"Star Wars: The Force Awakens"

[dug11]

Some of Chewbacca's comedy got a bit silly, I agree. I can see the same with Finn. I actually felt the same watching it - in that Finn's humor felt very "modern" and didn't always fit within the style of the series.

And Rey's use of the Force was actually something I found interesting. I feel we often see it as being something slowly learned and applied. Whereas she's heard of all of these stories and myths, and puts them to use. I kind of like how she's a bit of a "rebel" in that regard - she's without a master trainer (first of the series), so she's making things up as she goes along.

Also, was it just me or did this seem like the most violent film in the series? Definitely felt like more blood and death than we've seen in previous installments.

[Veronica Mars]

It's definitely more violent overall than any of the previous films in the series, at least in showing blood and wounds (and deaths...maybe? The deaths here may just have more impact because they're shown in different ways).

As for Rey, I'm curious to see if we get more of her backstory. I have my own opinion on how she might tie in to the Skywalker line, but at the very least, the vision she has seems to imply that maybe she was there for the massacre of the Jedi by Kylo Ren. If she was there, it might mean that she was already being trained in the ways of the Force, since historically they prefer to start training YOUNG (remember, both Anakin and Luke were originally considered too old). My guess is that she has training that's been suppressed in some way, but that comes back when she needs it.

[dug11]

Ah, that's an interesting theory that I could see playing out. I didn't even think of that.

[Raybee]

I saw it. It was good. Still not creaming my pants over it. But it was certainly better than the other 6. Everyone kept clapping every time an old character would reappear and they even did at the LucasFilm logo in the beginning. I was like, jeez already people?

[eurocheese]

So J.J. Abrams clearly has a gift for reinvigorating movie series that have lost their way by playing to all the strengths of the earlier films. This was a fun film to watch, Harrison Ford was clearly having more fun than he's had in ages (I actually loved all his jokes with Chewbacca, and wish his conversations with Leia had a bit more bite to them), Adam Driver was a fairly compelling villain who clearly inherited Vader issues, Rey's immediate struggle with the Force and her own powers played all the right notes... it's a hard film to criticize too much. My family all said we'd give it a 7 or 8 out of 10, and we were glad we saw it.

However... we all know this is A New Hope rehashed, right? I mean it's done beautifully, but Rey/Luke grows up alone, stumbles into a droid-related survival plot, gets on the Falcon both times, runs into a paternal figure from the series (Obiwan/Han), goes to what looks like the same bar (which is funny but come on), puts together a rag tag group, faces off with a new Death Star (loved Ford's "so it's bigger" line), stages a rescue, watches the paternal figure self-sacrifice, has a brief run in with the main villain, then we're cutting to some of the same pilots taking out the Death Star. The film is entirely aware that it's copying the familiar beats, but if this earns a Screenplay nomination, it's insanity. There is almost no true originality here, which is fine for popcorn but hard to swallow when people are seriously talking about a Best Picture nomination. In some ways it's more of a love letter to the fans than an actual movie.

There's a lot of potential for the final chapters and this is arguably the best film since Return of the Jedi in the series (though Episode III had some good moments). I think this is similar to Jurassic World though, in the sense that everyone who loved the originals will be down for this revisit, but anyone who didn't care for them isn't going to find anything new here at all.

[Raybee]

Two big problems for me. 1. Adam Driver with mask off was just not menacing enough. 2. Rey just closed her eyes and boom, knows how to use the force and is a master jedi? Please.

[dug11]

I didn't really get the feeling that Driver without the helmet was really supposed to be terribly menacing. I think Kylo Ren's big thing is that he is an underachiever. His entire costume is just that - a way to pretend he is someone to be feared. He wants to be Darth Vader, but he is too emotional and conflicted to achieve that. Even his lightsaber is some DIY thing that has a very non-stable looking laser blade. He's second-rate as an all-powerful force of evil, and he knows it. And coming up against a skilled Rey will likely make things even worse for him in the future - which could bring out an even more brutal personality. I personally loved the character and his arc in this film. I think establishing him as more than just a new Vader was really smart and well done.

The stuff with Rey doesn't really bother me much. I imagine the Force is stronger with some than others? But I guess that is my justification, and not the film's. So I can understand how some may not like how she seemed to pick up Force powers/sensitivity very quickly. But I liked how it was done, for the most part. She really gets her first glimpse of it when she's able to read Kylo Ren just as well as he can her (one of the film's best scenes). After that, she follows what she has heard from stories and legend to her advantage.

The more I think about this, the more I love it. It may be the best character work of the series so far.

[NGL]

George Lucas Slams 'Force Awakens,' Calls Disney 'White Slavers':

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/geor...efe0da695b

[dug11]

Lucas seems very unhappy with how things are currently going with the franchise. Makes me wonder why he decided to sell it? He clearly could've made these films himself if he desired.

[GGPartition]

But he made those terrible ass prequels and they made a better one. Shut up and sit the fuck down, George Lucas.