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[SPOILERS] Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Thread #2) - One Thumb Up

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Just saw it last night. Very disappointing. Seems like they couldn't please fans with the PT so they just said fuck it lets remake ANH and sprinkle in some other fan service from the OT. We can't actually piss them off by creating depth and lore by expanding the Star Wars universe so we will make it as shallow as we possibly can, and say a bunch of things without saying anything.

I did like the first act however, and it was looking promising from there. It just fell apart after they went to meet Ma or whatever her name was (short thing with coke bottle glasses.) I also didn't like the way they handled introducing Kylo. Like, this is an important person, Han and Leia's son, but there was no depth, little dramatization and no story to it. It was just OMG you're my son, if you get my drift. In fact most things that were there were just there without that dramatization or depth to it.
 
Just saw it last night. Very disappointing. Seems like they couldn't please fans with the PT so they just said fuck it lets remake ANH and sprinkle in some other fan service from the OT. We can't actually piss them off by creating depth and lore by expanding the Star Wars universe so we will make it as shallow as we possibly can, and say a bunch of things without saying anything.

I did like the first act however, and it was looking promising from there. It just fell apart after they went to meet Ma or whatever her name was (short thing with coke bottle glasses.) I also didn't like the way they handled introducing Kylo. Like, this is an important person, Han and Leia's son, but there was no depth. No story to it. It was just OMG you're my son, if you get my drift.

Yeah I'm going to take a stab and say you are in the minority,
 
Just saw it last night. Very disappointing. Seems like they couldn't please fans with the PT so they just said fuck it lets remake ANH and sprinkle in some other fan service from the OT. We can't actually piss them off by creating depth and lore by expanding the Star Wars universe so we will make it as shallow as we possibly can, and say a bunch of things without saying anything.

I did like the first act however, and it was looking promising from there. It just fell apart after they went to meet Ma or whatever her name was (short thing with coke bottle glasses.) I also didn't like the way they handled introducing Kylo. Like, this is an important person, Han and Leia's son, but there was no depth. No story to it. It was just OMG you're my son, if you get my drift.

The random bolding in the middle of a sentence seems weird. Are you having a stroke?
 
Just saw it last night. Very disappointing. Seems like they couldn't please fans with the PT so they just said fuck it lets remake ANH and sprinkle in some other fan service from the OT. We can't actually piss them off by creating depth and lore by expanding the Star Wars universe so we will make it as shallow as we possibly can, and say a bunch of things without saying anything.

I did like the first act however, and it was looking promising from there. It just fell apart after they went to meet Ma or whatever her name was (short thing with coke bottle glasses.) I also didn't like the way they handled introducing Kylo. Like, this is an important person, Han and Leia's son, but there was no depth, little dramatization and no story to it. It was just OMG you're my son, if you get my drift.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Sorry you didn't enjoy it.
 
Just saw it last night. Very disappointing. Seems like they couldn't please fans with the PT so they just said fuck it lets remake ANH and sprinkle in some other fan service from the OT. We can't actually piss them off by creating depth and lore by expanding the Star Wars universe so we will make it as shallow as we possibly can, and say a bunch of things without saying anything.

I did like the first act however, and it was looking promising from there. It just fell apart after they went to meet Ma or whatever her name was (short thing with coke bottle glasses.) I also didn't like the way they handled introducing Kylo. Like, this is an important person, Han and Leia's son, but there was no depth, little dramatization and no story to it. It was just OMG you're my son, if you get my drift. In fact most things that were there were just there without that dramatization or depth to it.

So you want more depth and lore but you can't even remember Maz's name.
 
So I'm trying to get my head around whether Finn is force sensitive or not. There are a couple of subtle suggestions that he is (or isn't)

- He manged to wield a lightsaber pretty well and injure (a weakened) Kylo during his final fight.
- Maz seemed to sense something about him, then drifted off and said it was his eyes.
- During the first few scenes, after the civilians are executed, Kylo seemed to be fixated on Finn, could have been the force or simply coincidence.
- He has ACE aiming skills for someone that has never piloted a blaster on a ship before.. Him and Rey worked together almost too perfectly ie the Force.
- When Starkiller base fired its weapons, he could literally hear the screaming people and was one of the first to notice it.

Obviously this is pure speculation, but it'd be nice if we had a non-Skywalker for a change become a main line Jedi.
 
Just saw it last night. Very disappointing. Seems like they couldn't please fans with the PT so they just said fuck it lets remake ANH and sprinkle in some other fan service from the OT. We can't actually piss them off by creating depth and lore by expanding the Star Wars universe so we will make it as shallow as we possibly can, and say a bunch of things without saying anything.

I did like the first act however, and it was looking promising from there. It just fell apart after they went to meet Ma or whatever her name was (short thing with coke bottle glasses.) I also didn't like the way they handled introducing Kylo. Like, this is an important person, Han and Leia's son, but there was no depth, little dramatization and no story to it. It was just OMG you're my son, if you get my drift. In fact most things that were there were just there without that dramatization or depth to it.
That's how I saw it too. I groaned when I saw that they had another Deathstar. Rey's flashback via the light saber was the closest we got to new, compelling content and even that was all too brief.
 
Just saw it last night. Very disappointing. Seems like they couldn't please fans with the PT so they just said fuck it lets remake ANH and sprinkle in some other fan service from the OT. We can't actually piss them off by creating depth and lore by expanding the Star Wars universe so we will make it as shallow as we possibly can, and say a bunch of things without saying anything.

I did like the first act however, and it was looking promising from there. It just fell apart after they went to meet Ma or whatever her name was (short thing with coke bottle glasses.) I also didn't like the way they handled introducing Kylo. Like, this is an important person, Han and Leia's son, but there was no depth, little dramatization and no story to it. It was just OMG you're my son, if you get my drift.

Keep in mind that this is the first movie of a new trilogy and you need to set the foot print correctly so the other two will work. The film does pull a lot from ANH, but blends in new characters and story path. ANH worked perfectly for the OT, because it set the tone of the characters, gave us an inspiring ending, and made us crave more. I think maybe episode VIII and IX may capture the depth you want.
 
I kinda feel bad people shit on lucas so much. He still is the reason for most of this universe, its ideas and the joy it brings. He also was the force behind indiana jones. Dude gets too much flack imo.

I do want to know how much of what these movies are comes from his ideas and how much are the new people and Kennedy

His big problem is that he is someone who seems to have a hard time accepting that other people have a different idea of what SW is. He always had things done his way, I think, up until the prequel, then he fucked up, and resigned himself to finally let it go.
RotJ would have been way better if his "merchandise considerations" weren't as prevalent as they were.
 
Keep in mind that this is the first movie of a new trilogy and you need to set the foot print correctly so the other two will work. The film does pull a lot from ANH, but blends in new characters and story path. ANH worked perfectly for the OT, because it set the tone of the characters, gave us an inspiring ending, and made us crave more. I think maybe episode VIII and IX may capture the depth you want.

All this while saying We are sorry for the PT. Its a lot of responsibility.
 
All this while saying We are sorry for the PT. Its a lot of responsibility.

This movie had BIG debts to pay off after the PT. Not making excuses for it (I'd say it's tied with ANH as my second favorite in the series, after 5 viewings) but the similarities were intentional, well done and meant to get everyone back into Star Wars.
 
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lol
 
I wasn't really bothered at all like some people at "ugh, ANOTHER death star?", but the fact that in a universe where no less than three massive death rays can be built, there are still no precautions or countermeasures to defend against this? Where is the galactic nuclear arms race? Why is such a massive undertaking always come as a surprise? How does word never spread of their construction?

It was kinda just annoying how easily they get away with destroying Coruscant(?) and all nearby planets with like no form of opposition at that point. And heck, they never even made any demands or attempts at negotiations, it was just "those guys don like us, fuck em". What is their endgame? Just a lonely universe by themselves? Snoke better give us tons of Sith lore to help explain the motivation behind all these decades supervillain assholery.
 
Keep in mind that this is the first movie of a new trilogy and you need to set the foot print correctly so the other two will work. The film does pull a lot from ANH, but blends in new characters and story path. ANH worked perfectly for the OT, because it set the tone of the characters, gave us an inspiring ending, and made us crave more. I think maybe episode VIII and IX may capture the depth you want.

I get that but I really think it's their direction. People didn't like the intrigue and story that were in the PT. Things like the trade federations actions in setting up the war, how Palpatine comes to become chancellor, how Anakin develops his Jedi reflexes. These were viewed as "over explanation." I always thought it was wrong to view them this way. That it added to the depth and lore and made it all more believable. But seems people just want a more mindless light show and smirks and quips from Han.
 
I get that but I really think it's their direction. People didn't like the intrigue and story that were in the PT. Things like the trade federations actions in setting up the war, how Palpatine comes to become chancellor, how Anakin develops his Jedi reflexes. These were viewed as "over explanation." I always thought it was wrong to view them this way. That it added to the depth and lore and made it all more believable. But seems people just want a more mindless light show and smirks and quips from Han.

People want a fun, entertaining movie. That's what Star Wars is, it's about adventure, not senate meetings and taxation of trade routes. There is no reason they can't touch on the politics of the galaxy in future films, but obviously given the horrendously dull way it was done in the prequels they need to leave that alone for now.

Adding to the lore is fine as long as it isn't boring to watch, which most of the prequels were.
 
People want a fun, entertaining movie. That's what Star Wars is, it's about adventure, not senate meetings and taxation of trade routes. There is no reason they can't touch on the politics of the galaxy in future films, but obviously given the horrendously dull way it was done in the prequels they need to leave that alone for now.

Adding to the lore is fine as long as it isn't boring to watch, which most of the prequels were.

Right. They really want an action movie, not a drama. I think it works better as a drama, hence my difference of opinion.
 
Right. They really want an action movie, not a drama. I think it works better as a drama, hence my difference of opinion.

They like drama just fine - why do you think Empire is still viewed as the king? It's probably the deepest and most understated film in the series. There's a difference between compelling drama (Empire) and poorly done, boring drama (Senate deliberations in TPM)

They will get back to something deeper eventually, but people needed to be reminded of why they fell in love with Star Wars in the first place.
 
I keep hearing people say this but I didn't see it that way at all. Just looking at her face and listening to the tone in her voice it was super obvious to me that she was just humoring him and not actually giving a shit. Was hilarious.

I thought it was people misremembering the scene with Maz and thinking Chewie was there. Then I realized what they were talking about and went WTF. It reminds me of the scene in Dumb and Dumber when Lloyd tells Harry that Mary was hitting on him because "She actually talked to me, man.".
 
Watched it last night, just glorious & a brilliant start to the new trilogy. Going again twice over the weekend with friends. People might call it too much fanservice but I though JJ was spot on in capturing the spirit of the OT. Maybe little pacing issues in the middle but overall a brilliant effort. The characters are not insufferable anymore & almost everyone put up a good to great performance. Especially Poe & Finn.

I knew it would be something like that but having Luke for a blink & miss role with no dialogues was a still a big let down. Hopefully he has a big role in the next episode.

Also I just wanted to ask it, surely there is another soul that is as devastated by Han's death as me? That scene was enacted really well I must say and Ford's expression were too good when Kylo impaled him. Then that fall, oh man :(

And no force ghost too :(
 
People want a fun, entertaining movie. That's what Star Wars is, it's about adventure, not senate meetings and taxation of trade routes. There is no reason they can't touch on the politics of the galaxy in future films, but obviously given the horrendously dull way it was done in the prequels they need to leave that alone for now.

Adding to the lore is fine as long as it isn't boring to watch, which most of the prequels were.

Which is a fair explanation as to why so many films viewed as masterpiece are also considered boring as shit. Ingmar Bergman is my favorite director, but his flicks are anything but mainstream lol. The vast majority of SW fans don't want the movies to be dull or lacking in the fun and humor department.
 
They like drama just fine - why do you think Empire is still viewed as the king? It's probably the deepest and most understated film in the series. There's a difference between compelling drama (Empire) and poorly done, boring drama (Senate deliberations in TPM)

They will get back to something deeper eventually, but people needed to be reminded of why they fell in love with Star Wars in the first place.

Well it's a bit confusing when they totally remove it in this movie and people are praising it. Isn't what you are saying is that the action is why they fell in love with it?
 
I get that but I really think it's their direction. People didn't like the intrigue and story that were in the PT. Things like the trade federations actions in setting up the war, how Palpatine comes to become chancellor, how Anakin develops his Jedi reflexes. These were viewed as "over explanation." I always thought it was wrong to view them this way. That it added to the depth and lore and made it all more believable. But seems people just want a more mindless light show and smirks and quips from Han.

Problem with the PT is that we all knew what was going to happen to the main characters, and so we all had our own ideas of how their stories should work, even myself. This was going to be risky for any director taking the reins on that story. I don't hate the PT at all and I actually enjoyed them, but felt they were considerably weaker then the OT.
 

The event that began Kylo Ren's turn to the dark side.

If there's anything that will convince you that the world is unjust and everything you've ever believed about right and wrong is a lie — it's being told to pay extra for sauce.

I think Finn should get a lightsaber even though he has no force powers. This movie shows that any normal person can wield a lightsaber and do work.

Finn's relationship to the force is currently unclear.

There's been some speculation that the reason the storm trooper brainwashing didn't hold to him is because he could be force sensitive. It would be cool to have him be but you are right, there's nothing definitive stated and the movies could really go either way.

I'd hope so though, as much as I loved Boyega in the film, it'd really hate to see him just be comedy for 3 films.
 
His big problem is that he is someone who seems to have a hard time accepting that other people have a different idea of what SW is. He always had things done his way, I think, up until the prequel, then he fucked up, and resigned himself to finally let it go.
RotJ would have been way better if his "merchandise considerations" weren't as prevalent as they were.

Here's the thing, there is no Star Wars without George Lucas. Yes many helped him achieve his vision, but nobody even knew they wanted Star Wars until he made it. There were no fans of Star Wars when GL fought very hard to make it back in 76-77. He risked his health even. So why should it be easy for him to accept that others have different ideas about Star Wars? Art is not about whether you or anyone else likes what is made, it's about the artist expressing themselves.

So, if you liked TFA at all, you should be eternally grateful to George Lucas. It would not have been made without the incredibly hard to decision to sell his company and let others create new chapters in his saga.

People want a fun, entertaining movie. That's what Star Wars is, it's about adventure, not senate meetings and taxation of trade routes. There is no reason they can't touch on the politics of the galaxy in future films, but obviously given the horrendously dull way it was done in the prequels they need to leave that alone for now.

Adding to the lore is fine as long as it isn't boring to watch, which most of the prequels were.

And I say it again, no one knew what Star Wars was, let alone what they wanted from it, until Lucas made it. For better and worse (mostly worse going by public opinion), the PT is Star Wars.
 
You know, watching the great opening scene of this movie made me think how in comparison, The Phantom Menance literally started off with some slow political/trade taxation dispute nonsense lol.

Meanwhile in this movie, there's a bunch of shooting and death and a whole group of people get murdered, all in the first few minutes.
 
Finn's relationship to the force is currently unclear.

This, and I believe he will be a jedi. It doesn't make sense that there was all these Jedi in the past. Even tons of younglings that were training and then have only 1 known Jedi (3 if you count Obi and Yoda) in the OT and now this new trilogy. Just doesn't make sense. There obviously has to be a ton of force sensitive people out there. They just haven't been trained or made aware of it. Besides, there's been an awakening, have you felt it?
 
Saw it again last night. The second viewing is great because you're judgement is less clouded by the hype, which made me love these new characters even more. The new cast is just fantastic, and I can't wait to learn more about Rey's backstory.

Also, Kylo-Ren has probably been cemented as my favorite part of it all. I just love the idea of having an unrefined villain in Star Wars. Our heroes have always been unrefined going up against a calculated enemy. Ren's backstory and Driver's performance were top notch. His character is more interesting and has more depth than every single character in the prequels combined.

You also know he's going to be a total fucking bad ass in VIII after the way TFA ends.
 
Finn should be a Jedi. He was raised from a wee babe to be a bad guy and is pretty much full of goodness who wants to help people. Pretty good candidate for a light side force user.
 
Well it's a bit confusing when they totally remove it in this movie and people are praising it. Isn't what you are saying is that the action is why they fell in love with it?

A New Hope was the first film - it was all action and world building. The closest they came to the stuff people complain about in the prequels was a couple minute scene where they talk about the Emperor dissolving the senate. TFA is about getting everyone back up to speed in much the same manner as ANH did. Now hopefully we can get back to the "drama" as you put it. Let's just hope its better than the prequels' take on it.
 
So I'm trying to get my head around whether Finn is force sensitive or not. There are a couple of subtle suggestions that he is (or isn't)

- He manged to wield a lightsaber pretty well and injure (a weakened) Kylo during his final fight.
- Maz seemed to sense something about him, then drifted off and said it was his eyes.
- During the first few scenes, after the civilians are executed, Kylo seemed to be fixated on Finn, could have been the force or simply coincidence.
- He has ACE aiming skills for someone that has never piloted a blaster on a ship before.. Him and Rey worked together almost too perfectly ie the Force.
- When Starkiller base fired its weapons, he could literally hear the screaming people and was one of the first to notice it.

Obviously this is pure speculation, but it'd be nice if we had a non-Skywalker for a change become a main line Jedi.

I think it's intentional whether or not he's force sensitive or not I really agree with your first third points and last points being signs of it but we'll see in episode 8.
 
Here's the thing, there is no Star Wars without George Lucas. Yes many helped him achieve his vision, but nobody even knew they wanted Star Wars until he made it. There were no fans of Star Wars when GL fought very hard to make it back in 76-77. He risked his health even. So why should it be easy for him to accept that others have different ideas about Star Wars? Art is not about whether you or anyone else likes what is made, it's about the artist expressing themselves.

So, if you liked TFA at all, you should be eternally grateful to George Lucas. It would not have been made without the incredibly hard to decision to sell his company and let others create new chapters in his saga.

I am not ungrateful for what he did, he has just created something that became bigger than him (and bigger than anyone else), then he has let some parasite considerations interfere with the storytelling. Sometime the artistic object surpass its creator, I think it is the case here.
 
What's the hole?

Luke's training with Yoda takes a couple of hours at most, haha. I hate that I notice it every time I watch.

But please someone explain it to me with silliness. I know it's coming.

When it comes to the Force Awakens there were several timing things like this as well, but it doesn't affect my suspension of disbelief because you know... It's Star Wars.
 
Saw it again last night. The second viewing is great because you're judgement is less clouded by the hype, which made me love these new characters even more. The new cast is just fantastic, and I can't wait to learn more about Rey's backstory.

Also, Kylo-Ren has probably been cemented as my favorite part of it all. I just love the idea of having an unrefined villain in Star Wars. Our heroes have always been unrefined going up against a calculated enemy. Ren's backstory and Driver's performance were top notch. His character is more interesting and has more depth than every single character in the prequels combined.

You also know he's going to be a total fucking bad ass in VIII after the way TFA ends.

Yeah, I saw it again this morning - first movie I have ever paid to see more than once - and Ren is really well done. I love that his light saber is all borked up because he's not a real Sith and he overcompensated by adding those guard pieces - like one light saber isn't enough. Must.have.more.
 
Yeah, I saw it again this morning - first movie I have ever paid to see more than once - and Ren is really well done. I love that his light saber is all borked up because he's not a real Sith and he overcompensated by adding those guard pieces - like one light saber isn't enough. Must.have.more.

Yeah I noticed the lightsaber the second go around as well. You can tell its almost as if he half knew what he was doing when he made it.
 
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