[Movies] Star Wars The Force Awakens SPOILER THREAD!

strawman

strawman

Some people are simply not going to like the movie, and, being human, they will attempt to justify their dislike. When a movie is good or great, then they can only pick nits.

That seems to be what this Landis person is doing.

It's too bad they didn't like it. Fortunately they can choose whether to watch it again or not.

For my part, I thought the lead's actions and abilities were very comparable to Luke's and anakin's in their time. More comparable to anakin's because he wasn't whiny, like Luke. Luke was whiny like Kylo.

Which, honestly, foreshadows the distinct possibility that Rey will go to the dark side.

Which would drive all sorts of people crazy.
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
Mary Sue characters tend to be good at everything and beloved by everyone instantly, but that's not what defines them - I think that's where Max's confusion lies.

Anyway, went to see it again with my friends today. Saw it in IMAX-3D, it gave me a headache. Several of the scenes that looked "odd" in 2D now made sense to me becase they were shot "that way" explicitly for the "ooh pretty" factor in 3D IMAX. Especially the takeoff/landing shots and the closing scene with the helicam circling Rey and Luke.

I didn't really pick up on anything else new or noteworthy in the second viewing, and stand by my assertion that it's a 3 star movie, better than the prequels but not as good as the original trilogy.
 
Frank

Frank

It had two moments directly from Abram's Star Trek.

The seeing the destruction from somewhere you couldn't possibly see it.

And the Kirk finding old Spock moment of Han and Chewie literally just happening to be nearby enough to pick them up immediately after they take off from Jakku.
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
sixpackshaker said:
I think the biggest spoiler is that I paid $3.00 to see it, but a large coke and popcorn cost $5.50. Damn these high prices.
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Hah, when I first went to see it on thursday night, the ticket was 3.50, but I ate at the in-theater restaurant... two tasty but tiny sliders, fries, and a coors light for 14 bucks.
 
Piotyr

Piotyr

Frank said:
It had two moments directly from Abram's Star Trek.

The seeing the destruction from somewhere you couldn't possibly see it.

And the Kirk finding old Spock moment of Han and Chewie literally just happening to be nearby enough to pick them up immediately after they take off from Jakku.
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Han specifically mentioned he tracked them easily the second they took off from Jakku, because he was specifically looking for the Millenium Falcon.
 
Null

Null

Zero Esc said:
You think Max Landis would be looking at it this way if she was a he?
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Not remotely. Mind you, Max Landis was the one who said that "Audiences don't like original stories anymore" about the failure of American Ultra, which was about an amnesiac assassin. The original part? He smokes weed and works in a convenience store, I guess. So obviously he's a fucking idiot.

I loved Star Wars VII and can't wait to see it again.
 
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Hailey Knight

Hailey Knight

Null said:
Not remotely. Mind you, Max Landis was the one who said that "Audiences don't like original stories anymore" about the failure of American Ultra, which was about an amnesiac assassin. The original part? He smokes weed and works in a convenience store, I guess. So obviously he's a fucking idiot.

I loved Star Wars VII and can't wait to see it again.
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He should probably stick to critiquing comic books.

I asked that question because, as others have said, that critique of Rey could be lobbed at Luke or Anakin as well, but no one bats an eye when they're good at everything. Thing is, Rey's troubles are in the same field as Luke's and Anakin's--emotions. And if she's a Force-sensitive, that makes sense, because it's in the emotions that things get so screwed up for the Jedi, whether they're denying them or following them the wrong way. We saw it with Anakin, albeit in shitty movies, and we saw it with Luke as he struggled in Empire and Return. Others have mentioned that in the duel with Kylo Ren, we see hints of the dark side in her. Kylo Ren may not be the only one struggling with the two sides of the Force in the next couple movies.[DOUBLEPOST=1450870559,1450870031][/DOUBLEPOST]
Frank said:
Well, Star Wars 7 is about as original as a new Chipmunks album so he's not wrong there.
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When it comes to American Ultra, I can't speak for everyone, but while it doesn't sound much more original than Star Wars, that isn't why I didn't see it. I didn't see it because it sounded like a dumb stoner comedy and I have no interest in those.

I see he wrote Victor Frankenstein's script that came out last month and has only made $5 million in the U.S. Watching the trailer before Crimson Peak, I'm guessing it cost a lot more than $5 million for all the CGI + Daniel Radcliffe.
 
Frank

Frank

Here's my random thoughts on the movie and I didn't dislike it, I'll add up front, either, I did enjoy my time in the movie.

- I don't really like JJ Abrams' style as a director. Everything goes at such a breakneck pace that little seems to matter. He mimics stuff from earlier films (seen in such movies as Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness and Star Wars: Episode 7: the Force Awakens) without getting how to make the stuff he mimics matter. I felt none of the tension of when the Death Star was rounding Yavin 4 to take out the rebel base when they were doing a similar countdown of the Star Killer about to blast the new rebel base.

- I really liked the new characters (with a couple of exceptions). Rey is great, Finn is great and I even liked Kylo Ren. I loved that he is a scared, conflicted character full of doubt. We may get a villain that grows as a character as well as the heroes, which is bloody fucking rare in big budget blockbuster filmmaking. Poe was kind of a non-factor since he disappears so quick and doesn't really matter later but I still liked him. Hopefully he get's some more screentime in later films and doesn't just end up as a Wedge with slightly more lines. BB-8 is a wonderfully perfect marketing machine. He's adorable, has great moments and is about as perfect a symbol as you could get for the new movies.

- The character I didn't like was admiral barely legal. You'd think there'd be SOMEONE with experience in charge of stuff in the First Order. Someone with some gravitas when he gives that big old nazi speech. I was bummed when he didn't die because we'll have to see more of him later. He sucked.

- Characters that got nothing from me are Darth Voldemort and Captain Phasma. She betrayed the First Order MIGHTY quickly for being so apparently diehard. That just may be due to Abrams' pace. Otherwise she did almost nothing in the movie other than be a new toy to sell. Big hologram guy though has maybe the worst name ever created in Star Wars and this is a God damn series that has a character named Sleazebagano.

- All that said I still had a decent time.

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Zero Esc said:
When it comes to American Ultra, I can't speak for everyone, but while it doesn't sound much more original than Star Wars, that isn't why I didn't see it. I didn't see it because it sounded like a dumb stoner comedy and I have no interest in those.

I see he wrote Victor Frankenstein's script that came out last month and has only made $5 million in the U.S. Watching the trailer before Crimson Peak, I'm guessing it cost a lot more than $5 million for all the CGI + Daniel Radcliffe.
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I don't disagree that American Ultra sucked or anything, I just kind of agree with him on the originality thing. Almost everything that makes tons of money has zero originality in it.
 
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Celt Z

Celt Z

Frank said:
- I don't really like JJ Abrams' style as a director. Everything goes at such a breakneck pace that little seems to matter...I felt none of the tension of when the Death Star was rounding Yavin 4 to take out the rebel base when they were doing a similar countdown of the Star Killer about to blast the new rebel base.
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I definitely agree with you on this. Of all the plot points, this one felt the least developed to me. I think this could even cover your criticism of Poe and General...I can't even remember his name right now.
 
Frank

Frank

I REALLY hope the obvious fingers pointing at Luke being Rey's father are just trickery and smoke and mirrors. I hope the force is like, ok, I've given these fucking Skywalkers enough chances.

I hope she really is a nobody (which would definitely fuel Kylo's legacy pathos) that comes from nothing.
 
Piotyr

Piotyr

I couldn't find the right words to describe how I felt about the movie, but this review basically mirrors my feelings and excitement:

 
Hailey Knight

Hailey Knight

I disagree about the pacing, at least for the first third of the movie. It took its time with Rey and it was nice to have some quiet amid the derelict hulks of the Empire.

I do agree that the Star Killer countdown had nothing on the Death Star countdown, but very few movies have a climax of the same caliber as the original Star Wars, including any of the other movies in the series. I still get amped up for that finale.
 
fade

fade

Staff member
I just got back.

I enjoyed it enough. The direction was a little too Abrams-y for my taste. The biggest problem the movie had was that it copied A New Hope too much. Too many parallels. A few are good, but too many are not. I did appreciate the easter eggs, like the breather masks being in exactly the same place, and Han landing uncomfortably on the training remote.
 
jwhouk

jwhouk

And now, I can post in the cool kids thread. Reactions in somewhat random order:

First thought when the credits rolled: Welp, I guess I'm going to have to go see VIII when it comes out.

Now we know two things:
1. Why Mark Hamill wasn't on the poster. (When you don't appear until LITERALLY the last 30 seconds of the movie...)
2. Why Harrison Ford was so happy about promoting this movie. (His character dies. He doesn't have to play Han any more unless he wants to.)

All the little homages to the original trilogy - and bits of the prequels as well - were awesome.

Ben Solo (aka Kylo Ren) - that's almost along the same lines as Tom Marvolo Riddle. And I fully approve.

That big boss is going to be hell to try to fight, once Rey and Finn get there.

I got that tingly feeling when I saw the crawl. I'll be honest. (Wife jumped when the crescendo sounded and STAR WARS appeared on the screen - which had me laughing.)

I'm calling it now: Rey is Luke's daughter.

Wife's take: "I really feel for Chewie."

The whole "Ben Solo blew up the Jedi Academy" thing - that's gonna come up in the future, I just know it.

It was just all the little things - Finn tossing aside the practice orb, the "flashback" scenes in the cantina's basement, the way Hamill flipped his hood back, just like Sir Alec Guinness did in the original movie. They all made it feel like, this is Star Wars.

Next two episodes are going to be hard to top this one.
 
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fade

fade

Staff member
Rey as Luke's daughter almost seems too obvious. But then again, it's yet another homage to the original. I just felt like while that stuff was fun, there was just too much of it.
 
fade

fade

Staff member
One minor negative: I did not like the ragged edges on all the sabers and blaster bolts. They were unnecessary and added little.
 
General Specific

General Specific

I thought Kylo's ragged saber was a reflection of himself. Not to get too poetic about it. But it shows that he is inexperienced and unrefined. He does not yet have all the pieces in place to build a proper saber.

Also, I agree with whomever it was on the first page that said they were playing this movie extremely safe. After the debacle that was the prequels, they wanted to make sure this one pleased the fans. I think they have done that and so I hope the next ones will branch out a bit more and have more originality and more of the "Star Wars" feel to it.
 
B

BErt

General Specific said:
I thought Kylo's ragged saber was a reflection of himself. Not to get too poetic about it. But it shows that he is inexperienced and unrefined. He does not yet have all the pieces in place to build a proper saber
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I agree with this completely. I thought they intentionally showed how his was ragged compared to the Luke/Anakin saber to reflect this.
 
fade

fade

Staff member
I can't figure out if Finn is supposed to be force sensitive though. Ren was aware of his defection beforehand, he was unusually good at targeting despite being a janitor, and he could use a light saber. And then there's the unusual nature of his breaking programming.
 
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