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[SPOILERS] Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Thread #3) - That's Not How the Force Works

So I'm rewatching Phantom Menace right now.

How is anyone even thinking of calling Rey a mary sue when Anakin, a fucking 10 year old child, is an expert pilot surpassing most adults, a mechanical genius able to build a working droid despite a lack of formal education and resources, a midi chlorian level of above 9000 and has fucking Jesus parallels.


Well, he has a penis, so those things are clearly within his abilities. Hell, it should be expected!
 
I don't see how she could have gotten away..it would have been nice to actually show it at least hint she got off the planet.

It's that or she is actually a clone which could also explain why she is returning.

she radio'd Hux as soon as they dumped her, he picked her up and then Kylo and they bolted
 

prag16

Banned
Qui Gon is a saint. Now the Jedi council and Yoda, they're the Cosmic Assholes of the series.

Yeah, Qui Gon and to a lesser extent Obi Wan were more reasonable. Mace and Yoda were assholes, and had a huge hand in Anakin's fall (or at least not preventing it).
 

Angel_DvA

Member
So I'm rewatching Phantom Menace right now.

How is anyone even thinking of calling Rey a mary sue when Anakin, a fucking 10 year old child, is an expert pilot surpassing most adults, a mechanical genius able to build a working droid despite a lack of formal education and resources, a midi chlorian level of above 9000 and has fucking Jesus parallels.

he's the chosen one, every people using the force are great pilots and nothing wrong with his abilities to build something, we have in my town a kid of 14 years who participate at Google Science Fair and got praised for his robot... ( he worked on it for years )

Rey is totally a Mary Sue and that's nothing to do with her sexe, her rising power and thing she can do are ridiculous, especially without training, it has no sense at all.
 
Rey is totally a Mary Sue and that's nothing to do with her sexe, her rising power and thing she can do are ridiculous, especially without training, it has no sense at all.

We don't know enough about her yet to make such a claim and that's honestly the reason the Mary Sue argument is fucking stupid. And if Anakin and Luke in their respective first episodes can be as good as they are at shit there's no reason why Rey shouldn't be able to as well. They're all ridiculously in tune with the Force. Space magic. It's fantasy.

If the issue is that she's flawless, again the story is far from over and she's sure to have flaws. Being awesome at things because ya got the power doesn't mean you can't have flaws in other areas.
 

Interfectum

Member
We don't know enough about her yet to make such a claim and that's honestly the reason the Mary Sue argument is fucking stupid. And if Anakin and Luke in their respective first episodes can be as good as they are at shit there's no reason why Rey shouldn't be able to as well. They're all ridiculously in tune with the Force. Space magic. It's fantasy.

If the issue is that she's flawless, again the story is far from over and she's sure to have flaws. Being awesome at things because ya got the power doesn't mean you can't have flaws in other areas.

She's overconfident. That's probably going to be a huge weakness in Episode 8.
 

-griffy-

Banned
he's the chosen one, every people using the force are great pilots and nothing wrong with his abilities to build something, we have in my town a kid of 14 years who participate at Google Science Fair and got praised for his robot... ( he worked on it for years )

Rey is totally a Mary Sue and that's nothing to do with her sexe, her rising power and thing she can do are ridiculous, especially without training, it has no sense at all.

So it's fine for the Force to explain Anakin's strengths, but that somehow doesn't apply to Rey? It's fine for a kid to "build something," but completely absurd for an adult woman who has grown up her entire life in a scrap yard to be a skilled mechanic and pilot?
 

Interfectum

Member
So it's fine for the Force to explain Anakin's strengths, but that somehow doesn't apply to Rey?

10 year old boy accidentally destroying a massive space ship = ok

Woman who's been living on her own since she was a child, for survival purposes has most likely been using force powers without even knowing, shows accelerated abilities = mary sue obviously :|
 

Angel_DvA

Member
We don't know enough about her yet to make such a claim and that's honestly the reason the Mary Sue argument is fucking stupid. And if Anakin and Luke in their respective first episodes can be as good as they are at shit there's no reason why Rey shouldn't be able to as well. They're all ridiculously in tune with the Force. Space magic. It's fantasy.

If the issue is that she's flawless, again the story is far from over and she's sure to have flaws. Being awesome at things because ya got the power doesn't mean you can't have flaws in other areas.

Luke is far from being perfect in ANH, he's using his intuition like Obi Wan teach him to do and had 3 episodes to be an average Jedi...

The problem isn't really about the fact that she's strong in the force, the problem is what she's doing with the force without any training or someone to teach her, she thought for almost all the movie that Jedi never existed so I'm doubtful about her being one younger but whatever, my opinion is based only about what we've seen from her and I know no one in my circle that can't find her OP as hell...

So it's fine for the Force to explain Anakin's strengths, but that somehow doesn't apply to Rey? It's fine for a kid to "build something," but completely absurd for an adult woman who has grown up her entire life in a scrap yard to be a skilled mechanic and pilot?

Did I mention something about her mechanic or pilot skill ? I don't remember that at all...
 

GhaleonEB

Member
Qui Gon is a saint. Now the Jedi council and Yoda, they're the Cosmic Assholes of the series.

Neeson managed to do a decent amount with a badly written role, but it bugs me how he constantly makes terrible decisions to advance the plot. Like how he'll use his Force powers to spring Anakin, but decides he can't to anything for his mom, or how they get back to Naboo and tells Obi-Wan they "cannot use our powers to help them". Wat? Why even tag along then?

My favorite moment is when Maul makes his big appearance at the end, when there are 20 soldiers holding guns standing 10 feet away, and Qui-gon sends them all away so he can sword fight the bad guy. The scene should have ended with Qui-gon saying, "Shoot him!" before Maul even has his saber out.
 

opoth

Banned
Rian Johnson is writing it. I honestly fear for the worst.

What's wrong with Rian Johnson?

I mean look, however you feel about a particular writer/director, these movies are being made by committee now and Disney/Lucasfilm isn't going to allow a bad movie out in their flagship trilogy. These films aren't going to live or die around the talent of one person (or lack of talent, as the case may be)

It's the only thing keeping me halfway optimistic about Episode IX, tbh.
 
he's the chosen one, every people using the force are great pilots and nothing wrong with his abilities to build something, we have in my town a kid of 14 years who participate at Google Science Fair and got praised for his robot... ( he worked on it for years )

Rey is totally a Mary Sue and that's nothing to do with her sexe, her rising power and thing she can do are ridiculous, especially without training, it has no sense at all.

What specific training did 8 year old Anakin have? What was Rey doing that was so different? She piloted the Falcon? Ok, Anakin piloted a podracer( built it too), a fighter at the end and 'accidentally' blows up the Federation ship. The Force has been so narrowly explained, at least in the movies, that you can basically use it for any story purpose. Enhanced mechanical skills? Must be the force. Enhanced pilot abilities, reflexes? Must be the force. Enhanced learning abilities? Yep...you guessed it. The Force.
 
I personally think Rey and Finn will survive. BUT shit is going to get fucked up for them.

I think they will, but yeah. Finn already got diced and went comatose so they're clearly already not playing pretty. Honestly some things were pretty damn violent. That saber duel was raw.
 
Luke is far from being perfect in ANH, he's using his intuition like Obi Wan teach him to do and had 3 episodes to be an average Jedi...

The problem isn't really about the fact that she's strong in the force, the problem is what she's doing with the force without any training or someone to teach her, she thought for almost all the movie that Jedi never existed so I'm doubtful about her being one younger but whatever, my opinion is based only about what we've seen from her and I know no one in my circle that can't find her OP as hell...



Did I mention something about her mechanic or pilot skill ? I don't remember that at all...

We still don't know enough about her backstory. It's been suggested that she may have been one of Luke's padawans and received prior training. If true, then her 'awakening' was reconnecting to the force and drawing on previously gained abilities from actual training. We don't know one way or the other, that's why we still have 2 more movies left.
 

Boke1879

Member
I think they will, but yeah. Finn already got diced and went comatose so they're clearly already not playing pretty. Honestly some things were pretty damn violent. That saber duel was raw.

Yup. I can see in Ep 8 Rey facing a damn near impossible task or a severe injury. She has showcased overconfidence. That should play into something.
 

FyreWulff

Member
Neeson managed to do a decent amount with a badly written role, but it bugs me how he constantly makes terrible decisions to advance the plot. Like how he'll use his Force powers to spring Anakin, but decides he can't to anything for his mom, or how they get back to Naboo and tells Obi-Wan they "cannot use our powers to help them". Wat? Why even tag along then?

My favorite moment is when Maul makes his big appearance at the end, when there are 20 soldiers holding guns standing 10 feet away, and Qui-gon sends them all away so he can sword fight the bad guy. The scene should have ended with Qui-gon saying, "Shoot him!" before Maul even has his saber out.

Episode 1 suddenly introduced the Prime Directive out of nowhere into the lore, and as you point out, with ZERO CONSISTENCY
 

Interfectum

Member
You misunderstand! I'm talking about how Rian won't mess around when it comes to establishing stakes and character flaws, and I fear FOR the characters.

I can't wait to see how they handle Kylo. His face getting scarred by relatively new force user right after he killed his dad and you know Hux is gonna give him shit. Man, Kylo is ripe for growth. Gonna be great.
 

-griffy-

Banned
I don't know if everyone has been keeping up on the social media of people involved in VIII, but stuff is heating up for sure.

From Daisy Ridley's Instagram last week (pay special note to the letter at the bottom):
YRgk0qk.png

From Rian Johnson's Twitter this morning (linking to his Tumblr):
Getting close...
 
Yup. I can see in Ep 8 Rey facing a damn near impossible task or a severe injury. She has showcased overconfidence. That should play into something.

I liked how the Jedi were in the prequels but at the same time I'm so happy to see combatants not following codes or being told what to do by old people. I guess there's Snoke but Benjamin was pretty much acting on his own. Luke may be a mentor to Rey but I doubt he's gonna be like PT era Yoda for instance. He'll probably be wise and tell her to not get full of shit, but the whole point of the Jedi in the PT was that they were a bunch of by the books robots and had to be rebooted; Qui-Gon was against their ways, died and became a sort of Force info bank and re-trained Yoda and Obi-Wan so to speak.

So I don't see Rey being further trained like a PT Jedi, but Luke will still probably have to bring her down to earth a bit. She won't and something bad gone happen.

I can't wait to see how they handle Kylo. His face getting scarred by relatively new force user right after he killed his dad and you know Hux is gonna give him shit. Man, Kylo is ripe for growth. Gonna be great.

Kylo is one of the most interesting characters in the series right out of the gate.
 

Interfectum

Member
So I don't see Rey being further trained like a PT Jedi, but Luke will still probably have to bring her down to earth a bit. She won't and something bad gone happen.

It almost writes itself.

"I'm going to finish off Kylo."

"No you aren't ready yet."

"I beat him once, I'll beat him again."

*Kylo destroys her*
 

Surfinn

Member
Saw it for a 7th time last night. Man, the second half of the movie REALLY grew on me. I love this film throughout now. The saber duel at the end is filled with emotion and meaning, much more so than I thought the first time I saw it.

This is truly a great Star Wars film and I think it's up there with the quality of the OT, in different ways. It may not be as thoroughly creative with its world building, but I'll be damned if you can find a more intriguing story in the universe with better characters.

Definitely a really well rounded film, and one of the best SW has to offer.

I don't know if everyone has been keeping up on the social media of people involved in VIII, but stuff is heating up for sure.

From Daisy Ridley's Instagram last week (pay special note to the letter at the bottom):


From Rian Johnson's Twitter this morning (linking to his Tumblr):
Getting close...

Well damn, that's exciting. Can we enhance on Daisy's letter? When do we start filming?
 

Abounder

Banned
Rey turns into Furiosa ;-D

As for being too powerful - she's gotta be a Skywalker. Just look at Anakin or even Luke, kids that flew beyond what was humanly possible - podracing, blowing up alien starships without knowing what they were doing, calmly using the force when the shit hit the fan in the death star, etc.
 

Boke1879

Member
I can't wait to see how they handle Kylo. His face getting scarred by relatively new force user right after he killed his dad and you know Hux is gonna give him shit. Man, Kylo is ripe for growth. Gonna be great.

Yup. I honestly see Kylo only getting stronger and maybe controlling his emotions more. He was prone to violent outbursts and tantrums, but I'd love to see over the course of the next two movies him putting those under control. Especially since he committed the ultimate act to seal his path to the darkside.
 
It almost writes itself.

I know TFA adhered to ANH but I hope it's not something like that. It can be a part of it but I don't want that much of a deliberate repeat. I thought TFA had similarities to ANH, but for example ANH didn't end with a saber duel in a snowy forest. You had Xwings flying into a trench and blowing up a Death Star type thing but the focus was on the characters and not that. That's how it differentiated enough for me, but if they did that it would absolutely run the risk of being too much like that ESB thread.

However, not wanting to sound like a hypocrite here, so if they did that it could be different enough with the execution, as TFA repeated stuff from ANH yet had its own color.
 

Surfinn

Member
I know TFA adhered to ANH but I hope it's not something like that. It can be a part of it but I don't want that much of a deliberate repeat. I thought TFA had similarities to ANH, but for example ANH didn't end with a saber duel in a snowy forest. You had Xwings flying into a trench and blowing up a Death Star type thing but the focus was on the characters and not that. That's how it differentiated enough for me, but if they did that it would absolutely run the risk of being too much like that ESB thread.

However, not wanting to sound like a hypocrite here, so if they did that it could be different enough with the execution, as TFA repeated stuff from ANH yet had its own color.

The more I see it, the less I even remember its similarities to ANH. There's just too many differences to focus on that.

As someone who's seen it as many times as I have, that's a good sign. This film will stand the test of time.
 
Rey is totally a Mary Sue and that's nothing to do with her sexe, her rising power and thing she can do are ridiculous, especially without training, it has no sense at all.

Star Wars character who spent most of her life fending for herself in a ship junkyard can fight, as well as repair and fly ships. Has Force powers; exhibits abilities she never used before after only a couple tries. More at 11.
 

Savitar

Member
Rian Johnson is writing it. I honestly fear for the worst.

If she doesn't lose a body part she she'll be luckier than most.

Could she be tempted by the dark side? Considering how laughably easy it is to do so and then go full evil could see it ending with her eyes going yellow/red.

Maybe we'll find out her parents are hardly anything but good people. Who knows, might be she turns out to be some test tube baby of Palpatine.

Currently reading Aftermath which takes place after the second Death Star goes boom and dear god does the Empire ever feel small and pitiful, their resources and number of ships should still be extremely vast but here it feels like one star destroyer is a big deal. Makes me wonder how big the FO is.

But then movies with space always makes everything feel so tiny despite it should be near infinite and great spans of distance. The Empire should have had a mind numbing amount of ships out there doing it's work to control the countless people it had under it's grip.
 
The more I see it, the less I even remember its similarities to ANH. There's just too many differences to focus on that.

Yeah. I just touched on it because I knew if I talked about how I'd rather it be something else instead of being the same thing from ESB that someone (by someone I mean around the ballpark of 45 people) would comment about how TFA was a retread too. I don't think it's too much like ANH, basically when I'm watching TFA I feel like I'm watching TFA.
 

GhaleonEB

Member
Saw it for a 7th time last night. Man, the second half of the movie REALLY grew on me. I love this film throughout now. The saber duel at the end is filled with emotion and meaning, much more so than I thought the first time I saw it.

This is truly a great Star Wars film and I think it's up there with the quality of the OT, in different ways. It may not be as thoroughly creative with its world building, but I'll be damned if you can find a more intriguing story in the universe with better characters.

Definitely a really well rounded film, and one of the best SW has to offer.

I'm going for a 7th time this coming weekend, because it's been a few weeks and I want to see it one last time before it goes from theaters.

The ending fight really gets to me. It's incredibly intense and the style is brutal, particularly in comparison to the PT. Like you I've come to really appreciate the non-verbal story telling in the choreography, and how the fight completes Rey and Finn's arcs in the film, while being a perfect reflection of Ren's personality and emotional state. Speaking of the PT, the fight also does not overstay its welcome - the Ren/Finn fight barely pushes a minute, because that's how long it takes them to tell the story they had to tell with it. There's no bloat, no flash for the sake of it. And that that lightsaber grab from Rey remains my favorite moment in the entire series. Dear lord that gets me every time.

As time has moved on I'm thinking TFA is near Empire on my episode rankings. They each do different things better than the other, but at this point I'm hard pressed to say it's not as good, overall, in its own way.
 
I've been five times but it's about two hours to a quality cinema from me and I pretty much refuse to watch something like this in a run of the mill theater.

May I just please have the fucking Bluray thanks. By April I'm planning on upgrading my home theater to 9999+ Midichlorian levels; after seeing it in IMAX in Orlando I'm a firm believer that what I have now, while decent, just ain't gonna cut it.
 

enigmatic_alex44

Whenever a game uses "middleware," I expect mediocrity. Just see how poor TLOU looks.
Saw it for a 7th time last night.

I'm going for a 7th time this coming weekend

Good grief O_O

I don't know how guys you aren't bored by now. I've gone to the theather for a movie I really loved a 2nd time three times in my life, and even then I could have waited longer for the dvd or blu ray. Force Awakens I've only seen once and I still remember the whole thing, My 2nd watch won't come until the blu ray releases.
 

-griffy-

Banned
Good grief O_O

I don't know how guys you aren't bored by now. I've gone to the theather for a movie I really loved a 2nd time three times in my life, and even then I could have waited longer for the dvd or blu ray. Force Awakens I've only seen once and I still remember the whole thing, My 2nd watch won't come until the blu ray releases.

I've seen a lot of movies twice in theaters just because I'll go with friends and then invariably take my mom, but these days it takes something special for me to actually go more than that. I feel like I've outgrown the craziness of seeing Jurassic Park 10 times in theaters, or Fellowship of the Ring 13 times. It's been a long time since I've seen a movie three times in theaters. In 2015 I saw Mad Max and The Force Awakens three times. I'll go see TFA at least once more before it leaves theaters.
 

GhaleonEB

Member
Good grief O_O

I don't know how guys you aren't bored by now. I've gone to the theather for a movie I really loved a 2nd time three times in my life, and even then I could have waited longer for the dvd or blu ray. Force Awakens I've only seen once and I still remember the whole thing, My 2nd watch won't come until the blu ray releases.

I like to watch good movies several times, particularly ones that reward re-watches. I saw Fury Road four times this summer, as another recent example. If they are good, I find myself simply getting lost in them again for a couple hours, often finding new things to appreciate (TFA really rewards a re-watch or two, IMO) in subsequent viewings. To me it's not that different from listening to an album I really like over again. I may know the tunes and lyrics by heart, but enjoy the music anyways. (Several viewings were just tagging along or bringing folks who hadn't seen it yet.)
 

Interfectum

Member
TFA really needs a second viewing for maximum soaking, IMO. The first time you see it there are 30 years worth of expectations behind it (for a lot of people). A second viewing clears that out and lets you see the movie for what it is.

Also, while I have no idea what's coming I really hope Kylo outlives this trilogy. I don't really want to see him die in Episode IX.
 
TFA really needs a second viewing for maximum soaking, IMO. The first time you see it there are 30 years worth of expectations behind it (for a lot of people). A second viewing clears that out and lets you see the movie for what it is.

It blew by the first time I saw it. My second time was like having an actual GRIP on the wheel and I saw it in an even better theater. Needless to say my already positive opinion skyrocketed.

^Sorry, Kylo's gotta answer for Han straight up. That prick needs to pay.
 
I would be ok if Rey was related to Qui Gon in anyway. Goddamit they really fucked him over in the PT. He was the only reasonable, honorable Jedi in this whole mess.
Neeson managed to do a decent amount with a badly written role, but it bugs me how he constantly makes terrible decisions to advance the plot. Like how he'll use his Force powers to spring Anakin, but decides he can't to anything for his mom, or how they get back to Naboo and tells Obi-Wan they "cannot use our powers to help them". Wat? Why even tag along then?

My favorite moment is when Maul makes his big appearance at the end, when there are 20 soldiers holding guns standing 10 feet away, and Qui-gon sends them all away so he can sword fight the bad guy. The scene should have ended with Qui-gon saying, "Shoot him!" before Maul even has his saber out.

I like to think that Qui Gon knew the bullshit Anakins mom would have to go through if they freed her. She would still lose her son thanks to the council, and I imagine that would be painful knowing your free and you cant see your son. Heck Anakin had to jump through hoops to see Padme, as a kid not being able to see his mom wouldve made him hate the council much faster.

Fuck Yoda and friends.
 
I would be ok if Rey was related to Qui Gon in anyway. Goddamit they really fucked him over in the PT. He was the only reasonable, honorable Jedi in this whole mess.

That was the point :p what happened with Qui-Gon has ripples throughout. He's actually one of the most important characters.
 
That would mean Rey's name is Rey Jinn.

Reyjinn.

;p

Neeson managed to do a decent amount with a badly written role, but it bugs me how he constantly makes terrible decisions to advance the plot. Like how he'll use his Force powers to spring Anakin, but decides he can't to anything for his mom, or how they get back to Naboo and tells Obi-Wan they "cannot use our powers to help them". Wat? Why even tag along then?

Both the Anakin affair and their mission back on Naboo have something in common: they're Jedi business. They went back to Naboo to flesh out the Sith Lord, not to participate in the war between the Trade Federation and the Naboo.

He also tried to bargain for Anakin's mother, but it didn't fly. And the movie even addresses that you can't just spring slaves the old-fashioned way.
 

Surfinn

Member
Rian Johnson is writing it. I honestly fear for the worst.

Like others have said in this thread, he's not SOLELY writing it; he's got a main direction he's going and is writing it based on a pre-established narrative. He's not creating everything from scratch like he did with Looper (as far as I know). He's more than capable of delivering an excellent story and film. I honestly believe his might be the best out of all three, and even better than TFA.

I'm going for a 7th time this coming weekend, because it's been a few weeks and I want to see it one last time before it goes from theaters.

The ending fight really gets to me. It's incredibly intense and the style is brutal, particularly in comparison to the PT. Like you I've come to really appreciate the non-verbal story telling in the choreography, and how the fight completes Rey and Finn's arcs in the film, while being a perfect reflection of Ren's personality and emotional state. Speaking of the PT, the fight also does not overstay its welcome - the Ren/Finn fight barely pushes a minute, because that's how long it takes them to tell the story they had to tell with it. There's no bloat, no flash for the sake of it. And that that lightsaber grab from Rey remains my favorite moment in the entire series. Dear lord that gets me every time.

As time has moved on I'm thinking TFA is near Empire on my episode rankings. They each do different things better than the other, but at this point I'm hard pressed to say it's not as good, overall, in its own way.

That's a good point. The first time I saw it, honestly, I was disappointed with the saber fight, but I missed out on pretty much everything it was trying to tell because I was lost in the fact that I was seeing a new SW movie in theaters. In fact, I didn't much care for the movie when I walked out and was extremely worried.

I'm glad to say that feeling has not only passed but reversed.

Here's the bottom line: if you're a SW fan, you deserve to watch this movie 2-3 times to fully appreciate its quality.

TFA really needs a second viewing for maximum soaking, IMO. The first time you see it there are 30 years worth of expectations behind it (for a lot of people). A second viewing clears that out and lets you see the movie for what it is.

This is a perfect explanation of why you should see it at LEAST twice.

No lie, every single time I've seen it I've enjoyed it more than the previous showing. THAT'S why I've gone 7 times and am planning one more IMAX viewing.
 
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