Star Wars 7 - The Spoilers Awaken :)

[Mormel]

Leader Snoke was interesting. Is he really a giant or was he just acting like the Wizard of Oz with the Holo-emitters ?

Was thinking about that myself, gonna go with the latter. His look was interesting (the mouth, etc.). Does he resemble any race seen in the Star Wars mythos so far? Did he at all mention being Force-sensitive? Wonder how he ties into either the Jedi Order or the old Sith.

[Godlike13]

I liked it. Story could have been better, but I thought they introduced a rather interesting new generation.
I thought Finn was great, as a concept i found him really refreshing, and he was just really enjoyable.
Kylo Ren i thought was cool. Cool look, stopping the baster bolt was bad ass, and his inner fight i thought was interesting. Usually its about resisting the corruption of the dark side, but with him its kind of reverse. It seems he's actually fighting against the light side in himself. And i like that he's a young bad guy. We haven't really seen that before. Usually the bad guys are older more experienced figures. I thought we could have saw more of his motivations though, and think they spilled the beans with him being Han's son too early.
Po, what little we saw of him, i thought was charming and liked his chemistry with Finn. I thought they were fun together.
Rey was the only one who who fell flat to me. I just didn't find her very interesting. Her personality didn't particularly stand out like Finn's did, and they kind of just lost me with her at the end there. Some of the the things she was able to do didn't really connect or make sense to me. Like with the Stormtroopers. How did she even know that was a thing? Plus already out powering and beating up the bad guy. Does she even need to train or anything with Luke. Seems like she can already just do what she needs to when she needs to.

[Don C]

Anyone know where they filmed that? That looked amazing. Was it all location, or did they build a set?

EDIT: I mean build props/set on location.

It's a tiny little island off the coast of Ireland called Skellig Michael.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skellig_Michael

[brettc1]

Was thinking about that myself, gonna go with the latter. His look was interesting (the mouth, etc.). Does he resemble any race seen in the Star Wars mythos so far? Did he at all mention being Force-sensitive? Wonder how he ties into either the Jedi Order or the old Sith.

I keep imagining Snoke the Gollum's head on his shoulders.

But I don't think he is that big - remember how big the holo-image of the Emperor was in Empire. It's just to make him look more impressive.

For that matter, we have no guarantee that is even his true appearance. He might simply want to look more like Palpatine for the sake of awe. Though it seems likely Ren had met him in person.

If he can seduce Ren to the Dark Side, you would think he would have to have some kind of Force powers. Of course, he could just be a Lex Luthor type and incredibly cunning. That would be a novel twist in the story.

[brettc1]

So what's the personal conclusions on Rey? Me, I'm firmly on the side saying she's Luke's daughter. At least, it wouldn't make sense to me why, if she were Han and Leia's as well, that Ben would be sent to train with Luke but Rey sent away in isolation. So there has to be a significant difference between the two which I think precludes them being siblings. So I'm going with cousins. I think she'll be revealed as Rey Skywalker very early in Episode VIII with perhaps even a mystery developed about the identity of her mother.

Rey was the best part of the movie for me, partly because of the brilliant bait and switch. They never showed her as the one with the light sabre in the lead up, but it turns out Rey is the one with the Force. Brilliant!

And she is a very strong character. Unlike Luke, she acts a lot on her own accord! She needs no saving - SHE does the saving. She gets herself out of prison and faces down Ren, if not single handed, as the major protagonist. Loved the symbolism of her and Ren facing each other on either side of the widening crevasse. Nobody actually won and he was badly injured to begin with, but you get the sense that she is the one with the real sense of agency about her. Very very good!

[Black_Adam]

General Hux is my new favorite character. Love his speech before activating the Death Star.

I thought he over did it a bit with the screaming at the end of his speech, also would of liked to have seen him display more military leadership or whatever generals are supposed to do. The First Order were a bit of a letdown in that respect, they didn't seem that much more capable then the Empire despite all their serious looking characters.

Meanwhile, Phasma was a bit of a let down in the end.

The first person shot when her troops stormed the facility should have been her. Finn might have stolen a tie fighter and deserted, but at least he never sold out every single soldier under his command just to save his own skin!

Yeah she didn't do much in the end and when Han says let's chuck her in the garbage compactor I guess her fate is left open for a return... But I don't know why they didn't make her the one to fight Finn with the electric rod instead of some random Stormtrooper.

Few thoughts:
-Really hope Rey is NOT Luke's daughter, that would just be too predictable and too safe. The Skywalkers are integral to the franchise but we have enough of them now. There are other strong force users out in the galaxy, would prefer they do something new with her parents.

-One question that is really bugging me is Snoke Darth Plagueis? Have done a bit of googling and it's not a stretch to imagine... But Munn have slightly more elongated heads from the looks of it, but then again most Sith are pretty messed up looking.

-The Mandalorian banner hanging above Maz's place was a nice little touch.

[MichaelC]

Should I see the 3d or 2d version?

[PretenderNX01]

Should I see the 3d or 2d version?

I don't think it would lose anything in 2D but we had a fairly affordable 3D (like 9 dollars?) and lightsaber fights in 3D are pretty cool.

[Tendrin]

-One question that is really bugging me is Snoke Darth Plagueis? Have done a bit of googling and it's not a stretch to imagine... But Munn have slightly more elongated heads from the looks of it, but then again most Sith are pretty messed up looking.

No.

Rey is totes Darth Plagueis! HE LIVES ON THROUGH HER. OH HO HO HO.

[DrNewGod]

Having slept on it, I finally feel ready to form an opinion. I'd give it a 7/10, and if I had to rank it, I'd place it almost in the middle of its predecessors: tied with VI and III, ahead of I and II, but behind IV and V.

IMO, this was typical Abrams. He ably touched on most of the tropes that define Star Wars, and did so with gusto, but with little of the depth, substance or heart that established Star Wars for us in the first place, trusting that if it comes at us loud enough and fast enough, we won't notice until it's over. There's a lot that just isn't very smart here, mainly because he didn't take a little more time to make it smart.

• What were Han and Chewy doing hanging out where they could conveniently grab the Falcon? It wouldn't have taken a lot to set them up as looking for the ship over a long period of time.
• Our budding Jedi intuitively knows how to Jedi-mind trick folks? No. It took Luke some time and effort, after tutelage by Obi-Wan, just to get to the force-grab-my-lightsabre stage. That felt like Abrams being too desperate to build up a dueling partner for Kylo Ren.
• What flipped Kylo Ren? Some sense of why he turned might have made him more interesting and menacing. I know we didn't get that with Darth Vader either in IV, but Vader's anonymity was part of his schtick in his first appearance, a veritable faceless avatar of death; knowing he was a former jedi, seduced by the darkside was enough. This film instead tried to generate interest in Ren based on his familial history, but didn't give us enough about it, or why he walked away from his family, in favor of a darker destiny, to make me care. I get that this is merely part one of a series, but just a little more fleshing of this character might have improved him immensely.
• What stormtrooper throws down his zapper-gun in favor of going mano-a-mano with his electro-billy club? Clearly, the first order has upped the stromtrooper training protocols from lousy marksmanship to outright stupidity. Obviously, the stunt was intended to stage a swordfight, and misdirect us about just who was awakening. It was trying to get a shot without thinking it all the way through. Even a second to show the stormtrooper's weapon being destroyed more clearly would have helped.
• Why does Po seem to gyrate between being so central a character and a mere afterthought? His escape back to the Resistance, or at least his evasion of the First Order deserved some attention, rather than having him simply spring back out of nowhere.
• Why bother staging so prominent a character as Phasma, only to use her so minimally? Poorly done.
• Was there no other menace that might have been cooked up other than Death Star III? It felt like, "here's your old friend from childhood, just BIGGER! Now, you know the basic plot, let's get on with it."
• If the Rebellion destroyed the Empire, and there's a new Republic, why is the good-guy army part of a Resistance? It wouldn't have take much to clarify that the galaxy Balkanized after the Empire's collapse, that different factions dominated different territories, and that the Republic is funding an internal struggle within the First Order's turf as an act of self-defense against the the Order's ambitions. Of course, that makes the Republic sound a little bit greasy. Alternatively, they could have just made the good guy army the Republic. Either approach also could have made for some great interaction between Han and Leia (or even Leia and Chewy) about what dreams they'd had after the Battle of Endor, and how sad what had followed had actually turned out to be.

Of course, for all this nagging, there was really good stuff in here too.

• Kylo Ren is NOT Darth Vader, and that is to the good. His rage issues make him both dangerously unpredictable, and distinct from our previous black-clad masked menace.
• Abrams gave us some artful misdirection about who was who and what was what. The man under Ren's mask was sufficiently mysterious for a decent way through the film; I'm not sure that I was even aware that actor was part of the cast before seeing the film. Likewise, just who was awakening was capably pointed in the wrong direction until the discovery of the legendary lightsabre, and better still, the clues were all there, such as our budding jedi's hardscrabble existence paralleling Luke's and Anakin's youth.
• The visuals were stunning, and Abrams was wise to use more live action locations rather than going all green sceen-cgi.
• Reducing one of the main characters to a closing cameo was well done. I spent a good chunk of the film looking for him to pop out of corner, allowing the story to ambush me with other nice surprises.

All in all, I didn't hate this film, but I wasn't able to really love it. I can't place it in as high place as Star Wars, and The Empire Strikes Back.

[Rimmer]

I really liked the film. I feel like I would give it 9.5 out of 10. Not giving it 10/10 solely for the rehashed Death Star plot AGAIN. Felt like lazy plotting at least from a high level - too much pandering to things we know and are comfortable with. Other than that, I have no issues. I'm sure new characters will be flashed out in the future.

Whether Rey is Luke's daughter or Solo's daughter or what - it could be totally unrelated and she was an abandonded child - but I doubt it. It could be the Force was calling out to her via the lightsaber, to try and get it back to Luke. But it could also be the Force calling her to make her realize she is Luke's daughter. All those flashbacks were Luke's - his training of Ben Solo, etc... and then there was the dropping off of Rey - so was that HIM dropping her off? I dunno, we'll find out. Her knowledge of the Falcon could lead you to think she's a Solo with inherited natural mechanical ability, but it could be random and the fact that she's a scavenger who knows about machines...

I thought the new actors did a great job. Interesting that all the important folks got away. Hux split, per some commander's comments about "even Gen. Hux is not here!" and Phasma, I'm sure they'll write something into that - she escaped the trash compactor and stowed aboard something. I did think that was sort of a wasted character. At least show her face, or have more. I'm not familiar with the actress, so all I get from the movie is Phasma is some Stormtrooper commander in a shiny suit, that is a woman. Is she like the TOP stormtrooper commander, or just one of many? I dunno. Felt a little weak, but again, I'm sure it'll be fleshed out in the future.

Chewie got more focus and screentime in this movie than any other previous one, I think. He was cool. I like Han using his bowcaster, although you think he would've fired it at some point in the past 40 years during their adventures. None of this is real complaining though, I LOVED the movie. Very much job well done.

[Scott Taylor]

-The Mandalorian banner hanging above Maz's place was a nice little touch.

Noticed that too. There wasn't much time to look at all the banners there, but that was awesome.

[PretenderNX01]

Having slept on it, I finally feel ready to form an opinion. I'd give it a 7/10, and if I had to rank it, I'd place it almost in the middle of its predecessors: tied with VI and III, ahead of I and II, but behind IV and V.

Not an unfair assessment but I think due to how quick it seemed to flow I'm rating it above Ep3 because while ROTS had some depth is was slow.
It's even more noticeable un rewatching them as I did. The OT zip along more and this movie does too.

[*]What were Han and Chewy doing hanging out where they could conveniently grab the Falcon? It wouldn't have taken a lot to set them up as looking for the ship over a long period of time.

I thought Han had some dialogue about it not being just coincidence they found The Falcon as they had been looking for it (and the First Order would be looking for them)

[*]Our budding Jedi intuitively knows how to Jedi-mind trick folks? No. It took Luke some time and effort, after tutelage by Obi-Wan, just to get to the force-grab-my-lightsabre stage. That felt like Abrams being too desperate to build up a dueling partner for Kylo Ren.

It's a little Mary Sue-ish but I think she's meant to just be stronger in ability than Luke was and Ren weaker than he wants to admit.

[*]What flipped Kylo Ren? Some sense of why he turned might have made him more interesting and menacing. I know we didn't get that with Darth Vader either in IV, but Vader's anonymity was part of his schtick in his first appearance, a veritable faceless avatar of death; knowing he was a former jedi, seduced by the darkside was enough. This film instead tried to generate interest in Ren based on his familial history, but didn't give us enough about it, or why he walked away from his family, in favor of a darker destiny, to make me care. I get that this is merely part one of a series, but just a little more fleshing of this character might have improved him immensely.

They might go into detail later (they got 2 more movies to fill) but then Vader's turn wasn't that interesting to me in the PT. I didn't think it was handled that well so I might be ok if they just skip the why and go with the ramifications of him having turned.

[*]Why does Po seem to gyrate between being so central a character and a mere afterthought? His escape back to the Resistance, or at least his evasion of the First Order deserved some attention, rather than having him simply spring back out of nowhere.

That was a little odd to me. I think they want him more for later but maybe shouldn't have marketed him so much for this one then. They act like it's a new trio but it was pretty much a new duo.

[*]Why bother staging so prominent a character as Phasma, only to use her so minimally? Poorly done.

Another site had a good take on Phasma, she's basically Boba Fett. Cool armor, not much more than that on film. Maybe she will be later (Boba got expanded on in the PT and the EU before that) but here she looks cool but doesn't do much.

[*]If the Rebellion destroyed the Empire, and there's a new Republic, why is the good-guy army part of a Resistance?

They did kind of gloss over it all. I guess the New Republic was backing this Resistance to the First Order that's arisen in Luke's absence.

Likewise, just who was awakening was capably pointed in the wrong direction until the discovery of the legendary lightsabre, and better still, the clues were all there, such as our budding jedi's hardscrabble existence paralleling Luke's and Anakin's youth.

I'm kinda hoping the awakening is more than just one person. I hope The Force itself keeps making new potentials even with Luke shutting down training and that Finn still could be. Luke wielded Anakin's saber before making his own. The old alien lady said The Force permeates all living things (as Kenobi said to Luke). I could be wrong, we'll see but I kind of like the idea of the new trilogy making more than one Jedi. Rey is the heir to Luke IMO but maybe Finn being sensitive allowed him to counteract his programming and maybe Poe is so great of a pilot because of more than just instincts.

Leia seemed to sense when Han was killed, there isn't always a big deal made when Force like abilities are seen.

[Rimmer]

I've only seen it once (last night) so forgive me if this is obvious: Did they mention that Kylo Ren was from the "Knights of Ren" or some such thing?
So he's not technically a "Sith", but another derivative of bad guy force users. Is that right? I wonder then if these guys would all have 'Ren' in their names ala 'Darth' in the Sith names.

Or am I already mis-remembering from last night? (Wouldn't be the first time!)

[RobinFan4880]

Should I see the 3d or 2d version?

I don't see the point of 3-D in the first place. There were really only one or two scenes that were obviously "WATCH THIS IN 3-DDDDDDD" when I saw it in normal old 2-D