Star Wars Force Awakens Spoiler Slumber Party!

[Sideshow Spock]

Seen the film? Discuss!

[drquest]

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Just rolled in from seeing it.... Loved it! Hated to see a certain character go like that....

[hedrap]

Similar to Trek in that it's a reboot without calling it as such. They reappropriated so many original trilogy beats that, like Trek, it's a reboot, tucked into a summation, wrapped in a sequel.

Abrams hit enough of the real SW aesthetic hallmarks that it made the story rehashes acceptable. Lucas' dislike for the feel of the original films made it impossible for him to grasp how important that look was. He may not say it, but I can't help but feel Lucas must think Force Awakens is a mix of homage and parody.

I don't think it's better than Jedi. Not sold on Ren or Finn. Rey is by far the best character.

[drquest]

Rey stole the movie as did BB-8, and honestly I loved all of the Chewie scenes, they were great.

There's parallels between the OT and episode VII, Starkiller Base, strafing run by the X-Wings etc, but that doesn't take anything away....

[MIB41]

I just got back from seeing it, but I'll give a more detailed overview tomorrow. In short it was pretty disappointing for me. Sorry folks. It dripped derivative. Zero shock value; Zero originality; ZERO character motivation; ZERO setup. Everything was established from the first scene. The leaps in logic to each character's "sudden" abilities for the sake of advancing the story actually made some of the prequels looks incredibly better scripted. Who would have ever guessed that? Kylo sounded like Bane pumped through surround sound and some of his tirades came off almost as unintended comedy. Everyone seem to be mimicking their counterparts from a New Hope. Hell, even the Falcon and X-Wing fighters were in the same formation when the Death Star Deluxe blew. If anyone saved this movie it was Harrison Ford. He did a splendid job and no I am not REMOTELY sold he perished. As a rule anyone who supposedly "dies" but is not recovered in a fantasy flick is a loop hole for writers to bring back.

Kylo did nothing for me because there was zero mystique around him. You saw him unmasked, and outside of being Han and Leia's son, there was very little to explain his motivations. His teenage rebellious years turned him to the dark side. Geez. Even Lucas would have contrived something better than that. As far as the ensemble cast, I thought they all played their parts well. The acting was good. Nice cameo by Max Von Sydow. The effects were splendid but very quick and at times seem to be there just for the performance. I think that stood out to me too. The movie felt self-aware. Very little cohesion, but plenty of nice effects moments, but lacking any real depth outside of making you go "wow". It felt like it took the greatest hits of the original Star Wars movie and played them out with new characters. And the fact Luke was in the film for all of a minute with no dialogue disappointed many in my theater. There was ZERO applause at the end.

Now before I get rendered a hater of this film, let me say it was a enjoyable film on the surface. The nostalgic nods were nice (for a while). The acting was solid throughout. And the effects all gave a familiar warmth from the old movies. But it all felt very "connect-the-dots" in application. It felt like it was made by a fan-boy or for a fan-boy. Not sure which it leans more on. But it felt like eating Chinese food. When you're done, it was tasty but an hour later you want something else. So, I'm sorry folks. I didn't go in expecting a spiritual awakening. And I didn't go in expecting the movie to reinvent 1977. My main expectation was for the film to advance the narrative left off from Jedi. It never really did. 30 years later the world looks oddly like it did in a New Hope. It felt like a partial reboot with the old characters thrown in for nostalgia. It would have been far more fascinating to see the Empire grow back than for the it to essentially already be there, bigger and "badder" than the original run by a kid with great anger issues not unlike Anakin. Oh and the Gollum/Emperor was waaay too much like Lord of the Rings. I don't know. It just all felt borrowed with very little new. Again... sorry for those who were blown away. I'm not here to run contrary to that thinking. It just didn't work for me.

[emeraldknight47]

Haven't seen the movie and likely won't get a chance to until after Christmas, but it sounds like, as much as Abrams tried to mimic and echo Lucas' efforts, he may have stumbled a bit. Perhaps the problem lies in the fact that Disney wanted to count too much on a known science-fiction director to bring STAR WARS up to speed in the modern era. What they, and perhaps a lot of people, fail to realize, is that the two best STAR WARS films (SW & ESB) were directed NOT by science fiction directors, but by directors who had done wonderful things with ensemble casts before and were able to bring THAT sensibility to the science fiction genre. Science fiction is not always best directed by sci-fi moguls or youngsters who grew up wanting to emulate their sci-fi heroes, but by people removed from the genre who can look at it from a completely objective point of view and therefore turn it into something fresh and vital...

[JRT!]

MIB41 - that's exactly how I feel WITHOUT having even seen the movie,lol! I know I'll enjoy it more than you did though,but ten minutes after I've seen it,my thoughts will be like yours. Thank you short attention span,I LOVE you.....at times like these,lol! Too little R2 in there as well. Always loved that little droid,lol. And no wonder Ford is all smiles and nice these days,he got his wish.....for now.

And well said Emerald!

J-R!

[Earth 2 Chris]

Loved it. It had to hit the old tropes to prove it was a true Star Wars film, because of the prequel backlash. The characters were just as developed and motivated as any in the first film. Really guys, I hate to say it, but Star Wars AIN'T that deep. Not really. Go back and watch the films, and forget the comics, the EU, all that stuff, and just watch the movie. Luke goes from being a farmboy who wants to go to college to a space-faring hero in like two seconds. This had that same feel.

I expected the one moment everyone was talking about, but it still was a gut-punch. Still not sure I like how that played out, but I have a feeling we have another redemption cycle on our hands, so we may have to wait out things a bit.

I think Rey knows the place where she found a certain someone...and why would she? Hmmmm....

Chris

[MIB41]

^^^ In all due fairness Chris, I have never considered Star Wars a deep concept. If the Ewoks didn't bash that thought over my head, the prequels held me underwater with the understanding. But when I grew up with them (the original trilogy), they all had their own identity. This has none. It was honestly a soft reboot. If all that is left for it to do is reminisce on the flavor of the originals, then it's pretty well written out. There's influence and then there is paying homage. For me, this was neither. It felt more like tracing. And talk about a marketing red herring with Luke. I think it was not so much running from the prequels so much as just playing it ultra safe on the formula. For me it was too redundant on the plot points. And Rey's mastery turnaround was ridiculously fast. It took Luke three movies to understand and master his skill. Here Rey can not only fight the top villain in the first movie but master flying the Falcon like Solo and not understand why. That's pretty lazy writing my friend. I don't think a movie has to be "deep" to bring it's own ideas and expand upon what has already been written.

[Earth 2 Chris]

^Not to argue with you pal, but I think they telegraphed that Rey was EXTREMELY strong in the Force, even before they revealed it. She was very "lucky".

I didn't have any of the problems mentioned here. I'm sorry you guys did.

Chris

[MIB41]

^^^ The main thing is you had a great time! Happy you liked it bro. Nothing to bump heads about here. It's all love!

[palitoy]

Please if I could make a request that any and all discussion of the move be started with

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I would be in you debt, some of us haven't seen the film and want to go in fresh. I've already read some things I truly don't appreciate in my feed.

[drquest]

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I think we'll find out Rey has a much larger backstory that hasn't been explained. She might have had training by Luke like Kylo did, and to be honest, she's Luke's daughter right?

Did Disney and JJ play it safe with this movie? Yes, I think that's a given. There's lots of parallels between Episode IV and this one, and it's not a mistake that happened. That movie defined a generation and Disney is trying to do it again. I bet the later movies will let the Star Wars universe stretch its legs more, but they definitely were treading softly with the story, but I didn't find it less enjoyable because of that.

Seeing the characters and the story on the screen unfold with my three kids was enough to satisfy me last night. I was 7 when the original came out and my youngest is 7, so it has other meanings to me because of that.

[4NDR01D]

I loved it. It certainly mirrored a lot of the original trilogy, but I think it was known that it would going into it.
It felt like a Star Wars movie, in a way the prequels never will.
It was fun.

[4NDR01D]

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One thing I couldn't figure out, is Snoke really that huge? Or just his projection is? Sorta a Wizard of Oz type thing?

I liked him, didn't see him as a Gollum rip-off at all.