Adam Driver is our Anakin for this trilogy. I'm fine with it. Whiny kids are part of Star Wars, and have been since Empire A New Hope.
His face reveal would have had way more impact if he just did it the one time when he's on the bridge. That would have been a better way to unveil his frustration and impotence as a whole. I thought the interrogation scene was the only other weak scene other than Ray's bad plot decision.
That was Adam Driver??? I thought it was Bojack Horseman.
I liked how Rey ran away when she was presented with the weight of being (most likely) the child of Luke Skywalker. It might have contradicted her earlier speeches, but that is exactly how someone should react: "fuck this, I'm out." It would have been weird to see someone hit with that level of news and just enthusiastically roll with it.
Adam Driver is our Anakin for this trilogy. I'm fine with it. Whiny kids are part of Star Wars, and have been since Empire.
I actually think Kylo was Anakin done correctly. Vader's character would have been far better with the brooding, violent, frustrated angst of Driver instead of the whiny, spoiled rich kid angst he actually portrayed in the prequels.
Went Sunday morning to avoid the crowds and smelly nerds. It was mostly families with only a sprinkling of nerds here and there. As for the petulant villain, it was funny how Kylo made a point of calling his Dad by his real name instead of just Dad. Felt like his abandonment issues should have been more directed towards his Mom instead of his Dad. She even owns up to it. As for the old alien Sith lord Snoke? What was up with the massive hologram? That was kinda hilarious.
The Palpatine hologram was enormous in the OT, too. It's just that JJ deliberately set up a deceptive shot with Snoke and made him not obviously a hologram, which made it weird.
I really hope Snoke turns out to actually be a big badass and subverts the whole little man behind the curtain bullshit.
Also opening shot of the dark side of the ship crossing the planetoid? I would put that real high on the list of openings. I felt like they were deliberately having the viewer guess from the get go "where is the space ship gonna come from?" And they pulled that out and I was like "Nope, diddnt think that one!"
Saw it, thought it was ok. Scott's right - it's the fourth best Star Wars movie. :P
What I really want is more Maz. I want to know her deal. She has Luke's lightsaber, and we don't know why! She hits on Chewie! She's a former space pirate and she's still obviously a badass even though she runs a cantina, now. And I'm sure there are probably books and comics and stuff, but I want more Maz in the movies, please.
The giant Snoke hologram absolutely took me out of the viewing experience. I was praying that he wasn't actually a giant man.
I absolutely need to see this movie again so I can view it with a more critical eye, but I still suspect I'll have more things I liked than things I didn't.
Good things: - Holy shit the acting! So great, especially from the new folks - I enjoyed the "stealth A New Hope reboot" parrallels - Visuals were beautiful and did not feel forced. The reliance on practical effects made things feel natural, and you didn't notice the tons of CGI that surely was in every single scene (the way CGI was meant to be used). - Rey was a fantastic strong female character. She can hold her own. - Finn was a fantastic vulnerable male character. He figured shit out even when admitting to not knowing what he was doing. (On the topic of social stuff, ladies alll oooover this film, especially as extras) - Rey and Finn had an incredibly natural bond without relying on romance - BB-8 came off as incredibly charming and funny without going too far and becoming corny - Seeing Han Solo drop the cocky smuggler attitude and deal with his failures as a dad was incredibly powerful stuff. - Maz! - Chewie doesn't hesitate to lay a bolt right into what is essentially his nephew. Chewie is a badass. - Adam Driver played a very convincing rebellious yet confused child
Bad things: - Snoke hologram - Wasted Captain Phasma. They literally threw her in the garbage. WTF - Poe reappearing after being assumed dead didn't feel like a powerful moment - Rey picked up the force way too fast. I have no problem with her saber skills as she is obviously a close combat badass, but stuff like force pulls and mind tricks seemed weird. - Soundtrack was a letdown. Little to no memorable moments. Even the prequel scores were better. The music here was helpful background music but it didn't carry emotion. Empire Strikes Back score still gives me chills on almost every track. - The assault on Starkiller base felt rushed, and cutting back and forth between it and the ground battle was a losing formula. You simply don't care about those X-Wings or whoever is piloting them, when you've got heavy shit going down on the ground with all your favorite characters. - C-3PO was annoying
The giant Snoke hologram absolutely took me out of the viewing experience. I was praying that he wasn't actually a giant man.
Bad things: - Snoke hologram - Wasted Captain Phasma. They literally threw her in the garbage. WTF - Rey picked up the force way too fast. I have no problem with her saber skills as she is obviously a close combat badass, but stuff like force pulls and mind tricks seemed weird. - C-3PO was annoying
-My first reaction to Snoke was "This is new, even for Star Wars. Where are they going with this?" then when I saw the Hologram shimmer I was "Oh, Right. Hologram. *shrug*"
-It really felt like Captain Phasma was originally a male character dubbed with a female voice, who might have a bigger part in the next movie because of the "Brienne of Tarth"-fanbase. On the bright side, there's no where to go but up.
-I could buy her supercharged force powers being a result of the force vision from the lightsaber and Kylo's interrogation. Also I sort of chalk it up to: "Nobody wants to wait a full movie to have her do neat force tricks."
-Which is to say, they got the character right.
I managed to see it a second time over the weekend. It holds up and is still extremely fun to watch. One thing I really noticed the second time was the lighting in the reactor shaft scene with Kylo Ren. Also Kylo's dialogue makes a little more sense knowing what's going to happen in the scene.
For what it's worth, a lot of the lore questions are answered in the Star Wars Force Awakens Visual Dictionary and how it all relates to the existing canon.
I'm not sure I understand the "half and half" engines of the new X-Wing fighters. I understand this is more like the original concept art, but that concept art evolved for good reasons before inclusion in the original movie.
I'm not sure I understand the "half and half" engines of the new X-Wing fighters. I understand this is more like the original concept art, but that concept art evolved for good reasons before inclusion in the original movie.
It's not like they are fan-driven, air-breathing jet engines. They might be like hydrogen ram collectors or something but, who knows?
The OG X-wing does look cooler. But the new ones are still cool.
Not to keep piling on the nitpicks but, it seems like pretty-much right after the they blew the containment thing, the whole base basically implodes. We're to assume someone came out and picked up Kylo before the thing fell apart? OK, he probably has some way of force-calling someone or they have tracking sensors to find him... who knows. But of course he'd be picked up on the way off the base. But then there wasn't some big battle after the implosion to pick off the survivors? If I was leading the forces to blow it up I'd be scanning for ships trying to escape, even if that's a tall order to maybe actually stop them.
At the same time, I really would be cool with more Captain Phasma but while Kylo is a VIP that people would go find, I feel no-one's going to go looking for her with a ship capable of extracting her from the disposal and escape the station's gravity... so somehow after getting dumped in the garbage chute she'd have to escape the trash (which is fine) and then make way to a ship and escape the station despite everyone else being basically stuck on this thing (which is unlike a Stormtrooper to do)
So I dunno what to make of it. In my mind she could be the Bobba Fett of this generation, which is cool! But also means she'll just keep coming back. Would make sense maybe after fleeing the station she'd be a bit of a ronin badass who could go bounty hunter.
I could feel the fan service giving the dweebs in the audience raging boners so there was that as part of the experience.
Good pew pew effects, especially the firing of the pokeball. The action: flying, shooting and use of the force (except for mind reading) were done really well. Some really good cinematography. Had a good sense of epic scale.
The end fight seemed "too easy". There was lack of drama after certain events. The 'sassy black woman' was entertaining, specially during the 'fix the toxic gas' scene. Fin felt like such a token, not because he's black but because of certain lines and their delivery. I noticed it several times.
I could chop the film up some more if I made notes. I did however actually really enjoy the film. More than the original trilogy. The film could have been way better with the addition of more subtleties. The costumes weren't looking too great either. 8/10
The Anakin trilogy is about an 8 too, but I still say it's a higher 8. It's just nuance, it's hard to explain without picking out specific comparisons.
The giant Snoke hologram absolutely took me out of the viewing experience. I was praying that he wasn't actually a giant man.
I absolutely need to see this movie again so I can view it with a more critical eye, but I still suspect I'll have more things I liked than things I didn't.
Good things: - Holy shit the acting! So great, especially from the new folks - I enjoyed the "stealth A New Hope reboot" parrallels - Visuals were beautiful and did not feel forced. The reliance on practical effects made things feel natural, and you didn't notice the tons of CGI that surely was in every single scene (the way CGI was meant to be used). - Rey was a fantastic strong female character. She can hold her own. - Finn was a fantastic vulnerable male character. He figured shit out even when admitting to not knowing what he was doing. (On the topic of social stuff, ladies alll oooover this film, especially as extras) - Rey and Finn had an incredibly natural bond without relying on romance - BB-8 came off as incredibly charming and funny without going too far and becoming corny - Seeing Han Solo drop the cocky smuggler attitude and deal with his failures as a dad was incredibly powerful stuff. - Maz! - Chewie doesn't hesitate to lay a bolt right into what is essentially his nephew. Chewie is a badass. - Adam Driver played a very convincing rebellious yet confused child
Bad things: - Snoke hologram - Wasted Captain Phasma. They literally threw her in the garbage. WTF - Poe reappearing after being assumed dead didn't feel like a powerful moment - Rey picked up the force way too fast. I have no problem with her saber skills as she is obviously a close combat badass, but stuff like force pulls and mind tricks seemed weird. - Soundtrack was a letdown. Little to no memorable moments. Even the prequel scores were better. The music here was helpful background music but it didn't carry emotion. Empire Strikes Back score still gives me chills on almost every track. - The assault on Starkiller base felt rushed, and cutting back and forth between it and the ground battle was a losing formula. You simply don't care about those X-Wings or whoever is piloting them, when you've got heavy shit going down on the ground with all your favorite characters. - C-3PO was annoying
- C-3PO was definitely annoying, in fact most of the cameo, clearly fan service references were simply annoying. Have nothing against fan servicing, but make it relevant... Only because I've seen all of the stars wars that I actually notice it. Their addition didn't seem to serve much other purpose, which is what makes it stick out. C-3PO being the worst one.
- Captain Phasma, yeh wtf. What bothered me the most was, the fact the killing was bothering Fin from the very begginning of the movie. He was compelled to do the 'right' thing. Even fleeing to avoid conflict all together. Then all of a sudden, he doesn't mind killing then even seemingly enjoying it. Ok fine, a change of motive, but you don't really see a clear transition, or a nuanced insight as to why he decides, it's ok to kill these guys but not these guys. Not even a pause as a self defensive killing, to say, "damn...I had too.."
- Rey, easily the best character of the film. However a contradiction. Every Jedi required some training in order to 'wield' the force. Not Rey. Fair enough, if she's such a talent that she can master these skills on her own. And clearly there were scenes dedicated to show how she was learning, but I don't think it did a good enough job of showing how she was understanding, what was working and why. It was just trial and error, and eventually, she would get the hang of it. E Z
Kylo Ren though, had to be trained, and yet still his emotional instability was getting the better of him. Yet Rey, she seemed to be suffering similar distress yet still gaining power. Deep breathing helps I guess.
- The Starkiller, that planet even have defences? Shields down? So EZ. GG WP
- Le resistance, were the even in any peril? You have intelligence you're about to be starkilled. Evacuate perhaps. No? Why...? Reasons!
Comments
I liked how Rey ran away when she was presented with the weight of being (most likely) the child of Luke Skywalker. It might have contradicted her earlier speeches, but that is exactly how someone should react: "fuck this, I'm out." It would have been weird to see someone hit with that level of news and just enthusiastically roll with it.
(Oh yeah, Poe Dameron is there too)
I bet Snoke is Darth Plagueis.
Then again, I thought Anakin's/Luke's light saber was lost in Cloud City at the end of Empire, so what do I know.
Also opening shot of the dark side of the ship crossing the planetoid? I would put that real high on the list of openings. I felt like they were deliberately having the viewer guess from the get go "where is the space ship gonna come from?" And they pulled that out and I was like "Nope, diddnt think that one!"
What I really want is more Maz. I want to know her deal. She has Luke's lightsaber, and we don't know why! She hits on Chewie! She's a former space pirate and she's still obviously a badass even though she runs a cantina, now. And I'm sure there are probably books and comics and stuff, but I want more Maz in the movies, please.
I absolutely need to see this movie again so I can view it with a more critical eye, but I still suspect I'll have more things I liked than things I didn't.
Good things:
- Holy shit the acting! So great, especially from the new folks
- I enjoyed the "stealth A New Hope reboot" parrallels
- Visuals were beautiful and did not feel forced. The reliance on practical effects made things feel natural, and you didn't notice the tons of CGI that surely was in every single scene (the way CGI was meant to be used).
- Rey was a fantastic strong female character. She can hold her own.
- Finn was a fantastic vulnerable male character. He figured shit out even when admitting to not knowing what he was doing. (On the topic of social stuff, ladies alll oooover this film, especially as extras)
- Rey and Finn had an incredibly natural bond without relying on romance
- BB-8 came off as incredibly charming and funny without going too far and becoming corny
- Seeing Han Solo drop the cocky smuggler attitude and deal with his failures as a dad was incredibly powerful stuff.
- Maz!
- Chewie doesn't hesitate to lay a bolt right into what is essentially his nephew. Chewie is a badass.
- Adam Driver played a very convincing rebellious yet confused child
Bad things:
- Snoke hologram
- Wasted Captain Phasma. They literally threw her in the garbage. WTF
- Poe reappearing after being assumed dead didn't feel like a powerful moment
- Rey picked up the force way too fast. I have no problem with her saber skills as she is obviously a close combat badass, but stuff like force pulls and mind tricks seemed weird.
- Soundtrack was a letdown. Little to no memorable moments. Even the prequel scores were better. The music here was helpful background music but it didn't carry emotion. Empire Strikes Back score still gives me chills on almost every track.
- The assault on Starkiller base felt rushed, and cutting back and forth between it and the ground battle was a losing formula. You simply don't care about those X-Wings or whoever is piloting them, when you've got heavy shit going down on the ground with all your favorite characters.
- C-3PO was annoying
-It really felt like Captain Phasma was originally a male character dubbed with a female voice, who might have a bigger part in the next movie because of the "Brienne of Tarth"-fanbase. On the bright side, there's no where to go but up.
-I could buy her supercharged force powers being a result of the force vision from the lightsaber and Kylo's interrogation. Also I sort of chalk it up to: "Nobody wants to wait a full movie to have her do neat force tricks."
-Which is to say, they got the character right.
I managed to see it a second time over the weekend. It holds up and is still extremely fun to watch. One thing I really noticed the second time was the lighting in the reactor shaft scene with Kylo Ren. Also Kylo's dialogue makes a little more sense knowing what's going to happen in the scene.
For what it's worth, a lot of the lore questions are answered in the Star Wars Force Awakens Visual Dictionary and how it all relates to the existing canon.
Not to keep piling on the nitpicks but, it seems like pretty-much right after the they blew the containment thing, the whole base basically implodes. We're to assume someone came out and picked up Kylo before the thing fell apart? OK, he probably has some way of force-calling someone or they have tracking sensors to find him... who knows. But of course he'd be picked up on the way off the base. But then there wasn't some big battle after the implosion to pick off the survivors? If I was leading the forces to blow it up I'd be scanning for ships trying to escape, even if that's a tall order to maybe actually stop them.
At the same time, I really would be cool with more Captain Phasma but while Kylo is a VIP that people would go find, I feel no-one's going to go looking for her with a ship capable of extracting her from the disposal and escape the station's gravity... so somehow after getting dumped in the garbage chute she'd have to escape the trash (which is fine) and then make way to a ship and escape the station despite everyone else being basically stuck on this thing (which is unlike a Stormtrooper to do)
So I dunno what to make of it. In my mind she could be the Bobba Fett of this generation, which is cool! But also means she'll just keep coming back. Would make sense maybe after fleeing the station she'd be a bit of a ronin badass who could go bounty hunter.
Good pew pew effects, especially the firing of the pokeball. The action: flying, shooting and use of the force (except for mind reading) were done really well. Some really good cinematography. Had a good sense of epic scale.
The end fight seemed "too easy". There was lack of drama after certain events. The 'sassy black woman' was entertaining, specially during the 'fix the toxic gas' scene. Fin felt like such a token, not because he's black but because of certain lines and their delivery. I noticed it several times.
I could chop the film up some more if I made notes. I did however actually really enjoy the film. More than the original trilogy. The film could have been way better with the addition of more subtleties. The costumes weren't looking too great either. 8/10
Prefer the Anakin trilogy.
- Captain Phasma, yeh wtf. What bothered me the most was, the fact the killing was bothering Fin from the very begginning of the movie. He was compelled to do the 'right' thing. Even fleeing to avoid conflict all together. Then all of a sudden, he doesn't mind killing then even seemingly enjoying it. Ok fine, a change of motive, but you don't really see a clear transition, or a nuanced insight as to why he decides, it's ok to kill these guys but not these guys. Not even a pause as a self defensive killing, to say, "damn...I had too.."
- Rey, easily the best character of the film. However a contradiction. Every Jedi required some training in order to 'wield' the force. Not Rey. Fair enough, if she's such a talent that she can master these skills on her own. And clearly there were scenes dedicated to show how she was learning, but I don't think it did a good enough job of showing how she was understanding, what was working and why. It was just trial and error, and eventually, she would get the hang of it. E Z
Kylo Ren though, had to be trained, and yet still his emotional instability was getting the better of him. Yet Rey, she seemed to be suffering similar distress yet still gaining power. Deep breathing helps I guess.
- The Starkiller, that planet even have defences? Shields down? So EZ. GG WP
- Le resistance, were the even in any peril? You have intelligence you're about to be starkilled. Evacuate perhaps. No? Why...? Reasons!
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yeh