I liked it. Why? because I sat in the cinema and had some fun for two hours. Fuck all this 'deconstruction' bullshit. It's entertainment. Kids entertainment, for that matter, and the inner kid in me was entertained. It made enough sense to not spoil the ride. Not realistic? fuck off, it's Star Wars. Next people will bitch that they're not in zero G. People take Star Wars way too seriously now to actually enjoy it. Lighten up.
Like the co-incidence of the droid with the Death Star plans landing on a distant planet right next to where the hidden secret son of the guy chasing the droid lives and where the bad guy grew up but doesn't seem to recall or 'feel' his son is near when he's on the ground but does later in space? Star Wars ain't Tolstoi.
Really? Sigh. That's called backstory, bub. You can't explore every detail of every character just because some people don't have the senstivity to understand backstory. Implied is good enough.
I was never a big fan of Star Wars but I watched the original trilogy and enjoyed them. I enjoyed this one too. I wouldn't have noticed how much it took from the first movie if some critics online hadn't pointed it out, but then, I haven't seen Star Wars in years. That said, I hated what J.J. Abrams did with Star Trek. The first reboot was fine and fun. I see a lot of similarities between it and TFA with the "old guard" giving their approval to the new generation. But the second movie was a rehash of Khan and the next one doesn't even seem like Star Trek. From trailers it's just another summer-like mindless action movie (with motorcycles! in space). So...I really hope the next few Star Wars movies don't go down this route, although I'm not holding my breath.
This was the first Star Wars movie I'd ever seen. I knew just enough about the previous movies (chewie was furry, Han Solo is important, light sabers go "voom," and people with masks are inherently evil) to enjoy the movie. I'm surprised nobody is speculating on the idea that the badass chick is Luke's daughter? I think her name is Rey? Also, I completely agree that Han's death was kind of swept under the rug. I think they could have put a little more emphasis in it. Oh well. The character development of Darth Vader 2.0 was the most interesting. I think seeing his emotions and doubts was very enlightening (pun intended) to us as the viewer. I feel like there's something to be learned from that as someone who creates characters for fun and possibly as a side income.
Like everything else J.J. Abrams does, I felt I was being held at arms' length from any story that might be buried in there somewhere. There was no emotional involvement for the audience, just one action scene after another, interspersed with nostalgia shots to keep people from leaving the theatre. It's easy to be a big-name filmmaker and earn big box office when people keep handing you the biggest franchises. Abrams is really over-rated, just as Spielberg and Lucas were before him. But because of all the hype, only history will realize it... just as happened with Lucas and will soon happen with Spielberg.
No, everyone is speculating about it. https://www.google.com/search?q=rey+luke's+daughter&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8
Yeah, the highest grossing director in Hollywook is just a flash in the pan. Pretty soon no one will give Spielberg money because he's only been making Oscar nominated movies for 29 of the 30 years he's been working.
Wait, we're talking about the same Abrams, right? I don't know if you've ever seen his work, because most of it is just as deep as projects Christopher Nolan (Inception) has worked on. We're talking about the guy, who when given the script for LOST, said (and I paraphrase) "make the island a character and this show will actually become something." Fun fact though; Lawrence Kasdan was the lead writer for The Force Awakens. Any complaints about lack of emotional involvement you have really should be directed towards him as Abrams did not oversee the leadership of the script. Hipster detected. RUN AWAY.
He's not the highest grossing director. Where did you get that idea? He now has the highest grossing film in the US, but that's it. Cameron made 5 Billion worldwide off his last two films alone, which are still each higher worldwide than The Force Awakens. Ironically for you the highest grossing director in the US is Spielberg. Edit: Woops, you were talking about Spielberg so you were right all along... Anyway, the top 5 directors for US box office only are: Spielberg, Jackson, Cameron, Bay and Nolan. Abrams isn't even in the top 10 (he's number 13). Lee Unkrich has the highest per film average. Source: Box Office Mojo. Figures for worldwide are not available, and would probably include Verbinski over Abrams easily.
I was referring to Speilberg. Hence the reference to 30 years. Abrams has been directing movies for less than 10. But on that note, this quote pretty much sums up the Cameron statement.
Nolan films are not 'deep' and I constantly despair at those who think they are. Fun fact though: Abrams co-wrote 'The Force Awakens' and shares the writing credit (and he set the story).
Some examples: Melancholia Enemy Apocalypse Now Synechdoche New York Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind I'd love to know what you think is so 'deep' about Inception apart from it's pretty simplistic questioning of 'reality' or 'truth' that was done far better in both The Matrix and Dark City.
Ah, but Inception really isn't about finding out if you're in reality or not. It's about making your own reality. For instance, despite being in a dream, the main character and his wife have significantly aged in Limbo, because they've forgotten they're dreaming. It became their reality. Near the end of the film when a few of the characters enter Limbo once more, one of them has aged because he wasn't aware he was in Limbo (it became his reality), whereas the other two are completely aware of what's going on. Inception also toys with the theory that the dream itself is our movie, as signified by the totem at the end. The Matrix could have been more, but it was really just an action film under the guise of pseudo-intellectual philosophy, and then there was also all that religious nonsense thrown into the mix. Character names were far too revealing, Neo is an anagram of One, Morpheus was named after the god of dreams, and don't get me started on the Oracle. Far, far too much hand-holding. They really should have dealt with the concept of The Matrix being the actual reality, and the 'real world' being the machine simulation. Which would make much more sense as humans do not generate enough power as they seem to in the film. The entire story is just too bogged down in biblical references to be its own thing. It's still far, far, far, far superior to its sequels, which kicked the BS up to an eleven.
Per the prequel material, Finn was near the top of his class. He performs poorly in his first battle, yes, but one could put that down to nerves and being deployed against a mostly civilian target. He does a lot better on Takodana, where his heart is actually in the fight, and melee training is part of stormtroopers conditioning, as we see there. As for actually fighting Ren, remember than Kylo took a gut shot from a gun that sends everyone else flying a few yards away. He has clearly spent most of his energy catching up with the two, and expends much of the rest on throwing Rey (the one he correctly reasons is the bigger threat) into a tree. Note that he never uses an active force power in combat after that, and can't even do a simple force pull on the lightsaber after he puts Finn down. Then you have to factor in the emotional trauma killing his father caused him. The novelization pretty much states that that act weakened his grasp on the force, which is why he's thumping his side when he fights Finn: he's trying to get his emotions up so he can connect to the dark side. As I recall, it also says the pull to the light became stronger after killing Han. So Kylo is clearly in bad shape before the fight even begins. Then we need to remember that he's incompletely trained, both as a Jedi and as a dark side user. Moving on to the fight itself, Ren is clearly in control almost the entire time he fights Finn. It looks like he's toying with him, and when they get caught in a blade lock he indulges his sadistic streak and slowly burns into Finn's shoulder with his saber's crossguard, when he could have stabbed him with it. But when Finn escapes the lock and slashes Ren's arm, Kylo quickly disarms him before tearing his back open. I'd say it's refreshing to have a male villain that is emotionally volatile rather than cold and calculating. As for his appearance, it was clearly calculated to draw a contrast with the imposing image he tries to project. Moving on, children don't necessarily inherit their parents' personality traits. In many ways, Ren resembles Anakin. Further, there are a couple lines of snarkiness from him, like when he's told BB-8 escaped Jakku in a stolen freighter. "The droid...stole a freighter?" Or earlier, when asking Hux if his stormtroopers are up to capturing BB-8 intact, and Hux assures him his troops are skilled, Ren responds with something to the effect of "Clearly they're skilled at committing treason." The Empire has always had Nazi parallels. The First Order just doubled down on them, as diehards often do. The First Order unified Imperial remnant states, which take up a significant chunk of territory, and they have bases in the Unknown Regions, where they first coalesced and having been building fleets for the past three decades. They have more than enough potential resources to achieve such undertakings, especially with Star Wars technology. Resurrecting this thread since The Force Awakens is now releasing on Blu-Ray and digital hd and there will probably be new goodies to discuss.
It was ok, I guess. It was kinda Episode IV re-hashed, but instead of killing old Kenobi they killed old Han Solo. I guess it works for the series as a whole, but I fear it will be a much longer running thing, than the old lather rinse reform thing that Terminator turned into.
I agree with your assessment, @Cave Troll. It was a typical Hollywood same-thing-only-different. I swear, someone should rein in J.J. Abrams before he ruins every franchise in town. Well... not that I really care. Come to think of it, go for it, J.J.! Bring ’em down! Bring ’em all down! Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Come on, chant with me: fresh blood! Fresh blood! Fresh blood! Fresh blood! Fresh blood!
Personally, I thought Kylo Ren was too much of a Final Fantasy ‘whiny emo dude with daddy-issues’. He reminded me of Tidus from Final Fantasy X if he dyed his hair black, painted his sword's blade red and went evil. Oh, and stabbed Wakka through the gut. I can see it now: TIDUS: “I feel the pull of the Light, but I don't know what I should do. I'm afraid, I need help...” WAKKA: “Come on, just give me your sword and we can go home.” <Tidus gives Wakka the sword. Both pause for a moment, staring at each other> <Tidus stabs Wakka> YUNA: “NOOOOO!!!” AURIEN: “That damned boy!” <starts shooting magic at Tidus> YUNA: “How could you do this, Tidus?! He was your friend! Your mentor!” WAKKA: <chuckles despite blood comping out of his mouth> “One...last...goal...” <Wakka falls down into the bottomless pit> TIDUS: “I...have succeeded...Sephiroth!!”
It was alright. Nothing special. Few parts I could nitpick, but whatever. Expected more, but still enjoyed myself.
I think if there was one thing I would nitpick about the movie, it's that I thought it should have been a little bit harder for Rey to work what seems like a complex manipulation on the Storm Trooper. I have zero problem believing the rest of her skills, but when she glamours the Trooper guarding her into setting her free, she's had zero experience using the Force. I can believe that she has a lot of untapped power, and that she was able to keep Kylo out of her head through sheer force of will. But to control another's behavior seems like it would take finesse she wouldn't have had time to develop. I would have found it a little more believable if she rendered him unconscious and blew up her restraints with her mind. But even with that, she's a much more believable hero than Luke was. Oh--and Finn & Poe are OTP.
