General / Off-Topic The "I've seen Star Wars: The Force Awakens and want to say..." thread - USE SPOILER TAGS!

jabokai

jabokai
Well, I was there at midnight with all the other saddos. Initial impression - 7/10. Third best film in the series (after A New Hope and Empire, obviously) IMHO.

Some spoilery comments, don't click if you don't want to know stuff! :p

The two biggest negatives of the film were
1. The plot. OMG - did they really have to have another blinking Death Star? Even when they did it in RotJ it was a bit "meh, didn't they do this already" and they went and did the same thing yet again? A small team goes in to disable the shields - no, never seen that before. A droid with secret info on a desert planet, chased by baddies and helped by someone who don't really know who they are or their legacy. Small fighters on attack runs to destroy Death Star, aka Star Killer. Father/son, goodie/baddie on another gantry in another massive internal tube.
2. The connection between the people. They were all way too emotionally connected and caring/huggy for people who had just met. It was really a bit silly. At least in the original you had a feeling that some time had passed, even with simple scenes like Luke practising with his light sabre while the Falcon travelled.

Good stuff...

Thank you JJ for not having stupid, over the top stunts. Everything seemed to have proper weight and impact unlike that silly scene in the Star Trek film where they glide between ships, magically avoiding ridiculous levels of Armageddon style detritus in between. The only silliness I noticed here was the crack that conveniently appeared between Rey and Kylo at the end, magically stopping falling away at her feet as she was standing still. The rest was all very well done though. The CGI and real stuff was very well blended and you never felt it was trying to do \too much CGI just because they could. Great! Use it to tell the story, not tell a story so you can show off CGI.

The humour was spot on. Gone was the pathetic humour of The Phantom Menace and back to the original films style of bantery humour. Perhaps a touch too many nods to the past films - of course that should happen but maybe just a bit too frequent. Minor criticism though.

I wish I'd actually known a few things before I went in - basically that it was another droid hunt/Death Star rehash and then I'd have enjoyed it much more. Still, it was a decent start and hopefully closes the door on Death Stars, and opens a new door to genuinely new adventures. :)
 

jabokai

jabokai
Patrick_68000 said:
Some journalists say it is the best of the series
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They're wrong! ;) Empire is easily better and, IMHO, A New Hope too. Still, a strong third place ain't bad at all.

JeffRyan said:
But I spent the whole time grinning, tearing up, grinning, tearing up.
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I had a lot of those moments too, comments above notwithstanding. :) Speaking to my mate after, he seemed of a fairly similar opinion to me. Let's be clear though, it utterly outclasses all of the prequels, easily and with much room to spare.
 

[SI] Bobdelion

[SI] Bobdelion
For now all I'll say is this; there were multiple times while watching this film where I had an overriding sensation to run out of the cinema, get home as fast as I humanly could, and load up ED: H.

Any more than that... basically, JJ has done us proud! * breaths huge sigh of relief *
 

JeffRyan

JeffRyan
jabokai said:
They're wrong! ;) Empire is easily better and, IMHO, A New Hope too. Still, a strong third place ain't bad at all.



I had a lot of those moments too, comments above notwithstanding. :) Speaking to my mate after, he seemed of a fairly similar opinion to me. Let's be clear though, it utterly outclasses all of the prequels, easily and with much room to spare.
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Oh totally and in reply to your criticisms...

I think the 'many nods' and the 'new deathstar' are more than that. It's basically a retelling of the first story in a clever reboot/but continues the story sort of thing going on here. Too many of the beats in the film are the same, scenes etc. And from the 'who's going to talk first' scene I knew they'd gotten the humour back and realised I hadn't laughed once in the prequels.
 

Alien

Alien
K ... some spoilery points .. if you click and haven't seen the film, it's not my fault

The opening scene, how does the first order know to look on the planet? It's never explained.

Why did Finn decide to not be a stormtrooper any more? And don't say "It was the right thing to do", that's not why he went against the "programming"

Why the heck is C3-PO even in the film? Most. Unnecessary. Character. Ever. And why the red arm?

Is Finn a Jedi or have any force ability or not? If not, why is he even using a lightsaber? It's too confusing.

Is Rey Han & Leia's daughter or not? If so, why is it not mentioned? And if not it's too convenient that she has force abilities.

Why did only Rey & Chewbacca go to find Luke? Why not Leia and in fact, everyone else? And how did Rey know where exactly on the planet Luke was?

Has Luke Skywalker been standing in that spot for however many years since he failed to train Ben (Kylo Ren's real name if you noticed what Han said)? If he's not been standing in that spot all this time, why isn't there a path worn down where he's trekked up and down to that spot every day?
 

The Game Colonel

The Game Colonel
JeffRyan said:
I honestly can't judge yet, it's too soon and I'm overcome with nostalgia, weepiness and relief that it was more like what I remembered the old films being than the overly-up-their-own-bottoms prequels, to place the film in context yet.

But I spent the whole time grinning, tearing up, grinning, tearing up.
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Same for me. I saw the original in the theater when I was 12 and this film took me back there many, many times! Like an old family member you haven't seen in years! Still thinking about all of the great scenes and dialog.
 

Flimley

Flimley
I really really wish the prequels never existed. Stupid stupid humour, very annoying characters, WAY too much CIG making some of it look just like a cartoon. Just about everything and the kitchen sink was crammed into every scene.
I choose to ignore them.
So, sounds like the new film storyline is a blend of "A new hope" and "Empire strikes back" oh well worse things happen in space......if you can't cover the insurance.
 

Alien

Alien
Another point I forgot to mention above ...

When we first see Rey, she's scavenging from the Star Destroyer. Why didn't she park her landspeeder near or in the Star Destroyer? And then when she took her scrapo back to the settlement, why didn't she park next to where she was selling it? This would mean she wouldn't have to drag it across the sand on a desert planet.
 

Iori

Iori
Worst movie in the saga, even the awful prequels.

The bad guys were a bunch of whiny obnoxious teens and a giant Gollum.
The sith kid should have kept his mask on.
The national socialist kid was too young for his rank.
They didn't exploit the potential of Brienne of Tarth.
Han Solo should have just made a small cameo and leave, no reason to drag him around for half a movie.
The girl learns the force and bests the bad kid in record time, while Anakin had to study for years.
Even Fin puts up a good fight against the sith who had quite a lot of trouble with him.
Everything was too predictable.
This was just a run of the mill modern movie trying too hard to be Star Wars by making the same scenes all over again, but more and bigger.

As bad and childish the prequels were, at least they were unique movies on their own right, with decent bad guys, this was just prefabricated trash, another clone like 95% of the AAA movie industry today, with an extra dose of nostalgia to put the wool over the eyes of the brainless masses and ingenuous hopeful fans. Once the hype dies down, nobody is gonna remember this movie.

This movie was the most disappointing thing since my son, the only things I liked was the photography and the ball droid thing, because it reminded me of my dog.
 
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Darkfyre99

Darkfyre99
I saw it last night. While it doesn't stand up to the original trilogy, I'm not sure where I'd rate it in relation to the prequels. It wasn't until I was home that I realized what was off about it:

Everything felt rushed to me. I felt like the film was rushing from plot point to plot point, not leaving us time to develop connections to the characters, let alone believe that there were connections developing between characters. There were no quiet moments to catch our breaths, or for the characters to interact without danger looming over them.

There was enough plot in this one movie for two of them, or at least one three hour epic. While the prequel trilogy committed the sins of wooden acting, an awkward romance, and midiclorians, this one committed the sin of drive by scenes.
 

Darkfyre99

Darkfyre99
My replies are in bold. :)

Alien said:
K ... some spoilery points .. if you click and haven't seen the film, it's not my fault

The opening scene, how does the first order know to look on the planet? It's never explained.

My assumption was they were following Poe. The First Order seemed to be more competent than the Empire was.

Why did Finn decide to not be a stormtrooper any more? And don't say "It was the right thing to do", that's not why he went against the "programming"

Throughout the massacre at the village, you can see him hesitating, refusing to fire. The death of one of his squad mates, leaving a bloody handprint on his helmet, seemed to be what planted the seed of doubt in the first place.

Why the heck is C3-PO even in the film? Most. Unnecessary. Character. Ever. And why the red arm?

No answer to either of those questions, beyond the obligatory passing of the guard. I was a bit disappointed that R2 spent most of his screen time in "low power" mode.

Is Finn a Jedi or have any force ability or not? If not, why is he even using a lightsaber? It's too confusing.

I felt it was obvious that Rey was the force sensitive once she started hearing voices. Finn was using the light saber for the same reasons why Han used the light saber on Hoth: it was handy. IIRC, when he's using it, it's the only weapon he has on him.

And of course, it avoided spoilers in the trailers that Rey is going to be one of the new generation of Jedi.

Is Rey Han & Leia's daughter or not? If so, why is it not mentioned? And if not it's too convenient that she has force abilities.

I think Leia would know how many children she has. ;) As for it being "convenient" that BB-8 happened to stumble upon the one person on Jakku sensitive to the force, as Obi-Wan Kenobi once said, "In my experience, there's no such thing as 'luck.'"

Why did only Rey & Chewbacca go to find Luke? Why not Leia and in fact, everyone else? And how did Rey know where exactly on the planet Luke was?

To answer the third question first, when the map fragment Poe found, combined with the rest of the map R2 had, it lead them straight to the planet. As for the first two questions, while the Star Killer base was destroyed, the capital of the New Republic had also been destroyed, the First Order was still intact, and Leia is still one of the more important leaders of the Resistance/New Republic. Chewbacca was the only one she could spare to bring Rey to Luke.

Has Luke Skywalker been standing in that spot for however many years since he failed to train Ben (Kylo Ren's real name if you noticed what Han said)? If he's not been standing in that spot all this time, why isn't there a path worn down where he's trekked up and down to that spot every day?

Don't really know. I still don't understand his motives for going full on hermit in the first place, beyond "My first attempt to rebuild the Jedi Order ended in my nephew killing everyone else."
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edit:

Alien said:
Another point I forgot to mention above ...

When we first see Rey, she's scavenging from the Star Destroyer. Why didn't she park her landspeeder near or in the Star Destroyer? And then when she took her scrapo back to the settlement, why didn't she park next to where she was selling it? This would mean she wouldn't have to drag it across the sand on a desert planet.
Given the existence of "quick sand" on that planet, I'm assuming that she knows from experience where she parked near the Star Destroyer was the safest place. As for her chosen parking space at the settlement, I'm assuming that there are rules and regulations about where you can park your speeders.

That and her "boss" seemed like a jerk.
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Flimley said:
I really really wish the prequels never existed.
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Yaffle said:
I have decided they do not exist. Problem solved.
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I guess I'm in the minority that liked them, though they weren't as good as the original trilogy. They're especially good if you fast forward through the Anakin and Padme "romance." :p
 
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