The Force Awakens reactions

[Andy 60]

With The Force Awakens almost upon us, I thought it appropriate to create a thread for us to discuss the latest addition to the saga.

Obviously spoilers will lurk within  this thread, but please use the 'spoiler' tags if you have to mention major plot points just in case somebody stumbles in

[Andy 60]

So now we know which rumours were true... 

Honestly I loved it. I have heard a lot of people complain that it was all fan-service, but I think it had just the right amount. There are definite parallels that can be drawn between TFA and the original trilogy, and a lot of joyous moments that captured the spirit of Star Wars perfectly.

I really liked the bit where

Spoiler

they are running towards a nice shiny ship and Finn suggests a ship just out of the frame, to which Rey responds with "it's garbage". Then, forced to go for the garbage we discover it is none other than the Millennium Falcon!

 

Kylo Ren

Spoiler

His origins were unsurprising (especially if you're a fan of the old EU), but his true name was not. We also now know why he was idolising Darth Vader, his grandfather.

Rey's origins are left somewhat mysterious. I'm sure we will find out in time, though.

And then there is that bit. The bit that I feel is too spoilery even for spoiler tags.

Spoiler

I knew as soon as he walked out onto the gantry that he wasn't coming back. But the film needed something like that; it's own "I am your father" moment twisted into something even more terrible.

 

I'm sure I have more to say, but my thoughts are still jumbled right now.  

Edited December 17, 2015 by Andy

[Mirax 3]

I loved it! It had the right blend of OT and prequel. The perfect Star Wars feel. 

[darthraptor52 1]

I thought it was tremendous fun. It was a great adventure movie and I truly cared about the characters and their plight.

In all, it was a truly strong beginning to the sequel trilogy and Episode VIII can clearly do some very interesting things with the characters. There are still many questions over Rey and I think that's exciting. I thought at the beginning that Ridley may have been miscast but I'm hoping she simply has space to grow in VIII and IX into a different sort of character as Rey accepts her future. 

My cristisisims are fairly minor in all but I did find the use of the force toward the end to be very curious. There wasn't any set up for it at all and it seemed to come out of the blue. It felt to me that slightly different rules applied for that moment from what was established in the previous six movies in terms of training and ability. 

I could have done with a little more exposition on the state of the Galaxy and the relationship between the Republic and the Resistance etc. That said, it was a similar amount of exposition to ANH in terms of politics so maybe I'm being a tad unfair there.

Finally, Starkiller base was just perry pointless in my opinion. We didn't need another super weapon and it wasn't set up as well as the Death Star in my opinion. It was just an excuse for a dogfight from what I could see. I was far more interested in the main leads and what was happening there. 

It wasn't perfect and it was clearly a very different film to the one Lucas would have made (which I still am very curious about) but boy, it was good fun. Can you ask for much more?

[Mara 29]

Loved it!

Once the titles ran, the opening crawl and everything, I found myself tearing up, rather unexpectedly. Kind of an emotional moment, I suppose. And through the first half-hour or so of the movie, till I relaxed, I was like, shivering, with excitement lol. My body was literally vibrating.

Hope to see it again next week, after I've come down a bit from my high and let it absorb a bit more.

I think as well that it had the right blend of the spirit of the OT as well as forging new ground as its own separate film. It was definitely a bit more cheeky I think, than the previous films, with characters like Poe cracking jokes throughout the film. Moreso than previous ones.

And yeah, there's definitely flaws here and there (things that could have used more exposition, things that could have used more build-up and surprise, etc. etc.), and we could pick it apart, but we could do that with all the other films. So... I'm not bothered by it too much.

I'm not sure yet whether I would call it the best out of all of them so far (or even my favorite)... but I think it's up there with the OT.

 

Yes, THAT bit...

Spoiler

I agree with Beeurd. I saw it coming once Kylo asked Han to help him. And I was like, no, he's not asking him to help him turn light.  He wants him to help him kill him.

Understandably, there were gasps in the theater. But for whatever reason, I both surprised and unsurprised that they dared kill him off. No sadness for me. It was worse seeing Chewie's reaction, in my opinion. And Leia's.

And after all, Harrison wanted Han to die back in the OT, so I guess he finally got what he wanted.

 

 

And Kylo Ren...

Spoiler

I have to admit, about a month ago, I had come up with this crazy theory. Even told my friend. The theory was that Kylo was actually Luke's son. So I was wrong... but not by much, aha.

I honestly had not been expecting he would be Han and Leia's son. Maybe my theory was too much there. Or I just figured Kylo was just some random  bad guy tainted by the dark side. Or all the rumors that Rey was their daughter -- which is highly doubtful now. But yeah...

On a side note, I kind of wished they had left that big reveal for a little later in the film. I feel like there would be more suspense with just some subtext. And then when Han goes out there and yells "Ben" at him, we're all like.... OH. WHAT? And that's when we first figure it out. Instead of being told very early on that Kylo is their son.

 

Lightsabers and the Force...

Spoiler

I kind of agree here, that it did seem like the characters who could use the Force seemed to be able to without anyone telling them or training them. Somewhat contrary to how it's been used in the previous films.

I mean, Luke didn't even know he had the potential until Obi-Wan told him.  Anakin had his fast reflexes and stuff, but didn't realize it was the Force until Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan came along.

But Rey... it's like, she has this Force vision when she grabs Luke's lightsaber. But denies anything, runs away. Later, with Kylo, it's like she suddenly has an epiphany and reads his mind. Seems like a pretty high-level Force trick to me for someone who days earlier didn't even think the Jedi and the Force were real -- she even said she thought Luke was just a myth. (Which leads me to believe that his failure with Ben happened early on, because there's only been 30 years since ROTJ, and so for him to pass out of knowledge in less than 20-25 years seems absurd).

And for Finn, a newly promoted stormtrooper, he sure could hold his own, for a little while at least, against Kylo Ren with a  lightsaber. Either Kylo isn't as powerful yet as he thinks or it was just luck on Finn's part. Same later on with Rey. And yes, she has the Force, but it's raw and untrained... she shouldn't have been able to hold her own against Kylo. I mean, she does better, in a way, against him than Luke did against Vader in ESB, and he had training first.

Who knows. Maybe Rey is the new Chosen One. Ha.

 

Supreme Commander Snoke...

Spoiler

I'm really curious to where his character goes next. And whether he's really a giant or just likes to appear that way in holograms to tower over his subjects.

Like, where did he come from? So curious.

 

And Rey...

Spoiler

I think it's pretty fair to see that now, there's a slim chance she's Han and Leia's daughter.... Kylo/Ben's sister. But... there seems to be something there. In the scenes she had together with Kylo. It was like, he almost knew her.     So I'm like, Luke's daughter? Maybe? It could explain why his old lightsaber called to her. That Kylo knew she was his cousin. This part is a little hazy to me, because in the vision she had of being left behind/her parents leaving, she was old enough to remember, to know who here parents were. So... I dunno.

Or... maybe it's just the Force, finding another one strong with its power. A new heir to carry on after Luke can no longer. Who knows?

 

Luke and the Jedi...

Spoiler

So we finally find out where he is. The first sentence of the opening crawl explains that: "Luke Skywalker has disappeared." And later, other characters tell us that he had started a new temple, training Jedi, but that he had one student -- who we find out later was/is his nephew -- turned on him, and feeling like a failure, Luke went into solitude. Even leaving poor Artoo behind, who is so distraught that he cannot power up fully any more.

But my question is...      where are all the other Jedi students? It seemed to have been implied that he was training multiple students. So, unless Ren killed them all, shouldn't there be others?

Plus... I'm wondering, why has he taken the synthflesh off his robotic hand? To be reminded that he's no longer human, to be reminded of his mistake with Ben/Kylo? Something to ponder.

 

 

Anyway, I am totally looking forward to Episode 8 and the direction everything goes in next.

Edited December 18, 2015 by Mara
formatting + adding thoughts

[Mara 29]

A thought for further discussion --

 

The title of the film -- The Force Awakens. And then Kylo Ren telling Snoke "there has been an awakening."

Spoiler

Presumably this refers to Rey and her potential in the Force.

But... why does she need to be awakened? Is this merely saying that she has been discovered/discovered her powers? Or is there something deeper at play? Perhaps on whether or not she has some prior relationship (even familial?) with Kylo/Ben, has some bearing on this? I don't know....

Something to think about I guess.

 

 

And I won't even begin to get to Maz yet, or Lor San Tekka (Max von Sydow's character).

 

 

SO MUCH GOING ON.

[Andy 60]

There are a lot of people questioning why R2-D2 woke up when he did. I have a theory that Luke sensed what Kylo Ren did on Starkiller Base and sent an activation code to Artoo because he knew he was needed. Seems plausible to me?

[Mara 29]

Well, the obvious one is he was just "sad."  I think what makes more sense is that R2 was just searching that whole time for the map. Though it's a bit of a weak theory, considering ir probably took him 15-20 years or whatever to find it ha.

But your theory works, too. Maybe a mixture of both. As well as prompting from BB-8 and realizing it was time.

[Andy 60]

Well the reaction from the Oscars wasn't as good as hoped.

[Mara 29]

Nope.

 

But I'm not really surprised. Thought I thought they'd at least get one of the secondary ones they were nominated for. Oh well.

 

We don't need the Academy anyway! We know it's a good movie.

[k.a.mara 13]

On 12/17/2015 at 2:48 PM, Mara said:

A thought for further discussion --

 

The title of the film -- The Force Awakens. And then Kylo Ren telling Snoke "there has been an awakening."

  Hide contents

Presumably this refers to Rey and her potential in the Force.

But... why does she need to be awakened? Is this merely saying that she has been discovered/discovered her powers? Or is there something deeper at play? Perhaps on whether or not she has some prior relationship (even familial?) with Kylo/Ben, has some bearing on this? I don't know....

Something to think about I guess.

 

 

And I won't even begin to get to Maz yet, or Lor San Tekka (Max von Sydow's character).

 

 

SO MUCH GOING ON.

 

[Mara 29]

So apparently Mark Hamill confirmed that there was originally a different opening to TFA (apparently also rumored a few months ago) where you just see his severed hand holding his lightsaber flying through space and entering Jakku's atmosphere, where the hand burns up... and then an alien (maybe Maz, maybe someone else) grabs the saber. And then the movie as we saw it would start off from there.

 

Um. I'm glad they didn't go that route? That would have been weird and morbid... and just... yeah.

Like his hand somehow made it all the way from Bespin to Jakku?      Enh.

[Andy 60]

I was thinking that too. That opening doesn't appeal to me at all.