Just in terms of nit picking, I found Kylo Ren to be a whiny, emo idiot of a villain who looked like he was geared up for paintball.
I'm not sure if I like or dislike Ren. In a way, it's refreshing to have a bad guy who isn't the perfect, evil, bad guy and who is obviously struggling with living up to the standard he has set for himself (Darth Vader). He has skills, but they also need refining, his is still learning on the job. However, he is whiny and emo too and his temper tantrums are annoying, but it could be argued are in character for a younger, less controlled Dark Sider.
I think it's at least partially resentment at (Seriously no one read this spoiler if you haven't seen the movie. Seriously. Just don't. Just walk away) You have been warned Spoiler Kylo killing Han. I figured they were going to off one of the first trilogy characters, but I thought for sure it was going to be Luke. In retrospect, getting rid of the most expensive actor makes a lot of sense from a practical standpoint but… Well, it sounded like Han had a miserable life. His romance fell apart, his best (human) friend went missing and they never reunite, his family was a mess and so he romps around the galaxy in a tramp freighter with Chewie hanging out in seedy bars and carrying around contraband in a ship that clearly isn't the one he should be driving around. Just thought Solo deserved a better story than that, especially after reading so much of the EU.
Spoiler Finn has a force connection so the force awakening caused him to break conditioning, that why kylo ren sensed him not wanting to kill all the rebels at the beginning (and why he did okay againt kylo ren) but i didnt like finn's complete lack of care for his brainwashed brothers as soon as he decides to escape. you'd think he'd have more sympathy not all storm troopers are clones - its well established that the clone program didnt provide enough soldiers or a new generation and the death star exploded with many inside. I think they missed out a plot point where the pilot was also han and leia's son and han liked that he was a pilot so it upset kylo ren also finn and the pilot hugging was laaaaame and totally random boyega's accent was terrible im glad they made rey just a character with no love interests I CRACKED UP WHEN HAN SAID TO LEIA THAT HE KNEW IT WAS HARD FOR HER TO LOOK AT HIM COS HAN LOOKS SO MUCH LIKE KYLO REN! THE KYLO REN GUY LOOKS NOTHING LIKE HAN!
In terms of lame and totally random: Spoiler Why the heck does Leia comfort and hug Rey after Han dies? Frickin' Chewbacca is RIGHT THERE?!?! DOESN'T SHE UNDERSTAND WHAT A WOOKIE LIFE DEBT MEANS AT THIS POINT!??!!?!
Spoiler I don't dislike Ren because he killed Han so much as resent the writers for sending the story that way and, basically, resetting the original characters to who they were at the beginning of ANH. All the character development was thrown by the wayside. Han is back to the loner smuggler, Leia is back to the resistance leader princess, their relationship fell apart, their kid is a nutter and, to top it off nicely, Han lost the Falcon. It's crappy, lazy writing.
Totally agree. I mean, it wasn't as bad as the prequels, but that's damning with faint praise. I have a feeling that I'll see this movie a few more times but I don't think that in my heart of hearts it will ever be the REALLY REALLY REAL Star Wars I remember from the movies and the books. Should have just shot the Thrawn trilogy dammit.
Agreed. It didn't have the soul of Star Wars. I've seen it 3 times now and I think that's enough. Over Christmas I watched ANH, TESB and ROTJ again and I still love them and can happily watch them again and again. I don't think I'll be doing that with TFA.
Spoiler Here's something else... say what you want about the 3 prequels, but in comparison to TFA, they were original. TFA is actually the least original of any of the Star Wars movies. And something else than bothers me. As a non-Star wars devotee, I just do not understand why the First Order is attacking people. I can't understand it. Where is it actually explained in the film? The Resistance?? What are they resisting? Why? There is next to no explanation given of any of this. Proof, if proof were needed that the film simply assumes that people have watched the original trilogy as a reference point, and the "re-imaging" that is TFA simply seeks to replay the original trilogy for a newer audience without explaining important things like the motivation of the villains. I really cannot get why so many people (critics included) are giving this movie such an easy time. My own theory is that many of the prominent reviewers today may have grown up as Star Wars kids and a certain amount of nostalgia has crept in. Literally any other movie that has done what TFA has would be getting a hard time from critics.
Honestly, I think after the prequels we were all just ready for a "space adventure with fun people" experience and everyone is just relieved that it isn't the Phantom Menace.
I think that is the point exactly. George Lucas tried to do something a bit different with the prequels. Okay so broadly speaking it didn't work out, but in hindsight, he maybe didn't get enough credit for at least wanting to do something new and not just re-hashing the original movies. Spoiler TFA on the other hand seems totally risk adverse in terms of trying something new, so it re-hashs the older movies. Who would have thought TFA would make me appreciate the prequels more lol!
i feel like the movie was made by marketers who got together and were like "what do people like?" marketers "episodes 4,5,6" Boss "great lets remake those!" marketers "but people dont like their childhoods to be replaced!" boss "okay we bring back the old characters but make different main characters with the same story" marketers "twitter trends suggest women and blacks are popular - maybe them?" boss "okay what else should we put in the movie?" marketers "people liked the death star so lets make a bigger death star" boss "good! what else?" marketers "cute androids like RD2 for the kids but a new cuter android for more toys" boss " people - i think we have a movie. lets get 9 script writers to glue all these pieces together."
Spoiler At least the prequels, for the most part, kept to the story, didn't take too many liberties with established in-universe storylines (I object to the midichlorians, but object more to the StarKiller beam being visible in different systems), and at least the prequels had some exposition (too much maybe but at least they tried to set the scene for the state of the galaxy)! The prequel dialogue and humour was often terrible, but then so were some of Finn's lines - the boyfriend bit and his rant at Captain Phasma
Yeah, it reeks of "script by committee". It's enjoyable on one level because it recreates the visual atmosphere of the originals to a large extent, even down to the lighting, and doesn't have that awkward everyone's-on-a-plain-green-soundstage vibe that completely ruins the performances. On a superficial level it feels like watching a Star Wars film on the big screen. I think that's why it's been given a pass. But the plot lacks any originality, exposition or originality. It's got that vagueness and lack of direction when you don't have a singular vision, and instead you have a committee of writers smearing the concepts into focus group fodder. Then again, the prequels were one man's vision, and look how they turned out (though, to be honest, I saw Episode I once, and the only exposure I've had to the others were the Mr. Plinked reviews).
I think the prequels were honestly universe breaking, and I'm not saying that lightly. I remember my vision of the Star Wars after watching them all and playing the games and reading the novels, it always seemed to me that the jedi were these quiet monks hiding in backwoods planets, more myth than fact for most of the galaxy's residents. I figured if they helped out the Republic, it was behind the scenes, or at the least not as an officially recognized JEDI KNIGHT. I thought that jedi sensed each other out, passed down their training intimately, a master might have two or three students, but not a whole temple filled with children. Tatooine seemed like a completely empty planet, except for one small city with a bar and a sex den that Jabba built for himself out in the desert. Not someplace with pod races and stadiums filled with people. A good time was going to the Toshi station to pick up power converters.
Yeah, the new film was the first time in years and years that I've watched a Star Wars film, because Lucas urinated all over the original trilogy and I refuse to watch the "improved" versions again. I remember nearly buying that limited edition DVD set with the original cuts in it, then thinking: "nah, I'll get them some other time, it's not like they'll make the original cuts completely unavailable or anything!"
For me, I got the only thing I was was looking to get out of it. I went in a hopeful adult and left feeling like a kid again.
I had to introduce my girlfriend to star wars (she'd never seen it!) and I couldn't find anything besides the special editions.
