For those of us that have seen it, have at it! (Will combine this with
the other thread in a few weeks, as we usually do with big movie releases like this).
Only have a moment to post, but I will say: Loved it. Was left with some world building questions about the gap between VI and VII. (And I know they have many books and comics to sell us to fill that gap), but I think if you were to watch from VI to VII, as a film viewer, they don't quite justify the state of the political and military landscape. But, if they made those cuts to instead make the mythic, character moments breath, then I think that is smart. I think the latter is more important than the former.
Excited to see it again.
And was excited to tell my five year old, Star Wars loving daughter (who prefers to talk out and know the whole story before she sees something-- like a tiny
@Matt) that the biggest happy surprise in the movie is that Rey was the Jedi (to be), not Finn. Excited to see the torch/lightsaber of hte saga passed to a woman. Especially as the father of a daughter who loves Star Wars.
(And I also told her she can't tell any of the kids or grown-ups at school. She is a five year old that knows from spoilers.)
What did you think?
Comments
Finn - I hope we haven't seen the last of him. I'm pretty sure we haven't. I love the whole idea that he's a defector from whatever conditioning the Empire/First Order puts their "recruits" through. Best humorous lines came from him.
Rey - How do you not fall in love with this character? Like David, I was happy to see the lightsaber getting passed to a woman, and it was great seeing the Force develop within her. "And you drop your gun!"/"Aaaand I drop my gun..."
Phasma - I feel a bit cheated here, because there was a lot of buildup for this character who honestly didn't do much except repeat orders and spout about five lines. I seem to recall Gwendolyn Christie (the actor who played her) saying there's more to her story, so hopefully that's to come in future episodes.
Kylo Ren - It's Anakin without as much whiny! Loved the idea that he wants to carry on in Vader's footsteps, but isn't completely sure how to go about it...and that temper!
BB8 - Wasn't nearly as obnoxious as I thought she might be. A good surrogate R2D2 for when R2D2 isn't available. Yes, there's a school of thought that claims BB8 - a robot - is a female. Roll with it. :)
Poe Dameron - He's the guy you just "like" because he's awesome and a hotshot pilot. Can't have Wedge Antilles? I'll put Poe in my corner any day of the week. Hopefully he shows up in the Rogue movie offshoots of this series.
My wife cried when Solo died...we both could see it coming a mile away but it didn't take the sting of it away. I love Han - who doesn't? - but to me the main Star Wars movies are always going to be about the fall/rise/fall again? of the Skywalker clan. That's why that final scene for me was the absolute perfect ending. Rey holding the saber out as if to say "You're needed" and Luke leaving it up in the air as to what happens next.
But the best part of the movie...
One of my favorite aliens - Nien Nunb - is IN THIS MOVIE! He's in the credits! He's still around! Yes, I screamed when I saw him. :)
This one's up there with Empire as far as the movies go...
was it in the books or movies that revealed Han was a former officer for the Empire? He left following the arrest of Chewie. Sounds similar to Finn.
Will Ben & Rey be relatives (cousins or siblings)?
I figured Han would die in this one. Harrison wanted out after Empire & kinda disowned the character for years following Jedi. This would be a way to entice him to return one more time. Plus, the trailers heavily featured Harrison. He also advised he wasn't trying to be Alec Guinness...hinting (to me) a death.
Without giving spoilers in the other thread, it seems like what hurt the prequels was we knew what happened in the original trilogy. It seems as though, not only do we not know what happens in the finale of Episode IX, the original trilogy seems like the prequels for this trilogy. Obviously, it happened before, but now we're getting the set up for VII-IX.
I'm hoping to squeeze in a showing next week.
M
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Loved Rey, loved BB8, loved Poe, loved Kylo Ren. I like the idea of Finn, Stormtrooper sickened by what the Empire (or First Order) do and stand for, but I feel something was lacking there. He was my only slight nit pick. Up there with the originals for me.
Wanna let it digest now, see it again and will post any more thoughts here later.
Let's talk about that segment/scenes/vision either way...
First, was that part of it future or past?
Same for the Knights of Ren shot?
With R2 there seems like it would be future, as R2 was with the Republic/Resistance. And Reyand Chewie took R2 with them to Luke's hideaway plant/island.
The humor here really worked, and I didn't find it annoying at all. I was smiling thought the thing!
(I may be thinking of Avengers)
On a somewhat related note I listened to Star Wars: The Perfect Weapon. It's a short story that was billed as having connections to the new movie. I started listening before seeing the movie and couldn't figure out how it connected. During the movie you see the main character of the book and she has one line. So, I guess it does connect..but not in a huge way. It's a really good story though.
Oh. And I think you actually see Poe Dameron get conceived.
Yeah, we usually are last to see most movies. However there have been exceptions (for example, I think we saw the 1st and 2nd Amazing Spider-man movies BEFORE the U.S. got them, perhaps because it was a Sony movie.). Anyway, Disney AND Star Wars are pretty much world-wide properties, with great popularity in almost every market so, I guess they decided to release them at the same time. Well, only one day later here.
With prodding, Finn was honest about where he came from. And Rey and the Rebels accepted him.
None of this "how can we ever trust him?" Time wasting stuff!
My only quips would be I wasn't really impressed with Snoke. Don't know why. Just seemed too CGI for my taste. It seemed 'off' in a film that used so many wonderful practical effects. My other complaint is that Rey's character comes off as a bit of a 'Mary Sue' (an idealized fictional character, a young or low-rank person who saves the day through extraordinary abilities as the personification of wish-fulfillment.) She immediately knows how to fly the Falcon as good as, or maybe even better than, Han Solo the very first time she gets in the cockpit?! She can take on Kylo Ren the first time she fires up a light saber? It stretched beyond the limits of credibility for me and took me out of the story unnecessarily, and yes, I realize I'm discussing fantasy science-fiction here.
I really loved that all of the aesthetics were spot on, the music was gloriously perfect, and the effects were top-shelf, as was the acting. I was delighted to see the Millennium Falcon again, and of course seeing Han and Chewie, and Leia, and C3PO and R2-D2 was tremendous. I also like BB-8, Finn, and Maz Kanata a lot. I didn't think we got enough of Poe, but that will happen later. Sorry to see Lor San Tekka (Max Von Sydow) gone so soon. Maybe Episode VIII will tell us more about how he got the map and his connection to Luke.
This story needed to happen for the saga to continue with Disney at the helm, in order to transfer the mantle to a new generation. And it did so much better than Star Trek: Generations did when they did essentially the same thing. Star Wars is an epic saga of mythic proportions, but I think JJ may have played it a little bit too "safe" overall in regards to ticking all the fan-service boxes and re-telling the original tale. The real test of myth-making lies in the ability not to repeat, but to reinvent. JJ Abrams didn't really do anything ground-breaking here, but it does have me looking forward to the next installments. JJ has always been good at making me want to see more of the story that I'm not being told. 4 out of 5 stars for me and the 3rd or 4th best film out of the 7 installments.