Who's Acting Impressed You The Most?

I agree with all the choices you've offered. They all were phenomenal. But my vote goes to Daisy Ridley. I bought everything she was selling to an extent that surprised me.

 

Oscar Isaacs. Whenever this guy was on the screen.. He stole the screen.

 

Daisy Ryder did a terrific job. She showed she can carry that character thru 3 films. She will age & mature over the story arc but she really has depth & talent.

Great casting in that role.

 

Daisy Ridley, John Boyega and Ford. I'm not going to pick a favorite from my three children! . Though Ridley really really impressed me.

 

As far as I like Finn as a character, I don't think the acting impresses me at all. Personally I like Driver and Ridley more than anyone else. These two actors are capable of bringing any kind of possible emotion at any circumstances. I hope both Boyega and Isaac can enhance their roles and bring it to different places in the upcoming films. Boyega is such a cool guy, charismatic, but Isaac has already shown to the world that he's one of the best of his generation with ex-Machina, and his role in TFA was kinda flat IMO. Harrison and Fischer were good. By the way! new Chewie was really good as well. I don't think it's easy to play Chewie and the new actor nailed it.

 

i'm actually relieved that there isn't a pole.. because i don't think i could pick.

Daisy Ridley is a revelation. her first major film role?? wow. just wow.

Adam Driver was incredible. When we came out of the cinema on the 17th.. my mate said that he was rubbish and he didn't think he was a very good villain. he has seen it again since and has completely changed his mind.. he thinks he's perfect. That's how complicated and deep Kylo Ren's character is... i think it might take a while for him to 'grow' on some people.

John Boyega. i think he might be my favourite, but i wont commit to that. I was worried about his role when we saw him in cast interviews early on in the process when we hadn't seen much footage... he was extremely hyped and was almost trying too hard. he smashed it.

Oscar Issacs was great. i've seen a lot of his films.. he has a 'watchable' presence for want of a better description.

Domhnall gleeson & Gwendoline Christie. i'd like to see more from their characters in the rest of the trilogy. they are both so talented, but i don't think we saw enough of them in TFA. there is a limit to how long the film can be and how much time to give each character of course.. but i'd like to see more of them.


how refreshing is it to be saying how great the performances were? i tip my hat to everyone involved in making the film... as it all has to be nailed to get such a great end result.

 

Daisy, for sure. She was the emotional center of the film and I was with her all the way.

Then Adam, because I think Kylo was probably the most difficult character to pull off in terms of all the nuance going on. In less capable hands, I think Kylo might have been a bit of a mess, but Adam managed to make him frightening and conflicted and vulnerable and furious and a million other emotions, all at once.

Finally, I'll go with Domhnall because I think he has been unfairly criticized for seeming over-the-top when I think that is exactly what he and JJ were going for. Hux is a bit of a caricature and a bit of a comedic element. He is exaggerated, like so many Star Wars characters are. He is zealous facism incarnate, and Domhnall's performance reflected that perfectly.

 

Agreed we sometimes assume since Finn & Rey were first seen in the first trailer in Nov 14 we didn't expect this guy to show up to later, how wrong was I.

 

+1
Very true and well said!

It is too hard to pick just one... If I would have to choose which of them I would " kiss, kill, marry" , I would kiss and kill Kylo and marry Finn AND Rey

 

Oscar Isaac was in the very first teaser...

 

As far as the newcomers are concerned (the ones not performing in cap-motion that is):

Gleason had a hell of a year appearing in numerous standout films. But he got his least to do by far in TFA and didn’t have the opportunity to leave much of an impression other than that he looks good in black. I don’t agree with those who are critical of his performance but at the same time I can’t say he did anything that stood out but that’s more because of what he was/wasn’t given in the script.

I was worried about the range of films SW fans were watching when the vast majority of them appeared to have never seen any of Isaac’s work when he was cast. He was quickly becoming one of the best actors of his generation. He didn’t disappoint in TFA and was pretty much great whenever he was on the screen. There are two things that count against him though in this topic -1)his character was a bit one note as a result of a tweaked script that kept his character alive despite original plans to kill him off and 2)he simply wasn’t on screen enough to catapult ahead of other new SW actors in this film. If his co-stars weren’t that great themselves he may be at the top of my list, but they were fantastic and Isaac only got about fifteen minutes.

Driver probably would have been the top of this list for me but I can’t put him up there because his best displays of acting were not surprisingly with him being unmasked. The problem? He isn’t unmasked all that long in the film. Maybe 15 minutes. And when he has that mask on his voice is being modulated by a computer in post production so that’s not all him. Again he can only do what he is called upon and when he has to emote without the mask he is great. There is just far too little of that for me to claim he is the best overall in the film.

Fittingly it comes down to the main two who also got the most time. As much as I trash Finn as a character the truth remains that when watching the film in real time I’m at least engaged by him and believe in the emotion Finn is scripted to convey, I just have issues the way the character is scripted. But Boyega is a damn miracle worker in that I don’t despise Finn despite playing a cowardly character who loses all the time and tells jokes in between. The dude has charm to spare. The script calls for Boyega to display fear. He does so with aplomb without overdoing it. It requires him to be serious and determined in tone? Just check out Finn’s remarks to Maz in which he points out to her she knows nothing about him. The script calls for Finn to be funny? Boyega’s comedic timing is impeccable. There is no ego. Boyega allows the character to look as over his head as the script (unfortunately) calls for. And what people may be forgetting is Boyega is doing this in an accent that is not his own, the only non cap-motion actor in the film given that extra burden. Still the character is such a non-starter that Boyega can only do so much with him and isn’t allowed to show all of his range, particularly the heroic side that we want to see in our heroes.


So the top choice, to some extent by default, goes to Ridley. I say by default because she has one major advantage: her character is easily the best written and best realized. The only issue with her character is that she is a bit too good at everything , too perfect for my taste. But that one negative is overcome by Ridley’s grounded performance. You never resent the character for her perfection, you fall in love with her despite yourself. It is hard to pull off a character that is both sympathetic and yet so convincingly capable. I believe Rey completely based upon how Ridley plays her. When she looks at the old lady early on in the movie Ridley’s expression tells us all we need to know. You can see simultaneously her loneliness, her fear and her resignation regarding her future. When she pilots a ship or fixes one her competence is palpable. That’s all because of Ridley. Ridley allows Rey to be a badass without ever letting her become some modern day feminist caricature. She’s empowering without the script/film having to hit us over the head with a message (outside of the “don’t hold my hand” moment). She shows vulnerability, emotionally, when needed. But when it comes time for her to go to battle Ridley is more than up to the challenge and is completely believable. She looks, walks and talks the part of a future jedi. Now I won’t go so far to call her the greatest acting discovery since Vivien Leigh as others have.. She is fantastic in an extraordinarily written role and had a director who made sure since day one of shooting that she stayed on track and lived up to her potential. I’ll be honest I didn’t buy her running away from Maz and crying in the woods moment. So let’s not crown her as a great actress yet. But she is great in THIS film. And the fact that this is her first movie makes what she did even more impressive.

As for the non-newcomers...Ford easily wins the award. In fact he may be my MVP of the entire film.

 

Daisy Ridley was terrific)

 

Off course but Finn & Rey were seen first.

--- Double Post Merged, Jan 25, 2016, Original Post Date: Jan 25, 2016 ---

No argument there Memphis

 

Daisy Ridley was my favorite from The Force Awakens, she was unbelievable. She came out of nowhere and I honestly didn't know what to expect from her performance going in but wow she blew me away completely. She made Rey such a charming and genuine character that instantly became a character I love and she has become one of, if not my favorite Star Wars characters ever. Her expressions revealed so much about her character in that she was strong and fierce, but whimsical and sad at the same time. Daisy was so beautiful without being overtly sexual or in a way that would have detracted from her character. She was such a strong character. Rey came across as both emotionally and physically strong after spending years alone on Jakku fending for herself. She developed from a lonely scavenger on a dead end world to a Jedi destined for greatness. Daisy was phenomenal and JJ found a phenomenal diamond in the rough with her. I look forward to seeing more of her for years to come.

 

thank you for NOT making this a poll!!

best ensemble in a Star Wars movie ever for me.

i thought Harrison Ford might just fax it in, but he was awesome; his stunned reaction to seeing his son during the battle, his broken heart talking to Leia, his anxious hope on the bridge ~ just beautiful.

Daisy Ridley: holy cow, she was phenomenal! i was really worried she would be obnoxiously feisty or spunky. i love that Daisy made her cool-headed, warm-hearted. she's got a smile that brings dead puppies back to life but you totally believe she can kick your ass too. wonderful to watch in both her expressions and physicality.

Adam Driver killed it. with not much screentime and the handicap of a mask, i thought he managed to convey everything in his body language and voice and the tilt of his head. without the mask, he nailed Ben's vulnerability. both bewtiched and bewitching.

those three were my favorites, followed closely by Boyega and Isaac.

and maybe with one or two small exceptions, the supporting cast was also terrific.

 

LOL! I would kiss Finn, kill Kylo and marry Poe hahahaha.

 

Boyega. Especially considering everything I knew about the finn character going into it. Tbh, I walked in there ready to watch a ***** flick...and he was so likeable that it made some of the movies dreadful decisions tolerable, to an extent.

Driver was also great. He wasn't what I expected ren to be, but I really dig the character.

 

Driver, easily. Ridley was great too, simply because I'd heard those discouraging early reports that she was stiff and unlikeable. Could NOT have been more wrong.