Member reviews of THE FORCE AWAKENS

--- Double Post Merged, Dec 21, 2015, Original Post Date: Dec 21, 2015 ---

Exactly, and it'll keep us busy for the next year and a half

 

In that case they would have finally managed to turn Yoda retroactively into a spin-doctor, too ("When gone am I, the last of the Jedi will you be").

 

Well, i guess by now every single Star Wars Fan would know that things like plot continuity and plot consistency aren't that big of a deal by SW writers, remember:

ANH and Hoth parts of ESB - Leia and Luke share some love interest
Bespin parts of ESB and ROTJ - Leia madly in love with Han Solo ("I Know" - is pure movie gold)

TPM - Anakin is here too free the slavdes (Who????)

 

Possible, but I prefer to remain vocal to ask for more continuity and consistency, can't really be such a bad thing, right?

Contrary to what you seem to suggest, already during production phase of ESB it had been decided that Luke and Leia would be siblings. I'm just not sure which came first, Luke & Leia to be brother and sister or Vader now beeing Luke's father.

 

Watching my favorite movies over and over my guess still goes that was only decided Luke and Leia to be siblings DURING the making/shooting of ESB, but that's just my guess. The continuity and consistency issues are been known to all of us but we still loved the SW movies anyway.

If i could chose, LS Tekka would be an old Kyle Katarn, my favorite SW videoGames charater of all time (okay, okay, Revan and Starkiller are amazing), everything could still follows Yoda's words because Katarn is not a true Jedi but an fanmade padawan.

 

You guess correctly. I mean there was a scene with another kiss (almost), but then they took it out, plus Yoda's words -There's another (c) and ending.

 

7 out of 10. The pacing was off sometimes, making it harder to take in some of the events. I actually wish there was 20 more minutes, mostly of downtime to get the feels right. Gotta run, I'll add more later.

 

4/4 stars (or 10/10).

4/4 does not mean flawless - no movie is flawless. 4/4 means that it is thoroughly entertaining, and there were no flaws significant enough to detract from that experience. I love this movie.

The movie matched the grandiose spectacle and emotional drama of the OT and added to it an even higher level of dialog, humor, and character development.

I love the new characters. Beginning with Poe's very first, surprising words to Kylo, the character dialog was natural and interesting, believable and unpredictable, revealing and funny.


I disagree almost across the board with most of the criticisms I have heard for the movie.

I thought the pacing was great. I would have been happy to watch a 3.5 hour Star Wars movie (I love the long classics like Ben Hur), but I know that's never going to happen. For a 2.2 hour movie, I thought it slowed down just enough during the dialog scenes to let us feel involved, without losing the sense of excitement.

The similarities of the story to ANH seemed much stronger on paper. Watching the movie, the story structure felt very different. From my interpretation, the main story arcs of the movie were (in approximate order of appearance):
1) The search for Luke
2) Finn's fight or flight struggle
3) The desire to reclaim Kylo
4) Rey's reluctant force awakening
5) Destroying Starkiller base

Out of these, only #5 feels very similar to ANH. #4 is vaguely familiar to Luke's story in ANH, but almost in reverse, and with distinct differences. Rey is reluctant, and the struggle has everything to do with her longing for family. The powerful calling from the force itself is a new theme.

The trench run was the most familiar moment, but it only lasts a few seconds in this movie, so it is more of a fun reference than a parallel in story structure.

#3 echoes a theme familiar to the whole Star Wars saga and especially ESB and ROTJ, but it is the same saga after all. The first 6 movies centered on the struggle between light and dark and subsequent redemption of Anakin, so the next 3 need some continuity with that theme. I believe Kylo and Rey will be reflecting and continuing Anakin's struggle within themselves in the ST.


The musical score is simply beautiful. Many of the OT themes were reused, but I thought that was very fitting since this is a sequel. The most climactic moments used OT themes, which is why this one lacks a "Duel of the Fates". But the new pieces are beautiful, and they weave together perfectly with the old themes.


One small criticism:

I understand that they wanted to keep Rey's backstory a secret for the next movie, but I wish I knew as much as she did. What does she remember from before she was left on Jakku?

This may have left a small separation between her and the audience, even though her story is moving. I felt like I knew Finn better than I knew Rey. Maybe that's okay though. There are some truly great movies where the main character knew more than the audience for most or all of the movie (Citizen Cane and Casablanca, to name just two).


This movie was great. I can't compare it to the OT movies because they are more than movies to me now, they are icons. I cannot wait to spend more time with these characters in Episode 8, and I hope that Rian Johnson will match this same level of dialog and excitement.

 

That is not true.
At first, during ROTJ planning, Luke's sister was completely new character.

 

I've seen it twice now. I tried to watch a rebels episode and had to stop because I just want to know what happened in force awakens and what happens next. What I wanted most from episode 7 is to want more and it defiantly delivered that for me. finn, rye and Kylo wren are really good characters and I think the way that the original cast was introduced was perfect. watching it again, when Han steps onto the bridge and you know what's going to happen. It's a really good scene, Reys awakening, the bespin corridor(!!!). kylo wren. Lots of great scenes and lots of questions still to answer.

 

An open ending implies that the story is over with no clear resolution. With TFA the story is not over yet therefore it has not ended yet.

 

I'm looking at the ESB script from October 24, 1978 and already here Yoda tells Ben "No...there is another [hope]" and Luke calls for Leia telepathically while Vader isn't Luke's father, yet.

 

Nope.
There is great documentary about OT filming, that you need to watch.

 

Not so sure on this. Watch the deleted scenes for episode 5, especially the Luke (almost) kisses Leia scene. C3PO interrupts what would have become an otherwise disturbing scene...It never made the film, maybe because they were toying with the twins idea during production.
It feels like they made some stuff up and locked down certain details as they went along.

 

Please specify which one.

 

I left the theater the first time in disbelief and wasn't sure what to think - it was finally here after so long and I think I was waiting for some kind of unknown shoe to drop. I can say I really spoiled myself reading all the rumors, so there was literally no surprises left, and I think that was a big part of my initial indifferent reaction. The second time I saw it the pressure was off, and really enjoyed it a lot - in fact, I loved it. I would rank it about an 'inch' behind ROTJ due to my childhood memories and the cultural lightning in a bottle that was the OT. I can also say I wasn't sure about Luke and stated as much on these boards, but I am almost ashamed I said what I said. I still think things could have been written differently, but the ending was so powerful with the music swelling as we see Luke standing there - one of my favorite moments of TFA. The thing that this movie did is setup the questions, the mystery and new lore that I don't think the PT did as well. I really want to know the answers and it will be fun to see where this goes if those questions have the answers mapped well. I feel like Rian is going to build on this visually and make things even more interesting and fresh. Trying to figure out when I can see it for a third time.

 

The movie is over... you are part of the problem. Enjoy your marvel.

 

I saw The Force Awakens on the 18th with my six year old son (his first ever movie in theater, what a treat) and I saw it again last night with my wife. The little bits of dialogue I picked up on during the second go-round were very helpful, as it allowed me to better craft my own thoughts on this movie and beyond into speculation about what the future will hold for our heroes.

But first, the movie itself - what a thrill ride. I was thoroughly entertained from the moment those blue words "A long time ago..." showed up on the screen, to the moment J.J. Abrams' name came up at the end. The movie moved at a breakneck pace that the Prequels completely and entirely lacked. Unlike some briskly paced movies, I didn't feel myself needing a breath to step back and get my bearings - everything that needed to be explained for the sake of the movie was, and for the first time since the Original Trilogy, we have some interesting backstory that happened off-screen. The most off-screen exposition we ever seemed to get from the Prequels was "that time you fell into a nest of gundarks". But now we have a wealth of new information to absorb - the tragedies that befell the Solo and Skywalker families, the rise and fall of a New Jedi Order, the peace treaty between the Republic and the Empire and the genesis of the First Order and the Resistance, how do characters such as Snoke and Lor San Tekka play into things...much like George's original trilogy, they have painted the bones of a fascinating back story for this movie that I am dreadfully curious to know more about.

What made this movie work best for me, above all else, was the cast - both the old guard and the new. Han Solo and Chewie shone the brightest of the old cast, and this movie was a hugely worthy swan song for Harrison Ford's Han Solo. He made us laugh, he made us pump our fists, and - sadly - damn near made me cry at his tragic end. I'll have more thoughts on that moment, as well as the character of Kylo Ren/Ben Solo, in a bit. Chewie had his biggest role to chew on (nyuk nyuk) yet, in my opinion. He and BB-8 were shining examples of how to have a character bring comic relief. Rather than appealing to the lowest common denominator with someone like Jar Jar Binks, the filmmakers here allowed for more subtle comedy - in many cases, we were left to picture the dialogue in our own minds, and infer comedic elements from the limited physical cues these two characters gave us. It was marvelous and it worked.

There are a number of characters we received only a small taste of here (hopefully a taste of more to come), and chief among them was Poe Dameron. Instantly likeable and charismatic, I could watch a whole "buddy cop" movie centered around him and Finn. Their chemistry together in their brief screen time was fantastic. I'm interested to see how they flesh out Poe as a character. I've seen him referred to as a "wholesome Han Solo", or Luke Skywalker "minus the Jedi". Both are pretty apt descriptions, and I'm interested to see how he fits in with the group dynamic more in Episode VIII, as he was largely on his own adventure in this movie and was only connected to the "A Group" by Finn.

Speaking of Finn - I loved him. My wife's favorite part of this movie was his decision to leave the First Order. Here is someone who's been programmed and brainwashed since birth to be an evil killing machine, and he simply chooses "no". He has a heart of gold and he brought an earnestness that I don't think Star Wars has ever seen. His exciteable lines ("DID YOU SEE THAT? DID! YOU! SEE! THAT!", "I'M IN CHARGE NOW! I'M IN CHARGE!") felt like a wink and a nod to us as fans, that Finn was saying the things that we as spectators were thinking, and I greatly enjoyed that. It would have been very easy to play Finn and Rey's dynamic as one of mutual attraction, and it may yet go that way, but I found their relationship worked excellently as an organic friendship built on mutual care for one another. I really felt Finn's despair when Rey was taken by the First Order, and subsequently his rage when he attacked Kylo Ren after Rey was incapacitated. He was in over his head in virtually every situation, but his heart carried him through every seen and endeared him to me. I had seen John Boyega in Attack the Block (highly recommend), and thus knew he had some good chops, both comedic and dramatic, and he got to flex both sets in this movie. I think he has painted a pretty big target on himself for future installments. He was highly recognizeable among the First Order as a traitor, from lowly stormtroopers, to his captain, to Kylo Ren himself. He may well be Public Enemy Number 1 by the time Episode VIII roles around, especially for Captain Phasma, in my opinion. Dumping her unceremoniously down a garbage chute into a trash compactor (another LOL-worthy bit of the movie) will definitely be a burr in her saddle in subsequent movies. I can't wait to see how the grudge matches play out.

Now, let's talk about Kylo Ren. Ben Solo. Wow. I did not know going in that this was who the mysterious Ren was, and that revelation was a shocker. What I did know going in was that the character was played by Adam Driver, and he was probably my biggest concern going in. I've seen Driver in a number of romantic comedies, and he is certainly a funny guy, but I worried about A) His dramatic capability, and B) His ability to play a convincing villain - no small feat. I was left hugely impressed on both counts. Kylo Ren was a compelling villain, a fanatic who is obsessed with his lineage and his family's dark side propensity. He was equal parts intimidating and bemusing as a petulant, tantrum-throwing young man, although I noted his restraint in limiting his rampages to his surroundings rather than his underlings, a distinction his grandfather certainly did not make. There is a backstory here that I can't wait to explore, and I will give my interpretation of things here. I believe when Ben Solo was born, Han and Leia made the choice to *not* train him in the ways of the Force. Leia would be understandably gunshy given her father's path, and I think Han and Luke would have been understanding as well. But I think Ben was a troubled youth and - this is a key crux of my theory - was manipulated by Snoke from a young age. My theory is that Ben Solo was *not* the apprentice who betrayed Luke and destroyed the other Jedi. I believe that was Snoke. Whether Snoke was another student at the academy, or a more seasoned Force user who helped Luke run it, I think he had his eye on Ben Solo from the beginning. So when his youth was troubled, I think that Leia made the decision to send him to Luke and the Academy in a last ditch effort to set him right...and unwittingly gave him straight into the hands of Snoke. Together, Snoke and Ben destroyed the Academy, but not before Luke and Snoke threw down with Luke emerging victorious (hence Snoke's considerable facial scars). That is my theory about how Ben and Snoke came to be a pair, how the Jedi Academy fell, and how ultimately Luke went into exile and Han and Leia split. It was a tragedy that broke the family.

I found Kylo Ren to be an interesting parallel to Anakin Skywalker. Whereas Anakin was a good man who felt the pull towards the dark, I think Kylo Ren is a dark man who feels the pull towards the light. Where that arc ends up is a mystery, but I saw this no clearer than I did at the moment where Kylo Ren murdered his father. I've seen many people postulate that Kylo Ren was wavering at that moment between Kylo Ren and Ben Solo, that for a moment it seemed like Han was getting through to him. I disagree. When Kylo Ren said "I know what I have to do, but I don't know if I have the strength...can you help me?" I think that was his tacit - but completely evil - way of getting his own father to consent to his own murder. Once Han said "anything", that propelled his son forward to kill him. I didn't see a son having a crisis of faith between light and dark, I saw someone seeking a way to clear his conscience of committing an atrociously evil act.

Now that scene - that was splendidly acted by all involved. Ford and Driver were on point, the reactions of Finn and Rey were dramatic and emotional, and Chewie's subsequent rampage - shooting Kylo Ren and then blowing a bunch of stormtroopers away - was an unexpected and also righteous and vindicating bit of scenery. Not since his rage on Cloud City at Han being put into carbonite had we seen Chewie go full-on berserker, and it was a welcome response to a tramautic event.

Finally...let's talk about Rey. This was undoubtedly and undeniably her movie, and boy did she deliver. My son couldn't stop talking about her on the way out of the theater, and I was hugely impressed with her as a character and by Daisy Ridley's performance as an actress. I want to be careful about how I say this - there aren't a great number of heroic, female protagonist roles. My favorite all-time was Sigourney Weaver's turn as Ripley in Alien and Aliens, but I'm hard-pressed to think of many others that left a great, lasting impression on me. It's a trope of Hollywood that most female characters, regardless of the genre, rarely transcend the role of a romantic attraction or a victim.

Well, Rey hasn't just transcended it, she launched through that barrier at light speed. She can fly, she can fight, she can use the Force, she's quick witted, strong-willed and independent. I loved Rey, and my absolute favorite moment of this movie was when that lightsaber whipped past Kylo Ren's face and into her hand. And then not only did she go toe-to-toe with him, she was flat-out toying with him by the end, dismantling his attacks and defeating him with a sense of ease that had me wondering "who IS this girl?". I think her vision through the force has made it clear that there are some repressed memories lurking within her, and I think she may well have had some Jedi training before things transpired. I'm of the school of thought that she is Luke's daughter, hidden away to keep her safe from the searching grasp of Snoke and Kylo Ren, and I'm fascinated to find out more about her as the sequels come along.

On that note, I believe Lor San Tekka was also stationed on Jakku to watch over her. What are the odds that this old friend of the Organa, Solo and Skywalker families just happened to be on the same planet with a map that lead to Luke? He clearly had some way of contacting people off world (he was able to contact General Leia so she could send Poe to go and retrieve the map, although I'm still curious to know about his timing - why then? Why that time, after all of these years, to give up that vital piece of information?).

Back to the lightsaber battle between Rey (and Finn) and Kylo Ren...I was so, so, so, pleased with it. It felt like the perfect blend between the battles of the classic trilogy, and the last truly good lightsaber battle we had, which was in Episode I (Maul vs. Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon). Episodes II and III developed a hideous over-reliance on CGI and ridiculous use of powers. Everyone was jumping, flipping, spinning, and flying whether it made sense to or not. The results looked cartoony, and not in a good way. Even the climactic Obi-Wan vs. Anakin battle fell prey to this. They came across as overly-choreographed messes were no one was really striking to hurt, or fighting with emotion, but was instead focussing on being overly theatrical.

Not so here. This lightsaber battle was a grudge match, with some real, raw emotion permeating through it. Finn's rage at Kylo Ren was palpable, and their opening dialogue was fantastic - "That lightsaber belongs to me!" - "Come and get it!". I was on the edge of my seat. But the real treat was watching Rey take Kylo Ren apart. By the end of the battle, she was stalking him the way a lion stalks its prey. Her arms were held wide at her sides, her sabre pointed forward as she straight-up lumbered towards him - this wasn't the graceful walk of a water dancer, this was the methodical approach we usually see the killer opt for in a slasher film. And every time Kylo Ren tried to counter attack, she hurt him again - stab: shoulder. Stab: leg. Swipe: face. Brutal. Efficient. Brilliant. I loved it. The feeling was back in this lightsaber battle.

Another item that this movie pulled off very well was *not* killing ancillary characters. All of the principal antagonists lived to fight another day - Phasma, Hux, Ren and Snoke are all alive and kicking. It will provide some welcome continuity to the opposing side as opposed to the chaotic mess provided by the Prequel Trilogy. It's easier to have a grudge against and hate a consistent, recurring set of villains rather than rolling eyes at a new cast in each movie. As I mentioned above, I am looking forward to seeing some of these grudges play out with great interest. Phasma vs. Finn, Ren vs. Rey...it's going to be a wonder to behold.

Now, the movie wasn't absolutely perfect. The major focus here was essentially a third Death Star, and I really didn't find myself to engaged in the starfighter battle at the end as a result. I far more enjoyed the covert mission onto the base to plant the explosives and the subsequent lightsaber battles - that was where the new, inventive plot developments occurred. The trench run, the crushing blow to the huge weapon, we'd seen all of that before. I feel like the Starkiller Base could have been put to better use in this movie and kept around for subsequent movies rather than being so quickly and summarily disposed of. There were many welcome pieces of nostalgia in this movie, but this major plot point was a rather dull retread. Where some of the covering of old ground worked - BB-8 taking on secret information to get to the Resistance, a la R2 in the Original Trilogy - this major point did not.

I think that roughly encapsulates all my thoughts about this movie. Before I assign it a score (on a 10 scale), it bears noting how I rate the others.

Empire Strikes Back - 10/10
A New Hope - 10/10
Return of the Jedi - 8/10
(a chasm several galaxies wide)
The Phantom Menace - 5/10
Revenge of the Sith - 4/10
Attack of the Clones - 2/10

I view ESB and ANH as perfect movies. They are literally my top two favorite movies of all time, so they get perfect scores. Return of the Jedi is what I call "a very good movie". Not perfect, but still excellent. The Prequels were absolutely terrible in my eyes. While I've watched the Original Trilogy countless times already with my two young sons, we haven't even attempted the Prequels. Because plain and simple, why would I want to show them plainly bad movies?

Anyway - my score for The Force Awakens: 8.5/10. Sliding in snugly above Return of the Jedi, but but below the perfection of A New Hope and Empire. This movie felt like Star Wars and hit just about all the right marks. I can't wait for Episode VIII.

 

@Corran Horn . That was a well written post. Enjoyed reading it. Thanks.
Nothing beats seeing a Star Wars film with a child companion does it? Saw it with my two sons (5 and 7); they were on the edge of their seats having their minds blown like never before. Took me right back to 1980 when I was six seeing Empire for the first time. So glad they get to experience a great Star Wars film at that age. They'll never forget this for the rest of their lives.

 

Thanks! I tend to ramble a bit sometimes, glad it was legible. And I'll cherish that experience with my oldest - when I found out the theater date, I resolved for myself right then that this would be his first movie in theater. My youngest is two and a half, so the late start time negated him being able to come, but if they do a local matinee (we're in a small community), we may chance trying to get him in too! Glad you and yours had a fantastic time!