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

Status
Not open for further replies.
I loved his voice with the helmet and was surprised at how close his regular voice was. I didn't find his scenes cheesy at all but I've never seen that actor in previous shows.
 
He's a good looking dude, no idea what folks are thinking..

And a great actor too.
Adam Driver's looks didn't even occur to me until I came in here. It's strange that that is being discussed. However, my first thought when he encountered Han, was how much unlike Han he looks and how much he looks like his grandfather.
 
Second time I saw it, Driver stood out more. Knowing what happens later on and how it informs his performance, he really impressed me.

I think they should have made Ren like 6 years younger because Driver really pulled off the young and freshfaced look.

Ren is actually a 30 year old man, but I never got the impression he was.
 
true.

i think finn will keep her on the light side. i'd wouldn't mind seeing more than friendship with those two.

I hadn't thought of that but Finn could actually be a pretty great foil to the Dark Side corrupting Rey come to think of it. He is technically the product of the Dark Side, but he had the strength of character to reject it. Maybe reminding Rey of that will inspire her to stay on the Light Side.

I doubt it'll happen that way nor I do necessarily want it to, but it wouldn't surprise me. It could work.
 
It's almost a shame Driver will be sporting a scar on his face now.

The unblemished look he had when he first took off his helmet had a real impression on me because it was just so not what I expected.
 
No I read it all and yes Finn isn't exactly a 1 to 1 similarity with Sokka. But the whole point of Sokka was that he was the tactician of the group (you can't discuss similarities between the two without talking about that aspect of the character that's the entire core of his character. Otherwise this comparison is entirely superficial) He's litterally one of the main driving points precisely because Aang was not a conventional leader and preferred to goof off a lot, whenever a plan of action was made Sokka was the one to do it even in the first season it's what he brought to the group. Finn sorta does that and will probably do that more with Han dead, but Rey has enough agency of her own, so it will be interesting to see how that develops.

Considering that I was responding to a directly quote synopsis of Sokka's character, my discussing his combat prowess as was mentioned in the quote is completely appropriate.

As for Finn being the tactician.. that's not what he was in this movie at all. He was a valuable source of how The First Order operates, but he had very very little to do with any of the tactical planning at any stage or point in the movie. He goes from "Gotta get away from The First Order" to "Gotta find a way to save Rey" in terms of both his motivation to his actual planning. So even on that level, he's not comparable to Sokka in the way you're describing Sokka.
 
I loved his voice with the helmet and was surprised at how close his regular voice was. I didn't find his scenes cheesy at all but I've never seen that actor in previous shows.

Yeah, I agree with this. The voice in the helmet could've easily been bad, or sounded too goofy or something, but it was well done.

His unmasked voice was also great, and I still found him to be quite menacing, which is a huge testament to Driver's acting. I thought his voice changed when he started to lose control though, it became more "normal", like the façade of him trying really hard to be dark side was slipping. Until he stabs his father of course. I could be wrong about that because I've only seen it one time so far, and maybe I'm just picking up on something that wasn't there, but that's a cool little touch if it was intentional.
 
So you know what's crazy.

If I am right in this train of thought.

Anakin actually did bring balance to the force. He did destroy the Sith. So technically he was the chosen one but maybe the prophecy was never interpreted correctly.
 
Second time I saw it, Driver stood out more. Knowing what happens later on and how it informs his performance, he really impressed me.

It really was an amazing performance. Probably the best acting from a villian whose face we see in the Star Wars universe. There was an amazing mix of unintended dark humor due to situation and real fear of what he is capable of
 
Well damn, tumblr.
tumblr_nzxkwzXmTb1qcxymno2_250.gif
tumblr_nzxkwzXmTb1qcxymno6_250.gif

tumblr_nzxkwzXmTb1qcxymno1_250.gif
tumblr_nzxkwzXmTb1qcxymno3_250.gif

tumblr_nzxkwzXmTb1qcxymno4_250.gif
tumblr_nzxkwzXmTb1qcxymno10_250.gif

tumblr_nzxkwzXmTb1qcxymno5_250.gif
tumblr_nzxkwzXmTb1qcxymno8_250.gif

tumblr_nzxkwzXmTb1qcxymno9_250.gif
tumblr_nzxkwzXmTb1qcxymno7_250.gif

I love Rey's expression when she says "I've got to go back to Jakku?" like Finn is an idiot for not getting that.
 
Something that really bothered me about this movie is considering the end of Jedi how the hell is the Resistance not the status quo, why is everything back to square one? The movie didn't explain jack shit. Its really jarring leaving from a situation where the heroes have won and the galaxy is at peace in episode 6 to being right back where we started in episode 7 I felt like I miss a movie.
 
Well, you're incorrect. Just came back from my (first) viewing here in Sweden, and when he took off his mask both times, quite a few people in the audience snickered and outright laughed, especially the first time when Rey was strapped to the chair.
I guess I am. Just odd to me, as every screening for me it seemed to go over well with everybody.
 
That the Poe/Finn reunion hug works is a huge testament to the actors. They knew each other for all of like, five minutes, but they were insta bros with amazing chemistry. Totally instant crush territory.
 
That was one of the worst scenes in the movie, total B action movie bullshit.
You are wrong and have done irreparable damage to my brain.

I love B-movies and action shlock and would have no problem appreciating it in that context if that's what it was... but it wasn't. The entire scene is top-notch effects work and cinematography, and the characters in it are ones I actually care about. What B-movies are you even comparing it to?

It boggles the mind that anyone could watch that shot and come away from it with anything other than "holy fuck that was awesome." I can only surmise we are looking for different things from a Star Wars movie.

There's also a great dolly shot right after that bit where Finn is running after Kylo Ren's ship. Really outstanding work from Dan Mindel during that whole sequence on Maz's planet.
 
That the Poe/Finn reunion hug works is a huge testament to the actors. They knew each other for all of like, five minutes, but they were insta bros with amazing chemistry. Totally instant crush territory.

I think you'd be BFFs with whoever once you've been through hell together, lol.
 
I think you'd be BFFs with whoever once you've been through hell together, lol.

Right, just saying their bonding in the Tie Fighter felt pretty authentic. Those two clicked. For two that had very little shared screen time that hug was a surprisingly great moment, IMO.
 
Right, just saying their bonding in the Tie Fighter felt pretty authentic. Those two clicked. For two that had very little shared screen time that hug was a surprisingly great moment, IMO.

Yeah, absolutely. Poe naming Finn is up there with my favourite Star Wars moments of all time.
 
Something that really bothered me about this movie is considering the end of Jedi how the hell is the Resistance not the status quo, why is everything back to square one? The movie didn't explain jack shit. Its really jarring leaving from a situation where the heroes have won and the galaxy is at peace in episode 6 to being right back where we started in episode 7 I felt like I miss a movie.

They don't do the best job fleshing it out but the Republic IS now the status quo. The First Order sprang up from imperial remnants on the outer rim. The Republic is trying to stay away from another war, at least publicly, so Leia has spearheaded The Resistance to fight the first order with "unofficial" Republic backing.

Something along those lines anyway.

I guess I am. Just odd to me, as every screening for me it seemed to go over well with everybody.

Went over fine at my screening.
 
Something that really bothered me about this movie is considering the end of Jedi how the hell is the Resistance not the status quo, why is everything back to square one? The movie didn't explain jack shit. Its really jarring leaving from a situation where the heroes have won and the galaxy is at peace in episode 6 to being right back where we started in episode 7 I felt like I miss a movie.

From what I understand, the Republic is largely the status quo of the galaxy. But in part of the galaxy, The Order emerged and filled the power vacuum left when the Empire was defeated. The Resistance operates within the The Order's borders, a band of terrorists freedom fighters funded by the Republic to bring The Order down, without starting a hot war between these two massive government bodies. Unfortunately for the Republic, Snoke got tired of their bullshit and built the Star Killer.
 
Right, just saying their bonding in the Tie Fighter felt pretty authentic. Those two clicked. For two that had very little shared screen time that hug was a surprisingly great moment, IMO.
The TIE Fighter scene is maybe the best sequence in the movie. Not my favorite, neccesarily, but it's everything I love about Star Wars in one scene. Exciting action, fun characters overcoming obstacles, and watching friendships evolve right before your eyes. As soon as Finn was yelling "Did you see that?!" and Poe responds excitedly back, I was sold on these two. Huge props to Boyega and Isaac.
 
It's probably impossible to work with Oscar Isaac and not have a mancrush.

I wouldn't say Boyega and Isaac had as great chemistry and Boyega and Ridley, but it was pretty damn close.
 
The more I think about it, the more I would have preferred the First Order to remain this shadowy threat on the fringes of the Republic. Ren and Snoke (seriously change his fucking name, it's awful) pick off senators who want to be more belligerent towards the First Order from the shadows while slowly building this superweapon (which should instead have been featured/completed in Episode 8 or 9). No one believes in the Knights of Ren (it's considered a myth) and the Republic openly laughs in the face of the Resistance claiming that these guys are a true threat.
 
The more I think about Phasma the angrier I get. Why is she even on the poster?

She gets nothing cool to do in the movie. That'd be a problem in itself, but what does she get to do? *Instantly* cave to being threatened and then give up the first order and cost them their death star. Then she gets literally thrown into the garbage. By contrast, Poe Dameron, a pilot, not the leader of the stormtroopers -- just a pilot -- Withstood interrogation and torture up until Kylo Ren was able to forcibly extract the info.

With a character like Phasma, the Captain of the stormtroopers or whatever, you'd think she'd be highly trained and highly disciplined. You'd think she'd laugh at the idea of lowering the shields for those two just because they had a gun. You'd think there'd be no fucks given.

Why is this cowardly character who does nothing interesting or cool so prominently featured in marketing and merchandising?

It's probably impossible to work with Oscar Isaac and not have a mancrush.

As a -- I always thought, anyway -- straight guy, I kinda wanted to fuck him!
 
Right, just saying their bonding in the Tie Fighter felt pretty authentic. Those two clicked. For two that had very little shared screen time that hug was a surprisingly great moment, IMO.

Yeah, absolutely. Poe naming Finn is up there with one of my favourite Star Wars moments of all time.
For me, it was their official introduction that made me smile.

"It's good to meet you Poe."
"It's good to meet you too, Finn!"

All while getting blasted at by a Star Destroyer. I just got super happy like "YAAAAY SPACE BUDS!"
 
From what I understand, the Republic is largely the status quo of the galaxy. But in part of the galaxy, The Order emerged and filled the power vacuum left when the Empire was defeated. The Resistance operates within the The Order's borders, a band of terrorists freedom fighters funded by the Republic to bring The Order down, without starting a hot war between these two massive government bodies. Unfortunately for the Republic, Snoke got tired of their bullshit and built the Star Killer.

They don't do the best job fleshing it out but the Republic IS now the status quo. The First Order sprang up from imperial remnants on the outer rim. The Republic is trying to stay away from another war, at least publicly, so Leia has spearheaded The Resistance to fight the first order with "unofficial" Republic backing.

Something along those lines anyway.



Went over fine at my screening.

Ah I see now, but when was all of this explained?
 
The more I think about it, the more I would have preferred the First Order to remain this shadowy threat on the fringes of the Republic. Ren and Snoke (seriously change his fucking name, it's awful) pick off senators who want to be more belligerent towards the First Order from the shadows while slowly building this superweapon (which should instead have been featured/completed in Episode 8 or 9). No one believes in the Knights of Ren (it's considered a myth) and the Republic openly laughs in the face of the Resistance claiming that these guys are a true threat.

The Republic/Resistance split really was unnecessary. I think they wanted to get back to Rebels vs. Empire too much. They could have echoed the OT in a more interesting way by flipping their positions, and having the New Order attack the Republic from their position of strength. Would be much more straight forward, and more in line with what might be expected given how Jedi ended. Since we never see the Republic, the Resistance is the face of it and it seems like the Rebellion never got past being a scrappy group with a small fleet. I was like, huh? I thought they won in Jedi why are they stuck with a small fleet of X-Wings going up against a planet killer, again?
 
I like the theory of the Republic/Resistance split, but it was too poorly executed in this film. Cynically what could be an interesting plot element could also just be there so that the sequels can keep escalating with the next big fight between the Empire and Republic taking place in the third trilogy.
The more I think about Phasma the angrier I get. Why is she even on the poster?

She gets nothing cool to do in the movie. That'd be a problem in itself, but what does she get to do? *Instantly* cave to being threatened and then give up the first order and cost them their death star. Then she gets literally thrown into the garbage. Poe Dameron, a pilot, not the leader of the stormtroopers -- just a pilot -- Withstood interrogation and torture up until Kylo Ren was able to forcibly extract the info.

Why is this cowardly character who does nothing interesting or cool so prominently featured in marketing and merchandising?
One of the many hanging threads that will be resolved in future movies, comic books, video games, toys, models, posters, stickers, webisodes and interactive social media experiences.
 
The more I think about Phasma the angrier I get. Why is she even on the poster?

She gets nothing cool to do in the movie. That'd be a problem in itself, but what does she get to do? *Instantly* cave to being threatened and then give up the first order and cost them their death star. Then she gets literally thrown into the garbage.

Why is this cowardly character who does nothing interesting or cool so prominently featured in marketing and merchandising?

Abrams did want another 6 months on the film that he didn't get so the meat of Phasma's story probably had to be sacrificed.

I suspect the same happened to The Raid guys.
 
As a -- I always thought, anyway -- straight guy, I kinda wanted to fuck him!

For me, it was their official introduction that made me smile.

"It's good to meet you Poe."
"It's good to meet you too, Finn!"

All while getting blasted at by a Star Destroyer. I just got super happy like "YAAAAY SPACE BUDS!"

Call it cheesy but I was giddy af when Poe showed up to wreck shit on Takodana and Finn went all like "That's one hell of a pilot!"

And then that hug happened and the bromance was cemented in my eyes.
 
From what I understand, the Republic is largely the status quo of the galaxy. But in part of the galaxy, The Order emerged and filled the power vacuum left when the Empire was defeated. The Resistance operates within the The Order's borders, a band of terrorists freedom fighters funded by the Republic to bring The Order down, without starting a hot war between these two massive government bodies. Unfortunately for the Republic, Snoke got tired of their bullshit and built the Star Killer.

I mean alot of this could have easily been done in the opening scroll, so I don't know why it wasn't.
 
Call it cheesy but I was giddy af when Poe showed up to wreck shit on Takodana and Finn went all like "That's one hell of a pilot!"

And then that hug happened and the bromance was cemented in my eyes.

I think infectious optimisim and enthusiasm and charisma is fine and feels good as long as it fits the movie and is delivered the right way, in this case, I liked it. Poe is just a good, nice guy. The kinda guy you'd want to be friends with. He's Fun Bobby.
 
I think infectious optimisim and enthusiasm and charisma is fine and feels good as long as it fits the movie and is delivered the right way, in this case, I liked it. Poe is just a good, nice guy. The kinda guy you'd want to be friends with. He's Fun Bobby.
Yeah but Fun Bobby wasn't so fun when he had no booze.
 
Ah I see now, but when was all of this explained?

It comes from the new Expanded Universe tie-ins. iO9 and Birth Movies Death both have pretty good rundowns if you don't feel like reading the novels and comics.

I mean alot of this could have easily been done in the opening scroll, so I don't know why it wasn't.

I think they wanted to avoid the star destroy long crawls that opened the prequels.
 
Call it cheesy but I was giddy af when Poe showed up to wreck shit on Takodana and Finn went all like "That's one hell of a pilot!"

And then that hug happened and the bromance was cemented in my eyes.
Yup! Poe yelling "BUDDY!" as they ran to hug eachother....

*tear*

SPAAAAACE BUUUUDS!
 
True IMAX 70mm showing last night was incredible. Props to MODS for not showing any previews whatsoever, lol.

After having seen it three times now, here are things:
  • Kylo Ren stopping the blaster bolt in midair is PERFECT. When this first happens on screen, it's stunning. My first audience (this was in 3D, and it goes "over" you while the camera pans) was making noises of awe and Ren feels extremely intimidating after this display of power. But if you really think about it... how useful an ability is this, really? At first I thought it was just the effect of holding Poe in place also holding the bolt, but nope- he releases Poe and leaves the bolt suspended for the entire rest of the scene. What purpose does this really serve in combat? Jedi and Sith have been shown countless times to easily deflect, dodge, or even redirect blaster bolts back at their targets with a lightsaber. Ren himself deflects numerous shots at very close range elsewhere in the movie. So why freeze this one in midair? Because it's cool. It's exactly the kind of thing you'd do to intimidate the people who can see it and not for any other reason, which fits his character to a tee. I like to imagine he discovered he could do this and thought to himself "fuck yeah, everyone will think I'm a badass when I do this" and relishes any opportunity to use it. I found that whole first scene really rewarded repeat viewings, knowing all you know about Ren's character. Exquisite stuff.
  • I will hereby be disappointed if Rey does not at some point end up building herself either a double-bladed lightsaber or a long-handled "spear" saber design. They seem to have taken a lot of care to make her staff already look appropriately "lightsabery" with some of its design elements. When fighting Kylo with the saber she awkwardly relies hard on thrusts and lunges rather than slices. Beyond showing her proficiency with the staff on Jakku, the film works in numerous shots establishing the staff in her possession throughout, and even take the time to establish that she has it while boarding the Falcon at the end, despite literally having an actual lightsaber in her possession. It would be great to have a mainline Light side character with something other than a regular tube blue or green lightsaber.
  • The length of shot in both the "Kylo interrogates Rey" and "Poe bumps into Finn as the Resistance readies for launch" scenes is really, really awesome stuff. You can feel how inexplicably difficult the struggle to pry information from Rey's mind is for Kylo Ren, and the weight of the new friendship already being put in peril again. There is so much care taken to film these moments well that was absent from anything in the prequels.
  • When talking to BB-8 she asks where he's from, and he beeps his answer, and she says, sarcastically, "Classified, really. Yeah, me too. Big secret." This line/exchange could be seriously golden once we have all the puzzle pieces.
  • Daisy Ridley is just absolutely beautiful. The best thing I can say about her performance is that my first two times seeing the movie I found her character so likable and was so enthralled by her adventure that I barely noticed, but there is no way around it.
Also I really have to say that after the three viewings, I'm pretty sure Kylo Ren is legitimately the best part of the movie. They could honestly have gotten away, what with all the nostalgia and the new likable lead characters, with leaving the villain a stock "evil badass" on-screen presence, much like Vader in ANH. Everyone would have said, "hopefully there'll be more to him in the sequels," and it would still have been an enjoyable flick. But they really put in the effort and established some depth and interesting groundwork.
 
The IMAX screen I went to was great. Hadn't been there before and it felt like 3/4 IMAX, but definitely not lieMAX. Exceptionally clean 3D with no crosstalk and a brilliant sound system. Going to another IMAX screening before long.
It comes from the new Expanded Universe tie-ins. iO9 and Birth Movies Death both have pretty good rundowns if you don't feel like reading the novels and comics.



I think they wanted to avoid the star destroy long crawls that opened the prequels.
Yeah I've had to read some supplemental article to catch up.
Is Aftermath worth reading?
I didn't read any of the old EU, but I feel like I wouldn't mind catching up on all the lore that's been put out so far. I heard that one novel was good.
 
The Republic/Resistance split really was unnecessary. I think they wanted to get back to Rebels vs. Empire too much. They could have echoed the OT in a more interesting way by flipping their positions, and having the New Order attack the Republic from their position of strength. Would be much more straight forward, and more in line with what might be expected given how Jedi ended. Since we never see the Republic, the Resistance is the face of it and it seems like the Rebellion never got past being a scrappy group with a small fleet. I was like, huh? I thought they won in Jedi why are they stuck with a small fleet of X-Wings going up against a planet killer, again?

I'd be fine with that too. Would have been interesting to see Leia as the chancellor of the Republic or something (which would make a lot of sense given her centrality to the Rebel Alliance) and to see some really massive space battles with the entire Republic fleet. But if they HAD to include a "resistance" I think they needed to explain the premise far, far better.
 
The more I think about Phasma the angrier I get. Why is she even on the poster?

She gets nothing cool to do in the movie. That'd be a problem in itself, but what does she get to do? *Instantly* cave to being threatened and then give up the first order and cost them their death star. Then she gets literally thrown into the garbage. By contrast, Poe Dameron, a pilot, not the leader of the stormtroopers -- just a pilot -- Withstood interrogation and torture up until Kylo Ren was able to forcibly extract the info.

With a character like Phasma, the Captain of the stormtroopers or whatever, you'd think she'd be highly trained and highly disciplined. You'd think she'd laugh at the idea of lowering the shields for those two just because they had a gun. You'd think there'd be no fucks given.

Why is this cowardly character who does nothing interesting or cool so prominently featured in marketing and merchandising?



As a -- I always thought, anyway -- straight guy, I kinda wanted to fuck him!

Yes, Phasma bending over and turning down the shields made no sense. She'd be trained to just let herself be killed in that situation.
 
[*]I will hereby be disappointed if Rey does not at some point end up building herself either a double-bladed lightsaber or a long-handled "spear" saber design. They seem to have taken a lot of care to make her staff already look appropriately "lightsabery" with some of its design elements. When fighting Kylo with the saber she awkwardly relies hard on thrusts and lunges rather than slices. Beyond showing her proficiency the staff with it on Jakku, the film works in numerous shots establishing the staff in her possession throughout, and even take the time to establish that she has it while boarding the Falcon at the end, despite literally having an actual lightsaber in her possession. It would be great to have a mainline Light side character with something other than a regular tube blue or green lightsaber.

i'd like to see this as well. a spear lightsaber would fit rey so much.

on another note, will this be getting a 4k blu-ray release? cause i gotta have that.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom