Quote:
Originally Posted by Trent
Good points. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Lord_Zed
And to be fair, Vader is pretty darn generous with dishing out promotions too. Team motivator right there. :D
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Trent
Good points. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Lord_Zed
And to be fair, Vader is pretty darn generous with dishing out promotions too. Team motivator right there. :D
On my way to see it again, only this time it's in Imax.:D
I felt Ren after removing the mask doesn't look fearsome. It in fact weakens him when confronting Rey.
Snok looks like some Lord Voldemort and wont be surprised if we bring in Lego expanded universe there. Harry potter comes in lol
I am sure Luke could have taken Ren out, but because he is Han's and Leia's son, he didn't. Whatever Rey relation is, she has less compassion and was willing to take K Ren out after what he did to Han which I bet Luke couldn't do.
I made this photocomic parodying the financial and practical issues with Starkiller Base. Enjoy. :)
With the destruction of Starkiller base I was thinking that's an entire planetary ecosystem with countless flora and fauna gone. Also it was so conveniently close and orientated to enemy systems.
Starkiller base presumably had a hyperdrive like the Death Star right, so it could jump around the galaxy? Otherwise once you've sucked out the sun how would you ever recharge it?Quote:
Originally Posted by gamblor916
Actually that's a good point.Quote:
Originally Posted by Paulbot
They would have had to have moved after they destroyed the Hosnian system.
Where did they move to and how did Finn know they had moved there? Finn should only have known where it was. Did they have a set list of stars they were going to or something?
Perhaps it was a binary star system. :p
Also, wouldn't destroying a star also leave a black hole in its wake?
I actually considered a binary system as a possibility, but the hyperdrive seems more likely. But even that is troublesome...Quote:
Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime
Thinking about the original comment, although the destruction wiped out the "entire planetary ecosystem with countless flora and fauna gone", I'm not sure that the ecosystem would have lasted so long once there was no longer a sun!
But would it fare any better if the planet jumped to hyperspace? Really good planetary shields?
Not sure the logic of this was completely thought through.
I thought Star Killer base was the dumbest part of the movie, it would of been a better movie without it. I would be happy if it was just a base, but without the ridiculous super weapon.
I agree with this. Also we never got to see the new walkers in action, just blurry background filler.Quote:
Originally Posted by Defcon
To be fair, if I were a kid, I would think that Starkiller Base was freakin' awesome. :D
There are a lot of things in Star Wars that I've grown up with thinking that are cool (and still do think are cool :p) despite later realising that it doesn't make a lick of sense.
- Hyperspace. While the idea of wormholes and spacefolding are theoretically/arguably possible (Einstein was the first to propose the curved nature of space), the idea of being able to travel at super-light speed is really more of a plot device than scientific plausibility.
- Lightsabres. Cavelos explains how lightsabres could be built with our existing technology, and while it is possible, the "handle" would be the size of a factory. ;) One problem that canon has never explained is how to maintain a static blade tip. Also, the shape and nature of Kylo Ren's blade arguably disproves the notion that lightsabre blades are made from plasma or something like plasma. Also, as Kevin Smith once said, the emanating heat from a lightsabre would likely give you an instant sunburn.
- Jetpacks. Again, as Smith said, they would, "Burn your (donkey) off."
- The Force. Let's face it, it's magic. And when the Prequels tried to provide a scientific explanation for it, fans got mad and demanded that it be magic. :p Earlier today my daughter asked me if lightsabres really can beat guns, and I told her only if the person using the lightsabre has special Force powers. And this is canonically true -- any regular person who tries to use a lightsabre to deflect a blaster shot will just get shot like in real life!
Star Wars is really just a space opera rather than science fiction. :D
Yep, it should have been left as the doomsday device for the final movie in this presumed trilogy (which would have been a nice throwback to the climax of the original film). Now to one-up the threat level in future they're going to have to go full retard: like a weapon that can destroy the entire galaxy in a single shot.Quote:
Originally Posted by Defcon
Definitely a more enjoyable movie than the prequels (and even some of the original trilogy films IMO). Found the pacing to be particularly good, especially when compared to the dialogue heavy scene to dialogue heavy scene to pointless CGI battle scene prequels.
I am with goki here, I think a lot of people try to think too hard and make sense out of every flaw is where you are not going to enjoy the movie to someone sitting back and relax.
I mean you don't need to be a Jedi to spot the evil base that big. I be very concerned if my sun is being played around with someone.
I can totally forgot 1,2,3 ever happened when I watch this movie and that's what made it enjoyable.
IMO the Prequels were a poor execution of a good concept, and Force Awakens has been a good execution of a pretty ordinary concept (i.e. mostly rehashing A New Hope). :oQuote:
Originally Posted by Lint
While the Prequels did certainly have their share of flaws, they were - IMHO - fundamentally sound. Because those movies did fulfill the following:
- Showed us the origins of Anakin Skywalker, including his gradual journey from being an innocent and good person towards his ultimate fall from grace into villainy. And of course, Anakin's romance with Padmé, culminating in the birth of the twins.
- The Jedi in their prime. The Prequels gave us an unsurpassed amount of lightsabre action. As griffin pointed out before, the Original Trilogy was set after the fall of the Jedi; so all we saw were old men, a cyborg and a quasi-trained boy.
- The Clone Wars! Something that we've been itching to see ever since the 1977 film where Luke asked Ben, "You fought in the Clone Wars?!" and nothing more was ever said about it.
- The transformation of the Republic into the Empire.
Of course, one of the core problems with the Prequels was that the stories themselves were more driven by these events rather than being character driven. The Prequels spent more time world-building which left less time for character-development. We didn't really need to see so much world-building, such as all those boring Senate sessions (seriously, who wants to watch a galactic version of Question Time?), the Pod Race (they only really need to show ONE lap), the Kaminoan cloning facility, the Geonosian droid foundry etc. While they were all cool things to see, they ultimately weren't that pivotal to the plot per se. They could've been made much shorter or just mentioned in passing. Then Lucas would've had more time to intensely focus on characters like Anakin Skywalker etc.
To me, The Force Awakens feel like the complete opposite of this. The general story is pretty much a retelling of A New Hope, but the story is reasonably well driven by its two protagonists -- Finn, the man who's desperate to flee his past, and Rey, the girl who's desperate to run back to her past. Both characters go on a personal journey and they grow and become different people by the end of the film. Finn learns to stop running away and become a selfless hero (similar to Han Solo's journey in A New Hope, actually), and Rey learns to living in the past and embrace her future.
Hopefully the future Sequels will give us a good combination of having a good character-driven plot, which is what the Original Trilogy gave us (hence why it's regarded as the best by fans). Bear in mind that Abrams is not directing Episodes VIII and IX, I think that we may have a new hope for this franchise to strike back and deliver a return of the story-telling standard that we loved from the OT. :)
Gee if Abrams not doing the later ones, it may fall back again.
I would say that what you've described is actually TFA's biggest weakness - it doesn't give us the entire context for what's happening. There seems to be a massive gap in information/exposition delivered on-screen, as if there's required reading/assumed knowledge, but we don't have that knowledge. Yeah, the First Order is descended from the remnants of the Empire, but if the Empire is defeated, why is there a resistance? What's the go with the New Republic, and aren't they fighting the First Order?Quote:
Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime
Episodes IV and I actually worked in that there was no backstory needed to understand what was going on - the opening crawls for those two movies told us what we needed to know with regards to backstory and context, whereas Episode VII's doesn't.
I personally see it as more of a strength. I think that in the limited time that you have to tell a story that it's not always necessary to overly delve into world-building expositions. I think that it's fine to allow audiences to fill in the gaps. This is what the Original Trilogy did, and I think that it worked in its favour because it gave those films more time to cut to the chase and focus on the characters; to tell the story about what's happening right now rather than what's happened before.
In the OT we know virtually nothing about the Clone Wars, other than the fact that Obi-Wan and Anakin fought together in it. That's it. But as far as experiencing the story of the OT is concerned, that's really all you need to know. Knowing that Boba Fett is a clone and a product of the Clone Wars really isn't essential to one's experience of the OT. We know nothing of Anakin's origins; just that he was Obi-Wan's student who turned to evil and that he's the father of Luke and Leia. But again, that's all you really need to know. Don't get me wrong, I do like world building, and the knowledge garnered from the Prequels helps to embellish the Original Trilogy, but that's basically what they are -- an embellishment. But not an absolute necessity, as far as the core story of the OT is concerned.
If I may make a comparison with Transformers; look at Beast Wars. Although Beast Wars is set in the same continuity family as G1, it stands alone enough that you don't absolutely need to know G1 canon to watch and appreciate Beast Wars. Yes, G1 canonical knowledge does certainly enhance one's enjoyment of Beast Wars, but BW is perfectly enjoyable to an audience who knows nothing about G1. This is because while BW often referenced G1, it didn't stop to weigh itself down by delving deeply into G1 itself. This is what the Original Star Wars Trilogy did -- it referenced the Prequels, but didn't delve into it. The Prequels very much delved into itself, which was fine in many parts, but it became cumbersome in others. As mentioned before, the Pod Race is a prime example of this.
So I think that TFA also does well in simply making quick references to the events that have occurred between RotJ and TFA without bogging itself down by pausing for exposition. The movie provides almost all of the basic information that we need to know, such as:
* Luke did indeed create a new Jedi Order, as instructed by Yoda.
* Ben Solo/Kylo Ren was one of his students who was seduced by the Dark Side and helped to destroy the Jedi.
* Kylo Ren was a member of some order (as seen in Rey's image)
* Ben's fall caused his family to fall apart, as well as forcing his Uncle Luke into exile.
* TheImperial Remnant^First Order has risen from the ashes of the Empire. They are apparently under the rule of a Sith with an adorably cute and cuddly name. Awww... Snokey!
The only real loose end from the film is Rey. But it's obviously deliberate because they're building for the upcoming sequels.
Would it be cool if official canon helped to fill in the gaps? Absolutely. But the Force Awakens movie itself doesn't necessarily have to do this. Isn't Disney going to make some spin-off movies? Cos if so, those films could easily fill in these gaps.
I need to see it again but like several of the sentiments here, I did very much enjoy it. Most of my enjoyment probably came from the feel of this movie which has returned to that of the original trilogy - It feels like Star Wars again :)
This movie is by no means without its critical flaws and a lot of them atributed to how JJ Abrahams makes films, specially in the rehashes of previous plotlines for fan service. We didn't need a third Death star battle and as a result, that was probably the weakest part of the film. Although more subtle than JJ's other tribute work, we also got what is essentially a retelling of the A New Hope storyline but with a sufficiently new take to make it seem fresh but more directly atributed to the new characters. That part of the movie was what made this film work as the Star Killer bit was kind of 'been there, done that' and lacked emotial intensity.
It was also good to see a return to practical effects and scenery rather than a complete dependence on CGI like the prequels. However JJ decided to still use CGI characters like Snook and Maz Kanata (who was kind of a lady Yoda) which they simply don't blend in with the world and look too 'CGI' like the prequels. I hope this gets recitified in future films as they stood out as CGI too blatantly but largely due to how well done all the practical effects were - Kind of shows how CGI can't beat the artistry of practical effects.
In short, I like this movie because it feels like the original Star Wars. It introduces interesting new main characters while still having the old ones around. There is still an air of mystery about it which allows us to wonder and speculate about and the fact that we are discussing it, means that the movie has grabbed us enough to care.
This movie distances itself from the abhorrent prequel trilogy brings us back to how Star Wars should be. The next best thing now would be to delegate the Prequel trilogy as an 'alternate universe' and perhaps give us a decent origin to Darth Vader and the clone Wars :)
Regarding Luke, I think he did set out to find the temple but was probably marooned on the planet by Kylo Ren. That is probably why he was out of contact for so long.
I saw the film again this morning, and enjoyed it more the second time. The first time all the remake bits kept standing out, but this time I knew exactly what to expect and could just enjoy a really good Star Wars movie.
There were a couple of things I noticed on a second viewing. For example you can see the Falcon as soon as they run into the junkyard once you know it's there. And I think I missed the first time that it was a single X-Wing (Poe's) tearing through the TIEs in the "Damn good pilot" moment which made it actually a really great demostration.
The size of the First Order is implied from a line by Maz, and it's definitely larger than what we see in the film. Starkiller base was fully charged and in sunlight, so it presumably was in a binary system. The line about it being an "hyper lightspeed weapon" still doesn't make it too clear how it works.
I was also looking closely at the interactions between Finn and Poe, and while it can be read in to, I actually found that Finn and Rae had more potential relationship potential on rewatch.
In the aftermath of the bar I was thinking how good it was to see a battle taking place in the real world. Like Kup said, the prequels ended up with too much CGI and it was used for too many environments. Real set and real world locations make a big difference.
One other thought I had at the beginning was it would have been interesting if when the opening scroll started it had said "Episode X: The Force Awakens"! How many people would have noticed? Just like A New Hope having an "Episode IV", the suggestion of multiple untold stories would have been cool.
I too watched it for the second time this morning. As Paulbot said it was much more relaxed the second time. I hadn't completely made up my mind on whether I liked it or not, there is quite a bit to not like, but overall I think it's a good movie that will stand the test of time against the OT.
I thought that, for a Stormtrooper who had been trained in combat his whole life, Finn came across as a little awkward.
The biggest problem I had with it was Han's death. It felt like it wasn't really put in to drive the story forward, like a natural progression of the story, but they made the movie with the requirement that Han die at the end. And because of that it lacked the emotion that the moment should have had :(
Also, on second viewing, in the final scene Rey doesn't seem to be standing there holding up that light saber like an idiot for nearly as long :)
Overall, a solid 3/5. And as a Protagonist, Rey rocks :)
Convinced the wife she needed to see it, so bonus second viewing for me too.
Better the second time around when you know what's happening so you can scan the backgrounds for details.
Honestly think that the more I see this movie, but the less I think about it being a clone of episode IV (but much better acted!) the more I'll enjoy it. It's not a "turn off your brain" action flick but just a highly enjoyable, If not familiar and predictable popcorn film.
Yeh I convinced my wife to watch it with me this time for my 2nd viewing. She scored a watch out of it so I made it worth her while haha. I still loved seeing it again. I was still moved when Chewy goes into his rage after Han Solo dies, when the X-Wing squadron first turns the tide, and when Ren is trying to use the force to take the Lightsaber only for it to fly past him to the hands of Rey.Quote:
Originally Posted by i_amtrunks
But if Ren was the one to put Luke there, why would he also be in search of the map?Quote:
Originally Posted by kup
Wooo star wars 8 next year!
Has anyone forgotten Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is coming out next year?
Just haven't seen much speculation about it...
This year :-PQuote:
Originally Posted by UltimateGalvatron
This one gets less speculation as its set between movies.... Kinda already know they succeed in their mission.... :-P
I was thinking it was still 2015, lol. Personally I think it'd be cool if they had some cameos from characters from Rebels (Kanan, Ezra, Ahsoka, Old Rex etc) but I doubt they will be included. Tarkin is in it though.Quote:
Originally Posted by Krayt
Would Rex be alive? He is old in Rebels, and Force Awakens is set 30 years after Return of the Jedi... I think of that list only Ezra would be alive.Quote:
Originally Posted by UltimateGalvatron
Minor SpoilersQuote:
Originally Posted by MayzaPrime
The basic plot of Rogue One is a film set around getting the Death Star plans to Princess Leia
Just read an interesting article regarding The Force Awakens, which unfortunately isn't appropriate to share due to the frequent use coarse language. Nonetheless, the author does make a few good points.
This is in regard to the final lightsabre battle between Kylo Ren, Finn and Rey. One criticism that this scene has received was how Ren was "easily" beaten by two novices. Consider the following:
- They were fighting a severely messed up Kylo Ren
Chewbacca's bowcaster is significantly powered up in this film. Clearly Chewie has upgraded his weapon quite a bit during the intervening 30 years between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens. We see single shots from this weapon sending Stormtroopers flying some 6m through the air! This weapon deals some serious damage. After killing Han Solo, Chewbacca shoots Kylo Ren with his bowcaster and scores a hit. Kylo Ren takes a tumble, but he gets up and walks away, despite having been shot by a weapon that could flip a Jeep! Then, without any medical treatment, Ren goes out in the freezing cold and fights Rey and Finn. So really, Rey and Finn were fighting a severely wounded Kylo Ren. The guy needed to be in a Bacta tank, not in a lightsabre fight!
- Finn and Rey aren't non-combatants. Okay, neither have been trained in lightsabre combat, but they aren't novices to melee combat either. Finn, legally known as FN-2187, is a professionally trained soldier. And we know that First Order Stormtroopers are also trained in melee combat, as demonstrated by the vibro-weapon wielding Stormtrooper who fights the lightsabre wielding Finn. Rey's teacher in the combat arts has been her life experience. Growing up on the hostile world of Jakku since a child and having to survive as a scavenger, Rey had to learn how to look after herself. So Rey basically developed her martial arts skills in the same way that martial arts were created in real life in the ancient world and in the same way that evolution works -- she didn't get killed! (re: survival of the fittest) If Rey wasn't a naturally talented survivor, she probably would've died in childhood. She didn't have adoptive parents or an uncle and aunt to raise her. We see her successfully fighting off multiple opponents in hand-to-hand combat. Finn ran to her rescue, but by the time he got there the rescue wasn't needed. Then Rey chased him and beat him down. Han Solo even acknowledge that she can fight. Mix in her heightened Force sensitivity, and you have one naturally potent fighter (Luke and Leia on the other hand were raised in environments that never allowed them to develop melee fighting skills; Luke as a farmer, Leia as a statesman).
If you take the world's best boxer or martial arts fighter, shoot him in the stomach with a high power rifle, then put him in a cage fight with a person who's had Army training and another person who grew up in a violent slum in a third world country, then yeah, the odds of that "ultimate fighter" being able to win the fight suddenly goes down.
P.S.: There is still another criticism of that fight which I must admit that I find ridiculous and cannot justify, and that is a really long pause where Rey closes her eyes and begins meditating before defeating Ren. Really. As if Ren is just going to idly stand there while she summons the power of the Force to beat him. Sure, Vader did a lot of this when he fought Luke in The Empire Strikes Back, but that was because he was toying with Luke. It was never his intention to kill Luke, he wanted to recruit his son. Ren has no such objective! The dude had just killed his own father, there's no apparent reason as to why he wouldn't kill Rey. And even if there were, he could still easily have beaten her without killing her, like chopping off her legs or something. She was just standing there with her eyes closed! :eek: (gah... this is why I can't stand to watch martial arts competitions...)
Was she? Just standing there at some point? Do you mean the bit where Ren had his light sabre almost at her throat and she was holding it back with hers, and then Ren got a bit concerned by how strong she was quickly becoming with the force, and Rey closed her eyes until the moment letting the force flow through and she became attuned enough to push him off and get the upper hand?Quote:
Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime
(It's also a dramatic movie moment of the hero's comeback. How long did Galvatron have his hands around Hot Rod's throat before the Autobot got his hands on the Matrix? Enough time to cut away to a whole other scene! )
I kinda think that people don't want Kylo sucking any more than he already does, to the point where they're dissecting his suckage and looking for explanations to losing out to two half noobs.
Remember, Rey can do anything. No formal training required. I'm surprised she didn't move Starkiller Base into another system by just closing her eyes and thinking happy thoughts;)
Yes! That's the one. It didn't bother me as much when I watched it the first time, but it did during my second viewing when it was much more noticeable. Yes, I understand that it creates a lot of cool dramatic tension, but it could've been done in a more practical manner.Quote:
Originally Posted by Paulbot
For example...
Obi-Wan Kenobi vs Darth Maul
Kenobi was precariously dangling off a ledge while Maul was toying with him. Kenobi momentarily focuses and draws on the power of the Force. There is a dramatic pause which is also reflected in the music. We also see Qui-Gon Jinn's lightsabre twitching. Kenobi then suddenly performs an acrobatic flip while summoning Jinn's sabre, then landing and killing a surprised Maul.
Luke Skywalker vs Darth Vader
Luke chops off Vader's hand as the fight reaches its climax - also reflected in the music and the sound of Vader screaming. The scene then slows down and pauses as Luke looks upon a now pathetically defeated and weakened Vader who is at his mercy. The Emperor goads Luke into killing Vader. There is incredible tension and suspense in this scene as Luke goes through an internal battle... we see Luke calm down and focus as he stares at his own robotic hand. After his brief moment of reflection, Luke stands triumphant and throws his lightsabre away, refusing to execute a defeated opponent. Luke then morally defeats the Emperor by telling him, "You've failed, Your Highness. I am a Jedi, like my father before me."
Anakin Skywalker vs Count Dooku
Similar to Luke's dilemma, only that Anakin makes the opposite decision and executes. Much like Vader, Dooku was incapable of fighting back. The fight was already finished by this stage.
All of these scenes involve the protagonists pausing to reflect or meditate in order to deal with their fear. In Obi-Wan and Luke's cases, they chose to manage/contain their fear by becoming more calm and focused. In Anakin's case, he gave into his fear, killing Dooku in an act of rage and vengeance. Rey is faced with similar dilemmas in The Force Awakens. We see her initially fail at using the Jedi Mind Trick because she was terrified. After she managed to calm herself and manage her fear, she was then able to successfully pull off the Jedi Mind Trick. And it was fine for this scene to take its time because the Stormtrooper wasn't there to kill her, he was just there to prevent her from escaping. Sure, time was of the essence as Ren was approaching, but not quite as imminent as being in the middle of a melee fight. This scene already shows the audience how the Light side of the Force works, so I don't think it was necessary to redo the same exposition at full length when Rey countered Ren. Simply show Rey taking a deep breath as the music plays Luke's theme -- maintain eye contact. Have her facial expression quickly change from fear to calm determination; same as what Obi-Wan and Luke did. Even Hayden Christensen did the same thing, only in reverse... and if Christensen can do it, any actor/actress can. :p
Or...
...if you would rather that moment be drawn out, then create some physical distance between the characters. This is what happened with Kenobi and Maul. Lucas wanted to draw out some tension in this scene, so he had Kenobi dangling off the wall of a pit while Maul stood seemingly triumphant at the ledge. They're already fighting outdoors, so it'd be easy enough to put some space between these characters. For example, you might have Ren walk towards a frightened Rey menacingly as she closes her eyes and taps into the power of the Light side, then lifting her lightsabre up and blocking Ren's lethal blow at the last second and then turning the tide against him.
I think that either option would work better than just having the two of them standing there locked together like they're in an awkward school dance. :p This is the sort of thing that often plagues Japanese anime and tokusatsu series ("Power Rangers") -- where the protagonist(s) need to pause and have a dramatic power up while the antagonist twiddles their thumbs. There's an anime called Martian Successor Nadesico which wonderfully parodies a lot of anime and scifi clichés, and in one episode one of the mecha pilots tells his partner that their robots need to combine. The partner is about to engage the combination sequence, but the first guy says that they have to do it in a dramatically heroic fashion by loudly yelling the name of the their transformation. So they try it, but the partner (who just doesn't care about this) isn't saying it dramatically enough, so they pause and the first guy tells him that he's gotta put more heart into it. So they try again, and an enemy combatant blows up the first robot, killing the dramatic pilot! The second pilot survives, but then suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.
She can't make Jar Jar Binks not suck. :pQuote:
Originally Posted by Sinnertwin
I've always thought that the duel at the end of ROTJ was the weakest -not counting Episode 7's baseball slug shots
Watch it again. Luke and Vader are merrily swinging away when Vader decides to stop and sit down, allowing Luke to slice his hand off. That choreography could have used something more
And tapping her heels three times. ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Sinnertwin
I agree, good story, woefully poor execution. I'm watching the Clone Wars series on Netflix right now and it fulfills all but (presumably) the last of the points you mentioned above. In fact if you had never seen the prequel films previously they would appear like some kind of live action homebrew some fanboy has cooked up on youtube based off the Clone Wars series.Quote:
Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime
I suspect JJ Abrams was either given or chose to follow the same sort of mandate he got for Star Trek: have enough nods to the old stuff to hook the fans in but establish a new and clear enough playground for the franchise to grow into. While I would have liked to have more of the new trilogy based off EU (now branded Legends) material I think we have to accept that while a lot of it was absolutely brilliant, theres a lot of crap that simply would not work and we'd almost certainly recieve something that violates previous canon AND doesn't live up to expectations.Quote:
Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime
I hope the future creators and Disney make the most of the fresh start.
As a nerd, I really really really wanted the sequels to follow the EU. I was looking forward to pointing out the correct pronunciation of "Xizor" ("shee-zor," not "zick-zor"). But alas, this will probably never come to pass. Also, even if it did, there is a chance that actors may still mispronounce the name, unless Peter Jackson were directing (a lot of people refused to believe me when I said that Smaug is pronounced as "smOWg" and not "smorg"). Whatever. Don't even start me on the way that a lot of people mispronounce "Yuuzhan Vong." What do you mean that these are fictitious languages and it doesn't matter?!? :p :p #itsleviosanotleviosa
*ahem* But yes, I would like to see the dismissal of the EU as means for the sequel writers to have the freedom to take the next movies to new directions rather than redirecting it along the same parallels as the Original Trilogy.
I saw it a few weeks ago but haven't been near a keyboard to type so here are my thoughts for a long time ago..
- I hope that Rey is no relation of Luke's or any other established family. Keeping it all in the family is what the The Bold and Beautiful is for. I hope there is no ultra super special family in SW.
- I doubt a bigger-er Star weapon would suit any more movies so I wouldn't mind the Sith go to hunt down Rey's family in the next movie - it is a proven way to disrupt a young Jedi's training. Just like the Star-gun was a new take on an old formula I think a "chase for Rey's family" movie could be a new take on another familiar SW event.
- The defection of Finn was strange. Could the ex-stormtrooper split out hero group if the Rebels start to suspect the Empire has (by a series of strange events) actually planted him? I mean his behaviour was so different from other Stormtroopers that I am surprised that such malfunction was not noticed before this seemingly sudden and extreme battlefield meltdown.
- The safe return of Poe was strange. This is an area where I think the Sith may have pulled strings. Finn could make a great red-stormtrooper-herring whilst it is Poe that is being used. Now I know that Poe pretty much destroyed the Planet-gun but for the Sith to find the last Jedi? I think they would be so ruthless.
- At the time I thought Ren was punching his side to inflate/deflate a punctured lung which would've showcased how darn hard it is to kill a force user AND leave him in a much weakened state for the beginners to battle him. Looking back now I think he was just getting amped off the pain, shame.
- I don't know the back story but Phasma should survive (like they nearly all do) and kick arse in the next movie.
- BB8 worked better than expected.
- Loved Ren's tantrums. It was the best way to showcase his emotional state and immature Sith training.
SAw a few days ago and my thoughts will follow.
Nice visuals, Han Solo and Chewie were cool, but the rest was fairly ho-hum. This was the original Star Wars movie with a "search for....." thrown in for good measure. I've already seen the story of the death star. Twice. It seems ludicrous to think anyone would think that type of weapon is good idea... surely.
The names were stupid. Snoke or whatever doesn't sound intimidating, but then neither did Count Dooku. It's fairly unlikely that Snoke is a fully trained Sith lord isn't it? What with the eliteness of the Jedi and sith bizzo.
Had a hard time liking the characters as well. Finn came off as incompeteant. Rey, kind of unlikeable. Ren was the most interesting for me, as you can tell the commander of the star killer base thing thought he was weak and shouldn't be in the position he's in. I did think Ren was way too emo and when he took off his mask, any threat level he had disappeared. I really hope he is developed more than just becoming a serious bad-ass sith lord.
I think most of all, I found it disappointing as the movie felt more like a re-hash than anything else. Surely with a decent director on board we'd be getting something good. Oh no. Lets just go for the original again.
Needs more Mark Hamil. Oh and that last scene, waaaay tooooo looooong!
2.5 out of 5.
Wasn't bad, wasn't good either. A perfectly safe movie.