star wars: the force awakens (spoilers)

[rtil]

surprised there's not a thread yet

thoughts on the movie? i saw it on sunday and i plan on seeing it again, but here's my first impressions:
likes

• it felt like a star wars movie and it didn't suck. the only two things that i had expectations for met. so i'm happy about that
  
• new cast has staying power for a trilogy that is set up well
  
• the main villain is well established and has a lot of room for character growth. someone described his demeanor as prequel anakin done right.
  
• rey, while powerful, is still a believable and compelling character who is easy to root for
  
• finn was likeable and funny
  
• harrison ford did a good job reprising a role he hasn't played in decades
  
• for the most part the film was beautifully shot
  
• the fanservice was reasonably done enough that it wasn't overly
  

dislikes

• the plot played it a little too safe. blowing up starkiller base seemed especially unnecessary. i was hoping the weapon would be disabled but the base would remain mostly intact
  
• the pacing was insanely fast. it would have been nice to have more plot points fleshed out. however the film was already 2h30m, they probably had to cut out a lot. potential for an extended/director's cut?
  
• captain phasma was underused and underwhelming. fortunately she isn't dead as she is set to return for ep 8. hopefully she will be redeemed there instead of being the next boba fett.
  
• i want to know more about the gravity of the situation and the state of the star wars universe. 6 planets blew up and it seemed of little consequence. this speaks to the pacing again.
  

i'm looking forward to my 2nd viewing because i usually pick up a lot more when i do and i'll be seeing it in imax.  when i saw mad max a 2nd time i liked it a lot more. i'm hoping the same happens for TFA. i can't give it a score or anything right now until i see it again

[MealGin]

• it felt like a star wars movie and it didn't suck.
  

Well, I'm sold.

Not gonna be able to see it until January, tho, which kinda sucks.

[rtil]

• it felt like a star wars movie and it didn't suck.
  

Well, I'm sold.

Not gonna be able to see it until January, tho, which kinda sucks.

be careful about spoilers if you  haven't been spoiled already. i had a major plot point spoiled for me in an unexpected place but i still enjoyed it. thankfully i didn't mention it in my first post

[bd648]

i had a little kid come up to me at "Bob's burger palace" and yell a spoiler at me. Luckily the child was entirely incomprehensible so i was safe.

• i want to know more about the gravity of the situation and the state of the star wars universe. 6 planets blew up and it seemed of little consequence. this speaks to the pacing again.
  

I feel like this is just something inherent to JJ abrams and should probably slow down during the next movie

[zwimmy]

It's so dense, every single frame has so much going on.

[rtil]

It's so dense, every single frame has so much going on.

[d-floe]

I never watched any of the starwars movies except this one, but, I did have a good understanding of the plot to understand what was going on in the new movie. The new movie wasnt spectacular but I think they did a pretty good job, Im certain they left a lot of questions unsolved to clear up in the next movie(s). My enjoyment was stunted a bit with the 3D that hurt my head, but I still think the movie was overall pretty enjoyable. I still think that a lot of the character's decisions seemed really unrealistic and a lot really seem to self insert and then disappear. A lot of characters just appear for nostaliga sake and then are never seen again, they served little to no purpose. I still enjoyed it though and since Ive never really rode the hype train I wasnt disappointed by any means.

That being said, im not much of a movie person, so its less about if i thought the movie was good or not and more about if i enjoyed the movie or not, which i gotta say, it was pretty fun to watch.

[zwimmy]

I never watched any of the starwars movies except this one, but, I did have a good understanding of the plot to understand what was going on in the new movie. The new movie wasnt spectacular but I think they did a pretty good job, Im certain they left a lot of questions unsolved to clear up in the next movie(s). My enjoyment was stunted a bit with the 3D that hurt my head, but I still think the movie was overall pretty enjoyable. I still think that a lot of the character's decisions seemed really unrealistic and a lot really seem to self insert and then disappear. A lot of characters just appear for nostaliga sake and then are never seen again, they served little to no purpose. I still enjoyed it though and since Ive never really rode the hype train I wasnt disappointed by any means.

That being said, im not much of a movie person, so its less about if i thought the movie was good or not and more about if i enjoyed the movie or not, which i gotta say, it was pretty fun to watch.

You should really watch the original trilogy sometime. Make sure it's the de-specialized version. Anything released after the 90s is an abomination.

Anyways, I saw it last night I agree with a lot of the stuff the RLM guys/rtil said. Captain Phasma was literally Boba Fett 2.0, a supposed badass who doesn't actually do anything. There were definitely some pacing issues and I feel like both the characters and the plot could have benefited from more development and backstory. The current state of the Star Wars galaxy is frustratingly vague. Why are the good guys called "The Resistance"? That would imply the First Order is the dominant force in the galaxy. But the First Order seemed more like they were making their first strike against the Republic after all those years of rebuilding themselves from the remnants of the Empire. And speaking of the New Republic, where do they fit in all of this? How come they didn't have an army? Did J.J. Abrams seriously just asspull the Republic out of existence with a huge laser beam so that they could go back to the whole "rag-tag rebels vs evil empire" setting? Like c'mon.

Edit: Okay, so I looked some stuff up and found out that in the novelizations they elaborate on the New Republic. They have a huge military force and a battle-ready fleet that gets vaporized along with all their planets, leaving only the Resistance. So apparently a 5 second shot of the New Republic fleet getting taken out (WHICH WOULD CLEAR UP A LOT OF SHIT) would make the movie too fucking complicated???

[d-floe]

I liked the guy with the spinny stick that said "TRAITOR" and then died and never showed any relevance ever again

[zwimmy]

I liked the guy with the spinny stick that said "TRAITOR" and then died and never showed any relevance ever again

I guess he was one of Finn's old squadmates.

Oh, one thing I liked was how Finn and Poe had some great buddy chemistry going on and I wish there was more of that.

[d-floe]

I feel like there wasn't enough time to develop the characters enough and provide enough back story for who these characters are and if there was anything relatable about them. In truth Finn and Rei couldve been anyone else and the story would make just as much sense. There was a lot of plot covered, but the pacing was way too quick. So many things were introduced and then never seen again, its just a slew of information and I honestly question why Jar Jar Abrams even included these characters and concepts. The star destroyer appeared and then disappeared at the end of the movie, tons of characters served little purpose for a few minutes of screentime or just to segway the main characters to the next point of the story. I get that he wants to brand these characters and make toys out of them but they're so insignificant

[soup]

TRAITOR

[zwimmy]

Star Wars Episode VII: The Memes Awaken

[ProtoChaud]

Now now, Kizu, aren't we above such childish superstiti-

TRAITOR

[rtil]

while this guy was cool

he should have been captain phasma

as far as the pacing goes, it almost felt like 2 movies squeezed in to one. Rey's force powers kinda came out of nowhere, Starkiller base needed more build-up, i wanted to spend more time on Jakku. the first half of the movie is strong but then it really goes into lightning speed.

well, Rian Johnson is directing and writing ep 8. i think he's a more capable writer than JJ and can answer some of the big questions that ep 7 left us with. i still think JJ was a good choice to open up the trilogy.

the problem with Star Wars is that the OT left such a lasting impact on entertainment culture that it's impossible to live up to its legacy. even though ep 7 is generally well received it will be nitpicked to death with its flaws and inconsistencies and already has. at the end of the day, i'm just happy it was fun to watch and has characters i give a shit about. the biggest problem with the PT is that i didn't give a fuck about Anakin. Rey, while teetering on the side of being a Mary Sue, is someone with big dreams who cares for her friends and is a self-taught badass with just enough of a childish nature in her to feel like she still has a lot to learn. Finn risked his life to try and do what he thought was right and discover a world outside of the bubble he was put in. Poe does everything he can to keep a promise to someone who was important to him. there's a lot of potential with how everything is set up - if all goes well i could see ep 7 being the weakest entry to the new trilogy.

and we also have the Rogue One movie to look forward to, as well as i guess a Han Solo origins movie and maybe a Boba Fett one. could be amazing, could be horrible.. Disney is mostly letting the creative teams do whatever they want, and all the shilling and marketing and toy sales aside i think you can tell that the people creating these films genuinely want to tell a good story.

more than anything i'm just happy the movie is well received even if i didn't like it as much as most others

[slack]

ok i just saw it a second time and i noticed something that i hadnt noticed before

when han solo steps into the cockpit of the millennium falcon, a small part of the main theme from indiana jones plays, but only for a few seconds

a wonderful easter egg

[valiums]

10/10
+10 Adam Driver
-1 everything that wasn't his lovely lump of a face
+1 TRAITOR

[slack]

the adam driver thing surprised me but i am ok with it

[valiums]

I was extremely happy that he didn't die like Half in the Bag guessed. I'm tired of squeaky clean good people doing good things because good and good wins good good good good good good so I'm already excited to see what he does and what happens to him in the next film.

[valiums]

Unless the next film has him becoming good.