igordennis
Member
Anyway, let's keep in mind that, during the briefing, Luke said that he could make that shot, no sweat. He'd made shots of similar difficulty before, he said.
I felt the film did a good job on establishing Rey as not just a simple scavenger way before she got into Millennium Falcon's cockpit. I mean, on her first shot she is atop of a impossibly long rope searching for parts which she obviously know what they are for and how they work, since she basically refurbishes them before reselling. If you ever climbed a rope you'd know she would have to be fit to do that. She also defends herself against two guys trying to steal BB8 even before Finn had a chance to get close to her. She doesn't want to use the Millennium Falcon because she considers it to be rubbish, which shows she has previous knowledge about the ship and how it operates. So I don't think we need more excuses as to why she is excels as a mechanic (and maybe as a pilot, as Poe can pilot anything, so why can't she do the same thing if she knows how to pilot?) The only difference in between her and Anakin in this point is that Anakin is like 6 years old and can be a formidable mechanic because he has been dismantling stuff since the day he was born and that fact is mentioned out loud, meanwhile they just show Rey's case on-screen.
About Rey being able to use the Force so easily, it seems there is more to the story than what we know, via the flash-back scene. I also agree with OP when he mentions that she, unlike Luke, actually believes in everything about it, and she had previous exposure to it, at least when it comes to its existence and what the Force can do. So when she realises she can use it she just goes on to explore it. I really enjoyed the mind reading scene, btw. Daisy Ridley acting was on point, and you can tell exactly when she realises she can read his mind too.
While ANH straight up had to tell you how an absolutely amazing shot Luke was through dialogue, TFA establishes Rey's character through visual storytelling like said above. What kind of medium is cinema again? Oh yeah a visual medium isn't it? But thats much too hard to understand for some people apparently.