TFA Speculation & Overall Thoughts;

Speaking of Kylo losing something, when

Spoiler

Rey scars him I thought she chopped off his head and audibly shouted WTF!, until he leaned up lol.

 

It's better than the prequels, but I tell you, I missed George's touch a lot in this one, particularly in his attention and use of sound, music and crisp editing.

Sorry JJ you are not in Lucas' league in any of these categories.

6/10 really, if I were generous I could go 7/10, but really it's not higher than that.

I'm glad JJ is not directing the next one, he's too lean and lazy with both his story telling and his editing.

His misuse of that gorgeous soundtrack was pretty criminal, he was the weakest link in the crew. The actors were great, the script was lazy, but fun, still all of it misused by JJ all over the place. Really awful cuts, sloppy use of the camera, no sense of space or direction sometimes, a real mess at times.

That beautiful cantina and those awesome masks, so squandered when JJ can't figure out how to relay and describe the space with his lens. Check out the editing of the original cantina scene versus this one when they first enter it.

I'll say it again: I am very glad JJ doesn't get to direct another Star Wars film, he needs to go back to Mission Impossible.

 

@Revanchist; Totally. Almost all the main and supporting characters are human, and a majority of the background characters, as well. Even so, almost none of these humans have interesting costumes, and most do not have helmets of any sort. The scene on the cargo ship was a perfect example of where we could have seen much more interesting characters. It all felt very boring.

@Snazel; Well said. I think once the dust settles and people truly have the chance to analyze this film, a lot of people will notice the things that are missing. It is a film, in the Star Wars universe, but it is a far cry from the Star Wars that George Lucas delivered to us.

 

He was Scottish, not Irish.

Move along.

 

The sound editing and music use in this film is the worst of all 7. Little details like ambient sounds and environmental depth to the sound...all missing, this film SOUNDS hollow, thin and hurried (much like the plot).

It's almost as if you want JJ to capture the performances then Lucas to do all the post-production work of a director.

The film is not terrible, I liked it more than the prequels, but it's a very lazy script and the technical direction here is sub rate. And I'll say it one more time: I am very glad JJ is not directing Episode 8.

It's like an anti-prequel. It wanted to remove all the mistakes that made the prequels a swampy, cluttered mess of 10-ton exposition and titanic scale. It wanted to be lean, agile and fun. The problem is, it went too far, there's no sense of scale at all, no sense of importance.

 

Here's what I wrote on reddit:

The Good:

• The beginning. It was wonderful and fresh. Kylo stopping a blaster bolt and then releasing it was pretty funny.
• The Poe/Finn bromance was great. I wish there was more of it instead of the Finn/Rey scenes. I'll comment more on this later.
• Adam Driver and Kylo Ren (or should I say Ben Solo). Holy blast. He was amazing. By and far the best of the new actors though Daisy comes in a close second.
• Daisy Ridley. I can't believe that she wasn't in a previous movie. Her acting was spot on, especially in the flashback scene and when Kylo knocked her out. Going limp like that so convincingly was perfect.
• The OT references. There were lots of them and it was a great way to remind us "Yeah this is Star Wars."
• Hux. I fell in love with this character after his Hitler!speech. I cannot wait to see more of him.
• Poe! I wish they added more of him and cut Han more. At least we'll get to see Poe in future movies.
• Han's Death. It was a great way for a beloved character to die. It showed tremendous character growth (not caring about anyone to caring about his wife's opinion and his son's life) and it gave Kylo a great "I'm going dark" moment. Pretty much everyone in my theater was expecting it when he walked out onto the bridge alone.

The Mediocre:

• The middle. Lots of stuff was going on and something just felt off about it.
• The music. I had heard the soundtrack before viewing and the only bit that I picked out was Rey's theme in the movie. The rest of the music didn't really pack the punch I'm used to. That can be forgiven if future movies have better soundtracks.
• Death Star v 3. When they started talking about stopping the Starkiller base I almost rolled my eyes. It was so similar to ANH that I cringed. I mean when it blew up it became a sun, which was cool, but I would have preferred something else.

The bad:

• I hate to say this but Finn. Boyega's acting was great, don't get me wrong, but his character was boring! The only things he wanted to do was run away and run away with Rey. Nothing else. Yes he did things such as fight with the lightsaber, twice, but he was more comic relief than hero. I was disappointed with how they managed to portray it too. They implied he went from sanitation worker to fighter immediately. I know that's not the case but the exposition was odd. I also felt like, despite standing up and trying to do his best, he's a coward at heart. I hope more viewings and new movies change my opinion of him. Right now it feels like they took a comic relief character and forced him to be "brave." Edit: I should mention that it felt like he wasn't force sensitive at all.
• The flying scenes made me motion sick. Sadly I didn't anticipate that and wasn't prepared. That seems to be common in modern movies, though.
• Rey's quick acquisition of force powers. It's already implied that she was at the temple training with Luke when the KoR came so it's possible that her powers were just locked away but it did feel a little forced. Maybe watching her do a few more force powers after using her mind trick (force push, force jump, etc) would have eased the gradual transition.
• The ending. I loved it except for the "come and take it" part. It would have been much better had Rey walked up to Luke, given him the lightsaber, and Luke looked longingly at her as the scene ended. The weird helicopter flying around them scene was just not Star Wars.
• A lot of the Finn/Rey scenes felt very awkward. They got too attached too quickly to each other.

All in all it's anywhere from 7/10 to 9/10. I need to see it a few more times to really figure out where to put it. I came away bitter because I spoiled myself so hard so hopefully it'll be in the 8.5 to 9 range after three viewings.

 

@Revanchist; Lor San Tekka appears to be an old ally of the Rebellion. It is hinted that he may have once called Alderaan home, since he refers to General Organa as royalty. The events leading up to this point are likely well-known by the Republic, Resistance, and First Order. Luke Skywalker is the last jedi.

I believe you're spot on about Luke being the one who kept R2-D2 deactivated. I'm not entirely sure of Lor San Tekka's relationship with Skywalker, and whether or not the missing piece of the map was given to him, or discovered by him. It is unclear.

I think Luke Skywalker came to the realization that he could not build this new world alone. Something went wrong, and to understand how he would bring balance to The Force and defeat the Dark Side, Luke needed to return to the First Temple.

Snoke is Supreme Leader of the First Order, and the Knights of Ren. I suspect a lot of people know him.

@master_shaitan; *Finn does not appear to use The Force at any point in the film. *Presumably Maz Kanata is with the Resistance, but we do not know for certain. Additional scenes were cut. *Rey follows a voice down a corridor, where a door is then automatically opened to let her into the room with Anakin's lightsaber. She knows exactly where to look, and when she touches the lightsaber, she sees a vision. It was likely The Force drawing her to the lightsaber.

*I think Luke Skywalker needed to find answers. Everything he was trying to build failed miserably, and he did not understand why it had happened. *Darth Plagueis is killed by Darth Sidious. Kylo Ren is not a Sith, which means he is not an apprentice, and Supreme Leader Snoke is not a master. I suspect we might be introduced to something new. *I still believe that everything that happened involving Anakin's lightsaber points to Rey being a Skywalker. The films have always been about a Skywalker, whether it was Luke, Anakin, or .. Rey. *It is hinteded that Han and Leia saw signs of the Dark Side in Kylo Ren prior to sending him to the Jedi academy, but they had hoped Luke's training who assist him in overcoming it. *We see the other Knights of Ren in the vision Rey has when she touches the lightsaber. I'm guessing they are the other Jedi who turned to the Dark Side, and are currently being trained by Supreme Leader Snoke.

 

Can't take any review seriously that suggest the original film from 1977 is one of the weakest. Also Return of the Sith is a DOG of a film, produced in just 60 days of shooting, so hastily shot that many actors begged for another take but Lucas refused. It's like watching cardboard act.

 

I'm so torn...

Maz was a bad design and bad cgi in the end. So bummed about her.

Snoke didn't need to be cgi at all. Weird choice.

Pirate scene was weak and I agree with you guys about generic costumed humans. Rathtars were ok.

Phasma was so weak. Wtf?!

Luke the cry baby on the island letting everyone die is bad storytelling.

Han trusting Finn and Rey so fast is weird.

Rey trusting Finn so fast is weird.

No motivation for Kylo Ren being so dark. Snoke didn't help with the motivation.

Han being so dumb to walk to his death... Lame.

Starkiller carbon copy trench run.

Sorry I'm venting. I wanted to love this movie. I have to see it again to make sure I like it.

Overall it felt like a parody of Star Wars not a Star Wars movie.

 

Too bad everyone doesnt like it . . . theatre I was in went nuts. Everyone in my group loved it. Loved the characters, the acting, the story. Not an unhappy person to be found.

Story was nice and tight. Phasma lost out on the cutting room floor, but her character is meant to be peripheral anyway. The story isnt about her.

It wasnt "dumb" of Han! Han had to go out on that ledge - anyone who takes issue with this must not have children or be married. Han is duty bound and its his son. Wouldnt have played out any different.

We dont need to know any motivations yet. Thats what the other movies will get to show. This was only Act One of a three act play.