Member reviews of THE FORCE AWAKENS

Within two minutes of meeting each of the new characters (Poe Dameron, BB-8, Kylo Ren, FN2187, and Rey) you cared more about what happened to them than any character in the Prequels after six hours.

I knew it "felt" like Star Wars when I had that immediate connection to people in a universe I understood and that was all before we saw any OrigTrig characters - including the Millennium Falcon.

When Poe & Finn were escaping the First Order in the TIE Fighter, I couldn't help but think that if we never saw those characters again, but 40 years from now, we saw Finn reminiscing about Poe being a great star pilot and a good friend; a good friend, I would have believed him. There was more chemistry between those two on that escape than at any moment we saw between Anakin and Obi-wan.

Just a great, albeit imperfect, movie that thoroughly entertained and made me wanting more. I wanted to learn more of the story. So good.

 

I agree with you. When J.J. showed the emotions scenes for FINN and POE I was hooked. Even BB-8.......

 

Then author gave you not just good characters but chemistry you can feel immediately- it's a master work. Plot is always metter, but characters are the soul of the story.
If they didn't work as well as they did...it will be a failure.

 

Agree totally. Also, I loved the game your UN and Avatar are from back in the day.

 

I think was amazing,epic,awesome
For us vivid SW fans here,this probably was a great movie.The sources to our great fandom were mostly proved right.Loved the new characters.Rey-independent just as Kathleen Kennedy said,living a hard life.Finn-after seeing the death of his comrade-changed his allegiance.Poe-Oscar Isaac's word:"He's the best freakin' pilot in the galaxy" were true.Kylo Ren-great acting by Adam Driver,really interesting character.Showing uncertainty to what he's doing,first time a character that is being succumbed to the light side.General Hux-evil,evil,evilllll.New Tarkin.Phasma was more of a background character,surprised me a bit.
Bit annoyed they showed Snoke,would have wished to only hear his voice,this would keep the mystery.The OT guys all played well,althought Luke was only in one scene.It's has set a good place for Episode VIII.

 

That's the most important thing about this saga, is that WE ACTUALLY care about the main protagonists! Regardless of the flaws of TFA, we want to see these characters again, that's what makes this movie work.

 

To make it short a 6 from 10 points. (too many flaws and above average) (many things I liked and disliked)

1. ESB
2. ANH
3. ROTJ
4. TFA

It's the best Star Wars movie since 1983, but this was not a hard task/impossible goal in my opinion.
I enjoyed it and I'am curious if the ST will lift off with the upcoming VIII.
TFA was like a foreplay of the good things to come.


My problem with TFA is:

1. Not much explanation - instead of a good/short explanation scene we got the unnecessary rathar/freighter scene
2. Pacing of the movie a bit too fast (not bad, but time will tell)
3. Rey is too powerful at the end of the movie
4. Exxagerated feminism in TFA (Rey's I don't need help from anybody attitide)
5. Barely Luke in the movie (not a single line)
6. Millenium Falcon is way too tough portrayed (get many bumps and still flys like nothing happened)
7. TFA is ANH 2.0 (not creative/a lazy copy paste job)
8. Too much fan Service, not enough new things.

Disney played it too safe for my taste.

Overall I enjoyed the movie, I went to the cinema with a open mind. (I'am not disappointed, I liked the movie even with all of his shortcomings)

 

--- Double Post Merged, Dec 24, 2015, Original Post Date: Dec 24, 2015 ---

I agree and also give this a 6.5 out of 10. I was disappointed. Here are a few of my points. They basically copied Ep IV. Fin doesn't know his own name but knows right from wrong and knows he was captured. You don't want to see the main character in battle with his helmet/mask off. His mask should of stayed on the entire movie. Rey never had any Jedi training but can defeat her cousin Ben, while Luke had to have Yoda and Obi train him. Why couldn't Luke have the final line to Rey "I am your father"? If it breaks Avatar's record its only because of the weak minded fans.

--- Double Post Merged, Dec 24, 2015 ---

I agree is was pretty weak. They had so much to work with and it fell short.

 

I only have just a moment right now, and I'll write more later.
Firstly, this movie was outstanding.

With that out of the way, I just wanted to make mention of two things that I don't see brought up much:
1. Kasdan, at this point, has written 43% of the Star Wars films (by the end of this trilogy, he will have written more - 55% - than Lucas).
Kasdan wrote the principle foundations of what is Star Wars, including the philosophies of it through Yoda, Obi Wan, Vader, and the Emperor, so I think a lot of the targeting (praise and scorn alike) at Abrams is misaligned considering that Kasdan had far more to do with the writing, plot, and philosophies of the Force explored in TFA than Abrams did. Abrams rather openly talks about how Kasdan was who he bowed to for everything Star Wars; how they would take whole days just for Kasdan to explain one subject of the ideas and how the Star Wars universe works.
As such, the entire movie definitely has the Kasdan Star Wars feel to it, which is fantastic considering he wrote 66% of the original Star Wars trilogy.

2. This is something I don't see most anyone discussing, but Abrams went far out of his way to emulate the look and feel of the original trilogy in that CG could have been employed as it was in any typical film, and aimed to look "life-like", but instead I was very impressed when I noticed that they used CG to emulate the look of the original trilogies' matte paintings (which, those old matte paintings come off slightly foggy and flat, rather than "life-like" - it's a more fantasy look as a result), and the planets were styled in the same way as we can see in the OT, where rather than looking realistic (without knowledge today of what planets look like from space), they looked heavily painted and cloud covered (which we see in the OT and Space Odyssey due to the lack of familiarity with what planets look like from space).

There are many things I enjoyed in this film, and I'll write about them later, but these two stood out very strongly and I hadn't seen too many writing about them.

Cheers!

 

Having seen the movie twice, I like it even more. The first time the pace of the movie really seemed frantic to me but it was much better the second time. I think my excitement level the first time contributed to what I perceived as the frantic pace of the movie. It really slowed down for me. The acting was great and I really connected to the new characters. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and I respect all of them, however l disagree with the comments that this movie was a rehash of ANH. I admit their are some basic similarities but they are only at the surface. If you like look deeper at it they are quite different. Luke' quote in the BTS video about being same but different sums it up best. Did JJ and Kasdan play it safe? Yes but they needed to. Whether you liked the PT or not I think we are all in agreement that the overall feeling is that SW needed a revival. Playing it safe and making TFA feel like the OT did just that. Taking more risks as some would have liked to see could have payed off greatly but it could have fallen flat and really damaged the SW brand. The thing I liked the least is the score. While it is not bad, it just is not memorable like JW's other SW stuff.

 

My views on the movie after a week of deliberation..

There is too much conveniency in this movie.. the plot demands more suspension of disbelief than the original trilogy... I didn't like how they get the Falcon, how they meet Han, how they get the lightsaber, how they conveniently run into Kylo on the Starkiller base, how seemingly EVERYONE in the galaxy knows about BB-8 being wanted (you'd think The First Order would keep that quiet wouldn't you?) how The First Order constantly zips around at lightspeed doing all of their objectives in seconds. How powerful The First Order is, the sheer magnitude of the superweapon (and not to mention its a third death star)

All of these things have shrunken the galaxy once again, but at the very least.. it rhymes. It can get away with SOME of it. But honestly.. I feel insulted as Star Wars fan. J.J. Abrams doesn't get it.

7/10 - It was adequate as a Star Wars movie, good as general movie. The cinemaphile in me loves it but the Star Wars fan in me is disappointed. I hate to say it but in terms of world design... the prequels felt more lively to me at times. I wish they could visited a planet with a larger population like Coruscant.

This is the most "popcorn" of all the Star Wars movies so far.. and the minority of ever-increasing hate can't be ignored. Many fans feel their intelligence has been betrayed and I agree to an extent. Its not worthy of being condemned or recieving one star reviews though. The Force Awakens is just a notch higher than The Phantom Menace in my book (which I give a 6/10) and like The Phantom Menace.. it DEPENDS on a quality follow-up movie. Rian Johnson has a tall order here.

Its somewhat well executed, the base story wasn't as good as it could have been..but its a lot of fun to casual movie-goers. Not fans who take the universe seriously though. Sorry but this is my opinion.

 

Preface: I feel that folks should embrace diverse opinions, especially in art, so I am not stating anything in the following as, "you are objectively wrong"; just to be clear.

This causes me to wonder if you would consider the other films to be too convenient?
I'm curious because by these merits, ANH (for example) is incredibly convenient.
Obi Wan just happens to be hiding on the planet that Luke lives on (if the idea is that he's been keeping an eye on Luke, then it's equally convenient that Luke's so dumb that he never pieced together the odd relationship between this stalker weird Obi Wan and his overly-angry-about-only-this-old-guy Uncle), Luke just happens to live a skip away from where Obi Wan lives on an entire planet, the droids just happen to crash exactly on path to Jawas who just happen to hand them to Luke, only after one droid just happens to break so that R2 could end up with Luke instead of separated from C3PO, Luke just happens to be stupid enough to not be aware of the Tusken Raiders (after living there his entire life) or where they frequent, the Empire just happens to have blasted his Aunt and Uncle (for entirely unknown reasons...I guess because they are bad and just do bad things for giggles?) while Luke was away but also just happen to NOT stick around and wait for Luke to return (either they didn't know Luke lived there, or they have the shortest attention span of any military force; and if they didn't know Luke lived there, why kill these random farmers and absolutely no one else around - there were no droids, no Luke, and if they just up and left then they couldn't have thought Luke lived there otherwise they would have hung around and set a trap...and if they didn't want to do that, R2 left an incredibly easy path to follow...the same one Luke followed), Anakin just never happened to think - in his furiously paranoid state, "Screw it, I'm going to kill anyone even close to my family!", or, "I'm going to save ALL of my family from the lies of the Jedi's and put them here with me under my watch!", or that they (Luke and company) just happen to go to the one bar on an entire planet where Han just happens to be (and also, in the later edits, Jabba also just happens to be; what a hub!), Leia just happens to be on the same battle station that Luke and company just happen to be traveling to right at that same moment that Darth Vader and company just happen to have decided to obliterate an entire planet just to laugh in Leia's face in hopes of getting plans - which just happen to be on their way to them at that exact moment via the Falcon - instead of just using the Force to read Leia's emotions like Vader did to discover Luke's secret about having a sister; how nice that Luke's family is killed and Obi Wan found, Han linked up with, and the travel set out upon at the exact timing required to end up right there with the Death Star and Leia...it just keeps going.


Every Star Wars, in my opinion, is extremely convenient in unrealistic measures that only an epic legend story can sustain.
To me; it's somewhat like stating that the story of Hercules is too convenient. Yes; it is. That's directly because of the type of story that it is; an epic mythical legend.

P.S.
The Empire (in all its forms) just happens to also continually build single-entrance destroy-all spots in their systems instead of creating fail-safes and redundancies, and conveniently entire ships keep fitting into these places once shields are repeatedly brought down...these guys have a terrible track record of using the same playbook over and over and wondering why they keep losing.

 

Same feeling here guys.

 

I agree with the above, much much better on a 2nd viewing. So tense watching the first time, I spent more time nitpicking it than trying to enjoy it for what it was.

I give it 7.5/10

Loved the new characters, love that they didn't try to go Vader 2.0 but something different in Kylo Ren. Loved that humor is back in Star Wars for the first time in 32 years. Loved that the lightsaber duel was back to a less flippy dancy prequel style.
Mostly I loved that the film sort of acted as a solid introduction to all these new characters and it worked, so much so that I didn't really care about wanting to see some of my childhood heroes.

Only minus for me which remains after multiple viewings is DeathStar 3.0 - it's incredibly lazy writing when you consider the backlash against RoTJ for it. In a movie that was brim with nostalgia which I loved I knew they would play it safe, they didn't need to be THAT safe (imo)

I place it below ESB & ANH but firmly alongside RoTJ, RoTS.

 

The clue is in the title. Star Wars is back...but nothing has changed. This is Episode IV (with touch of V) all over again.
The Force has Awakened but unfortunately it is Groundhog Day.
People have said many things about Lucas' Prequel Trilogy. The vast majority being on the money - terrible dialogue, cold CGI and the inclusion of He-Who- Should-Not-Be-Named.
However, like the original films in the 70's and 80's, the Prequels were fresh, new and innovative.
At times you could look past the terrible dialogue and be thrilled all over again.
In telling the story he wanted to tell, Lucas may have upset a few folks but he at least added to the mythology and expanded the Universe.
If you manage to watch Lucas' six film trilogy, you will discover a fluid story, with each film riffing off each other until we reach a truly satisfactory and epic climax to the tale that originated in Episode I.

With Abrams' TFA, the saga has essentially come to a full stop. Like Artoo (rather inexplicably) it has been shut down for 30 years and then rebooted. Whether it be down to Disney wanting to avoid at all cost another Prequel Trilogy backlash; paying too much lip-service to the old fan base; or simply because he has the originality of a Moof Milker (the best line from TFA) - the story of this latest installment is massively underwhelming. We've waited 3 years for this film. Some have waited for 30. And instead of something truly new, exciting and satisfying we have been Force fed Episode IV all over again - yet without the thrills, surprises and emotional pay-off.

Don't get me wrong. There is a lot to like about The Force Awakens.
The new characters are great fun and the actors do a good job.
The old cast didn't just turn up either, they did well to maintain their legacy - although I could've done without Carrie Fisher.
Kylo Ren offered an interesting, albeit slightly confusing, former Jedi turned evil Dark Side minion (to the poorly designed and executed CGI Snoke).
The scenes of him dealing with his Imperial cohorts was great fun and a fitting homage to the Darth Vader choking scenes of Empire.
However, a new Star Wars film should not be likeable. It should be great. And it should be memorable.

It started off well. From the opening shot to the arrival at Maz's castle, I was hooked.
It felt like Star Wars. Modern, fresh, interesting - with some nice surprises.
I could even look past the droid that held vital information critical to the Resistance being stranded, rescued and then escaping from Jakku on the Millenium Falcon with a desert rat, a young cocky gunslinger and old mentor.
It was great fun and it felt like something was being set up.
Then however, it all fell flat. Rather than going in a new direction it carried on the same path as A New Hope.
The Evil FO destroy a planet loyal to the Resistance. The heroes have to escape from the FO and return the information hidden in the droid to Princess Leia. The Resistance then has limited time to formulate a plan (on a location very similar to Yavin) before the Super Weapon destroys them.
$4 Billion and over 2 years in the making and this is what JJ Abrams and Kasdan can muster? That's very odd. Very odd indeed.

Upon reflecting from my first, very disappointing viewing (stupidly opting to watch it in the confusing 3D format - the 2nd viewing in 2D was better) I came to realise that it was because of this repetition of the Original Trilogy - something that all us Star Wars devotees craved, that my experience fell flat. By the end I hadn't truly marveled at what was going on. I wasn't surprised. But what about Han's death scene, I hear you say?! Anyone who didn't see that coming is a half-witted nerf herder (still beats Moof Milker).
The hero mentor had to die. Just like Kenobi in A New Hope. At the hands of the Dark Lord of the film. Whilst the new hero watched on.
It's just a shame that Han's death mustered very little from his loved ones, with his ex-wife seeking comfort from the desert girl she had never met rather than Chewbacca, who idly wanders by when they return to Yavin...I mean the Resistance Base.

The final act of the movie is probably the greatest cause of my discontent.
Another Death Star to destroy (albeit one more suited to the Star Trek universe than Star Wars) with hot shot X-Wing pilots flying down a trench.
These space battle scenes were most definitely the weakest action scenes in the movie. They were devoid of originality, included characters we had barely met - although thankfully included the shamefully underused Poe Cameo Damerson. (I feel that as much as I liked Poe they could have mixed his character with Finn, allowing the former to be the one in the space battle whilst Rey battles with Kylo).
It was obvious what was going to happen. Heck, it was from the get-go - but it wasn't just knowing it that made this scene climatically challenging. It was the fact it completely missed the beat. Unlike the ending to A New Hope, this was no crescendo. It just fizzled out. The explosion happened over a period of time that allowed people to weep, mourn, escape (I presume Kylo and Hux got off the planet...somehow). I still get thrills watching Han fly in, blast Vader and Luke hitting the sweet spot. I can't really remember the events in this climax. I could talk about the musical score at this point but I won't. Not sure quite what to make of that yet until I have haeard it a few more times. I certainly didn't appreciate it in the movie or when certain tracks were used. But I have been listening to the Empire soundtrack in my car for the past few weeks and NOTHING compares to that!

Onto the main end battle, Rey vs Kylo Ren. Rey was undoubtedly the shining star of the movie. When she wasn't around it felt very dull.
For a first time performance, Daisy Ridley was superb.
However, as a Star Wars geek I had issues that the 'normal' cinema going public wouldn't consider. But it irked me so I will say it.
In the space of a movie, Rey went from not believing the Force existed to being able to use mind tricks, telekinesis and defeating a fully trained Dark Side warrior.
Luke did that over the period of 3 movies. Many years.
It jarred. It didn't feel right. It felt, well, forced, just so JJ could have that hero using the Force moment.
But in A New Hope Luke didn't really do much with the Force other than deflect a laser blast whilst blinded and under the spiritual guidance of JEDI MASTER Kenobi, use his instincts to fire his torpedo at the reactor shaft - a target size he sued to hit time and time again in Beggars Canyon, back home.
It's not something that makes The Force Awakens a bad film. But it annoys my Star Wars sensibilities.
The lightsaber duel itself was fine. But the jarring effect of Rey holding her own and then taking Kylo out prevented me from being immersed in it.

And so onto the ending, the long awaited return of Luke Skywalker.
By this time I was feeling quite flat - so seeing a satisfactory conclusion to the mystery probably wouldn't have roused me enough to applaud the film (as I did with AOTC and ROTS at the premieres).
However, this conclusion was far from satisfactory. There was no pay-off for sitting through the 2 and a bit hours of meandering plot other than seeing a weepy and rather decidedly un-Jedi hero like Luke Skywalker weep on the very Earthy medieval island as Rey arrives with his old lightsaber (we have to wait until 2017 to find out how Maz got that/ for JJ and Johnson to actually come up with something that makes sense).
Once again, my Star Wars sensibilities are offended. JJ -are you telling me that Luke Skywalker, the man who conquered the Dark Side, redeemed Darth Vader and withstood the Emperor is so crippled with grief that he hides out in exile whilst billions die, Leia is threatened and his old pal Han gets snuffed out?
Whatever reason they come up with in Episode VIII, it won't ever sit right with me. The reason they left him out is because he would've dominated Rey's scenes.
But rather than having him hide out like a self-pitying coward, couldn't they have had him be the captive of the horrendously bad CGI Lord Snoke? Or badly injured? I didn't buy it and JJ shouldn't have dangled that carrot under our noses to then just see Luke all sad (or perhaps confused by how his lightsaber returned from Bespin) for 30 odd seconds.

I should probably mention the things I liked other than, like I said, the first 20-30 minutes.
- Kylo's character was intriguing. I hope they explain his turn to the Dark Side in a satisfying way. (I'd have killed Leia off pre-TFA to give him motivation to hate his father and avoid those excruciating Carrie Fisher scenes where she can't really get her mouth to move).
- The chemistry between Han and Chewie was still there and great fun. However, I did find it a bit of a shame that Han's characters had regressed and they hadn't continued developing him from Jedi. I guess they wanted the same guy from A New Hope & Empire before he got all slushy?
- BB8 - fantastic design, worked beautifully.
- Rey & Finn were fantastic. Great chemistry. I can't really fault the characters or the acting in this film. Just the story and direction.
- The flashback scene - loved it. Wanted more.
- The humour, although there was a bit too much of it, worked very well.

To conclude I view this film as a failure - a failure to continue the mythology in a satisfying way, to provide something new and exciting.
Without my Star Wars goggles on, it was a perfectly good Hollywood Blockbuster. But Star Wars should be way above that.
Where the Prequels failed in character and dialogue, the sequel(s) have thus far failed equally in substance and story.
There is enough there to provide us with some light at the end of the tunnel, however. It all depends on whether Episode VIII continues in the same vein of being a remake of the original films or actually tries to be something "new".
Help us Rian Johnson, you're our only hope".

As a movie - 7.5/10
As a Star Wars Movie - 6/10

 

The reason people didn't notice that the prequels were repeats of the OT was because there were new ship designs and a guy with a make-up job that looked like it was done by FaceOff amateurs.
The reason it was clear in TFA that Star Wars just repeats itself is because it uses the same universe as the OT with the same ships, and some of the same actors.
If you thought the prequels were different...they weren't.

 

I agree: I was done with TPM after about 30 minutes. I didn't even bother watching the other 2 prequels in the theater after TPM. I'm going back for 5th viewing tomorrow, it's really a guilty pleasure at this point; I skipped a work out last week for number 4, and blew off some Christmas shopping for number 3 the week before. I know some people have watched it many more times, but hey, I'm a busy guy! I'd be there tonight to get prepped for New Year's awesomeness but the cinema stops showing tonight at 6 p.m. I'd definitely give the movie a strong 8.5 or a weak 9. A 10 for me would be like, having Vader resurrected and Luke showing up riding a dragon or something.

 

This movie is breaking records and it certainly has broken my record of the most times I have seen the one movie at the cinema. I have now seen TFA six times.

 

Alright, here we go. I'm not sure how to fully summarize my feelings towards this movie, but I'll do my best to write a decent (and spoiler-free) pro/con assessment of the film.

Pros:
- Like all Star Wars films, TFA has incredible world-building. The starship graveyard Jakku is especially spectacular to behold, and Starkiller Base is just plain badass. The other worlds are very cool looking as well, which adds a lot to the experience.
- The OT crew. Seeing Han and Chewbacca again gave me goosebumps, and the relationship between the two is as great as it's always been. Leia and Han hadn't lost a beat either. Their moments together are some of the best of the film. And of course, there's Luke....
- The new heroes. When I entered the theater, I kept thinking to myself, "How the hell is JJ gonna top Han, Luke, and Leia?" Well, somehow they pulled it off. It's far too early to say Rey, Finn, and Poe have topped the original three, but they certainly have the potential to live up to their legacy. The actors capture the depth, resilience, and flaws of their characters perfectly. They each grow a great deal over the course of the story, and the actors have amazing chemistry with each other. But if I have to pick a favorite, I'm gonna have to go with Rey. She's one of the most badass characters I've seen in years, but there's a great deal of vulnerability and depth to her as well. Not to mention, Daisy Ridley's performance here is Oscar-worthy.
- The new villain. Kylo Ren is something else. I can't get into his character without going into spoiler territory, but he's the most fascinating villain the Star Wars movies have ever created. He's a demented, ferocious, incredibly memorable character. I cannot wait to see where is character arc goes.
- The effects are beautiful. The Jakku graveyard, Starkiller Base, the space battles, and the various uses of practical effects are amazing and very realistic. They really add a great deal of depth to the story.
- Quite possibly the funniest Star Wars film out there. Even in its darkest moments, the film never loses its sense of humor. As JJ himself said, it's a delightful experience.
- Some REALLY, REALLY, REALLY great twists. Won't say anything else on this topic....
- Supreme Leader Snoke scared the crap outta me.
- General Hux channeling his inner Hitler.
- James Bond?
- Cool new force skills, and some great old ones.
- The lightsaber battles! Oh my god! Kylo Ren is a beast, and his showdown with Finn is intense as all hell!
- Maz Kanata was weird in all the right ways. Wish she had a bigger role, but I loved all the scenes she was in. What an endlessly fascinating character.
- That tracking shot in the cantina. Oh yes.....
- Some effective OT references. "Is there a trash compactor?"
- Han's entrance.
- Watching Han do, what according to him, he does best.
- Don't mess with Rathtars!
- The ending. It gave me chills.
- BB-8 is the greatest cinematic character of all time.

Cons:
- Starkiller Base, while cool, is just Death Star 3.0. I think the movie would've been better without a superweapon.
- There's some serious "A New Hope" retreading here. It isn't overly annoying until the final act, but still, it felt kinda lazy. That being said, I totally understand why Disney would play it safe on that front. Hopefully the sequels will venture more into the unknown.
- Rey is a fast learner. Maybe too fast....
- The plot was a little rushed, causing many supporting characters to feel underused. This isn't a big problem though, as I'm sure some of these characters will have bigger parts in the later films.

Final analysis: The Force Awakens is an impressive new entry into the Star Wars saga, managing to keep a balance between drama and humor, the new and the old, and the light and the dark. It occasionally treads too much into all too familiar territory, but TFA's amazing cast and direction make it work. 9/10.