toadwbg Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 (edited) The Good: STAR WARS is back! The bad taste in our mouths called the "Prequals" has been washed away! No Jar-Jar, No Ewoks, No Midicoloreans, no trade-disputes. George Lucas was hands-off and this shows. Cast- Daisy Ridley, John Boyga, Adam Driver, BB8 Return of Han, Chewie, R2, 3PO, who pass the torch to a new generation The Millennium Falcon still gots what it takes on the inside kid Humor! plenty of LOL moments (Stormtroopers walk away....) New X-wings, TIE fighters so you can buy new toys Lots of practical effects and props, very little Blue-Screen and sparing use of CGI where it is needed only. This film has that old-school Star Wars look Mysterious ending / a new beginning Stopping blaster bolts in mid-air with the Force Chewies best film The Bad: Some will say this is simply a re-hash/reboot of EP 4, A New Hope Another Death Star? Starkiller Base. Oh yea, let's put another weakness in it that an X-Wing can blow up! almost NOTHING is explained Supreme Leader Snoke Hologram and name Only seconds of Luke screen time...have to wait until 2017 to find out what's the deal Skywalker genetics can produce whiney dark-side children Captain Phasma hardly used/very little screen time. Lots of hype for an underused character John Williams score was lacking. "Your powers have grown WEAK old man!" The Ugly: Carrie Fisher has not aged well, nor can seem to emote or articulate her lips when she talks Best Movie Character EVER dies. Of course I'm missing something, will add more as I recall all the events in the movie. Edited December 21, 2015 by toadwbg Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Crazy Snap Captain Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 (edited) I love Kyle Ren in the fact that he's such a weak, bratty little sh1t. The way he took out his father was so low and cowardly that he will forever be one if the most hated characters in film history. Driver's portrayal was nothing short of brilliant. I have to say though that Harrison Ford's timing and execution was off. Only once did he seem like the old Han in delivering his lines with the sarcasm and timing that made him one if the most loved characters. The new generation of SW characters are fantastic though. Through and through. Poe, Rey and Finn are great and will have lots of chemistry going forward. More of their stories will be explained in later films (I hope). For me it was a great transition film that sets up the new SW. It was always going to be a tough job for JJA, and I think he got it right. 9/10 for me. Edited December 21, 2015 by Crazy Snap Captain Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Darren Roberts Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 I saw it last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. Yes, there were some times that I thought they "borrowed" too much from the original (the trench run comes to mind), but overall it did what it was intended to do...bring Star Wars back on track. Everyone seems to think that Rey is Han and Leia's daughter (a twin to Ren), but in watching the movie, I was thinking she might be Luke's daughter. R2 has been dormant ever since Luke left. But then Rey really taps into the Force in her battle with Ren. When they all return to the Resistance base, R2 suddenly wakes up and provides the rest of the map to Luke, and Rey is able to find him. Also, there's no mention of twins in any of the discussion between Han and Leia. I could be completely wrong, but it just seems there's a dynamic happening between Rey and Luke, especially since Luke's lightsaber was calling out to her. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Crazy Snap Captain Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 Agree with the above. My question though is, who is the mother? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
toadwbg Posted December 22, 2015 Author Share Posted December 22, 2015 I saw it last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. Yes, there were some times that I thought they "borrowed" too much from the original (the trench run comes to mind), but overall it did what it was intended to do...bring Star Wars back on track. Everyone seems to think that Rey is Han and Leia's daughter (a twin to Ren), but in watching the movie, I was thinking she might be Luke's daughter. R2 has been dormant ever since Luke left. But then Rey really taps into the Force in her battle with Ren. When they all return to the Resistance base, R2 suddenly wakes up and provides the rest of the map to Luke, and Rey is able to find him. Also, there's no mention of twins in any of the discussion between Han and Leia. I could be completely wrong, but it just seems there's a dynamic happening between Rey and Luke, especially since Luke's lightsaber was calling out to her. I'm curious, how did R2 awaken from his dormant state? Does he have a midicolorian sniffer? No doubt another one of those upgrades over the years. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
toadwbg Posted December 22, 2015 Author Share Posted December 22, 2015 Agree with the above. My question though is, who is the mother? This was a HUGE discussion over coffee at work today. My off-the-wall theory is Luke got punch drunk and had a one-night stand with the Tonika sisters Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Colin K Posted December 22, 2015 Share Posted December 22, 2015 Everyone is saying they felt cheated by the lack of screen time for Luke Skywalker. It says in the opening crawl that he has disappeared. Generally, those characters are not getting a lot of screen time. If you ask me, the amount of time Luke got was fine. If he appeared any earlier, then the movie would have been all about Luke, while the new characters would have been forgotten. Hey, it's all good, Luke is here now. Some people are also down on Kylo Ren. I thought his character was great (as was Adam Driver's acting)! He's totally conflicted, but in a bad way. He's trying to be more evil than good! Cool switch if you ask me. I expected a lot more out of Captain Phasma. She seemed like such a menacing presence in the trailers, she didn't have that same effect in the movie. Hopefully Episode 8 changes that (yes, she will be back). But I agree with others, this felt like Star Wars. Some good laughs, good action. I enjoyed it! Going to see it again tomorrow night. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
82Whitey51 Posted December 22, 2015 Share Posted December 22, 2015 Have we seen the last of Kylo Ren? I know the planet was coming apart and ultimately explodes...Are we left to assume he was still there in the woods suffering from his wounds and is toast? I'm guessing he got out of there one way or another. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Andrew D. the Jolly Rogers guy Posted December 22, 2015 Share Posted December 22, 2015 Anyone down on not seeing enough of this person or that in this, the first one out, remember we never even saw the Emperor until a brief glimpse when Empire Strikes Back came out, and never saw him personally until the THIRD film. And of course he's the villain behind EVERYTHING, Vader included. So careful on demanding everyone get full screen time and development at the beginning here. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Johnopfor Posted December 22, 2015 Share Posted December 22, 2015 I saw it last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. Yes, there were some times that I thought they "borrowed" too much from the original (the trench run comes to mind), but overall it did what it was intended to do...bring Star Wars back on track. Everyone seems to think that Rey is Han and Leia's daughter (a twin to Ren), but in watching the movie, I was thinking she might be Luke's daughter. R2 has been dormant ever since Luke left. But then Rey really taps into the Force in her battle with Ren. When they all return to the Resistance base, R2 suddenly wakes up and provides the rest of the map to Luke, and Rey is able to find him. Also, there's no mention of twins in any of the discussion between Han and Leia. I could be completely wrong, but it just seems there's a dynamic happening between Rey and Luke, especially since Luke's lightsaber was calling out to her. I don't know about "borrowed", I would call it "sampling", you know when a rapper like Kanye West takes a classic song, throws some new lyrics in it, then calls it his own.........to me, that's TFA....A New Hope with the Super Duper Death Star, or the Oversized Harry Testicle that screws suns and planets at the same time (Hell, there was even an abbreviated version of the famous "trench run") , and the fact that apparently the Mos Eisley Cantina was shut down, so they moved the party to Maz's home. A teenage brat throws a temper tantrum and people die as a result......we've seen that too.....guess where. It's nice to know that the Galaxy's most dysfunctional family is still willing to settle their differences before the Thanksgiving dinner....there would be a real fight over who gets to cut "the turkey"..... As for Ren's father, it has been strongly hinted to several times that she is Luke's daughter (the visions when she touched Luke's lightsabre and Maz's remark that it was "calling to her", the fact that she was left on Jakku at the same time that Luke went on his universal walkabout to find the 1st Jedi temple, R2D2's reawakening when she arrives at the Rebel base and her ability to override Kylo's attempt to "call" Luke's lightsabre....we are just waiting for someone to just say the words.... Agree with the above. My question though is, who is the mother? Good question, but if Mr Williams start introducing banjoes into his music, I'm walking out of the theater...... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Crazy Snap Captain Posted December 22, 2015 Share Posted December 22, 2015 Good question, but if Mr Williams start introducing banjoes into his music, I'm walking out of the theater...... Dude... I literally just s#hat myself laughing... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Steve N Posted December 22, 2015 Share Posted December 22, 2015 We also see that Fin is "strong with The Force," and despite being trained as a stormtrooper since early childhood, he still retains a moral conscience that forces him to desert after his first battle. I wonder if there will be some revelations about his ancestry in future films... Overall I quite enjoyed it. Some things I thought could have been better, but those are more subjective personal preferences than objective criticisms. I more or less expected Han to die in this one. Harrison Ford had campaigned to have him killed off in the first act of Return Of The Jedi after all. I was hoping for something a bit more heroic..like maybe some suicide attack taking the Falcon with him (and of course sacrificing himself to save his comrades in the process.) But again, that's just a personal preference. I was surprised to learn today that Chewbacca actually had a stunt double. Apparently 71-year-old Peter Mayhew's knees are pretty bad, so they brought in a former basketball player to double for him in the action scenes. Getting slightly OT, I just watched Ep.II for the first time in years..it wasn't all that great to begin with, and has not aged well. The story itself is OK, but the movie is 90% actors in front of a green screen, and it shows..gone was the gritty realism of the original trilogy, replaced with perfect, crisp, sterile images..even the "worn and weathered" stuff was just too perfect. There's also the excrutiatingly awful Lucasian dialogue that infested the entire prequel trilogy (I had to fast-forward through the "love scenes" with Anakin and Padme..just too corny to stomach.) That was my biggest "like" about "Awakens:" we finally get some believable dialogue and characters..the best since "Empire" (still the high-water mark of the franchise IMHO.) Also, I'm sooooo glad JJ dialed Threepio back. One of my biggest gripes about Eps. I and II was Lucas's awful attempts to shoehorn Threepio in as comic relief, especially during the final battle between the Jedi and whoever the bad guys were in Ep.II Ep.III was better..I've watched that one numerous times over the years and while flawed, it's still enjoyable. I think I've only seen Ep.I maybe three times..twice in the theater and once during an SW marathon on Spike TV when I was laid up with medical issues a couple years ago. The less said about that one the better. I still believe that if Lucas had stepped back and produced the prequels but let others write and direct them, they would have been far better. To this day, Empire is regarded as by far the best of the "old" franchise, and it's no coincidence that it was the one Lucas had the least to do with. Back to the new film. Anybody else besides me notice the fabled "Wilehlm Scream" in the first battle? SN Quote Link to post Share on other sites
toadwbg Posted December 22, 2015 Author Share Posted December 22, 2015 (edited) Dude... I literally just s#hat myself laughing... I'll shat myself if Leia is Ray's mother and Luke is the father! I keep reminding myself that's a Game of Thrones storyline.... Edited December 22, 2015 by toadwbg Quote Link to post Share on other sites
toadwbg Posted December 22, 2015 Author Share Posted December 22, 2015 (edited) Ok, just got back from seeing it the 3rd time, and I came away with a new theory on who is Snoke.... Wait for it.... Luke Skywalker is Snoke. Concentrate your feelings and think about it. -The Internet nearly broke with "where's Luke?" -We waited the entire film to see Luke. A lot of fan complaints about that. Well, the joke is on us. We HAVE seen him already! -much like Darth Sideous/Palpatine, Snoke /Luke is running both sides of the conflict -Both charachters are hiding -Fan theories ran amok with predictions ok Luke being Kylo-Ren. Perfect red Herring. -Why does Snoke want to find Luke so bad than? He doesn't, he wants to draw out Ray any way he can. -Who hid Ray on Jakku than? TBD. -Kylo Rey is going to the Dark side not to be an apprentice but to destroy Luke and bring balance to the Force. Killing his father, Han, to get there really was a great conflict for him. Kylo Ren (Ben) really will become the redeeming hero. Mind Blown... Edited December 22, 2015 by toadwbg Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rychefiji1 Posted December 22, 2015 Share Posted December 22, 2015 I thought it had the same feel as the first movie. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ishthe47guy Posted December 22, 2015 Share Posted December 22, 2015 I was disappointed in this flick as well. A friend of mine sent me this article that pretty much sums up... http://www.huffingtonpost.com/seth-abramson/40-unforgivable-plot-holes-in-star-wars-the-force-awakens_b_8850324.html There was one more thing that made me wave the bull spit flag science wise, but yeah, I can believe in laser swords and a magical force... If you first read this article, you'll get the scene I'm referring to... https://what-if.xkcd.com/1/ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
toadwbg Posted December 22, 2015 Author Share Posted December 22, 2015 (edited) I was disappointed in this flick as well. A friend of mine sent me this article that pretty much sums up... http://www.huffingtonpost.com/seth-abramson/40-unforgivable-plot-holes-in-star-wars-the-force-awakens_b_8850324.html There was one more thing that made me wave the bull spit flag science wise, but yeah, I can believe in laser swords and a magical force... If you first read this article, you'll get the scene I'm referring to... https://what-if.xkcd.com/1/ It's a fantasy, not really SciFi. Don't over think it. Like you said, if you can believe in laser swords... Wow, that Huffington Post article is horrible. Talk about nitpicking! You could pick apart the OT just the same. Edited December 22, 2015 by toadwbg Quote Link to post Share on other sites
vince14 Posted December 22, 2015 Share Posted December 22, 2015 That Huff Post article is awful. Almost every one of his points can be explained away, even without resorting to 'It's just a film', and he clearly didn't pay attention whilst watching the movie or he'd know how the Rathtars got loose... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mercury Posted December 22, 2015 Share Posted December 22, 2015 (edited) Maybe Luke went back to Tosche Station to 'celebrate' after RotJ, realized what he did was against Jedi way and went into hiding... I think with the embrace between Leia and Rey near the end, Leia knows who she is... Edited December 22, 2015 by Mercury Quote Link to post Share on other sites
toadwbg Posted December 22, 2015 Author Share Posted December 22, 2015 That Huff Post article is awful. Almost every one of his points can be explained away, even without resorting to 'It's just a film', and he clearly didn't pay attention whilst watching the movie or he'd know how the Rathtars got loose... At first viewing, the Rathtars seemed a little distracting from the overall plot. After 3 viewings now I rather like them in the film. TFA needed more monsters- it really had sort of a horror aspect. A lot like the Diagnoga Trash Compactor scene from ANH. In fact, they seem related. Love seeing Han and Chewie do what they were best at- smuggling, dealing, swindling, pirating, talking and fighting their way out of trouble. I hope the future Han Solo film(s) will have more of this. Interesting to see who they will cast as a younger Han Solo. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Waco Posted December 22, 2015 Share Posted December 22, 2015 Actually, with the exception of a few points, the Huffpost article is spot on. People keep saying TFA "feels" like a Star Wars movie. Well, that is because it is Star Wars...as in Star Wars, Episode 4, before it was known as "A New Hope," and it was all that existed of SW. TFA isn't a sequel, it's a reboot to get new characters online (and new merchandising, apparently, because they haven't made enough money). The movie is almost exclusively fan service, with very little development or advancement of the SW canon. The super weapon trope is boring and repetitive, right down to a single vulnerability that is easily exploited by snub fighters after a small strike team lowers the defensive shields. The new hotness young upstart watches the elder teacher (who they've just met) die at the hands of a dark, foreboding figure, and suddenly has an overwhelming emotional reaction. (Ohhhh, do you feel bad for the single death of an old man you JUST met? Never mind the billions of people the evil organization just wiped out with the first demonstration of their super weapon...now hurry, do something heroic, because they're seconds away from firing it again! The humor in it was very forced, and serves only as a nod to the original series. The interesting new concepts are wholly unexplained....and don't tell me "all will be revealed in time," because it's not like they have the same writer working with a coherent end story in mind. Whoever is up next is stuck with explaining the stuff JJ Abrams has put in place with zero backstory....Riann Johnson is up for that task in VIII. But essentially, they get to write the franchise out of whatever plot traps they've set for themselves. Why the janky lightsaber if Kylo was trained? What are the Knights of Ren? Why is there both a Republic and a Resostance? Even Threepio says, "without the Republic Fleet, we're doomed." Well, where the heck are they? Why not call them in? The First Order certainly seems like an existential threat, so why is the Republic letting them be fought by a ragtag band of outgunned plot advancers, rather than engaging with its Fleet? Oh, right, fan service. This is Ep4, "The Force gets Re-Booted." Look, it was a fun movie. Not great. It was definitely not genre changing or earth shattering, and I doubt very much it will hold up like the originals. But if you enjoyed it, great. However, don't blindly dismiss the fact JJ Abrams very much copied and intentionally replicated what has come before. I hope the next movie explores some of the very few, interesting new elements introduced in this movie. However, I doubt that very much, especially with Disney driving the train now. They're experts at identifying what people like and repackaging it and regurgitating it to squeeze every last cent from a franchise. So I fully expect more fan service ahead. Based on the first weekend's receipts, people are certainly wiling to pay for it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Crazy Snap Captain Posted December 22, 2015 Share Posted December 22, 2015 Does anyone else think that Supreme Leader Snoke looks Kaminoan? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Scooby Posted December 22, 2015 Share Posted December 22, 2015 Daniel Craig had a part in the film, he was the Stormtrooper that removed the shackles and dropped his weapon. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
toadwbg Posted December 22, 2015 Author Share Posted December 22, 2015 Daniel Craig had a part in the film, he was the Stormtrooper that removed the shackles and dropped his weapon. FN007 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
toadwbg Posted December 22, 2015 Author Share Posted December 22, 2015 Does anyone else think that Supreme Leader Snoke looks Kaminoan? No, short kneck. Besides, 99% certain Snoke Hologram is a ruse. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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