Star Wars: The Force Awakens teaser trailer

It didn't bring me close to an emotional wreck or anything (if you believe some of the comments made online, haha), but it's a decent and serviceable trailer. It does what it has to do and it doesn't show anything too egregiously spoiler-y...except for that one shot of a tearful Rey over the body(?) of someone in what looks like a brown outfit in a snowy environment. That one shot made me raise an eyebrow and I hope it's not what I think it is...
 
Won't lie, trailer above was kinda cool. I still have no idea what to think about this movie, though. Seems everyone is getting so excited and I'm just sitting here like... Okay. It could just go oh so terribly wrong! Plus the idea that they've already planned all of these sequels and spin offs...

I guess we'll know either way soon enough :|. I expect to see some breakdowns on the Internet whatever the case. Haha
 
They have a roadmap of a new Star Wars film to come out every year from now on, from main entries to anthology films such as Rogue One and the planned Han Solo one. Though fortunately given how each film will be directed and handled by different teams, it minimalises the risk of creative fatigue and burnout, you do risk total saturation. It doesn't preclude the likelihood of fans and general film-goers feeling the fatigue at some point, where the new film of one year is due to hit the screens, but there's been barely any "resting" time in between - not enough of a breathing space and opportunity to organically and incrementally build up excitement. There is such a thing as too much of a good thing.

Naturally, I don't feel a new film warrants the long cycle of hype to this extent. I predict it will be a very decent and serviceable film, but not some messianic elixir. Personally, I am mildly more interested in Rogue One, because it has the scope as a spinoff story to divert from the usual tropes we expect of Star Wars and be its own refreshing self-contained tale while still bridging that untold (Disney canonical) gap between the new trilogies. A mainline film in the present time seems more confining from a creative point of view when you have all these established fan expectations (of what it should and should not have, as well as assurances that it won't retread perceived mistakes of the prequel trilogy) and an unbearably long and ubiquitous hype-marketing cycle.
 
So, it's out now! What do people think?

- Let's get the main criticism out of the way. That plot line hewed very close to the original Star Wars film (with a sprinkling of the rest of the original trilogy in there). I can understand the rationale to play it safe this time round, hence hiring a safe pair of hands in J. J. Abrams, but I hope maybe next time they have the courage to maybe push the boat out a bit.
- All that being said, I did really enjoy the film, it was a blast to watch.
- Great acting from all the main cast, especially Adam Driver and John Boyega. Even people who hate Lena Dunham should thank her for giving Driver his breakout role.
- Hope we get to see more of Poe next time, I love Oscar Isaac.
- Carrie Fisher these days is like a walking advert for saying no to cocaine.
- Did anyone see that Daniel Craig plays the Stormtrooper who is the victim of Rey's Jedi mind trick.
- Lots of very funny moments ('That's not how the Force works!').
- BB-8 is adorable.
- Domhnall Gleeson was going for full on Ham mode in his speech, huh.
- Phasma was a bit of a nothing role in the end, seemed a bit of a waste of Gwendoline Christie. Maybe she'll have more to do next time?
- Roll on Rogue One and Episode VIII
 
Just viewed it earlier and I've a few preliminary thoughts:

The most obvious non-spoilery place to start is what everyone has been saying: this film hangs on nostalgia like a life rope. I presume the producers felt they HAD to play it safe here as a foundation, especially after all the reactions to the prequels and the deification of the original trilogy since. It certainly makes sense, but it doesn't necessarily lead to the most ambitious or exciting of films. The torrents of A New Hope callbacks and general fanservice were everywhere, ranging from a planet-destroying superweapon to the whole Rebels-vs-imperials setup again.

Does this film capture the essence of the original trilogy? Certainly. Do I mind? I don't think this is an inherently bad or wrongful thing to do, but Episode VIII will have to be ambitious and it has to take off the training wheels. I'm confident and optimistic that it will. I would like to hope that The Force Awakens was necessary to set the scene for fans old and new alike, so that future movies will have the full creative liberty to really make the sequels into something with its own solid identity. I'm more excited than ever for the follow-ups. And Rogue One. New ideas and directions, people!

- The boyfriend said Han Solo was essentially the MVP of the film. He said that and I just looked at him as if he's an extraterrestrial. It's great to see Harrison Ford back and his more muted self makes sense when you consider the trials and tribulations his character must have endured in the last 30-odd years, but he seriously paled in comparison to the new cast. I look forward to seeing more of Poe later on, and I feel a little dejected that he hasn't had as much of a chance to shine as a character as I would have liked him to. Finn has been a delight and while I kind of lament the whole obvious switch-and-bait marketing tactic that tried to make us believe he would be an actual Jedi hero, I love his character and long may he reign. I am excited to see how Rey develops from here and I don't believe I've ever been this excited for a new protagonist before.

- Yes, the big spoiler is that Han was stabbed and left to tumble like a ragdoll down a reactor shaft. I already knew he was going to die, but it was so worth watching how they executed that scene. There was something gut-wrenching about knowing what the ultimate outcome would be, but anticipating for the moment nonetheless, and being unsure how it would go about. It's again where I disagree with my boyfriend. He couldn't stand the idea of Han losing his life at the hands of a psychologically unstable son who couldn't even do the deed "like a man". I maintain that it will be remembered as one of the most powerful and charged scenes in the whole franchise because of the characterisation. Yes, it's the death of a veteran and probably MOST well-loved character in the franchise, but its greater significance is what it represents for Kylo.

- Absolutely beautiful cinematography. That one long shot of the TIE Fighters emerging from the sunset horizon with the giant sun in the background was just phenomenal. This is how you impress with visuals here, because the blatantly fake CG backgrounds of the prequels certainly stopped achieving that after The Phantom Menace. The return of practical effects in general is a breath of fresh air. The atmosphere ship battles is a gorgeous, fresh idea as well, after being used to the plentiful space battles of previous films.

- Well, that was an easy pay cheque for Mark Hamill. Dress up and go to some cliffs in Ireland. But hey, wonderful ending to the film, so I cannot begrudge Luke's lack of presence and dialogue in this film. Minus that helicopter shot, the film ended perfectly. No lines necessary - have the faces of Mark Hamill and Daisy Ridley convey it while the theme roused in the background. Everyone walked out of that convinced that Rey is Luke's daughter. Seems too obvious, but hey, they said it themselves that Star Wars films are the tales of the (dysfunctional) Skywalker family.

- Kylo Ren...how do I express what I think of this guy? Early marketing material made me fear a Darth Vader 2.0. Here's another cool-looking imperial Sith strongman with a mask and an ominous deep voice. Or is he?

Film did a brilliant job of completely subverting all that and setting genuinely exciting foundations for how his character will later develop. Here you have Ben Solo, who is essentially the embodiment of incompleteness. His Lightsaber is crude and unrefined. His appearance crude and unrefined. Mentally unstable, which would largely explain the outcome of his fight with Rey. He's likely not as proficient as the actual Sith of old. His whole Kylo Ren persona is incomplete and he's caught in that limbo between the Light and the Dark, pulled in both directions. In a sense, this was not Kylo Ren for much of the movie. He is still a wayward Ben Solo fervently attempting to develop and complete this Kylo Ren character he himself had been trying to forge, but yet to succeed.

The next films are going to be interesting indeed, to see how his person gradually shapes and becomes this very persona. Ben Solo is very much going through a personal journey of his own much like Rey, who is almost certainly his Light Side counterpart. It's certainly a much more interesting take on a character slowly embracing the Dark Side, unlike the idiot plot that drove Anakin. Now, I've already heard people criticise Kylo Ren, claiming that a whiny adolescent a threatening villain does not make. I fervently disagree; his mental instability gives him that essence of being unpredictable and beyond the comprehension of a rational person's mind. The fact that he did take off his mask and his scene with Han gave this character a humanising moment and to see his internal conflict play out like that and the direction it is beginning to take is far more terrifying and interesting to me than seeing a 7-ft cyborg in black armour and a helmet being a Nazi SS officer strangling rebels. Kylo Ren is the embodiment of incompleteness and the whole notion that fear and weakness are an express route to the Dark Side.

- I'm rather disappointed with the dearth of world-building this time round. I know people didn't like the politics being so prevalent in the prequels, but some kind of decent explanation was owed so the audience can catch up to speed with how the galaxy had exactly changed over the last three decades. I don't even think we know much more about the First Order at the end of the film than when the beginning title scroll appeared. What exactly happened politically since the Emperor's demise? Why exactly was there still a Rebel Alliance and how did an imperial remnant turn a planet into a superweapon just like that unnoticed? I also suppose the Knights of Ren lore will remain closely guarded for now.

- As I expected: Phasma was barely in this film. The general(?) guy who I believe is called Hux just made little to no impression on me and is certainly no Grand Moff Tarkin. I take umbrage chiefly of all with the guy whom they had cast to play as Hux. The character didn't have much presence to me anyway, and this is accentuated by how unconvincing he seemed. I don't feel he commanded any aura and I don't buy the idea that such a youthful person was so high a rank. An older, more weary man perhaps. Someone who looked like they had garnered sufficient experience over the years.

- I....don't have anything to say about Snoke, aside from how much I will continue to despise his name. Heavy onus lays on the upcoming films to make me feel anything more than mere apathy for this guy, because I certainly don't care at the moment and I scarcely remembered to even mention him.

- Random Daniel Craig Stormtrooper deserves his own mini-series. :/

I'd probably rate this a solid 8/10.
 
Rudolph said:
Just viewed it earlier and I've a few preliminary thoughts:

The most obvious non-spoilery place to start is what everyone has been saying: this film hangs on nostalgia like a life rope. I presume the producers felt they HAD to play it safe here as a foundation, especially after all the reactions to the prequels and the deification of the original trilogy since. It certainly makes sense, but it doesn't necessarily lead to the most ambitious or exciting of films. The torrents of A New Hope callbacks and general fanservice were everywhere, ranging from a planet-destroying superweapon to the whole Rebels-vs-imperials setup again.

Does this film capture the essence of the original trilogy? Certainly. Do I mind? I don't think this is an inherently bad or wrongful thing to do, but Episode VIII will have to be ambitious and it has to take off the training wheels. I'm confident and optimistic that it will. I would like to hope that The Force Awakens was necessary to set the scene for fans old and new alike, so that future movies will have the full creative liberty to really make the sequels into something with its own solid identity. I'm more excited than ever for the follow-ups. And Rogue One. New ideas and directions, people!

- The boyfriend said Han Solo was essentially the MVP of the film. He said that and I just looked at him as if he's an extraterrestrial. It's great to see Harrison Ford back and his more muted self makes sense when you consider the trials and tribulations his character must have endured in the last 30-odd years, but he seriously paled in comparison to the new cast. I look forward to seeing more of Poe later on, and I feel a little dejected that he hasn't had as much of a chance to shine as a character as I would have liked him to. Finn has been a delight and while I kind of lament the whole obvious switch-and-bait marketing tactic that tried to make us believe he would be an actual Jedi hero, I love his character and long may he reign. I am excited to see how Rey develops from here and I don't believe I've ever been this excited for a new protagonist before.

- Yes, the big spoiler is that Han was stabbed and left to tumble like a ragdoll down a reactor shaft. I already knew he was going to die, but it was so worth watching how they executed that scene. There was something gut-wrenching about knowing what the ultimate outcome would be, but anticipating for the moment nonetheless, and being unsure how it would go about. It's again where I disagree with my boyfriend. He couldn't stand the idea of Han losing his life at the hands of a psychologically unstable son who couldn't even do the deed "like a man". I maintain that it will be remembered as one of the most powerful and charged scenes in the whole franchise because of the characterisation. Yes, it's the death of a veteran and probably MOST well-loved character in the franchise, but its greater significance is what it represents for Kylo.

- Absolutely beautiful cinematography. That one long shot of the TIE Fighters emerging from the sunset horizon with the giant sun in the background was just phenomenal. This is how you impress with visuals here, because the blatantly fake CG backgrounds of the prequels certainly stopped achieving that after The Phantom Menace. The return of practical effects in general is a breath of fresh air. The atmosphere ship battles is a gorgeous, fresh idea as well, after being used to the plentiful space battles of previous films.

- Well, that was an easy pay cheque for Mark Hamill. Dress up and go to some cliffs in Ireland. But hey, wonderful ending to the film, so I cannot begrudge Luke's lack of presence and dialogue in this film. Minus that helicopter shot, the film ended perfectly. No lines necessary - have the faces of Mark Hamill and Daisy Ridley convey it while the theme roused in the background. Everyone walked out of that convinced that Rey is Luke's daughter. Seems too obvious, but hey, they said it themselves that Star Wars films are the tales of the (dysfunctional) Skywalker family.

- Kylo Ren...how do I express what I think of this guy? Early marketing material made me fear a Darth Vader 2.0. Here's another cool-looking imperial Sith strongman with a mask and an ominous deep voice. Or is he?

Film did a brilliant job of completely subverting all that and setting genuinely exciting foundations for how his character will later develop. Here you have Ben Solo, who is essentially the embodiment of incompleteness. His Lightsaber is crude and unrefined. His appearance crude and unrefined. Mentally unstable, which would largely explain the outcome of his fight with Rey. He's likely not as proficient as the actual Sith of old. His whole Kylo Ren persona is incomplete and he's caught in that limbo between the Light and the Dark, pulled in both directions. In a sense, this was not Kylo Ren for much of the movie. He is still a wayward Ben Solo fervently attempting to develop and complete this Kylo Ren character he himself had been trying to forge, but yet to succeed.

The next films are going to be interesting indeed, to see how his person gradually shapes and becomes this very persona. Ben Solo is very much going through a personal journey of his own much like Rey, who is almost certainly his Light Side counterpart. It's certainly a much more interesting take on a character slowly embracing the Dark Side, unlike the idiot plot that drove Anakin. Now, I've already heard people criticise Kylo Ren, claiming that a whiny adolescent a threatening villain does not make. I fervently disagree; his mental instability gives him that essence of being unpredictable and beyond the comprehension of a rational person's mind. The fact that he did take off his mask and his scene with Han gave this character a humanising moment and to see his internal conflict play out like that and the direction it is beginning to take is far more terrifying and interesting to me than seeing a 7-ft cyborg in black armour and a helmet being a Nazi SS officer strangling rebels. Kylo Ren is the embodiment of incompleteness and the whole notion that fear and weakness are an express route to the Dark Side.

- I'm rather disappointed with the dearth of world-building this time round. I know people didn't like the politics being so prevalent in the prequels, but some kind of decent explanation was owed so the audience can catch up to speed with how the galaxy had exactly changed over the last three decades. I don't even think we know much more about the First Order at the end of the film than when the beginning title scroll appeared. What exactly happened politically since the Emperor's demise? Why exactly was there still a Rebel Alliance and how did an imperial remnant turn a planet into a superweapon just like that unnoticed? I also suppose the Knights of Ren lore will remain closely guarded for now.

- As I expected: Phasma was barely in this film. The general(?) guy who I believe is called Hux just made little to no impression on me and is certainly no Grand Moff Tarkin. I take umbrage chiefly of all with the guy whom they had cast to play as Hux. The character didn't have much presence to me anyway, and this is accentuated by how unconvincing he seemed. I don't feel he commanded any aura and I don't buy the idea that such a youthful person was so high a rank. An older, more weary man perhaps. Someone who looked like they had garnered sufficient experience over the years.

- I....don't have anything to say about Snoke, aside from how much I will continue to despise his name. Heavy onus lays on the upcoming films to make me feel anything more than mere apathy for this guy, because I certainly don't care at the moment and I scarcely remembered to even mention him.

- Random Daniel Craig Stormtrooper deserves his own mini-series. :/

I'd probably rate this a solid 8/10.
Click to expand...

Great write up on Kylo Ren. I completely agree. Such a conflicted individual, and he used the moment he killed his father to work towards completing his transformation into Kylo Ren. I can't wait to see where they take the character now. He's certainly very powerful too, but his inexperience and personal conflictions have been holding him back. People have complained that we was too easily defeated by Rey, but let us not forget that Chewbacca had shot him with a powerful bolt from his crossbow blaster thing and he was obviously quite seriously injured. He had also just fought and defeated Finn not long before Rey entered the battle, so this all makes sense. It'll be interesting to see how Kylo Ren develops his powers from now. The way that he suspended Poe's blaster shot in mid-air for several minutes impressed me at the beginning of the movie.

Hux might become more interesting than he appears to be in Force Awakens. At least I hope so. The actor can be quite good (he starred alongside Oscar Isaac in Ex Machina), so I think the flaws are deliberate and part of the character. Hux is young and probably inexperienced, and has a rivalry with Kylo Ren for the approval of Snoke. Hux acts and looks as if he is out of his depth, but he is trying desperately to keep himself afloat. My guess is that we find out in the next film that Hux is related to somebody very important and was essentially given his position because of his ties rather than his experience or competence. Personally I fought that Hux's speech preceding the firing of the Starkiller beam was very powerful. Hux fumbles about and looks as if he is about to cry when people speak to him one-to-one and question him, but give him a crowd and (I guess) a carefully prepared speech and he really can deliver. In short, perhaps Hux is a guy who does his homework but lacks people skills.

As for Finn... Poor Finn. I thought he was brilliant and I can't wait to see where they will take the character. Despite not being Force sensitive or having any Jedi training, Finn seemed to handle Anakin/Luke's lightsaber pretty well (although he was also clearly out of his comfort zone with it). I sort of want Finn to get his own lightsaber now anyway. It'll be odd seeing Finn return to only using blasters.

Now some say that Rey is a bit overpowered, and to an extent I can hear that. Once Rey discovered that she was Force sensitive it did not take long for her to be able to do things which seemed to take Luke Skywalker a long time. Within a couple of hours Rey was able to use Jedi mind tricks, telekinesis, and be excellent with the lightsaber. However, the title of the movie (Force Awakens) sort of implies that a sudden and powerful awakening of the Force is the be expected. Why is Rey so good so early on? Being Luke's daughter seems to be a reasonable supposition but I don't think even that can account for all of it. We'll wait and see!
 
So, I guess I better give my own write up regarding The Force Awakens and such.

So, SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERSSPOILERS SPOILERSSPOILERS SPOILERSSPOILERS SPOILERSSPOILERS SPOILERSSPOILERS SPOILERSSPOILERS SPOILERSSPOILERS SPOILERSSPOILERS SPOILERSSPOILERS SPOILERSSPOILERS SPOILERSSPOILERS SPOILERSSPOILERS SPOILERSSPOILERS SPOILERSSPOILERS SPOILERSSPOILERS SPOILERSSPOILERS SPOILERSSPOILERS SPOILERSSPOILERS SPOILERSSPOILERS SPOILERSSPOILERS SPOILERSSPOILERS SPOILERSSPOILERS SPOILERSSPOILERS SPOILERSSPOILERS SPOILERSSPOILERS SPOILERSSPOILERS SPOILERSSPOILERS SPOILERSSPOILERS SPOILERSSPOILERS SPOILERSSPOILERS SPOILERSSPOILERS SPOILERSSPOILERS SPOILERS

BELOW!!

General:
Well, Han Solo dying was the most expected "surprise" since I found out tomorrow is Wednesday(this was typed on a Tuesday). I enjoyed Han's return, but I can't help but feeling that the film really shoe-horned in his return to Smuggling too much.

The pacing of the film was brilliant- I felt it flowed much better than the prequels.

Regarding Starkiller base... I really felt that that base was really lacking in Staff. The fact that Han, Finn and a HAIRY, 7 Foot MONSTAH were able to essentially ramble around without much of hitch a bit unbelievable.

Luke showing up at the end of the film was silly and... taped on in the end, IMO. I don't know if they needed to show Rey meeting him,but still. Although, I did find it interesting that Kylo Ren saw "An Island in the middle of the Ocean" in Rey's mind- and where is Luke? On a planet, located on an ISLAND in the middle of an OCEAN. Tee hee!

Kylo Ren/Ben Solo:

I felt that Kylo Ren, as a character, went completely the other direction from what I expected the character to be. I expected him to be somewhat closer to the Vader we see in Episode IV, rather than the Anakin/Vader that we see in Episode III. I expected him to be some sort of facsimile of Vader- as if Snoke, in his attempt in reviving what was the Empire- essentially molded someone into a version of Vader. A Vader without the deficiencies of the original. What we got was Anakin from episode III. Now, that's not an insult- I think Adam Driver did better as a "clone" of Anakin than Hayden Christensen did or will ever do with the actual character.

One of the aspects I feel was somewhat off is that... Surely, one of the mantras that Luke would teach to his apprentices was that you could find good in the darkest places? With the hero-worship that we see Kylo Ren partake regarding his grandfather's Vader persona, I feel that the heel turn that we see Vader take at the end of ROTJ is somewhat wiped. I would assume that Luke would have held his father up as a hero of the Jedi- the man who, when it came to the end, chose the right choice.

Of course, comparing the youthful Kylo Ren(apparently, Adam Driver is portraying a TEENAGE Ben Solo) to the middle 40's Darth Vader we see in A New Hope is unfair to Kylo. There's very little you can expect from someone whom, it seems, has only recently become a Sith. I feel this observation is clear by how Kylo Ren progresses in the film. From the start, he's threatening. He stops a laser bolt with the force, not something I've seen much of before. He commands without hesitation. When you compare Kylo Ren to others at the beginning of the film, he is the big guy on campus.

But, by the end of the film, our opinion of Kylo Ren has changed. We see that Kylo Ren isn't particularly in control of his emotions: while Vader got angry, it was a cool, hard boiled type of anger. In comparison, Kylo Ren acted like a spoiled child by throwing lightsaber tantrums.

We see that Kylo Ren isn't particularly powerful: Rey is able to force him- a student under both a Jedi and an assumed Sith- out of her mind. Finn, someone who doesn't seem to be a force sensitive(Which I really hope turns out to be false. I would love to see Finn awaken as a jedi or something similar) actually lands a hit on him with the lightsaber, and surprisingly lasts quite well. His fighting style is very unrefined. Rey, again, is able to best him quite easily even though it's her first time using a lightsaber. Of course, Chewbacca's attack was the great equaliser here, but it seemed to me that Kylo Ren himself was trying to feed off of that pain, which throws the equation up in the air again.

While you could make the argument that Kylo Ren is out of practice due to being the only force-adept in his proximity, it could also be down to the simple fact that Kylo Ren over estimates his own strength, and tries to make up for it when he falls short.

As regards to the lightsaber he utilises... Over the course of the film, I went from disliking it to loving it. I particularly liked that we saw some actual usage from the crossguard section. I'm sure that came about after the reaction to the initial reveal, but still.

I do want to see how the next film portrays Kylo Ren. Now that his one hope to return to the light is gone, what will Kylo Ren become? Will he live in Vader's shadow, or become his own man?

Finn:
Oh boy, was I wrong about this. While I expected Rey to be the main character, I expected myself to dislike Finn. I guessed that him wielding the lightsaber would be something of a Red Herring, but his character ended up completely different from what I expected. I found him endearing, interesting and comical. Many of the people Finn meets are people whom we can call his first real friends- and I feel that John Boyega really acts this quite well. It's telling how important Poe and Rey are to Finn- yet he barely knows them.

On the note of Poe and Finn; I felt more brotherly respect and love from those two in the Tie Fighter Escape scene than I did from the relationship between Anakin and Obi-Wan in the totality of the prequels. The two seemed to click well and really make an impact with each other- a true friendship grew out of a mutually beneficial alliance. It really made me care about these two characters. When they finally reunite on the resistance base, it truly is a beautiful moment. I didn't feel it was forced either. I enjoyed it.

Finn, as a character, really was an original. I felt he gave some soul to a set of troopers whom are usually demoted to Evil Henchmen status. Finn shows us that- perhaps- Storm Troopers do not like what they have to do, and perhaps it is through indoctrination that they are as evil as they are. Due to his circumstances, as well, we truly get to see Finn evolve. While I could say the same for the three of these characters, I connected with Finn's growth the most.

Finn is the character I'm most eager to catch up with in the next film. His injuries seem quite severe, so it'll be interesting to see how he turns out.


Rey

I always expected something of Rey. Her clothing, lifestyle and even home planet just echos that of Luke Skywalker. A great pilot, a tinkerer with tools and force adept- she's a shoe-in for the main character.

Yet, I didn't feel as though she was a carbon copy of Anakin and Luke. Where those two were eager to escape their bonds, Rey was frightened. Where they jumped, Rey seemed to look. It was a very different take on a character type that had been done before in Star Wars. I also enjoyed her friendships with BB-8 and Finn, and the connection she felt with Han.

Did I feel her acts in the film, acts her reveal as a Force Adept, were OTT? Yes, at times. While the Mind Tricked Stormtrooper scene(with added Daniel Craig) was funny, it seemed to be a skill that was beyond Rey's power. Of course, there's the argument that she could have just picked it up from Kylo Ren... but, mehhhh. I proclaimed some of her actions as "Rey-us Ex Machina"(Hurray for Wordplay!), but on the other hand, it wouldn't be Star Wars without those moments!

I felt Daisy Ridley was a very strong newcomer in the film, but also that she didn't really come into her own as Rey until the film landed on Takodana.

I don't really have too much to say about Rey other than I enjoyed her character. I don't have to really mention theories about her parentage since... you just need to google Rey to see that. I now assume either of two possibilities:

-She's Han and Leia's forgotten daughter. Snoke or Ben initiated some sort of mind-wipe to make everyone forget about her.

-She's Luke's daughter. Luke's wife/lover was separated from him. She leaves Rey on Jakku, then dies- perhaps at Kylo Ren's hand. Luke retreats into exile regarding after losing both his apprentices AND his family.

So that ends my opinions on the film and characters. I'm sure I got the characters completely wrong, but whatevers. That's a key aspect to this film that I noticed: it was the characters that kept me. It was just the badge of STAR WARS that kept me interested- it was the plot. This is something the prequels were missing significantly.

I have no fear of stating that I loved the film. I was grinning like a child at the beginning of the film, I was grinning when Han and Chewie came in, I went "OH FUCK YES" when Rey grabbed Anakin's lightsaber. I was thoroughly impressed with the film. I adored it- it was all I could have asked for in a Star Wars film. I cannot wait until the next film.
 
Saw the movie yesterday! Bunch of spoilers, you all have been warned. Here are my thoughts on what the film did well and what the film was somewhat lacking in.

I thought the story was lacking when compared to the previous Star Wars saga. There was too much action and flipping between POVS, that it became cumbersome to watch sometimes. Do not get me wrong because I enjoyed the action scenes (I saw it in imax) and I thought they were incredible. However, it took away from the charm Star Wars has in previous movies, and namely, the fact that dialogue wasn't present as something important in the film. A random droid somehow has a map to Luke Skywalker and two new characters, Finn, and Rey, experience troubles along the way. You know what I mean. It was just too simple for a story of Star Wars. It lacked the explanation on how Finn was able to wield a lightsaber, and more. That being said, I really enjoyed the film. Click the spoiler for my thoughts.

I went into the 500 seat packed theater with some mildly high expectations and well in the end, I felt the film was great, but at the same time, it took a lot away from what Star Wars is known for. There is seriously too much action in Episode VII. It is not a bad thing, but I want more plot. The story was pretty lacking, but the new characters were fantastically done, especially Rey. The references to previous films are all in the film, and there is so much nostalgia that my heart pounded so much that an old character would be killed. Yep, and it appeared that it was one of the best characters in all of Star Wars that was killed, but more on that later.

Rey: I had my fears about her but the character knocked it out of the park. She is very young and childlike in the face, but her character evolved throughout the film and made me like her a lot more. I like British chicks, anyway, but this one originally left me with disappointment. Now that I have seen the movie, I fell in love with her character. She is incredibly badass and becomes very strong rather quickly. I am not sure HOW the force awoke inside her, but I am sure it has to do with her lineage and the vision scenes. I am not even sure how Finn was able to use the lightsaber as well, and I was pretty underwhelmed they didn't explain it. More on Rey though, I enjoyed her character for the following reasons: Strong female without having to take her clothes off, the scavenger in her is very real up close and we can see she sticks true to that. If I were to guess who she truly is in the Star Wars universe, I would think she is Luke's daughter, or possibly even a revamp of Jaina Solo in the expanded universe. It is quite possible, simply because Kylo is a revamp of Jacen, from what I saw. Ah, but the best part of Rey was that she is British, xD. I always associated British chicks with a strong personality, and she did not underwhelm me. However, I will say that while Rey is a protagonist, there is the possibility she can become an antagonist in later films. I would truly love if she becomes evil, because we never had a female sith lord that badass before. Kylo wanted to "teach her the ways of the force" implying he knows her. I am assuming they could be cousins, based on leaks. Whatever, but Ben Solo is certainly NO COINCIDENCE because Ben Skywalker is Luke's son in the expanded universe and they got the name from there. Daisy Ridley was amazing in the movie and I would give best new character to her.

Kylo Ren: I will admit that I expected him to be a lot more powerful than he was in the movie. He was such a great villain at first but part way; I really felt that the actor lost the character. Do not get me wrong, he was FANTASTIC in playing the role. His voice is very epic and scary but when he takes off the mask, he manages to look creepier and freaky, but loses the character a little bit. Perhaps that was the point, because he was weak, but I felt he was getting out of character, especially when he was shouting. Like, YOU NEED A TEACHER, REY. I CAN SHOW YOU THE WAYS OF THE FORCE! Overall, I would rate Kylo's performance as a good one, but there was some severe lack of power in his character. He's a wimp, and a selfish and spoiled brat. He has to have all the power to himself, a natural power creep like Anakin, but weaker. I thought him killing off his dad was a bit jarring, personally. It was done in a sense that "isn't star wars" because who in their right mind would pit a bounty hunter against a dark knight of the sith? Anyway, it was not a fight, but when it happened, many people in my theater were sad or upset. One even screamed "THIS ISN'T STAR WARS!" I tend to agree that this part really wasn't something Lucas would have ever thought about. It was poorly done, just having the father walk up to his son and try to reason with him when it was already too late. At that point, Han was already dead because if he turned back, he would have been stabbed. The part was sad, brutal, and overly disgusting that it killed Leia's relationship with Han solo in the film. He is the new Jacen solo, for all we know. It is an obvious recton of Jacen from the comics, and Rey may be Jaina, but we will see. Nevertheless, there is some truth to this with Ren being Ben solo, and there being a Ben Skywalker in the EU.

Han Solo: Overall, I enjoyed the throwbacks to him and Leia fighting, and their love was incredibly strong still in this film. The whole "women never make you talk thing" was very true of their relationship, and I enjoyed that. HOWEVER, I felt he was waiting to die in this Episode. He seemed out of it, almost as he was getting too old for his job. He even was not very well synergized with Chewbacca like previous episodes. I felt he was the joke character of this movie, but what I love about Han Solo are his quotes in the film, and overall he was a good character, but he missed stuff from previous films that made him more likable. I hated that his son killed him off, because there was never any indication of Han having a son outside the EU, therefore IT MUST be a revamp. The death of Han made Kylo's character all the more evil, and that is certainly an important thought in it. Because I wasn't spoiled, Han's death was rather sad for me, because the moment was a bit dumb, I mean I couldn't ever see Lucas pitting Han solo against a sith lord, but that is just me. There was a drastic change in Han's character that I did not like, and it almost felt like Harisson Ford was tired of the role. Who is Ben solo, really? Is he really a live action version of Jacen? Alternatively, he could be something else that killing his dad was worth it for him. Perhaps he will get Rey to the darkside as Anakin tried doing with Luke? I don’t want similar stories. We need to embrace new possibilities.

Snoke/Darth Plagueis: Unvelievably, I did not think we would get another supreme leader. I honestly, thought they would scrap the idea of Palpatine all together, but here we are with... Snoke? Snoke is unexplained and has almost no role in the film, so I am going to dedicate this information to the possibility that he is Darth Plagueis. They look similar, in fact very similar that it would be stupid to think this isn't true. There are also various leaks saying the same thing. The music sounds very similar to that of Palpatine, etc. There are a lot of plausible theories, and I will say that I believe it, because if anyone is more powerful than Palpatine, it has to be Darth Plagueis himself. Not to mention his stuff from the EU may be false now, so JJ can do whatever he wants with the character now. Of course, this could be way off and maybe Snoke is someone completely different. I'm still expecting REY as a future villain, because they HAVE to do something different.

Finn: Very funny but an obvious fanservice lead, nonetheless. Do you have a boyfriend? (To Rey), and he is very comical in general. He seems to make jokes out of almost anything! He was a troubled child, right? I am not sure why his character is very comical when he presumably killed so many people under the First Order's command. That being said, it was nice to have a break from Obi Wan and Anakin. He was a new cool character that happened to dig a chick along the way and fly an amazing spaceship with her. I was disappointed in some of his character though, and that is the fanservice. He is obvious fanservice. He makes the film feel like a joke at times, and nobody in Star Wars comes to mind as a joke besides Jar Jar Binks. I do not know, he likes to repeat phrases, repeatedly bother Rey with his obvious crush on her, etc. I need to hear more of him in the next film to like him. I originally thought Poe would end up being Kylo due to the bro fist he gave Finn in the teaser, though. I'm glad I was wrong. The thing that annoyed me so much is the fact he was able to wield a lightsaber with such ease. Force sensitivity isn't a requirement, but it isn't explained how he got so good with a saber.

Chewbacca: I enjoyed the nods he had with Solo and it shows he still cares deeply about his friends. I won't lie, I shed a tear when Chewwie detonated the explosives upon seeing Han dead.

Luke Skywalker: Uhm, he appears at the very end for like 10 seconds. I can't say much here other than he looked cool.
Leia: I always loved Leia but my god has Carrie Fisher aged! It is cool she is a general now but I didn’t appreciate her love for Han being central to the film because of the climax. I enjoyed her interactions with Han, but perhaps she will be more interesting in the sequels. She seems to know Snoke…. On the other hand, maybe Rey is her Jaina. We will see.

Maz Kanata: Uhm, is she like Yoda's wife or something? I really enjoyed the throwbacks to Yoda, as he is my favourite character in the whole universe. Maz has potential and I hope we see more of her. How the hell did she get Luke's saber???

End thoughts: OVERALL, it was a VERY GOOD revamp to the series. I am glad it borrowed from the expanded universe a little bit, but at the same time I am also glad it stayed fateful to the originals. The references were too much and made me have a nostalgia blast. The chase scene from episode 4, the dealings of Rey with the new Watto (parts dealer) and the fact Jakku was the new tatooine were all such good nostalgia parts. There were also references to the millennium falcon that I enjoyed, and references to Anakin as a kid, most notably in Rey's character. I would give the film a great score of 8/10, but in reality that is I being generous, and it deserves a 7.5 at best. Han's death still gets to me and ruined my childhood because he was such a good character! It is hard to accept, but all series move eventually. I am not sure how seeing Luke's lightsaber and wielding it made Rey so strong, but I am sure it has to do with her lineage because that is impossible, otherwise. I was excited as hell to see the film, and I am glad I left with some good expectations for VIII and IX.

FINAL SCORE: 8/10 (Very good)
 
Last edited:
Lunafreya Nox Fleuret said:
Saw the movie yesterday! Bunch of spoilers, you all have been warned. Here are my thoughts on what the film did well and what the film was somewhat lacking in.

I thought the story was lacking when compared to the previous Star Wars saga. There was too much action and flipping between POVS, that it became cumbersome to watch sometimes. Do not get me wrong because I enjoyed the action scenes (I saw it in imax) and I thought they were incredible. However, it took away from the charm Star Wars has in previous movies, and namely, the fact that dialogue wasn't present as something important in the film. A random droid somehow has a map to Luke Skywalker and two new characters, Finn, and Rey, experience troubles along the way. You know what I mean. It was just too simple for a story of Star Wars. It lacked the explanation on how Finn was able to wield a lightsaber, and more. That being said, I really enjoyed the film. Click the spoiler for my thoughts.

I went into the 500 seat packed theater with some mildly high expectations and well in the end, I felt the film was great, but at the same time, it took a lot away from what Star Wars is known for. There is seriously too much action in Episode VII. It is not a bad thing, but I want more plot. The story was pretty lacking, but the new characters were fantastically done, especially Rey. The references to previous films are all in the film, and there is so much nostalgia that my heart pounded so much that an old character would be killed. Yep, and it appeared that it was one of the best characters in all of Star Wars that was killed, but more on that later.

Rey: I had my fears about her but the character knocked it out of the park. She is very young and childlike in the face, but her character evolved throughout the film and made me like her a lot more. I like British chicks, anyway, but this one originally left me with disappointment. Now that I have seen the movie, I fell in love with her character. She is incredibly badass and becomes very strong rather quickly. I am not sure HOW the force awoke inside her, but I am sure it has to do with her lineage and the vision scenes. I am not even sure how Finn was able to use the lightsaber as well, and I was pretty underwhelmed they didn't explain it. More on Rey though, I enjoyed her character for the following reasons: Strong female without having to take her clothes off, the scavenger in her is very real up close and we can see she sticks true to that. If I were to guess who she truly is in the Star Wars universe, I would think she is Luke's daughter, or possibly even a revamp of Jaina Solo in the expanded universe. It is quite possible, simply because Kylo is a revamp of Jacen, from what I saw. Ah, but the best part of Rey was that she is British, xD. I always associated British chicks with a strong personality, and she did not underwhelm me. However, I will say that while Rey is a protagonist, there is the possibility she can become an antagonist in later films. I would truly love if she becomes evil, because we never had a female sith lord that badass before. Kylo wanted to "teach her the ways of the force" implying he knows her. I am assuming they could be cousins, based on leaks. Whatever, but Ben Solo is certainly NO COINCIDENCE because Ben Skywalker is Luke's son in the expanded universe and they got the name from there. Daisy Ridley was amazing in the movie and I would give best new character to her.

Kylo Ren: I will admit that I expected him to be a lot more powerful than he was in the movie. He was such a great villain at first but part way; I really felt that the actor lost the character. Do not get me wrong, he was FANTASTIC in playing the role. His voice is very epic and scary but when he takes off the mask, he manages to look creepier and freaky, but loses the character a little bit. Perhaps that was the point, because he was weak, but I felt he was getting out of character, especially when he was shouting. Like, YOU NEED A TEACHER, REY. I CAN SHOW YOU THE WAYS OF THE FORCE! Overall, I would rate Kylo's performance as a good one, but there was some severe lack of power in his character. He's a wimp, and a selfish and spoiled brat. He has to have all the power to himself, a natural power creep like Anakin, but weaker. I thought him killing off his dad was a bit jarring, personally. It was done in a sense that "isn't star wars" because who in their right mind would pit a bounty hunter against a dark knight of the sith? Anyway, it was not a fight, but when it happened, many people in my theater were sad or upset. One even screamed "THIS ISN'T STAR WARS!" I tend to agree that this part really wasn't something Lucas would have ever thought about. It was poorly done, just having the father walk up to his son and try to reason with him when it was already too late. At that point, Han was already dead because if he turned back, he would have been stabbed. The part was sad, brutal, and overly disgusting that it killed Leia's relationship with Han solo in the film. He is the new Jacen solo, for all we know. It is an obvious recton of Jacen from the comics, and Rey may be Jaina, but we will see. Nevertheless, there is some truth to this with Ren being Ben solo, and there being a Ben Skywalker in the EU.

Han Solo: Overall, I enjoyed the throwbacks to him and Leia fighting, and their love was incredibly strong still in this film. The whole "women never make you talk thing" was very true of their relationship, and I enjoyed that. HOWEVER, I felt he was waiting to die in this Episode. He seemed out of it, almost as he was getting too old for his job. He even was not very well synergized with Chewbacca like previous episodes. I felt he was the joke character of this movie, but what I love about Han Solo are his quotes in the film, and overall he was a good character, but he missed stuff from previous films that made him more likable. I hated that his son killed him off, because there was never any indication of Han having a son outside the EU, therefore IT MUST be a revamp. The death of Han made Kylo's character all the more evil, and that is certainly an important thought in it. Because I wasn't spoiled, Han's death was rather sad for me, because the moment was a bit dumb, I mean I couldn't ever see Lucas pitting Han solo against a sith lord, but that is just me. There was a drastic change in Han's character that I did not like, and it almost felt like Harisson Ford was tired of the role. Who is Ben solo, really? Is he really a live action version of Jacen? Alternatively, he could be something else that killing his dad was worth it for him. Perhaps he will get Rey to the darkside as Anakin tried doing with Luke? I don’t want similar stories. We need to embrace new possibilities.

Snoke/Darth Plagueis: Unvelievably, I did not think we would get another supreme leader. I honestly, thought they would scrap the idea of Palpatine all together, but here we are with... Snoke? Snoke is unexplained and has almost no role in the film, so I am going to dedicate this information to the possibility that he is Darth Plagueis. They look similar, in fact very similar that it would be stupid to think this isn't true. There are also various leaks saying the same thing. The music sounds very similar to that of Palpatine, etc. There are a lot of plausible theories, and I will say that I believe it, because if anyone is more powerful than Palpatine, it has to be Darth Plagueis himself. Not to mention his stuff from the EU may be false now, so JJ can do whatever he wants with the character now. Of course, this could be way off and maybe Snoke is someone completely different. I'm still expecting REY as a future villain, because they HAVE to do something different.

Finn: Very funny but an obvious fanservice lead, nonetheless. Do you have a boyfriend? (To Rey), and he is very comical in general. He seems to make jokes out of almost anything! He was a troubled child, right? I am not sure why his character is very comical when he presumably killed so many people under the First Order's command. That being said, it was nice to have a break from Obi Wan and Anakin. He was a new cool character that happened to dig a chick along the way and fly an amazing spaceship with her. I was disappointed in some of his character though, and that is the fanservice. He is obvious fanservice. He makes the film feel like a joke at times, and nobody in Star Wars comes to mind as a joke besides Jar Jar Binks. I do not know, he likes to repeat phrases, repeatedly bother Rey with his obvious crush on her, etc. I need to hear more of him in the next film to like him. I originally thought Poe would end up being Kylo due to the bro fist he gave Finn in the teaser, though. I'm glad I was wrong. The thing that annoyed me so much is the fact he was able to wield a lightsaber with such ease. Force sensitivity isn't a requirement, but it isn't explained how he got so good with a saber.

Chewbacca: I enjoyed the nods he had with Solo and it shows he still cares deeply about his friends. I won't lie, I shed a tear when Chewwie detonated the explosives upon seeing Han dead.

Luke Skywalker: Uhm, he appears at the very end for like 10 seconds. I can't say much here other than he looked cool.
Leia: I always loved Leia but my god has Carrie Fisher aged! It is cool she is a general now but I didn’t appreciate her love for Han being central to the film because of the climax. I enjoyed her interactions with Han, but perhaps she will be more interesting in the sequels. She seems to know Snoke…. On the other hand, maybe Rey is her Jaina. We will see.

Maz Kanata: Uhm, is she like Yoda's husband or something? I really enjoyed the throwbacks to Yoda, as he is my favourite character in the whole universe. Maz has potential and I hope we see more of her. How the hell did she get Luke's saber???

End thoughts: OVERALL, it was a VERY GOOD revamp to the series. I am glad it borrowed from the expanded universe a little bit, but at the same time I am also glad it stayed fateful to the originals. The references were too much and made me have a nostalgia blast. The chase scene from episode 4, the dealings of Rey with the new Watto (parts dealer) and the fact Jakku was the new tatooine were all such good nostalgia parts. There were also references to the millennium falcon that I enjoyed, and references to Anakin as a kid, most notably in Rey's character. I would give the film a great score of 8/10, but in reality that is I being generous, and it deserves a 7.5 at best. Han's death still gets to me and ruined my childhood because he was such a good character! It is hard to accept, but all series move eventually. I am not sure how seeing Luke's lightsaber and wielding it made Rey so strong, but I am sure it has to do with her lineage because that is impossible, otherwise. I was excited as hell to see the film, and I am glad I left with some good expectations for VIII and IX.

FINAL SCORE: 8/10 (Very good)
Click to expand...



I think we’re to forget about the EU material entirely. They are reclassified as ‘Legends’ or something, and no longer canonical where the Star Wars movie universe is concerned. Some of the basic plot lines and characters may draw inspiration from the EU characters, but we would be wasting time trying to figure out which characters from Force Awakens correlate with which EU characters. These are all new.

Nobody ever got up and screamed when I went to see the film. That’s strange…. Actually, I lie. There was a powercut when I went to see it the first time, so a lot of people shouted, but not at the film! :argor:

I think the Han Solo death scene wasn’t out of place in the Star Wars universe. The only problem is that the only leading characters who tend to lose their lives to the big bad are Jedi (Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, etc). In this case it makes sense because there is a personal story behind this. Han was motivated by a belief (or really Leia’s suggestion) that there was still good in Ben Solo, and that a talk with his father might bring him back to the light. I think when Kylo Ren appeared as the good guys were setting the charges Han Solo realised that they were not going to complete their mission unless he attempted to win back Ben Solo for good. Ren probably would have thwarted their detonation if they had attacked him outright. So Han acted as a father and tried to convince his son to come home.

How is this not Star Wars? A family soap opera in space is exactly what Star Wars is about. If it wasn’t then Darth Vader would have cut off Luke Skywalker’s head on Bespin rather than just his hand. Darth Vader was as reluctant to kill Luke (as he wished them to reunite and rule the galaxy as father and son, with the dark side) as Han Solo was reluctant to kill Ben Solo (whom he wanted to convert back to the light). It fits. That whole scene is reminiscent of the Vader-Luke Bespin scene.

If it is the death of Han Solo himself which is the issue with some people as not being authentically Star Warsian, then I can see that to an extent. If Han Solo had died at the end of Episode VI then the point would be stronger, since Han Solo was part of the ‘big three’. The thing is that Han Solo is not part of the ‘big three’ in the sequel trilogy (these would now be Finn, Rey, and Poe), and so Han Solo fills the role which Obi-Wan played in the original trilogy, and which Qui-Gon played in the prequel trilogy. He is therefore expendable (though his death would be used for great emotional impact and to goad the other characters into action, just like Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon’s deaths served). It seems different this time because people have known and loved Han Solo for so long, but in the context of this being the first movie of a sequel trilogy, it does make sense and fit into the framework of Star Wars.

Another argument could be made for not caring about what Star Wars usually does, and instead be interested in seeing what Star Wars can do now. Maybe we can imagine a Star Wars where characters aren’t necessarily guaranteed to survive just because they are part of the A-Team and all Stormtrooper blaster shots always miss them.

I think the Stormstrooper with the electric baton was supposed to act as the explanation of how Finn could wield a lightsaber. The Stormtroopers are more efficient at dealing with lightsabers by now, as they have these batons which can deflect a lightsaber beam. It isn’t unreasonable to suggest that the Stormtroopers have basic training on lightsabers and how to avoid them, or even how to use them.

Personally I didn't think that Finn was a joke. He was funny, but so was Han Solo in the original trilogy. Threepio and Artoo also served for constant comic relief in the original trilogy (and prequel trilogy, though I found them a bit out of place in that). I'd rather be trapped in a room with a thousand Finns talking to me than trapped on the same planet (or even the same galaxy) with one Jar Jar Binks. :O
 
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