The Force Awakens Personal Review Thread- SPOILERS HERE

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Time for a thread so we can gather all our insane ramblings and gushing non-biased fan reviews of the new movie!

START YOUR POST WITH A BRACKET [

AND END IT WITH A BRACKET ]

The activity stream will not show anything between two [brackets]. You do not need to use spoiler tags in this thread, just brackets.

:eee 35 hours and change to go until I see the movie! *flees thread with fingers in ears and eyes closed*

edit: don't use italic or bold bbcode in your post, thank you!

[Lilaena De'Ville]

[ A properly bracketed post like this will be completely hidden from the Activity Stream and can contain spoilers like BB-8 is R2's son ]

[Captain Untouchable]

WORD OF CAUTION! Don't try and use italics in your review - it makes the bracket thing go cranky, and parts of your review WILL show up in the activity feed!!! :uhoh


[ Writing a review of this movie would probably consist of "You remember that part when the whole movie happened, and it was awesome?!" so forgive me if there are far too many exclamation points!

First off, the trailers. I cannot think of another movie that managed to use it's trailers to make the movie BETTER. There was dialogue in the trailers that wasn't actually in the final movie: so when it came to that final scene with Luke and Rey, it was even more agonising - you were even more desperate for Luke to admit that Rey is his daughter (she HAS to be, right?!), and that musical swell before the cut to credits without us even hearing a single word come out of Luke's mouth... it made that scene even better. The same is true on the planet with the cool temple - when you saw that spray off in the distance, you knew it was the fuck yeah X-Wing cavalry moment just a split second before you were shown, and that heightened the experience. Abrams knew that all of us nerds were going to sit there and dissect the trailer... so he used it as a narrative tool.

Second... this movie took what was great about all of the other Star Wars movies, and redelivered it in a more satisfying way. Taking out the shield generator so the Rebels can attack the superweapon, completing a trench run to take out the planet-killer before it destroys the Rebel base, the escape/rescue hijinks, that visceral Finn/Rey vs Kylo Ren duel that echoed Empire - it was a greatest hits of the Original Trilogy's best moments, delivered with the kind of visual impact that Lucas could only have dreamed of achieving back in the seventies. It also delivered a lot of what the Prequels set out to do as well, though: the battles had the sense of breathtaking scale that Lucas tried to deliver with the Clone Wars; but the technology is finally there to blend practical and special effects seamlessly... we got the spectacle, while at the same time preserving the lived-in realism that made the Originals so great. There was also a lot more humour involved, too - the Originals had their funny moments (usually Solo snark moments), and the Prequels added to that with Obi Wan's wit (and with he whosa not bein' named), but HOLY COW was this fun. The only thing better than Finn/Rey banter was that flippin' scene where Finn tries to convince BB-8 to play along. It took what the Prequels tried to do, and pulled it off.

Third, another unexpected thing drawn from the Prequels is Kylo Ren. There were moments where he channelled Hayden Christiansen (in a good way), little mannerisms and vocal notes that really made it believable that he was Anakin Skywalker's grandson. Yet at the same time, he's so very opposite. Without/before the Vader suit, Anakin was a hero and a warrior, but without his Kylo mask, Ben (damn you for toying with my EU feels, JJ!), is so NORMAL. It is all an act, all a mask. The idea that the good in Anakin was something that Vader and Luke tried to cling on to, whereas for Kylo Ren it's a curse that he wants to be rid of - and gets rid of, in the most SOUL CRUSHING WAY POSSIBLE. Unlike Vader, who was menacing as hell, the menace of Kylo Ren is (so far) all an act, all a pretence, and yet by having him kill Han it has ensured that the audience will hate him with a violent passion. Those injuries he sustained, that facial scar (similar to Anakin's)... in a way, we're seeing a dark reflection of Anakin becoming Vader all over again, but in a much more nuanced and drawn-out way. By proxy, JJ is delivering on what the Prequels didn't quite achieve with regards to the Skywalker story.

Lastly... arguably the most masterful thing that JJ Abrams has done - which shouldn't be surprising, now that I realise it's JJ FUCKING ABRAMS we're talking about here - is that, despite all of the speculation, the trailer dissections, the fan theories... Abrams only gave us SOME of the answers. The answers he gave - that Rey can use the Force, that Kylo Ren is Ben Solo (Ben Organa?), etc - he gave to us easy. He didn't try to milk out the Kylo Ren reveal as a cheap plot twist that we would have all seen coming - it was just a fact that was revealed over the course of the story. But we still don't know the story with Rey. We don't know who Max Von Sydow's character is, aside from the fact that he's been around long enough to still think of Leia as a Princess. We know even LESS about Finn: he was taken from his family and raised as a man with no name, but WHAT family? All that speculation, all of the context for where Supreme Leader Snoke fits in, all of the detail on what the rest of the galaxy is like, where the First Order comes from... there is so much more going on in the Star Wars universe than what we know, as it should be. I am desperately craving to know more. I feel more anticipation and excitement about Star Wars than before the movie started.

I cannot wait to see this again. If you're reading this, Mr Sturm, I hope you're up for another viewing while I'm over there! ]

[Scout Ravenwood]

[ Okay, I feel I may end up in hot water and upsetting some people here, but truthfully? I was a bit disappointed.

That's not to say it's a bad movie. It's a lot of fun, it's got some great scenes, banter and action. It's probably the most fun I've had at the cinema in a while. But... I'm not convinced it's a great movie, and here's some of the reasons why.

It really felt like a 'greatest hits' package. While the prequels suffered by 'not being Star Wars' enough, here, the film was trying too hard to be 'Star Wars'. Almost every scene in the film felt like a reference, or inspired, by a previous film. Running around Starkiller Base, evading Stormtroopers? Running around the Death Star in ANH. Planting charges to blow up the plot gizmo on the killer superweapon? Planting the charges in the shield generator room. Ditch attack on killer spacestation, complete with trench run? ANH's finale. Dozens of quirky aliens in a cantina? ANH's cantina. Tiny quirky alien mentor who's ancient? Yoda. It goes on and on. Nearly every scene is a 'quote' of a scene from the original trilogy, and as such, the entire film feels unoriginal.

There also feels to be a distinct lack of world building. Lucas is a terrible writer and director, but an excellent world builder. The world of the Star Wars prequels always felt real and solid. Here, I still have no idea why there was a 'Resistance', why it was separate from the 'Republic', how the First Order had risen so suddenly and so powerfully, how they had a superweapon like they did, why nobody seemed to care THAT much when they used it to blow up an entire star system, how their soldiers work (for a brain washed soldier breaking his programming, Finn has a LOT of personality), etc. I know Abrams excels at only dropping hints, but here I felt like I needed more. If you're going to undo the end of Return of the Jedi after 30 years and tell us actually the galaxy was still in turmoil, I feel like I need some reason for it.

The characters themselves were great. I love the way they all felt like unguided kids, who didn't know this world they were in. Even Kylo Ren, who felt like he had some serious raw power, but a total lack of skill. Sort of like if somebody granted any of us Dark Side powers, we could use them, but we wouldn't necessarily know how to use them well. Certainly reflected in his lightsaber skills, failing to block bolts and things. And yet powerful enough to freeze things with the Force, people and blaster bolts. A cool new power we haven't seen before. And I liked his uncontrolled rage. Unlike Vader, who casually chokes people, he loses his temper and trashes things.

Finn is a great character, but I'm not sure I 100% 'buy' who he is. Brainwashed and a stormtrooper all his life, I'm not sure I buy the quirky, funny guy that he seems to be. But he's an awful lot of fun, well acted, and a very good counterpart in the movie. He does his job well and I want to spend more time with him as a character, but I'm not sure if I totally believe in his personality, as weird as that sounds. I like his inexperience though, and I quite like the jabs at his 'maleness'. He only uses the lightsaber because, of course he does, he's the male lead, right? Only for, of course, it be Rey who should.

Rey is also great. Again, the lack of her background being explained means I felt like I didn't have a great handle on either of the characters, but she's a very strong lead, well acted, and a lot of fun. She's very competent and fun to be around, and great to see her evolve. I love her naivety, it makes her a great character to be around, her wide-eyed wonder at everything, her utter reverence for the main characters and how much you yearn for her to become something else because her current life is so spectacularly rubbish.

BB-8 is awesome. If anything from this film will be remembered in 30 years time, it's him. Truly iconic and loveable.

I honestly can't wait to spend more time with all these characters, which is a real strength of the movie.

Han Solo and Chewbacca were fun too, feeling even closer than they ever have been before. The end for Han? Disappointing to see them go with something so predictable (at least, I felt it was), but it was always unlikely Harrison Ford would do all three films and he was a great character in this, an utterly different kind of mentor to the ones in the other films, still recognisably Han Solo while having moved on. His scenes with Leia were great too (although I found Carrie Fisher's voice very odd).

The issue for me was more one of plot than character. I felt that the film would have been a lot stronger without the whole 'Starkiller Base' 'Resistance attack' subplot (and it was a subplot, it didn't feel related to the main action, going on in the background). The story here was the characters, Rey's journey, Finn discovering he could be a hero, Han confronting Kylo, Kylo's decision, Snoke's manipulations, etc. The inclusion of a superweapon just felt too much like the old films, too self-referential and unnecessary. Blowing up the majority of the Republic in one shot? We never saw the Republic or had any involvement with it, so it was hard to care, and even the characters barely seemed to react to something so ridiculously major. And because we had no investment in the Resistance characters, it was hard to care about the space battle. (Poe Dameron had some great lines, and the potential to be fantastic, but in this film, he was too absent for too much of it).

I have high hopes for Episode VIII because I loved the characters and want to see more of them. But I'm also not as fond of this film as everybody else seems to be. I want to see it again to see if I enjoy it more now I know the general outline. Maybe it's just because it couldn't live up to the hype in my brain. We'll see. ]

[Glen Fiddich]

[ Bear in mind that The Force Awakens isn't "just" the next instalment of the Star Wars franchise. There's a whole lot that it needed to achieve. It needed to be an enjoyable movie (which it was). It needed to introduce a new set of heroes and make you care about them (which it did). It needed to convince the hardcore fans that Disney/etc has taken on board the faults and failings of the prequels, and is going to "get it right" this time. It also needs to serve as a launch pad for an entire reboot of the Star Wars franchise, to make sure that as many people as possible watch and enjoy all of the movies / TV shows / video games / theme parks / etc that Disney is going to be sinking it's money into. It's not just a movie, it's a proof of concept. It's a pilot episode. It's almost a reboot, just in a way that doesn't discard the original continuity.

What better way to win over a broad audience by taking some of the iconic bits and pieces from the Original Trilogy, and giving them better graphics, better dialogue, 21st century pacing and editing, and all that jazz? If you want someone to think a band is awesome, you give them the greatest hits CD: you show them the thing you love at it's absolute best, so maximise their chance of falling in love with it the same way. Abrams wants everyone - not just fanboys and fangirls, but casual viewers as well - to love Star Wars just as much as he does. It may not be as iconic or quotable as the originals, but damn if it doesn't make the "Star Wars is awesome!" argument loud and clear.

As for the world building, I thought it was explained pretty clearly by the opening crawl, and General Weasley's speech. There is a Republic now; and there is the First Order, which is Jedi-slaying, baby-stealing, brainwashing, child-corrupting, super Nazi levels of bad. But, the Republic isn't (for reasons that don't really matter) willing to go to war with the First Order, so Leia and her friends have gone to war instead, as the Resistance. It's like Americans fighting in WW2 before the US had officially joined the war.

And I'm not sure what you mean by blowing up the majority of the Republic in one shot. They killed a few planets in the same star system as the Resistance base (using the energy already stored in the base), and then gobbled up the sun in order to recharge and finish the job. Pretty sure the Republic is bigger than like, five planets? ]

[Lilaena De'Ville]

PLEASE FIX BRACKETS

we haven't seen the movie yet so I'm not reading that but I can see part of the post in the Activity Stream so please fix it

thank you!!!

edit: extra italics make the brackets malfunction, Christin fixed it :)

[Jedieb]

[Typing this from my iPhone so you'll have to excuse the typos.

I've got about 15 minutes before my second viewing, this one is a 3D showing.

I won't go over too much plot, it's still rattling around in my brain. As I'm getting ready for this next showing I'm struck by how WELL acted it was. The actors were actually allowed to friggin' EMOTE! Ford hasn't been this good in years. He and Chewie dominate the scenes they're in. We finally get to see these two characters work together. I loved their scenes.

Everyone who's described this as a Greatest Hits movie is spot on. Every time an old character shows up the theater erupts in applause. Well, gotta go. Tim Daly is reminding me I'm old and that apparently I can drop dead at any moment.]

[Park Kraken]

[ Okay, I was amazed at how good the film was, I don't have a lot of time to write but a few quick thoughts; What Starkiller Base destroyed was probably the local sector fleet base and government, which would be what was directly supporting the Resistance itself, while the main capital of the Republic is still safe and intact. The new Star Destroyer design seems to harken back to the days of the Venator, acting as more of a carrier then anything else. The TIE Fighter they stole seems to be an officer's model, since none of the later TIE Fighters ever used additional lasers or missiles from what I saw. Only real disappointment in the movie so far is that what we saw in the trailers was all there really was for the Knights of Ren. ]

[Charley]

[ I'm currently in the midst of a grieving process. I knew someone was going to die and Han was on the short list, but I'm still completely crushed and destroyed right now. Not at all to diminish this movie because it's the second best of the saga to me, but I'm devastated right now. ]

[Scout Ravenwood]

[ Apologies on the brackets. I'm not sure what I did wrong? I put my post in them but it looks like I had to have it edited?

Glen, you're absolutely right about what Disney needed to achieve. But that's why I feel the mass public's reaction is 'OMG THIS IS AWESOME!' and the hard core Star Wars fans are a bit more 'it's great but not great GREAT'. This feels like a Star Wars movie aimed at the mass public who remember the originals and want the exact same ride, not at the hard core fans awaiting a new saga. That said, I really am looking forward to Episode VIII now these characters are established.

As for the Republic? I'm only going off the dialogue in the movie, which was so infuriatingly vague about that it was very hard to follow. They use the phrase 'That was the Republic' to describe what just blew up. They also go on to state that the entire Republic Fleet is gone, and General Hux's speech makes reference to destroying the Senate entirely.

Also, Luke is actually another aspect I was disappointed in. Why? Because having him go in to exile because he failed training somebody completely ruins the end of RotJ, and makes him look like a selfish jerk on top of that. His friends needed him, the galaxy was under threat, and he's off having an epic sulk because one student went bad. It robs Luke of his heroic agency. Even now, he's only returning because he's being dragged. He's no longer a hero in my eyes. Let's not forget that his best friend and the coolest guy ever is now dead, and wouldn't be if Luke had just got off his butt and helped save the galaxy like a good Jedi is supposed to do.

Not to mention, why was there a fragmented magic map leading to him? I mean, if I was to go off in to hiding, I probably wouldn't leave a secret treasure map so everybody looking for me could hunt me down... ]

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Scout, it was the italics in the middle that threw it all off. We figured it out and fixed it :)

[Charley]

[ The first thing I did when I got home was to make a drink with which to send Han Solo off properly. Gave him the old "May you arrive in heaven half an hour before the devil knows you're dead" bit. I needed closure. ]

[Alis'heen'amey]

Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't realise that'd mess it up.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

It's ok, I didn't know it would either! :D

[Park Kraken]

[ Expanded thoughts on the movie (bits and tidbits);


The new X-wing design looks sleek and sharp.


Once again the bad guys managed to construct an amazing weapon of immense size in a short amount of time. At this rate I wouldn't be suprised if this was just the prototype Starkiller Base and that there are several more spread through the galaxy.


So.....which star did they use to power the first shot? Are they able to draw the power from suns even farther away? That star that we saw seemed to be pretty close.


So.....were those planets that were hit all in the same system, or did we see destruction spread across the galaxy that seemed closer to one area from an interstellar point of view?


Reprised thoughts has me thinking that it was a Sector/Regional Republic Capital and Fleet Base that was wiped out, hence getting rid of the local "Republic Support" for the Resistance, but Hux's speech and other factors has me thinking that it was more significant then that, but then if it was then everyone reacted rather subdued when the news was recieved. Perhaps Hux was referencing future uses of the weapon in wiping out the senate and Republic as a whole?


So when the base was destroyed, the collected energy collapsed the planet into a new star?


The new Star Destroyer design seems to harken back to the days of the Venator class, being used as more of a carrier with a few specialized weapons here and there.


TIE Fighters have been upgraded, but did it happen to all of them or just to the ones flown by senior officers?


The quality of the average TIE Fighter pilot has declined, but the quality of the average stormtrooper has increased, as explained by the new program of raising them from birth rather then going through conscription as with the old Empire.


Would Phasma really lower the shields around the entire freaking base just to save her own butt? Also, what ultimatly happened to her? Disappointed with how little screen time she had.


Disappointed with how little screen time the Knights of Ren had. Wondering if that Force vision was of the past with them or of the future? Right now I'm leaning towards past, back to when Kylo (Ben) first fell to the darkside and they destroyed the New Jedi Order and possibly killed Luke's wife as well, if Ray is indeed his daughter (which would be an added incentive for Luke to wander away from it all).


Wasn't too impressed with the plot overall. I think they tried to cram too much into one movie. The destruction of Starkiller Base should've waited for another movie while they primarily focused on finding Luke in this one.


More to come later. ]

[Captain Untouchable]

[ If you hadn't noticed, Scout, most of us in this community ARE hardcore Star Wars fans, and most of us really enjoyed the movie, so I don't think that has anything to do with it.

As far as the plot and the exposition being bad... have you ever actually seen a Star Wars movie? They all have massive plot holes. They're all incredibly vague. We don't have a detailed explanation of what the Resistance is about... but we never really had a detailed explanation of what the Rebel Alliance is about either. It feels like we know more, because we have nearly 40 years of additional evidence... but frankly, we know that a) the Empire is bad (and likes blowing up planets), b) they killed most of the Jedi, and c) Princess Leia is a leader (ish) in some sort of Rebellion/Resistance against the bad guys. Aside from the Empire dissolving the Senate - which happens during the movie, so it isn't a cause for the Rebellion - we don't really know anything about what caused the Rebels to take up arms. The Force Awakens provides the exact same level of detail / vagueness that A New Hope did - you just know a lot more about the Empire in hindsight because of other movies, EU books, roleplaying, etc.

With Starkiller Base... things were definitely vague, but employing a little bit of occam's razor (the simplest option is usually the truth), my guess is that all of those planets were in the same system as the Resistance base. They don't actually say in the movie, it sorta makes logical sense that Starkiller Base is mobile - it HAS to be able to move to another system in order to consume another star, else you'll run out of ammo really really quick. Plus, at least one of those planets/moons appeared to be in orbit of one of the other ones, and I don't think JJ would try the whole "the exploding planet isn't literally there, I'm just showing it in the sky as an artistic representation thing" after it fell a little flat with Delta Vega in his first Star Trek movie. Also, there was a new official map thing released in a magazine recently that shows "Starkiller Base Original Location", so yeah - those planets being in the same system / Starkiller Base being in-system to destroy them seems like the easiest / most logical assumption. ]

[Scout Ravenwood]

[ I know most of us here are, but I'm talking about my experience outside of this group. With people I'm friends with IRL, most of the hard core fans I know have responded like I did. 'It's good, but not the greatest thing ever'. Which I would like to remind you here :p. I ALSO really enjoyed the movie. I just don't think it's the greatest thing ever, and think it's significantly worse than the original trilogy.

Now, to answer your question, and brace yourself for a shock here... yes, I have seen a Star Wars movie. In fact, I've seen all the Star Wars movies. A lot. Who would have thought? :p And truthfully? I don't think they have many plot holes. Vagueness, yes, but not plot holes. Certainly nothing as woolly as an unexplained fragmented map that has been left behind by one person who doesn't want to be found. Or a magical appearing lightsaber the film quite literally says 'I'll explain later' to. Yes, the Empire was never explicitly explained, but it came in a void. Were this the first ever Star Wars film, we wouldn't need to ask where the First Order came from, or the Resistance, or want to see what was going on with the Republic. But it isn't. It's not the first Star Wars film. We all know how Return of the Jedi ended. To suddenly flip all that and undo the happy ending will mean that we have questions.

Questions this film ignored. And without a firm grip on what was going on, I felt a bit lost.

I assume that Starkiller Base moved around, but really, they really should have shown that. I honestly stand by that this movie would have been stronger without the Starkiller Base stuff. If it had just been focused on the characters, without the 'save the galaxy attack on the killer super weapon' at the end, I think it would have felt a lot fresher and less forced.

Uh, no pun intended.

But I still really enjoyed it. I'm just not in LOVE with it like a lot of you are.

I agree with almost all of Park's comments. ]

[Captain Untouchable]

[ If the Original Trilogy doesn't have plot holes... then why was Leia's ship at Tatooine, where the last Jedi Knight and Leia's unknown twin conveniently happen to be hanging out? Thanks to Revenge of the Sith, we know it's because Bail Organa knew Kenobi was there, but we had to wait decades for that explanation. When the heroes went to rescue Han from carbonite, their plan was infiltrate the palace and... then what? Most of the plot of the original trilogy relies on fluke / luck / "the will of the Force" - which is absolutely fine, but it's not exactly ironclad plot stuff. The Force Awakens also relied a lot on luck - it was lucky that BB-8 stumbled across Rey, it was lucky that Han stumbled across the Falcon, it was lucky that they happened to wind up on a planet where Luke's old lightsaber was - but just like in the original trilogy, that's 100% fine. That's part of the charm.

As far as not explaining the lightsaber and all of that junk - of course they didn't. This movie doesn't exist in a vacuum. There are going to be sequels. The hype for this movie has been so enormous; if Abrams had explained everything we wanted answers to, there'd be far less anticipation for the next one. They carried over mysteries to the next instalment. That's a perfectly fine thing to do.

It's a shame that you and your "hardcore IRL friends" didn't enjoy it as much as the rest of us did... but I think that has a lot more to do with subjective opinion than objective quality. You just didn't like it as much, and that's fine. ]

[Scout Ravenwood]

[ I hope I don't sound arrogant saying 'hardcore IRL friends' or whatever I said. I don't mean they're bigger fans than anybody here. I just mean I have other friends who are equally big fans. Mostly the costume group I do Star Wars with (we're not 501st... yet >.>). Some loved it as much as you did, some felt like me. Only one hated it, and ironically, he just finished a Kylo Ren costume, so he's a bit annoyed :p.

But while I did still enjoy it, as I keep saying, I do feel there are objective reasons I didn't enjoy it as much as you. Objective reasons that you may be happy ignoring/think are positives, but reasons nevertheless. I didn't just 'not enjoy it as much'. There are reasons for my response.

Things like what you list are the coincidences of Star Wars. Which is no problem. The Tanitive IV being over Tatooine? No problem. Coincidence (or, even back before the prequels, you knew Leia was looking for Obi-Wan, so you could excuse that was where it was headed). An army of Ewoks conveniently finding Threepio their god? Coincidence. Story thrives on this stuff. Rey meeting BB-8? Coincidence, and I have no problem with that. Han getting the Falcon back just in time? Same again. Although I suppose you could argue he'd been waiting for a read out from it.

None of those are plot HOLES. They're plot contrivances. There's a difference. You can say it's flimsy, but it's only a plot hole when it doesn't make sense. They can make sense, just at a stretch.

I wouldn't say that TFA had plot holes either. But it did have the odd plot contrivance that felt even more of a stretch.. Things like the map to Luke, which is just a really bizarre macguffin that exists with no explanation to me seems very odd. Or Finn, the man who literally cleaned the toilets, knowing the way in to the shield generator. Or Captain Phasma, the big leader of the troopers, backing down and doing exactly as asked when her life is threatened. (At least she follows the great tradition of awesome looking armoured characters who turn out to be wusses in the film :p). ]

[Crusader]

[I cannot wait to see this again. If you're reading this, Mr Sturm, I hope you're up for another viewing while I'm over there! ]

Dear Mr Atkins,


Please have no concerns about the recreational activities during your stay in Bavaria. Of course, various entertainment events have already been planned and we can assure you that a visit to a movie theater nearby with the screening of the already iconic film about the resistance to the “First Order” a long time ago is an integral part of your program.


We are looking forward to seeing you soon and remain
with kindest regards


Peter and Martina Sturm
Your travel designers

[Captain Untouchable]

[ I don't think the map thing is weird at all. Aside from the fact that it's a reference back to KOTOR (which is one of the only sets of pre-existing games that "sort of" counts as part of the new canon), it's not a flaw in the plot: it's a deliberate mystery. It's Abrams providing us something to speculate on for the next two years. There were also a lot of subtle clues mixed in with that. The missing piece of the map, which makes absolutely no sense out of context (because it's "in an uncharted region of Wild Space", or whatever), was on a data chit, left with a mysterious figure on Jakku. Who is Max Von Sydow's character? Was he there to watch over Rey? He's been around for a long time - will we meet his younger self in Star Wars Rebels, or in Rogue One? And then the rest of the map, stored in R2's memory banks, was inaccessible until a very specific set of circumstances. When the Resistance needed the rest of the map, that wasn't enough of a reason for R2 to wake up - it took Rey's powers awakening (or something). "The Force Awakens" is a reference to Rey as much as anything else.

So yeah, we don't know why Luke Skywalker created a map that seemingly only Rey is able to unlock. That's not a flaw, or a hole: that's one of the key mysteries going into Episode VIII, something that presumably Luke will explain when we finally get to hear him speak. Mysteries are what JJ Abrams does. Is it frustrating that we don't have all the answers? Good god yes. But it's the good kind of frustrating, that for quite a lot of people has completely ignited their passion and eagerness for more Star Wars. Those kinds of mysteries, and the hunger for knowledge that this movie has instilled in people, is what is going to make Disney's one movie a year thing work.

It's the same premise as the unanswered questions that tie the Marvel Studios movies together. That bit of narrative trickery doesn't work for you, and that's a shame: but that's a subjective thing. There's a difference between "that doesn't work for me", and "that is shit". These aren't mistakes, or errors, they're deliberate story choices from the man behind Alias or Lost. You may have objective reasons, but you're applying a subjective opinion to them. If the stuff was objectively bad, a lot more people would agree that it was objectively bad - but that doesn't really seem to be the case here.

As far as Captain Phasma, absolutely that was a little disappointing. According to the actress she has much more of a role in Episode VIII, so hopefully that will make up for it. We don't actually know much about her, though: the fact that she puts her own preservation above "the mission" could be entirely in character - she could be some conniving, selfish, opportunistic sort of person. Or, we may find out that Finn is also a Force user, and he inadvertently mind-tricked her. With Rey, our first indication that she was Force sensitive was the fact that she instinctively new how to fly the Falcon, and that was paralleled by Finn pretty quickly coming to grips with using the quad lasers and turning out to be a surprisingly good shot (unlike Luke, he doesn't have prior piloting experience to fall back on). Perhaps Finn knowing how to get to the shield generator was a bit of Force insight. Perhaps "you made me betray the First Order" will be the motivation that makes Phasma a nemesis for Finn going forward. Or, maybe "sanitation" means that he was a janitor, and he used to collect the garbage from the building that the shield generator is in. After all, he did know about the trash compactors. We'll no doubt find out more as more books and movies come out. ]


Dear Mr Atkins,


Please have no concerns about the recreational activities during your stay in Bavaria. Of course, various entertainment events have already been planned and we can assure you that a visit to a movie theater nearby with the screening of the already iconic film about the resistance to the “First Order” a long time ago is an integral part of your program.


We are looking forward to seeing you soon and remain
with kindest regards


Peter and Martina Sturm
Your travel designers

5 Stars. Would book holidays via SturmTrooper Travel again. :thumbup

[Scout Ravenwood]

[ I guess I have less faith than you do in the following episodes. I guess I remember 'Sure, they didn't explain Sifo Dyas, but they're setting it up as a mystery for the next movei!' too well to have faith that this movie will do the same. I know, different production teams, but I somehow suspect the map will be forgotten as just being something Luke left behind for some hand waved reason, which when it's the main macguffin of the movie is a bit of a shame.

Phasma being cowardly or self preserving is fine, but it takes away from her being a badass. Which is of course what everybody thought she'd be. Instead, here, she just comes across as a prissy, bossy stormtrooper leader. That said, I always like seeing those super hyped up characters not be that good. I've always loved Boba Fett being knocked in to the Sarlaac, for example. ]

[Rutabaga]

[ I'm still processing it all, but I'm floored. Absolutely floored. I was 13 years old when A New Hope came out, and I feel 13 years old again. TFA is so good that it makes the faults of the prequels even more glaring (as if that were possible). The original trilogy was about the people, the prequels were about the special effects, and now we're back to the story being about the people. They didn't go overboard on the CGI. The worlds all looked and felt lived-in, not pristine shiny green screen crap.

The new characters are great. Finn is a delight, and Rey...oh, I fell in love with Rey immediately. I love the fact that she can now be a role model to young girls, a strong young women who's perfectly capable of taking care of herself. The fact that she kept yelling at Finn to let go of her hand during the First Order attack on Jakku was priceless. And Kylo Ren...even though I want to tear him limb from limb right now, I found him to actually be scarier than Darth Vader in some ways. Anakin/Vader was fully in control of his emotions by the time of the original trilogy. Kylo Ren was still struggling with his emotions, and that volatility made him so threatening. I have no doubt he engineered some kind of escape from the starkiller planet, and it's going to be interesting to see what happens with him next.

And Han...oh my. I'm so glad I was able to avoid spoilers before I saw the movie today, because I had zero idea it was coming. My heart is broken into a thousand pieces, but I'm so glad he had such an honorable death. It really did complete his character's journey through the story. He was such a selfish asshole when we first met him, and then he died in perhaps the most selfless way possible, because he loved his son so much and wanted to save him. So tragic, but so noble.

I think in a lot of ways, TFA was Han's journey. Now that Rey has met up with Luke (and even though he never spoke a word, he looked so shattered and in pain that it took my breath away), I think Episode VIII is going to be Luke's journey.

I'm so happy to see a movie live up to the hype and to my expections. It happens so rarely, and this was simply magical. ]

[Rev Solomon]

[ Caught a matinee Saturday morning with my brother. First reaction: This movie was so much danged fun. Soaring visuals, snappy dialogue, loathsome villains, winsome heroes. After the stilted, plodding, unrelateable slog that was the prequel trilogy, The Force Awakens was an absolute blast. Those two hours blitzed by, and by the time it was over I didn't want it to end.

The strength of the new characters is remarkable. The movie begins well, but the real spark begins when Finn and Rey meet and mount their escape form Jakku. The moment Rey says, "Not that ship - that one's garbage!" I knew what was coming, and I just couldn't stop grinning as the Millennium Falcon scraped across the sand, wobbled into the air, then transformed into the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy we all know and love as Rey mastered the controls. It was a fantastic flight sequence, but it also presages the new characters' own journey through the film - they're uncertain, vulnerable, and afraid, but they take ownership of the story and ultimately soar on their own without the support of the original cast. This movie could easily have been "Han, Chewie, Leia, and these other guys!" But while the legacy characters undoubtedly created the story world they live in, it belongs to Finn, Rey, Po, and Kylo Ren, and I'm eager to see where their adventures take them next.

I've enjoyed reading everyone's reactions, even those who found that the movie wasn't quite what they'd hoped. In some ways, it reminds me of Star Trek Into Darkness, which has so much going for it - great performances, smart dialogue, engaging characters, and an exciting storyline. But it also leaned heavily on self-reference and plot contrivances, and it left a few questions that that seemed more like plot holes than mysteries. I enjoyed TFA more than Into Darkness (which is saying a lot!), but it's not hard to see the same fingerprints on it, both good and bad.

My biggest source of confusion was Starkiller Base. When we first saw it fire, I thought the implication was that it was stationary, but far-reaching enough to target planets in other systems, which makes it significantly more terrifying than the Death Star, which at least you can see coming. But it was also unclear what its targets were, and what their significance was. It was unclear whether it was mobile - it must be, if it consumes stars for fuel, but we never saw it jump systems, and we never had a clear idea where it was with respect to the Resistance base it was threatening. Ultimately, the superweapon and the Resistance's assault against it were secondary to the interpersonal drama of Finn, Rey, Han, and Kylo Ren, which I felt was fine. But, gosh, if that one installation was so important to holding the whole planet together, you'd think they'd have built a backup.

One note in response to some questions above: when Hux declared, "You will remember this as the last day of the Republic!" I interpreted that not as implying they were about to destroy the Republic with a single shot, but that the unveiling of this superweapon would mark the end of the Republic, which would soon be brought to heel in the face of such destructive power. If that's the case, it's not ultimately that important which planets were destroyed, but I still would like to have seen more sense of tragedy from the heroes, who didn't seem too concerned about the millions/billions who had just cried out in terror and been silenced.

Kylo Ren was a big surprise. My first reaction to seeing his design, especially without his mask, was, "Well, he doesn't look that menacing." And of course, that's intentional. He's a deeply flawed villain, powerful and dangerous, but weak in a lot of ways - emotionally unstable, lacking confidence in himself, motivated more by fear and self-loathing than by the pursuit of power as an end in itself. He's almost a deconstruction of the whiny, petulant brat we were told to accept as a hero through two prequel movies. But the fact that he's this self-aware, to the point that he's aware of how much he longs to return to the Light and to his family, and sees this longing as a weakness to be despised and expunged - that's pretty danged terrifying, and an excellent picture of the backwards nature of the Dark Side, and how it corrupts your entire perspective. We're seeing a character whose journey toward the Dark Side is not yet complete, but who is committed to that journey with monstrous resolve.

I will have to see it at least one more time and take some more time to reflect before I can decide how it stacks up against the OT (I imagine I've made it clear by now how I think it compares to the prequels). Of course, even then I might not be able to judge until I see how Episodes VIII and IX. But there is plenty to be excited about. As with Star Trek, Abrams has given a beloved franchise a much-needed shot in the arm. His movies may read a little like fan fiction, but they're fantastic fan fiction, and he's given the directors of VIII and IX a great stepping-off point to continue this new saga. ]

[Lilaena De'Ville]

[I don't have an entire review to write but I LOVED it. I too wish there had been a little tiny bit more explanation about what planets the First Order was exploding - but, like one reviewer I listened to yesterday said, we complained about all the exposition in the Prequels, we don't get to turn around and yell at JJ for not having paragraphs of exposition delivered to camera. I could have used one more sentence or two, but ultimately I'm fine with trying to figure it out on my own/wait for Ep 8.

I also found it so so so interesting that Rey's first memories are of (presumably) the first Jedi Temple that Luke had gone in search of and ultimately discovered. I don't think she's related to any of Our Heroes from the OT. She's very strong in the Force, able to instinctually use it without training in a way we haven't seen before. Her instinctual lightsaber style is very similar to what we see Palpatine using and I don't think this is an accident of filmmaking - it's a choice they made. So who is she? We will find out! I think she's going to end up tying the new heroes to the prequels though, being either somehow related to Palpatine or some other Jedi who survived the Purge.

Maz's "Where's my boyfriend? ...I like that Wookiee" was the best. I liked her a lot.]

[Jaden Luka]

[ Peter was showing off his illustrated companion/encyclopoedia thingy in the Hangout earlier, and it looks like there is a LOT of cut content from this movie. We aren't talking the odd inconsequential scene here and there - there was an entire sequence involving the Republic Senate, stuff with Snowtroopers on the Millennium Falcon, and all sorts.

It'll be interesting to see if we wind up with a Lord of the Rings style extended addition that adds back in those scenes and provides a more complete explanation of what is going on. I totally understand why Abrams/et al would have chosen to streamline things for a cinematic release, but the Star Wars fandom is the perfect audience for that kind of "give us a longer version, we will happily sit through it" sort of deal.

Plus... maybe we will get a little bit of bonus extra Star Wars to tide us over while we are waiting for Rogue One. :ohno ]

[Park Kraken]

[ Just saw it for the second time, this time in 2D. One thing I noticed that I'd missed before; When the Starkiller Beam hits the main planet, you can see what appears to be several capital ships orbiting the planet that are immediately obliterated, so it looks like a significant portion of the Republic Fleet probably was destroyed in the movie. With those ships out of the way it may pave an open path for us seeing more of the First Order Navy in the next movie.

Also, General Hux had ordered all fighters to be scrambled, but we still see TIE Fighters sitting on the ground and being launched when Starkiller Base is falling apart. ]

[Rev Solomon]

[ With as little information as we got about the planets that Starkiller Base destroyed, it'll be hard for the next movie to build too much importance into their loss. Also, the fact that Starkiller Base's targets were apparently in the same star system as Maz's cantina was just another weird coincidence. When I was thinking of Starkiller as an interstellar weapon, I thought perhaps Finn would look up and see the beam passing by but not see its targets. But JJ Abrams obviously loves the "character watching a planet's destruction from another planet" shot.

Though another point I'm surprised I haven't seen addressed yet... STARKILLER, consumes suns, strikes from a distance? Um, OBVIOUSLY Abrams is cribbing our ideas! ROYALTIES, plz? :mad ]

[Xenodoros Stormrider]

[ This movie was awesome!!!

What I missed about George Lucas: He's really good at showing those long shots of scenery like Naboo, Tatooine, Endor even the Jedi halls in Coruscant and combining the music to accompany it. Those long shots are what make posters/iconic images (it can be argued that Abrams did this at the end when Luke was being handed his lightsaber by Rey).

However what I liked about JJ Abrams: To the point, awesome effects and appropriate use of face shots to convey emotions. It was fun to watch. Had me engaged the entire time. ]

[Fidget]

[ Just got back from my second viewing, and I think I've stumbled across something.

I don't think Rey's name is "Rey".

During the scene where she's sitting outside her little AT-AT home, she's wearing an old school X-Wing helmet. On the side are three Aurebesh letters - R, AE, and H. Raeh is a Hebrew name (it means ewe/female sheep). Starting to wonder if she calls herself Rey/Raeh because that's the name painted on her helmet. She doesn't seem to remember her origin at all - perhaps her memories were somehow suppressed, and she doesn't even know her real name?

Also, I noticed that the Resistance uses the exact same ranks as the Rebel Alliance - they've just connected the dots. Those silver boxes on their chest - instead of five blue dots like a dice, Admiral Ackbar has a blue X. There's one guy who has a blue lower-case lambda (as in four dots, because the top right is missing), which I think is Colonel, and Poe has a red chevron pointing up... which makes him a Major, IIRC? It's really subtle, but it's SO MUCH COOLER.

I still have my suspicions that Finn might be Force sensitive. The way that the movie shows Rey's Force-related piloting and mechanical aptitude is sort of echoed in the way that Finn comes to grips with the TIE guns, the quad lasers, etc. Sure, we saw Luke get the hang of them pretty quick, but he had years of piloting experience to draw from. Also, in the initial Falcon scene especially, there's just this connection between Finn and Rey that makes me wonder if they are subtly reacting to each other through the Force.

The way that Rey hugs Finn when she realises that for the first time in her life, someone has come back for her... all the feels.

I love the way that Rey holds the lightsaber as if it's about to bite her. She is terrified when she catches the lightsaber, and so hesitant when she switches it on... and at the end, she is so desperate for Luke to take the lightsaber away from him (and by extension, to take away the importance that seems to have been placed on her), and Luke's sadness almost seems like it's because he wants to but knows he can't. I still feel like her being Luke's daughter is almost a certainty... if she isn't, they'd better have a bloody good reason for why the lightsaber thinks she's so special.

I've seen people mention that Kylo Ren being able to rip knowledge from people's head is a new power (or an old power being used in a new way), but it occurred to me that we saw Vader do the exact same thing in Jedi with the whole "twin sister!" thing. Also, one of the tests we saw them put Anakin through in TPM was to read Mace Windu's mind, and see what was on the ipad he was looking at. We haven't quite seen it used in such a weaponised way though. And that frozen laser blast - technically, that blaster is firing a clump of energized particles... and we know that Force users can manipulate energy (as lightning) and matter (as telekinesis). Kylo's ability to paralyse people ("Force Hold"), and his ability to render them unconscious with a wave of his hand ("Force Stun") are all just forms and variants of the Force powers we've seen in video games. What's interesting is that Kylo seems REALLY advanced with the mental aspects of using the Force, but he's pretty terrible at the physical / lightsaber thing, relatively speaking. Kinda makes me wonder what the deal with Snoke is. Is he even a Force User at all? Han tells Ben that Snoke is "using you for your power" - it almost sounds like it's a power that Snoke doesn't otherwise have. Is he another Church of the Force type person, like Max Von Sydow - a "mere mortal" who knows of the Force from books and archaeology rather than someone who has experienced it for themselves?

People have said that there are no iconic scenes in The Force Awakens that people will remember in thirty years. I disagree. THE Scene, with Han and Ben, is so crammed full of symbolism. You've got Han and Ben standing opposite each other on different sides of a literal chasm. Then Rey and Finn enter, and the light from their door illuminates them, Chewie, and Han, but leaves Ben in shadow. They are literally light side and dark side. Han reaches out, bridging across that chasm, and it almost seems like he might succeed - Ben is conflicted, Snoke tells him to be rid of the light, but he is struggling to bring himself to let go. And then Starkiller finishes charging. The sun is consumed. The light outside dies, and the light inside Ben dies in the same moment. That's the scene that people are going to keep peeling back layer upon layer of as they view it. That's TFA's iconic moment.

Speaking of literal chasms - there's a bit of that between Rey and Kylo, too. When they first meet on Maz's planet, Kylo is advancing ominously down a trench, and Rey is retreating... the way it's shot is almost reminiscent of Luke and Vader in the cave on Dagobah, as if Rey is confronting the dark side for the first time. On Starkiller base, when Rey first has the lightsaber, she retreats from Kylo again, and this time she runs through a trench (literal trench run?) before doing her cool tumble thing. During this fight, she's been afraid (of the lightsaber, and of Kylo) and angry (because of Finn), and Kylo has her poised over another literal chasm, as if she's teetering on the edge of falling into the abyss of the dark side... and then she closes her eyes and embraces control. Some people see hints of Palpatine in her combat style, but instead I see someone who is making tighter/sharper swooshes with her weapon: she's not crazed and reckless like Palpatine, she's got Count Dooku style finesse and control. And then, after she kicks Kylo's ass... the ground collapses, and they're on opposite sides of a literal chasm... and the Rey side is suddenly bathed in light from the Falcon, while Kylo is left in darkness.

Kylo is so very ROTS Anakin in that moment, too. That whole sweaty, palid look, that yell of "Traitor!" that sounds so much like Anakin's "I hate you!", the facial scar in exactly the same place as Anakin. Something I thought about when rewatching Revenge of the Sith is that Anakin didn't "fall" to the dark side, he was pushed. Palpatine provided the initial seduction, taking advantage of Anakin's unstable emotions... but it was the duplicity of keeping his marriage and children secret, being ordered to spy on Palpatine (an order that was delivered through Obi Wan - a betrayal by his best friend), and everything else that toppled him over the edge. Similarly, Kylo had that same initial seduction by Snoke, but it's his father abandoning him, his mother pushing him away, and the fact that Rey kicked his ass in a way that might make him a tiny bit scared of her... he wasn't able to make himself into Vader on his own, because Vader cannot be self-made. His transition doesn't begin until external factors provide that push.

I continue to love the "there will be no scapegoating in my Order" thing, too. When Rey escapes, Hux tries to accept responsibility the way we've seen Imperials do so many times before (shortly before being Vadered to death), but Snoke cuts him off. His response isn't judgement or disapproval... he wants his assets to come home so that they can revisit the plan. I really like the First Order: it understands that sometimes shit goes wrong, and the ONLY thing worth doing is working out how to unwrongify them - no point wasting time and personnel on the blame game. ]

[Jedieb]

[ The walkway scene between Han and Ben was amazing. Of the many emotions it stirred in me was one of comfort. I was comforted to see that even 30 years after the OT, the Star Wars universe has no need for safety railings. Suck it OSHA!

The idea that Snoke may not be a Force user is very interesting. I think he's definitely a Force user. His decrepit features make me think we could be looking at a twisted fallen Jedi that may have survived Order 66. He could easily be a long lived species, so it could work. Really looking forward to learning more about this character. ]

[Charley]

I joked about the lack of rails throughout the entire saga re-watching leading up to TFA. So funny.

As for Snoke? My dark horse theory is that he is Darth Plagueis, and that Palpatine's attempt to usurp his master didn't quite take.

[Scout Ravenwood]

[ Some spoilers from recent books and things that have been going around: Snoke is described by both Wookiepedia and the official Star Wars database as a 'powerful Dark Side Force user', meaning that it's as official as it gets he's a Force user. Personally, I (like others) thought that perhaps he wasn't, and found that much more interesting, but that's what the current official line is. That said, the official line in 1977's novelisation was that Palpatine was a puppet Emperor controlled by the Imperial Moffs, so things do change...

The novelisation also, apparently, states that Snoke has been around for the 'rise and fall of the Empire', meaning that he is very old. Makes the Plagueis theory plausable, but personally I'd hate that (anything that belittles Palpatine as a villain I'd really dislike, he should still remain the Star Wars universe's biggest bad imo). Plus given how much TFA ignored the prequels, I doubt they'd reference something so heavily from it. But it is plausable. ]

[Jaden Luka]

[ My own counter-argument to my theory about Snoke not being a Force user is that arguably, Anakin DID bring balance to the Force, and so Snoke "needs" to be a Sith.

The Sith existed in a state of "always two there are, a Master and an Apprentice". Order 66 essentially put the Jedi in the exact same position: at the very end of ROTS, you have Yoda as the Master promising to teach Obi Wan (the Apprentice) how to commune with people through the Force - which echoes the Original Trilogy referring to Yoda as "the Jedi Master who instructed me" and so forth. With that in mind, everything else in the saga echoes that pattern. In order for Luke to become a Jedi, Obi Wan had to die, preserving that Master/Apprentice duality.

When Yoda dies, it opens the door for Luke to become the Master, and take on a new Apprentice... but instead he tries to rebuild the Jedi Order (thus unbalancing the Force again). The narrative fallout of that is Anakin's grandson - who seems to believe he can talk to his grandfather - turns to the dark side, and kills all of the Jedi students at the Academy, leaving only a Master (Luke) and an Apprentice (Rey) alive.

Potentially, that could explain the lightsaber's significance, too. Anakin's lightsaber is the one he used to kill the Jedi back in Episode III: it is the instrument that brought balance to the Force. Even if Rey isn't a secret Skywalker, the idea that the Force "allowed" her to have the lightsaber so that she would survive is an interesting one - the Force "needed" the Apprentice to survive, so that the Luke/Rey versus Snoke/Ren duality would be preserved. ]

[Rev Solomon]

[ If bringing balance to the Force means paring down to two Jedi and two Sith, then the Force has only been in balance for a tiny segment of the galaxy's history. During that period, the Force itself has faded into the realms of myth - surprising if you consider that there were once thousands of Jedi active in a highly public capacity throughout the galaxy, but perhaps not so surprising if the total number of trained practitioners had shrunk to four out of many many trillions of sentients (as far as we've seen in the movies, anyway).

This brings up a few questions: is the Force really in balance when it has such a small visible presence in the galaxy? Is that maybe even the point - that the Force is more in balance when its use as a means of power, whether by light-siders or dark-siders, is limited? Is "balance in the Force" necessarily even a good thing, or is it just a natural process like entropy or thermodynamic equilibrium?

I'm also curious whether Snoke/Kylo Ren are actually Sith, or if the Knights of Ren represents a distinct tradition. Even in the movies, "Always two there are" referred specifically to the Sith. The Knights of Ren may not be bound by that doctrine. Of course, based on the movies alone, the Rule of Two could simply mean that Sith always work in pairs, not that there can only be two in the entire Galaxy at any time. That was an EU idea that the movies aren't beholden to.

It could also be that the Dark Side represents imbalance in the Force, and Anakin brought balance to the Force when he destroyed the most powerful practitioner of the Dark Side in centuries. In any case, I don't expect the new movies to ever explicitly address the question. ]

[Alis'ans'amey]

[ The other thing to remember is this movie is avoiding the prequels HARD, and the whole 'balance to the Force' thing is very much a prequel thing. So it might not reference that. (Plus they've been quite clear in the past that 'balance' doesn't mean 'equal number of Force users on each side'. ]

[Jaden Luka]

[ I wasn't suggesting that the Force is only in balance if there are two - I was suggesting that the Force is only in balance when the scale of the two sides is in balance.

Okay, so most of the specifics of the EU are no longer canon, but presumably the broad themes weren't completely plucked out of nowhere. There is this ongoing theme (especially in KOTOR and SWTOR) where a light side group defeats the dark side group, and then the dark side group returns to decimate the light siders, and then the light siders bounce back, and so on and so on. In the KOTOR and SWTOR games especially (which are questionably canon) really emphasise this cycle of the Sith rising, a Jedi Purge, and then a Jedi resurgence to beat back the Sith. Even if the specific events aren't canon any more... that seems like a notion that the Star Wars makers have had in their heads for a good long while.

And as for avoiding the prequels "HARD" - there were visual callbacks between Kylo Ren and Anakin Skywalker, and there were a few other prequels references sprinkled in there, so you might be overstating it a little bit. ]

[Figrin D'an]

[ I finally managed to see The Force Awakens on Christmas Eve, after many factors (including a trip to the emergency room with my 4 year old on Monday night) prevented me from seeing it sooner. I’m somewhat relieved that I did end up waiting almost a week, because honestly, I’m not sure I could handle midnight premiers or opening weekends of major blockbuster films anymore. I don’t get to the theater a lot at this point in my life, and when I do go, I want to be able to enjoy the experience and not deal with the less savory factors of large crowds.

Old man rant done.

The best thing I can say about this film is that I had fun watching it. It was definitely a nostalgia tour, but the new characters brought enough new perspective to the story to keep me drawn in. There was part of me that wanted a more ambitious story, but I understand the creative choices that were made, and in the long run, the approach taken with this film is probably the better option. What made ANH such a great movie when it first came out was the characters, so establishing our new heroes and villains boldly in this first film opens a lot of doors for storyline and character development in Episodes VIII and IX.

In retrospect, JJ Abrams was a good choice for this new beginning for Star Wars. I was leery of his selection after the direction he took Star Trek, but if I’m honest, looking at his body of work, he’s typically been great at the first chapters of storytelling. Launching a story, introducing characters, providing a balance between plot reveals and lingering questions… he generally does these well and gets the audience wanting more. That said, I think handing the reigns to Rian Johnson for Episode VIII is the right move.

My favorite parts/moments/threads (in no particular order):
• The bloody hand wipe on Finn’s Stormtrooper helmet. Set the stage so well for his defection.
• Pretty much everything Poe Dameron does or says.
• BB8 lighter “thumbs up”
• Rey being the Anti-Luke in terms of her personality at this point in her development. It sets up a great contrast that is going to be huge in their master/apprentice relationship in Episode VIII.
• The potential for Finn to develop in so many possible directions
• Kylo Ren’s insecurities and self-awareness.
• Han, after using Chewie’s bowcaster, “I really like this thing.”
• The entire catwalk sequence with Han and Kylo/Ben. I was dying inside, because I knew as soon as Han moved toward the catwalk to follow Kylo, his fate was sealed. It was well played, and visually striking, but it was hard to watch knowing that a character you loved as a kid was about to die, and at the hands of his own son.
• Kylo vs Rey duel was done very well. It was more raw than the sabre duels we got in the prequels, but in a good way, as it demonstrated that both are still early in their skill development but with immense capability.

Things I didn’t like:
• The monster sequence on Han’s freighter. It gave them an excuse to ditch it and leave in the Falcon, but it just didn’t work for me.
• The ending felt a little too bolted on. I understand why it was important to have Rey and Luke on screen together to complete the “search for Luke” story and set the stage for Rey’s future, but it was awkward. And the final helicopter shot behind Luke was, quite frankly, just a strange and terrible choice.
• I have no clue what got destroyed by the Starkiller base. It was some New Republic planets, apparently in one system, and a lot of people died. What exactly this means for the Republic and the Resistance moving forward is completely missing, other than a couple of vague comments. Because of this, the emotional impact is really muted.
• Snoke’s appearance was a little disappointing. I’m still really curious to know who/what he is, but at least initially, he’s not particularly scary or intimidating. Maybe that’s intentional.

It’s a solid start to a new trilogy. It has flaws, but the good outweighs the bad by quite a bit. Great new characters have been established that, after safe opening plotline, should allow for some bolder storytelling elements in the next chapters. ]

[Jedieb]

[

In retrospect, JJ Abrams was a good choice for this new beginning for Star Wars. I was leery of his selection after the direction he took Star Trek, but if I’m honest, looking at his body of work, he’s typically been great at the first chapters of storytelling. Launching a story, introducing characters, providing a balance between plot reveals and lingering questions… he generally does these well and gets the audience wanting more. That said, I think handing the reigns to Rian Johnson for Episode VIII is the right move.



Couldn't agree with you more Fig. My oldest daughter has started binge watching Lost on Netflix. I watched the premiere with her a few days ago. JJ really knows how to launch a story. Having Rain pick up the story will hopefully help the story veer off in a new direction now that this new trilogy has been established. I'm very excited that Johnson got to write his own script. Hopefully, all the "script is amazing" talk we've been hearing is more than cheap Disney pub.

Hope your daughter is feeling better Fig. Man, 4 years old.. I don't miss those days. :cool

[General Luka]

[ Something just cropped up in a Captain Phasma conversation I was having... of course she lowered the shields. Like she told Finn at the time, lowering the shields didn't make a damned bit of difference.

All the shields were doing was stopping the Resistance X-Wings from being able to drop out of hyperspace near the planet. Shields go down, and the X-Wings show up... but it makes no difference, because the base is too well fortified for their weapons to make a dent. All those bombing runs did nothing: the thermal doohicky was too well armoured, too well defended by all those turrets, and too well protected by a whole base-worth of TIEs. Were it not for those explosives (which weren't really even part of the plan, more of a Han Solo afterthought), the Resistance wouldn't have succeeded - or at least, not succeeded fast enough to destroy the weapon before their base was destroyed.

So rather than Phasma giving up super-easy and dooming everyone... maybe she just had enough confidence in her men and their training for it to be worth saving herself a little discomfort.]

[Akasha Khan]

[ I have a hard time buying that - for all she knows, a fleet of Republic star destroyers is about to drop out of hyperlight and bombard the planet from orbit, seeing as the First Order had just declared itself a threat on a galactic scale. It's a possible explanation, but it still makes her look short-sighted, since, as it turned out, it was indeed a necessary step in the Resistance's successful attack on Starkiller Base.

So, I've been thinking about some alternatives to the way they presented Starkiller Base and the First Order, and I had an idea that I think could have more clearly distinguished Starkiller from the previous Death Stars and clarified the relationship among the Resistance, the First Order, and the Republic. It likely would have required some of those scenes that were ultimately cut from the movie, but I think it could have answered a lot of people's questions.

What if, instead of being a bigger, badder, even more impregnable version of the Death Star, Starkiller was to the Death Star what the First Order is to the Empire: stripped down, more brutal, more effective, more insidious? I'm envisioning a platform with the bare minimum infrastructure to support their planetkilling weapon - still massive, probably several times the size of a super star destroyer, well beyond the striking power of the Resistance, but ultimately vulnerable to an attack on the scale that a galactic superpower like the Republic could bring to bear on it. The Resistance may even have learned of this weapon and implored the Republic to respond to the clear and present danger it represents - the Republic dismisses their reports as sensational and unbelievable, as there's no way the First Order has the resources to build another Death Star.

Then Starkiller fires, and the true horror of the weapon is revealed: unlike the Death Star, it can't be tracked. It can jump into a system, consume its sun, and lay waste to its planets in a matter of minutes, far too fast for the Republic fleet to respond. Whether this is because of some kind of jamming field, or sensor-scattering armor, when it strikes, all the Republic gets is fifteen minutes of panicky comm traffic, then silence and an empty debris field where there used to be a star system.

By now, the Republic is desperate to end this threat, but has no idea where to send its fleet. It then falls to the Resistance to find Starkiller, infiltrate it, and take down whatever stealth capabilities it has so that the Republic fleet can jump in and pulverize it.

We get a new twist on the Death Star plot that shows the Republic is indeed more powerful than the Rebellion ever was. We get a scene or two of General Organa imploring the Republic to rise up against this new, insidious threat. We can still have a daring starfighter attack, as it might be critical to destroying Starkiller's stealth field generator/whatever it is. And we get to see a great big damn heroes moment when a massive Republic fleet jumps in and bombards the crap out of the Starkiller weapon.

It's definitely a different story, and you'd have to take care not to lose the focus on the characters that we enjoyed, but I think it would ultimately be more compelling than the very vanilla space battle plot we got. ]

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

[ On my third viewing, there were definitely some little bits and bobs that I was noticing that - to me - were quite interesting.


* The headlight/spotlight number on the bottom of the X-Wings were fantastic, and I found that my eyes were going to where those lights would illuminate as the X-Wings passed by. Some might have noticed it straight off and disregarded it, but it really struck me for some reason and I loved the addition.

* Daisy Ridley bending down as she's hugging Carrie Fisher really struck home to me how short Carrie is (she's shorter than I am!).

* The masterful sound editing done to pull 'Rey' out of Alec Guiness' 'afraid'.

* The little dance that BB-8 and R2 shared when R2 finally woke back up. It was very small, but it was there and it made me smile.

* I got a huge Mortaniuss vibe from Andy Serkis' voicework and loved ever second of hearing Snoke talk.

* The Wilhelm Scream in the hangar bay of the Finalizer when Poe and Finn are trying to escape in the TIE.

There's more I know, I'm just not remembering all of them. We saw it in IMAX 3D, and it was a pretty awesome first IMAX experience for me. Charley got a headache toward the end, but overall I enjoyed it. Nice and loud. ]