Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Full Discussion: *Spoilers*)

[RedlinePSI]

If you've clicked this far you should know what you're getting in to. Complete and total plot discussion to follow, turn back now if you have not seen it.

[RedlinePSI]

ok, with that said. I am very curious to hear some opinions. I've seen it twice (so far). I"ll possibly go maybe 1 more time, only to see 90mm IMAX.

I'll begin with what I think is the biggest question; who are Rey's parents? The obvious candidates are Lea/Han, or Luke/mystery lady. I am leaning towards Luke. There are some arguments for both, most notably the "father figure" description of Han and her apparent instinctive knowledge of the Millennium Falcon, but I think that's a ruse. Somehow, Luke must have agreed to send Rey away after Ren turned to the dark. Probably out of fear, or realization that there is an obviously massive risk with the Skywalker line. The only other possibility I see is that she is actually the daughter of another Jedi (or apprentice) who was being trained by Luke. Then Ren killed her father or mother along with the rest, heir-go the conflict of "you killed my father/mother". That's just my mind running wild though, most likely she's a Skywalker.

[RedlinePSI]

My next biggest ???. Who the hell is Snoke, and where did he come from? Is it possible he's Darth Plaguesis who was never actually killed, since the "rule of two" is basically no longer a fact? Or there is always the Anakin situation, whereby individuals can apparently be born directly of the force.

Overall, I think the setup is good, and this movie laid out the groundwork for a great plot through the next two movies. However, as of right now, one thing lacking to me was the level of power that Darth Sidious had. The impression of Sidious was that he was the ultimate and insanely powerful bad guy. Beating him was nearly impossible, but if you did that, that was your ultimate victory. I do not get that impression from Snoke yet. At first you think he's a giant, but since it was shown that was a hologram, he could be anything from a giant, to a regular sized "man thing", to a yoda size. Not that size has anything to do with his ultimate power, but we just know so little about him.

That coupled with the fact that Ren, in this movie, turned out to not be as strong as we thought after the first act where his powers looked insane, left me wishing there was a bit more to fear from the first order.

[HFW003]

I'm with you, Rey parents are the biggest question. It think she is going to Luke's daughter?

I think the next episode will show more of the First Order and lean towards the dark side of the story, just like Empire Strikes Back did.

[HFW003]

Go to add, I did not expect that to happen to Han!

[RedlinePSI]

Originally Posted by HFW003

I'm with you, Rey parents are the biggest question. It think she is going to Luke's daughter?

I think the next episode will show more of the First Order and lean towards the dark side of the story, just like Empire Strikes Back did.

In line with this, I agree, I think the next film is going to be hugely important. Not unlike Empire.

Originally Posted by HFW003

Go to add, I did not expect that to happen to Han!

I thought it was about 75% that he was going out like that. It was either that, or he was flying off in to the sunset because I knew Ford was not going to do more than 1, and this was way more likely. Especially knowing Ford's overall dislike for the character, and original desire for him to die in the originals (I forget which exact one). Although I figured there was a chance Ren was his son, I was more surprised to see that confirmed. However, as soon as we saw that scene on the catwalk laid out, I said to myself, oh shit this is the end for Han Solo. (Edit: I still had a bit of hope, once it happened I was like damnnnnn!!!)

On that topic, do you think Han knew he was going to his death? When Ren confirmed that he was being torn apart on the inside, I immediately knew he was most likely he was going to kill his own father. It was obvious he wanted to clear his mind to focus, but focus on what was the question. I think Han went in with the real hope that he could bring him back to the light, but knew he was likely going to his death. Or he could have known all along, but was just comforting Lea in that brief discussion.

[RedlinePSI]

Also, really glad Chewy got that nice shot in.

[Route 16]

I like how the special effect of the force vibrates a person/thing in use.

Battlestar laser beam destroying planets all at once was the coolest and saddest thing in that scene. General huxx was really into his speech I liked that.

Rey could have been just sold as a kid, just end up being an unknown like anakin and have the same midoclorian (spell check) count like him, learn the force, be a female darth vader in the end I dunno

Looking forward to the next Star Wars rogue movie

Everyone better up their lightsaber dueling skills

[RedlinePSI]

Originally Posted by Route 16

I like how the special effect of the force vibrates a person/thing in use.

Battlestar laser beam destroying planets all at once was the coolest and saddest thing in that scene. General huxx was really into his speech I liked that.

Rey could have been just sold as a kid, just end up being an unknown like anakin and have the same midoclorian (spell check) count like him, learn the force, be a female darth vader in the end I dunno

Looking forward to the next Star Wars rogue movie

Everyone better up their lightsaber dueling skills

This was an initial dislike of mine. I feel like anybody in this one would have been wiped out in seconds by anybody from the Clone War era. And that's basically true. The sword play in this was nowhere near elite Jedi level, and I was upset not to see some amazing saber fights. However, it basically makes sense. Nobody in this movie was a master. Other than the 10 seconds of silent Luke of course.

I do think Ren and Rey were too evenly matched. He's had what seems to be a good deal of training. She's had none, UNLESS she has had her memory wiped somehow. Ren would be the likely candidate for doing that. Unless Luke did it in the ultimate effort to backtrack all training he did for fear of more issues after Ren turned. Otherwise that's quite the self-taught rapid understanding of using the force there by Rey.

[atinybug]

OK things that bothered me:

Kylo Ren:

Seems like a huge whiny brat who has no real power. Like you mentioned earlier, it seems like he's got a lot from the first scene, but then the rest of the movie is sort of a let down.

His temper tantrums where he would just destroy whatever inanimate object in front of him with his lightsaber, I mean I get what they were trying to do, but it just came off like a 6 year old throwing a fit at not getting his favorite juice.

That one scene where Rey was strapped in the chair and he was trying to force the knowledge of Luke's location out of her. I get that they were trying to show them struggling with each other with the force, but it just looked like 2 people staring at each other and making faces while he stuck his hand in her face.

HIS FACE, holy crap. Has any face looked more deserving of needing to get punched over and over? He just looked completely wrong for a villain. He should've left his mask on the entire time, he seemed more sinister that way. Maybe only take it off for the bridge scene with Han, then put it back on afterwards, in slow motion, with some Vader-esque music in the background.

Rey:

Where/how did she suddenly learn how to control the force like that? Presumably she's had no prior training. Jedi mind tricking the guard to leave her, that was kinda believable since it took several tries, and kinda funny. But the fight in the forest where she grabs the lightsaber? Away from Kylo (who's had training), that's just unbelievable. Remember when Luke first met Yoda, before he had any training, he could barely move anything.

That last scene where her and Luke were just standing there for what seemed like forever. WHY? What was the point of having that shot go on for so long?

In general: I felt the whole thing seemed too Disney-fied. I can't really explain it or give a specific example, it just felt more like a Disney movie (which it is) than a Star Wars movie.

But, I'm still a fan, I still liked it, and I'll still see episode 8 and 9 when they come out.

[ASBSECU E93]

Originally Posted by Route 16

I like how the special effect of the force vibrates a person/thing in use.

Battlestar laser beam destroying planets all at once was the coolest and saddest thing in that scene. General huxx was really into his speech I liked that.

Rey could have been just sold as a kid, just end up being an unknown like anakin and have the same midoclorian (spell check) count like him, learn the force, be a female darth vader in the end I dunno

Looking forward to the next Star Wars rogue movie

Everyone better up their lightsaber dueling skills

You could see a glimpse of 'hate' in her eyes at the end of the scene just prior to the ground shifting apart....so it does raise the question...would she have killed Ren if the ground had not shifted away?? Hate leads to the Dark side....

If she is Luke daughter, and now that the Force has 'awakened', does she have a lot of Vader in her as Han said to Leia regarding Ren???

Or - *MAJOR TWIST THEORY* Rey is in fact the twin or sister of Ren!!!!!!!

[Route 16]

I saw an article about Boyega addressing the boycott of star wars for having a black guy as a stormtrooper/hero and Boyega mentioned there are all types of aliens that for sure humans would have trouble with but those people wanted to focus on his skin color. But when he said there are all types of aliens, the first thing I thought of was where are the dragon ball saiyans.

[imserious]

Overall great movie. Made up for the wrongs of E1-3. Hope Lucas is not too bitter that others can do Star Wars better than he can. The story and elements were almost TOO similar to the original Star Wars but there was enough new and mystery to make it totally work.

I think the characters and acting by the new three Finn, Rey and Kylo were really solid.

Kylo is a bit like anakin done right. I thought he would be a more fully formed Vader like character, but clearly he is in development. While the original series was about turning Luke to the dark side it looks like this series will be about turning Kylo away from the dark side.

I think Rey is going to be Luke's daughter primarily because her upbringing and natural skills with tinkering and piloting are very similar to Luke growing up on tatooine.

I was sad to see solo go, but glad he showed up. I thought they did such a good job bringing the old and the new with solo and Rey/Finn. I also heard about fords lack of interest in Star Wars. Apparently that's why he got frozen in carbonate in E5. But they are making a Han Solo movie now? Seems like he has had an awakening as well.

Can't wait to watch it again next week.

[NickyC]

Everything I've read sounds like it's a rehash of old concepts with a shiny new packaging. Big whoop, I'll wait for the bluray.

At least it's not another super hero movie!

[Benstuck]

Originally Posted by RedlinePSI

This was an initial dislike of mine. I feel like anybody in this one would have been wiped out in seconds by anybody from the Clone War era. And that's basically true. The sword play in this was nowhere near elite Jedi level, and I was upset not to see some amazing saber fights. However, it basically makes sense. Nobody in this movie was a master. Other than the 10 seconds of silent Luke of course.

I do think Ren and Rey were too evenly matched. He's had what seems to be a good deal of training. She's had none, UNLESS she has had her memory wiped somehow. Ren would be the likely candidate for doing that. Unless Luke did it in the ultimate effort to backtrack all training he did for fear of more issues after Ren turned. Otherwise that's quite the self-taught rapid understanding of using the force there by Rey.

This. No way for Rey to beat Ren just because she picked up the Force. Thought that was a cop out.

Also, only one scene of Luke?! I felt robbed.

Overall the movie was entertaining, but seemed like a derivative of A New Hope

[shoei]

Originally Posted by NickyC

Everything I've read sounds like it's a rehash of old concepts with a shiny new packaging. Big whoop, I'll wait for the bluray.

At least it's not another super hero movie!

This... exactly the sentiments...

"Oh gee, another long looming catwalk standing over a bottomless black abyss - lets venture out there to see the bad guy... nothing bad ever happens in star wars movies when you walk out onto the catwalk..."

or

More kids with daddy issues... I finally figured it out... The Force, is really code for Child Protective Services...

I could go on and on... Visually pretty though...

[NickyC]

Originally Posted by shoei

This... exactly the sentiments...

"Oh gee, another long looming catwalk standing over a bottomless black abyss - lets venture out there to see the bad guy... nothing bad ever happens in star wars movies when you walk out onto the catwalk..."

or

More kids with daddy issues... I finally figured it out... The Force, is really code for Child Protective Services...

I could go on and on... Visually pretty though...

I groaned when I read there was another "Death Star". Good grief, the THIRD one? Oh but wait, it's MUCH bigger than the other two. You'd think the Empire would figure out these things are kind of overrated after the issues with the first two.

Whatever, it will still make billions. I hope people enjoy it at least.

[shoei]

Originally Posted by NickyC

I groaned when I read there was another "Death Star". Good grief, the THIRD one? Oh but wait, it's MUCH bigger than the other two. You'd think the Empire would figure out these things are kind of overrated after the issues with the first two.

Whatever, it will still make billions. I hope people enjoy it at least.

Oh there's no doubt it will make billions... It has to, Disney expects to reap the 4 billion dollars spent back BEFORE the third movie... That is what they are demanding... Poor JJ Abrams...

Yeah, I lost count of how many times I groaned in the movie... Here's the thing... They built something THAT large... Did non of the rebels think; "gee, we already ate it with the last monstrosity they built, and this one is 10x the size of the other one... we should do something BEFORE construction is finished..." ??

[BrokenVert]

I had some problems not mentioned in the thread yet.

Captain Phasma, wasted. Shes in two scenes and doesnt do anything. That random trooper that Fin dueled at Maz's place should have been her.

Poe, hes a main character and all I know about him is hes handsome and is a good pilot. Seriously, he has no character other than "snarky pilot"

The Murder Planet (thats what im calling it because I didnt actually notice a name in the movie) should not have been destroyed. It should have been a "villain" for this entire trilogy.

The son revel for Ren happened way too soon. It would have been much better if done as a traditional Star Wars reveal when Han walks onto the catwalk.

Other thoughts:

I loved that there was a Porkins that didnt die.

Poe better be Wedge's son.

I thought Ren was done well. It's mentioned that he was turned while undergoing training by Luke. So in my mind he was turned before he learned how to properly duel or even create a lightsabre. Hence why he sucks at fighting directly and his sabre is unstable. However he is naturally strong with the force and has learned how to at least control his abilities.

Snoke is...someone, I guess. Though that isnt any different than how the Emperor was treated in the original film. We will learn more about him in a bit.

I had some editing issues with the movie, felt a bit rushed. I would not be surprised if there's a 3 hour cut of the movie somewhere.

I get the love for BB-8 now. Super expressive and used to good effect.

Love how much practical there was in the film. I forgot how good movies could look.

Maz looked great. When will Andy Serkis get an Oscar?



Overall though I liked it, just dont think I loved it.

[gthal]

I thought it was great and a real improvement over the last 3 (Episodes I to III).

My 7 year old absolutely LOVED it (we just watched the other 6 leading up to this one) and I enjoyed it too. It think it is a strong start to the next trilogy. Yes, there were things you might change but there isn't a movie of this magnitude that will ever be created that will please all of the people, all of the time

[larryn]

SETUP: Spent Thursday and Friday evening binge re-watching the other episodes, from episode order, not release order with my 24 y.o. daughter. Then saw Ep VII yesterday morning with the same daughter.

Saw IMAX 3D version at a very nice location that truly allows for immersion, and the audience lent to the experience, as when I wanted to whoot about something cool happening, the rest of the room was as well.

There were only only two things that bothered both me and my daughter. First, it seemed odd that Ren was in the position of power that he had, when he was not yet fully baked. Second, the scene where the ground perfectly opens up between Ren and Rey so that she could not finish him off (she doesn't really know about the "give into the hate" dark side bit yet), was worthy of a groan.

Other than those two flaws, we both agreed it was one the best movies we had seen in a while, and it was nice to see an original movie, not something formed from a comic book, video game, etc. I saw lots of people crying when Han bit it, and cheering when the Millenium Falcon made it's debut. It's a very solidly fun and entertaining bit of film.

[_bdiddyb_]

This was a bad $200 million rehash.

30 years later and we got a couple paragraphs intro. I hated this episode! Wasn't it supposed to send the old characters off gracefully, with respect and dignity? Leia and Han Solo acted like total strangers. JJ Abrams didn't send them off -- he murdered them! New characters development sucks. Kylo Ren was powerful in the beginning, then got the whoopass by a rookie? His voice sounded like a broken radio. You can actually buy that speaker phone from the 99 cent store. I think that was his large nose casting a shadow on the small planet at the beginning. Goddammit! Leia and Han were a good looking pair -- their offspring is one ugly motherfucker. Might as well casted Rick Moranis (Spaceball) for Kylo Ren.

Luke took a very long time to developed his skill, but Rey practically discovered it over night. WTF? What a disgrace to The Force. She's a metal scrap collector, never flown before - but flew the Millennium Falcon like a pro.

I get the sense of Nazis overtone with this First Order. I wish the directors and writers would stop it already. Leave that for WWII movies.

Finn ..... he's just misplaced. Doesn't fit in with Rey at all. I felt nothing for them.

Bring back George Lucas -- JJ Abrams just fcked up the franchise.