The Force Awakens. Your reaction? (Spoilers)

[JJFDVORAK 1,210]

So I just saw it. And I thought it was OK. Not great. Not bad. Just ok. And as a huge fan of (most of) the old EU, and pretty annoyed at the mouse for scrapping it, I had already prepared myself to be optimistic but realistic. It wouldn't be everything I wanted it to be. I knew that. So overall I was pretty happy with it. The new characters of Finn, Poe, and Rey are awesome! They made the movie for me. Also BB8. And Han and Chewie. But I was a little let down by the basic repackaging of Episode 4. It was like watching a remake of a movie you love, only with different actors playing your favorite parts.

It starts of with Princess Leia( now played by Poe) on a mission to get secret information, when he is attacked by Darth Vader (now Kylo Ren) and he has to put said info into R2D2(now BB8) and tell him to go, before Poe is captured. R2 then travels across Tattoine(now Jakku) until he meets Luke Skywalker (now Rey). Meanwhile Princess Poe is rescued by Han Solo (now Finn) and they escape. The story is slightly different now as Poe and Finn crash land back on Jakku and are separated. But soon its back on track as Rey and Finn get together and escape the desert planet in the Millennium Falcon. Then they meet up with old Ben Kenobi aka a cool mentor who teaches them about the Force(now Han Solo) and take the info to the Rebellion (now the Resistance) then they make a plan, To attak the Empire(now The First Order) after the First Order uses their superweapon called the Death Star (now Starkiller Base) The Rebels send a team to knock out the shield generator/tractor beam. When they get there, old Han Kenobi confronts Darth Ren and is struck down giving Rey Skywalker a reason to fight Darth Ren. They do. Meanwhile Wedge Antilles(now Poe) leads an assault with T65 Xwings (now T70) to blow up the Death Star (Starkiller Base). The Rebels win. And Rey Skywalker goes off to be trained by an old hermit Jedi Master named Yoda(now Luke Skywalker).

So from my point of view, Episode 7 is a sorta remake/reboot of Episode 4. I liked it, but I feel it could have been better with a slightly more original story.

Also there were details that are very different that I left out on purpose.

So what are your thoughts?

[Sithborg 11,662]

I really don't understand these remake claims. Was ROTJ a remake of ANH? 

[KCDodger 11,110]

Kylo Ren scares me.

He scares me. Not many people scare me outright, but he does. He's... Everything Anakin could have become, and yet... So much more powerful. A quiet, calculating, voice... Looks at people with the same, unwavering stare... The hair, even. He's everything Anakin was... But...

He's all the worst things about Anakin. Not in acting or something- no... He's the dark side of Anakin.

And he's frightening. Terrifying.

You Vader, Maul, were scary..?

Nobody's as terrifying as Kylo Ren.

Nobody.

[Sithborg 11,662]

He's the Vader that didn't stop being a whiny brat. 

[KCDodger 11,110]

He's the Vader that didn't stop being a whiny brat. 

No... He's the Vader that didn't get crippled.

He's the Vader that looks through people. Doesn't see them. Sees things. Objects. He's so far removed.

So much more than Anakin ever was.

[JJFDVORAK 1,210]

I really don't understand these remake claims. Was ROTJ a remake of ANH?

No but I feel there are more parallels between 4 and 7 than 4 and 6.

[TheycamefromBEHIND 374]

Good movie but not amazing, my biggest question is if Kylo can read minds/pull info why not just pull location of Reb  err Resistance base from Poe then crush them with conventional means then capture base. Roll credits

 

If they had all the info but the piece bb had and knew he was on Jakku then they have nothing to fear with crushing the resistance.

 

I loved the jokes and comedy aspect of the movie, its gonna make so much money

Edited December 18, 2015 by TheycamefromBEHIND

[JJFDVORAK 1,210]

He's the Vader that didn't stop being a whiny brat.

No... He's the Vader that didn't get crippled.

He's the Vader that looks through people. Doesn't see them. Sees things. Objects. He's so far removed.

So much more than Anakin ever was.

I wonder if he escaped somehow and how so?

[Tylock 28]

Kylo Ren was scary til he threw a hissy fit.

Edit: I don't usually find characters that have emotional outbursts as scary as those who are cold or emotionless. When I see people vent I find it almost reassuring, the whole tempted to the light thing and the hope Leia had for him to be redeemed also makes me find him less scary. I thought Luke's hope for Vaders redemtion was futile, not sure why I think Kylo's is possible, perhaps because I just don't find him as scary.

Edited December 18, 2015 by Tylock

[KCDodger 11,110]

Kylo Ren was scary til he threw a hissy fit.

I forgot, we're still in the archaic school of thought where we expect villains only to brood.

[TasteTheRainbow 8,726]

He's the Vader that didn't stop being a whiny brat.

He's also the Vader who never fought in the Clone Wars.

[Daniel Beaver 165]

I was pleased - my greatest fear was that it would only be "okay". Of particular note, I thought the character interaction was fabulously good, and this is the heart and soul of Star Wars. The characters are clearly defined, and likeable (or unlikeable, as needed). In particular, I thought Kylo Ren was a great villain, and I liked the meta plot about him being hung up about being as awesome as Vader (because that's the standard the audience is judging him by).

I can understand some complaints about it being a predictable and simplistic plot, but honestly... so were the original trilogy. Star Wars always aimed at being very good middlebrow story.

[TasteTheRainbow 8,726]

I rate it 2nd or third best Star Wars film for both quality and enjoyability.

[Otacon 889]

I enjoyed it. I think the reveal of Kylo being Han and Leia's son could have been handled a bit differently(though I get why they did it how they did), and I'd have liked a better explanation of what the deal with Republic and Resistance being separate entities was about, but hey, we've still got 2 more movies for that. The new characters felt like actual people this time around, the action was cool, particularly the lightsaber fights; not over-choreographed 'I'm not actually swinging at you' dance routines, it actually felt like they were trying to hit each other.

 

As for similarities to IV? Eh, I'm fine with it. There were a lot of familiar elements, remixed a bit, in order to put people at ease that these are totally Star Wars movies and not the prequels. I get it and I'm good with it, and it felt like Star Wars. The ride was still fun. I highly doubt we'll be seeing a Starkiller Base II in Episode 9(though if we do, someone remember to call me out on it if this forum is still here in 6 years). I honestly expected Starkiller Base to make it through though to be a plot point in VIII.

 

Girlfriend and I are going to go see it again on a bigger screen, and the last movie I saw on the big screen more than once was Fellowship of the Ring, so that should say something.

Edited December 18, 2015 by Otacon

[Lifer4700 396]

So I just saw it. And I thought it was OK. Not great. Not bad. Just ok. And as a huge fan of (most of) the old EU, and pretty annoyed at the mouse for scrapping it.

I agree with most of your assessment, except for the EU. I couldn't care less about it. I'm glad the slate is clean.

I viewed this movie as the bridge from the original trilogy, they had to tie it all together and they wanted to use the original cast to help the transition. Now the future movies can do their own thing.

I'm really looking forward to them!

The battles were outstandingly done, and overall I really enjoyed the film.

[ScottieATF 2,867]

Good movie but not amazing, my biggest question is if Kylo can read minds/pull info why not just pull location of Reb err Resistance base from Poe then crush them with conventional means then capture base. Roll credits

If they had all the info but the piece bb had and knew he was on Jakku then they have nothing to fear with crushing the resistance.

I loved the jokes and comedy aspect of the movie, its gonna make so much money

He doesn't seem to want to crush the Resistance, he wants to find Luke. Pretty much like Vader in Episode 5. Yeah he will mess up Echo Base, but he didn't torture Han for info on the Rebels, but to get to Luke.

When beating on the Resistance is furthering him finding Luke he is all about it, otherwise he doesn't seem to care about the larger struggle. Or maybe he only cares about the largest struggle, light vs dark.

Edited December 18, 2015 by ScottieATF

[Black Knight Leader 424]

Well i liked it, it has some problems which i will get to later.

Firstly i liked how well it compliments legends and tech manuals. Ties have mag pulses, thanks to stele lol. We see they have further advanced in laser tech, as i pointed out before by the time of tbe civil war the could manipulate the path of their laser beams. Now the practicly have laser missiles, and not the anti-rad stuff we barely got to work in the past.

I had hypothesized that the super heavy turbo laser broadsides fired lasers with tracking capabilities, they have a range of around 11 light minutes. After seeing what they did with sd lasers in this movie its even more likely they do.

Darth Caedus was pretty good as a villain. Although sometimes i think they over didit with some scenes whens hes angry.

The story was good enough... i felt it could have been better, maybe not have them fight the star killer base and blow it up so soon.

Fights were good, except for fox Mc'Cloud the imps did real well against the rebs.

My problems with the film was the 3 new protagonists all felt like they wefe sw fans that were pulled into the movie and forced to interact with the sw universe or die, kinda like the last action hero movie. They felt out of place, poe not as much, even how they interacted with each other felt strange. Their lingo didn5 feel star warsish. I felt it was weird that somehow after all these years han just now used the crossbow. How the hell did poe escape off the planet? Ben obviously survived, how the do they find him and rescue him? Why was Fin shaken by the death of one storm trooper but then was fully ok with killing them, even though they were in the same situation he was in.

The movie was good but it didnt feel like a sw movie.

Also why did the empire down grade their troopers gear? Now its not possible for them to whisper, they are super loud when they talk as well as the transmissions they get and they dont have closed circuit breathing systems.

Not really a negative but it seems strange the new emperor, one of the engineers from prometheus, has troopers conditioned to be in their fighting forces, maybe all of them. Sidious didnt go this route because tbe only way to have an empire thrive if hevwefe to die was to have people in it tbat wanted to be in it. Having people forced to be in it will end bad.

[thestggrwng 312]

Rehash of episode 4? Check. Great new set of main character good guys? Check. Great new evil villains who fill me with terror? I knew we missed something. A crappy vader brooding about how crappy a vader he is. Also heavy handed in that rey is clearly Luke's daughter. So this is just a rehash story of Jacen solo becoming a crappy vader (Darth Caedus)

[Sithborg 11,662]

Only good. 

[KCDodger 11,110]

Rehash of episode 4? Check. Great new set of main character good guys? Check. Great new evil villains who fill me with terror? I knew we missed something. A crappy vader brooding about how crappy a vader he is. Also heavy handed in that rey is clearly Luke's daughter. So this is just a rehash story of Jacen solo becoming a crappy vader (Darth Caedus)

Door's over there buddy.

 

[Croste 105]

I enjoyed it. But it did feel like episode IV,V & VI smashed together. Maybe my expectationd were too high. Its good. I just imagined better.

[Lifer4700 396]

Kylo Ren was scary til he threw a hissy fit.

To me, that's what made him scary. He had the capability to actually lose control.

Of course, he became a bit less scary once he took off his mask. I thought he was a young John Travolta. I was waiting for him to say, "Hey, mister Kah-tare"

[Black Knight Leader 424]

Rehash of episode 4? Check. Great new set of main character good guys? Check. Great new evil villains who fill me with terror? I knew we missed something. A crappy vader brooding about how crappy a vader he is. Also heavy handed in that rey is clearly Luke's daughter. So this is just a rehash story of Jacen solo becoming a crappy vader (Darth Caedus)

Its kinda interesting he is pleading with Vader to be a better Dark Sider. Since the guy that played as anakin /vader is coming back for ep 8 there's a chance something heard him and is coming back.

Did you notice Caedus and Snookey didnt have glowing yellow eyes ever!

[Black Knight Leader 424]

Kylo Ren was scary til he threw a hissy fit.

To me, that's what made him scary. He had the capability to actually lose control.

Of course, he became a bit less scary once he took off his mask. I thought he was a young John Travolta. I was waiting for him to say, "Hey, mister Kah-tare"

I didnt ever see him as being scary. How is he Scary?

[ScottieATF 2,867]

Rehash of episode 4? Check. Great new set of main character good guys? Check. Great new evil villains who fill me with terror? I knew we missed something. A crappy vader brooding about how crappy a vader he is. Also heavy handed in that rey is clearly Luke's daughter. So this is just a rehash story of Jacen solo becoming a crappy vader (Darth Caedus)

If Rey is Luke's daughter, how she came to be on Jakku is going to me a very interesting storyline.

I mean look at it this way, we know Luke left after Ren fell to the DS and destroyed whatever next generation of Jedi there were. You'd expect that he was at least a young adult by this point. Is Rey that much younger then him? Doesn't seem like it so if she is flashing back to being left on Jakku at like age 7, that wouldn't make any sense for Luke just leaving her there as that would be before Ren fell, so why abandon your daughter if at that point?

So if she is Luke's daughter, very well may be, then her story is much more then Luke just leaving her to protect her. If she is Luke's daughter I don't think that is a lineage either of them is aware of. Especially since niether Rey or Ren gave any indication they knew each other, nor Rey any indication she had met Han or Leia or Chewbacca before.

Edited December 18, 2015 by ScottieATF