorry, I just saw "Reviews" and dove right in yesterday without really looking for another review thread. I guess that happens when you don't visit much anymore :)

[Lilaena De'Ville]

It's really ok, I'm not sure if I should consolidate or not, really. :P

[Jedieb]

There's a difference between hitting on some of the same notes and hitting them all like TFA does. And as you can tell, I was picking it apart and frustrated throughout. I remember about an hour in I thought to myself "where would this rank in the series?" - which is kind of troubling if I was that distant from it at the time on a first viewing. When I am really into a movie, I never really start doing rankings in my head as it is still playing.

The only prequel I have become in anyway bitter in regard to is TPM. Hell, in some ways I am more bitter about ROTJ than it, because I really feel like so little works other than the Luke/Vader/Emperor stuff (which may be the best in the series). Other than that, I find large sections almost dreadful to sit through...and it's even worse because so many people hold it up as some paragon of SW. I like TPM less, but at least most people don't regard it as that great (I find it probably better than most, but that's not saying a lot) either. It's easier to defend (for me) a movie everyone else dislikes like say AOTC than it is to bag on something beloved like ROTJ.

I'd rather watch AOTC and ROTS anyday than ROTJ.

ROTJ has too much nostalgia for me to ever be bitter towards it. But I do regard it as the weakest of the OT, by far. I think the film's problems began the second Kirsh couldn't come back to direct. Marquand was serviceable, but this is where Lucas started to grab more and more control. Even as a 12 year old, I knew the Ewoks were a problem. The second they showed an alarm went off deep inside me. WTF? Teddy bears? Really? And when you hear Lucas talk about them as a comparison to the Vietnamese you have to wonder, 'You're comparing a race of people to cannibalistic teddy bears and you think that's a compliment? Stormtroopers were always bad shots, but they were buffoons in that final battle.

But the Jabba's Palace/Sail Barge sequences and the Luke/Vader/Emperor showdown knock the movie out of the park for me. That showdown ended something that had dominated my imagination from ages 6-12. I still remember being the last person to leave the theater because I wouldn't leave until the last credits rolled and the music ended.

[Jaden Luka]

Something that occurred to me earlier is that with almost everything in the movie - technology, character motivations, and the story itself - there is this really consistent theme of aspiring to be the original, and (where possible) overcoming it's shortcomings.

[The First Order is an Empire that is even more Nazi than ever, and they've stripped off a lot of the pageantry and bureaucracy that weighed the Empire down. Instead of a Grand Moff, the First Order gives us General Hux, who is far more keen and competent than most of the Imperials we saw in the OT. Instead of intimidation and propaganda as tools to recruit soldiers, the First Order just snatches kids and brainwashes them to minimise the risk of defection and disloyalty - ruthless, but very efficient. The TIE Fighters have been redesigned to compensate for some of their weaknesses. The Stormtroopers are shown to be as effective as the OT claimed they were. Everything about the First Order is sleek, and clean, and black-and-white (with the odd splash of red). Even the Star Destroyer: it's still the iconic design, but it's ever so slightly more practical.]

Then there's Starkiller Base itself. In aspiring to be the Empire, in aspiring to inform the galaxy that the Imperials have returned, the First Order seeks to emulate it's most terrifying power. Destroying planets is a big deal, and Starkiller Base not only takes out several at once - it consumes your sun in order to kill you. That is even more of a technological marvel than the Death Star was. They aren't stupid with it, though - they didn't build it from scratch at ridiculous "look at how impressive we are" cost, they built it into an existing planet, with an existing atmosphere (free life support systems). There's no vulnerable generator that can be disabled, because the weapon's power source is external. And to destroy it, it wasn't a simple plan: when the Resistance took down the shield (which they barely managed), the weapon was still ridiculously well defended, and it took some not-part-of-the-plan explosives to luckily punch open a hole that allowed a single hot shot pilot to get in there and do damage. The First Order was smart: they compensated for so many of the arrogant oversights that the Empire made... and when the Resistance won, there was no blame, no force choking, no sycophantic excuse-making. Snoke recalled his assets, not to punish them for failing, but because he realised he needed to rethink his strategy and train them to be better.

There's the rest, too. Kylo Ren is an aspiring Vader who wants to drive out the last glimmer of light in him (Vader's ultimate Achilles heel), who takes out his anger on inanimate objects rather than force-choking his subordinates, and who is used by his master not as a tool for intimidation and pageantry, but because he's brutally efficient at what he does. Kylo Ren on screen is everything that Darth Vader is off screen. The New Republic has it's whole moving capital, so that no part of the galaxy feels ignored. The Resistance isn't hung up on trying to "restore the Republic", they're stripped down to the efficient singular goal of kicking the First Order's ass.

It definitely revisits a lot of familiar ground and a lot of familiar ideas, but that in itself serves a narrative purpose. It'll be interesting to see if the characters and factions learn from the "mistake" of using the same tactics. Will the First Order realise that giant superweapons aren't the way to go? Will the Resistance realise that using the exact same tactics as the Rebellion - which barely worked for them this time - is a bad idea? How much will Finn's input change the way that the Resistance fights back? How will Snoke reconsider his tactics, and redeploy Kylo Ren and his other assets in new/different ways?