What I don't understand is if R2 has been suffering from droid depression why did he snap out of it at that moment, and not before when BB8 approached him?
Because the plot called for it. R2 ex Machina. Really no other reason. "Presence" isn't a reason.
Tookay said:
I thought it was an enjoyable movie, but not a particularly great one. I feel like it was far clunkier than some of Abrams' past efforts and Kasdan seemed to have an uneven touch.
Generally, the plot is okay. I like the ideas in it, even if they were well-worn. Creed showed that you can repeat story structures and still make an effective, moving film.
But the execution is really off in places. I feel like I can nail it down to several factors:
1) Characters: In general, I liked most of them. Finn was fun, Kylo was interesting, etc. But I think the character backgrounds were revealed at strange times or in too perfunctory of a manner. Revealing Kylo's heritage when they did and removing the mask when they did just felt like they were miscues that would have been better timed elsewhere. Other aspects like Han and Leia's interactions felt good, but were marred by strange dialogue (like the constant referencing of "Snoke" by his name, when the Emperor was never referred to in that way). Other newly introduced characters like Maz and Phasma felt completely pointless (largely because they were intended to be utilized differently).
And there is a slight issue with Rey. It feels like we're being withheld vital information about her character (because she's clearly hiding a secret), and that kept me from truly connecting with her. I think that was a bad move.
2) Direction: Other things, like JJ's direction and cinematography drove me nuts. Oftentimes, you're thrown into settings without even a simple establishing shot to geographically set this location up. Sometimes we're being thrown into battles, without even understanding the physical distance between people firing at each other or what the current stakes are. It generally makes the laser shooting and aerial combat sort of boring. I'd argue the only two effective action scenes in the movie are the Falcon chase and the lightsaber fight at the end.
(Also on the cinematography note, JJ's constant use of close-ups made some scenes and locations feel real cheap and like a wasted use of the real-world locations they bothered filming in.)
3) There are issues from a conceptual standpoint ((without going into the obvious stuff, like the Starkiller). I think the whole "Luke is missing" angle just didn't work. There is no urgency to it, because (a) the characters seem sidetracked by other things and (b) we don't understand why Luke is needed right now, after disappearing for what's assumed to be ten years.
And, honestly, they blew it in terms of the lack of exposition. I appreciate leaving some things vague to the audience and allowing them to fill in the gaps, but there was nothing to chew on or even speculate on when it comes to filling in said gaps. We know about as much about Snoke, the First Order, the Knights of Ren, the Resistance, the Republic leaving the movie as we do coming out. That isn't effective world-building; it's declining to world-build. Maybe the prequels went too far with exposition, but explaining the basic structure of the universe in a seven film series isn't asking too much.
4) Editing: This movie is missing a good 20 minutes and it shows. Characters come and go without you even getting a chance to say goodbye (Maz, Phasma). We could to places and people talking sometimes without even setting that place up (I'm thinking of the first reveal of Starkiller Base in particular). Other moments have no chance to breathe (like Maz's scenes), but others go on awkwardly long (like Rey and Kylo's interrogation scene, where it's just boring shots of people grimmacing at each other for a minute).
5) John Williams: He didn't put in his greatest work. There was a real lack of memorable motifs and that severely hurt this movie's emotional beats and intended "fuck yeah" moments.
My thoughts sort of align here. I felt it was solid with some fun moments and fun characters but some really bad things stuck out.
- A Death Planet. Like, really? Fun visual, but nonsense. It's like the First Order looked over the Empire's failures and concluded "You see, they didn't make it BIG ENOUGH." And then kept the same weakness. A weakness that was picked up and exploited within minutes of seeing a blueprint. "What about those shields?" "Fuck it, just light speed that shit in there." Starkiller was some anime shit. Bad anime shit. Like someone watched Gunbuster/Diebuster and thought "Good idea!" but forgot than even they showed the consequences of that madness (A sun being drained of its energy to fire a cannon? Like that wouldn't have some drawbacks...)
It seemed like the First Order could accomplish everything they wanted to through pure military might (and the countless spies) but we just have to have a big, bad thing to blow up.
- How big of a blow was the destruction of Starkiller to the First Order? I mean, it was a fucking planet. It felt like their main seat of power. How many millions died? It kind of feels like they're done. Also, why wasn't the thing SWARMING with ships? How shit are their defenses? WTF? I feel like an ass pointing these out but this is the third time shit like that happened. You can't throw that out there and not have anyone sit back and say "Now, wait a minute...."
- If Luke didn't want to be found, why did he write a map, place it in R2 then R2 goes into low power mode? For ten years? You're saying that the Resistance nor the Republic has the means to extract this out of a droid? Fuck off. Luke's expression was weird as well. Unless it was "I've been waiting out here for ten YEARS you fucks! What took you so long?! And who are you?!"
- Why is C3PO's arm red? Who knows? Who cares! He does but that's a story for the comics or something!
- Rey's mastery of the force. I mean, I get it. This is set so far from RotJ which is set so far from when the Force/Jedi/Sith were at their height. So, Rey mastering even a bit of the force would seem like some sick stuff. Even Kylo's skill is scrub tier. But Jedi mind trick? Light Saber duels with a semi trained dark jedi? Like, I get it but ehhhh.... Throw Finn in there too. Surprised dude didn't cut off his own feet. I can overlook it all since we're in super scrub tier but it was out there. The Stormtrooper with the energy tonfa was some awesome stuff though!
+ I really, really like most of the characters though. They're all neat and I look forward to their adventures. BB-8 is adorable. I wanted more Maz.
I think the characters really make this movie solid. A lot of the decisions around them make little sense, are too silly and what not. But the core is good. Finn is excellent. Rey is strong. I dig it. Kylo? Well... he came off whiny and out of control. Snoke? Who knows. The Villains weren't the strongest. Which is okay since the First Order as a whole were the real menace. Not Kylo or Snoke.
Solid start. Lets hope it doesn't get watered down/lose focus with all the spin offs and shit.
