SPOILER ALERT Force Awakens SPOILER thread

[Marvin]

Ridley certainly seems to be the bright spot among the new cast; that simply may be more a matter of her part's having a bit more substance. I'd question whether she had that much with which to work that established Rey's character in any meaningful way, even.

 

I wasn't big on Boyega, but my wife was. Turned out our reasoning was the same, though. To quote her: "He's like a big puppy dog!"

 

I can see them flourishing in the next outing, if the writing sees some improvement.

 

Can't overstate how underwhelming I found Driver, though.

[JackMann]

While I did find Kylo Ren somewhat weak, I think that might work across the series.  It could work to help him develop as a character and into a more substantial threat as the movies go through.  I'll agree that for this particular movie he seemed pretty underwhelming.

[ub3r_n3rd]

Kylo is an interesting character with flaws who is struggling with his decision to become part of the Dark Side rather than move back towards the light. I'm looking forward to seeing how he develops and whether or not he's beyond redemption.

[Marvin]

Once you kill your dad there's no redeeming you, really. Especially when Han Solo's your dad. Game over.

 

My criticism was for Adam Driver's performance. I thought he was flat. Sniveling, and not in a good way. I was pleased when the mask came off (technical aside: I found his voice coming through the mask difficult to understand at times); then I was pretty much pleased when it went back on.

 

The Kylo character seems to be setting up for a fairly typical Star Wars sort of bad guy, which I don't necessarily think is a problem at all. He'll struggle with the light/dark; his opposition will try to redeem him. That's how this works. I've no problem with his threat level in Awakens, really; it's actually the rest of the First Order that seems inexplicably silly and discombobulated when it matters. I'm sure he'll grow in power. I mean, surely. I'm glad he wasn't killed and applaud keeping him around to develop, as long as he indeed shows some growth going forward. His most outstanding quality so far is his proclivity for throwing mad fits; I wasn't impressed. Also found his Vader totem silly. But avoiding disposing of him in episodic fashion seems promising, all the same. I think there's a lot to be said for Vader's run through the originals; I mean, that's the point of it all. Can this character (or actor) carry that much weight? Dunno. One of the problems I find with the prequels, though, is the lack of developed, nuanced enemies (Palpatine aside, I guess, though he's really more of an ally to the films' central character, bad guy though he is and all). It's unavoidable in the case of Menace, but Dooku, Fett, and Grievous--no one remains present (personal preference: would've loved to watch Christopher Lee chew up some more of the galactic scenery, and I was always pretty taken with Grievous for no good reason but cool factor).

 

Maybe when his training is complete he'll be horribly mutilated and the mask can stay on full-time and we can get a voice-over, a la Vader. Obvious candidate: Morgan Freeman.

 

. . .

 

I think I'm semi-serious about this idea. Imagining other folks I think'd fit it. Probably need a younger guy, even masked, but Hugo Weaving jumped to mind for me. Always thought his performance in V For Vendetta was Val-Kilmer-in-Tombstone levels of underrated.

[ub3r_n3rd]

Apparently ALL the current cast is in Episode 8, yes even Ford. He's not a Jedi so I'm not sure how they'll keep him in the story unless it's for flash-backs and filling in the back story of Kylo.

[Sanael]

Like many, I thought this one was FUN. Which is what I want out of Star Wars.

 

Not a single thing surprised me in this movie, but that's ok, because I never ask for original stories from movies; I ask for well-told stories. And, although there are details I can pick at, I felt this was well-told.

 

The script was well-paced, the acting was decent or good, and the ensemble was excellent.

 

I don't recall her name, but the little.yellow not-Edna-Mode who ran the not-cantina was my favorite supporting character. Loved her.

 

I want a t-shirt that says "come to the petulant side." That's all I could think of, watching Kylo Ren's tantrums. I will be very interested to see how his character develops.

 

As a fight choreographer, I have to say this has the most choreographically interesting fights of all seven movies. Duel of the Fates in ep1 is still the most exciting, but there's a ton of technique and character built into all the fights in Awakens, and I really loved watching them. Kudos to the fight team for some excellent work there.

 

Eta: the not-Edna-Mode alien is Maz Kanata, voiced by Lupita Nyong'o. Brilliantly done.

Edited December 21, 2015 by Sanael

[Cranky Dog]

Ooh, can we nitpick now?!

 

Yes there were tons of little annoyances, unresolved questions, and cliched moments. Though some of them explainable if you take a moment to think about it, others left my head scratching.

 

- Kylo Ren's power levels went from off the chart when calm and collected to minimal when injured or in berserk mode. Though it is mentioned a few times that his training is not complete.

 

- Blasters shots frozen in mid-air = awesome, strong with the force he is. Reason to continue on its trajectory without the force hold instead of dissipating = weak in science the writers are.

 

- Though Rey is smart and suddenly force awakened, I thought her mastery of "Jedi mind trick" came in way too fast.

 

- The newest super weapon. Solar powered I can accept. But draining a whole sun? Does the sun completely die off? Does the sun need to recharge? Is the star killer capable of hyperspace travel to another sun for fresh batteries? Why were those planets chosen to go boom? Really, only one place to disable all of the shields with no backup systems?

 

- R2-D2 is in voluntary low power mode. No one bothered to press the reboot power or bypass that function? Was it out of politeness? And he popped out of low-power mode because... it was the right moment? Deus ex machina Jedi ex droida indeed.

 

- BB8 had a partial map. Acceptable. R2D2 has a map of the whole galaxy except for a jigsaw puzzle piece that perfectly fits it? Has no one in the whole Resistance have a decent map? Why the heck did Luke break up that specific map? Because sequel?

 

- Captain Phasma, seriously girl, no resistance at all? Except for sounding tough and intimidating, it's kind of your fault everything blew up.

 

- Poe Dameron's X-Wing piloting/shooting skills are way, waaaay too good.

 

- Stormtrooper with the electro-fork rifle... what the heck is it supposed to do during normal non-lightsaber duels? Right now it's the only known unit in the galaxy.

 

- Dear Han Solo, you seriously trying to tell me you never once picked up the bowcaster in all these years? Talk about stubborn.

 

Enough nitpicking, it was fun!

 

Now I have to wonder if I'll notice more subtle story elements upon a second viewing.

Edited December 20, 2015 by Cranky Dog

[papabees]

Ooh, can we nitpick now?!

 

Yes there were tons of little annoyances, unresolved questions, and cliched moments. Though some of them explainable if you take a moment to think about it, others left my head scratching.

 

- Kylo Ren's power levels went from off the chart when calm and collected to minimal when injured or in berserk mode. Though it is mentioned a few times that his training is not complete.

 

- Blasters shots frozen in mid-air = awesome, strong with the force he is. Reason to continue on its trajectory without the force hold instead of dissipating = weak in science the writers are.

 

- Though Rey is smart and suddenly force awakened, I thought her mastery of "Jedi mind trick" came in way too fast.

 

- The newest super weapon. Solar powered I can accept. But draining a whole sun? Does the sun completely die off? Does the sun need to recharge? Is the star killer capable of hyperspace travel to another sun for fresh batteries? Why were those planets chosen to go boom? Really, only one place to disable all of the shields with no backup systems?

 

- R2-D2 is in voluntary low power mode. No one bothered to press the reboot power or bypass that function? Was it out of politeness? And he popped out of low-power mode because... it was the right moment? Deus ex machina Jedi ex droida indeed.

 

- BB8 had a partial map. Acceptable. R2D2 has a map of the whole galaxy except for a jigsaw puzzle piece that perfectly fits it? Has no one in the whole Resistance have a decent map? Why the heck did Luke break up that specific map? Because sequel?

 

- Captain Phasma, seriously girl, no resistance at all? Except for sounding tough and intimidating, it's kind of your fault everything blew up.

 

- Poe Dameron's X-Wing piloting/shooting skills are way, waaaay too good.

 

- Stormtrooper with the electro-fork rifle... what the heck is it supposed to do during normal non-lightsaber duels? Right now it's the only known unit in the galaxy.

 

- Dear Han Solo, you seriously trying to tell me you never once picked up the bowcaster in all these years? Talk about stubborn.

 

Enough nitpicking, it was fun!

 

Now I have to wonder if I'll notice more subtle story elements upon a second viewing.

I have to echo the whole Bowcaster bit. Thought that was exceedingly cheesy. It also seemed like it only took two minutes to get to anywhere in the galaxy from Hyperspace.

[Beagle]

I saw it yesterday and loved it, the things that seemed to have bothered other posters bothered me not at all.

 

I thought that of all of the Star Wars films this was the most character driven. All the space battles and galactic civil war stuff going on felt like background filler to support the story of Rey, and I loved that.

I was emotional all the way through, surprisingly so. I didn't see Han's death coming and was rocked by it.

 

Kylo Ren being weak? I don't buy it. Why does an evil character have to be super powerful and hasn't that been done a million times? I loved the moment where Rey finally clicks with the force, she didn't become uber powerful either but found enough composure to make a fight of it against a badly wounded Ren.

Edited December 25, 2015 by Beagle

[buglips*the*goblin]

While I'm glad to see it seems to have been pretty satisfying overall, I do hope this doesn't mean everyone I know is going to turn evangelical about it.

 

There's nothing worse than being hassled by Yoda's Witnesses.

[Qwyksilver]

Awakened to the Force have you?  Speak with you about the dangers of the Dark Side I would.

[buglips*the*goblin]

Awakened to the Force have you?  Speak with you about the dangers of the Dark Side I would.

Excuse me, sir, do you have a moment to talk about midichlorians?

 

 

 

*racks shotgun* I SAID GIT OFF MAH LAWWWWN!!!

[NomadZeke]

My gripe phasma is that she's a captain. I wouldn't think you'd attain that rank without seriously showing dedication to the order. I would much rather have seen her take a shot and the rebels be sent on the run with their planet being obliterated.

[Qwyksilver]

One of the stories I have heard was that Phasma was not originally scripted and was added because a costumer made the armor, Abrams loved it, and added it.

[ub3r_n3rd]

She will be back in the next film. Already confirmed as per my earlier post that all the main cast will be back in Ep. 8.