Share All Your Spoilery Star Wars: The Force Awakens Feelings Here!
I’m not sure if I’ll be writing a formal Star Wars: The Force Awakens review but I am dying to talk about it. So here’s your chance to discuss with other fans what you shouldn’t be discussing anywhere in the open right now.
THIS POST AND ITS COMMENTS WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS. PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK AFTER THESE RIDICULOUS GIFS.
Ok. Ready?
OHMYGODTHEMOVIEWASSOAMAZINGANDICANTEVENPROCESSALLMYFEELINGSFORITYET
*ahem*
Safe to say Star Wars: The Force Awakens surpassed my expectations. How about you?
My favorite parts? Anything to do with BB-8 or Rey.
WOMAN. JEDI. This means SO much to me and countless others. (And if you enjoy female Jedi, you should definitely watch [Editor’s Note: affiliate link] Star Wars Clone Wars – Season 1-5 [Blu-ray]
The charisma and dynamics between all the new characters was OUTSTANDING.
Least favorite part? Anytime Adam Driver acted without his helmet. Sorry!
I keep saying it in my head and still can’t believe it’s true: Han Solo is dead.
Poe and Finn should kiss immediately at the start of the next film.
More Phasma and Maz please.
Ok, now you go!
I’m trying to understand Starkiller base: my understanding is that it takes energy from a star system’s sun and uses it to incinerate the planets. Wouldn’t taking all the energy away from the sun obliterate those planets anyway?? I know there’s cinematic flair in making things explode, but nothing would survive the sun burning out!
Seriously? Am… am I the only one who was kind of disappointed? I’ve been obsessed with Star Wars since I was eight, so I went into the theater really excited, thrilled as everyone cheered and clapped when title came up. Don’t get me wrong, there are parts I really liked: all the new actors are excellent, BB8 was wonderfully charming, visually it *looked* like a continuation of the original trilogy, the humor was good, etc. But by the end I was feeling decidedly meh, and my father, who went with me, felt the same. I’m seeing it again with some friends in a couple days, maybe then my brain will be able to process it better and see what everyone’s so excited about (as has been the case with a few movies I now love), but until then here are my thoughts:
►The plot was point-for-point a rehash of A New Hope, from the desert orphan finding a droid with secret info right down to the trench run to blow up the planet-destroying superweapon. It started out promising, but as soon as Rey said “That ship’s garbage” it began to descend into the “Hey look, remember how much you loved that thing from the original? Here it is!” that Abrams started with Star Trek and perfected in Into Darkness. I honestly groaned out loud when Finn pulled out the practice orb and turned on the chess board.
►Han’s character arc from the original trilogy–callous smuggler to skilled military leader–was completely erased. It was almost as disappointing as if Luke had fallen to the Dark Side after finally overcoming it in RotJ. I knew Harrison Ford wouldn’t have agreed to come back unless they killed Han, but the setup was so obvious they could have started the scene with a title card that said “And now for the part where Han dies” and it wouldn’t have been less surprising.
►Seeing Leia again was great (Sidenote: wow, *that’s* what thirty years of smoking does to your voice? Youch!), but she didn’t actually *do* anything.
►Captain Phasma is the new Boba Fett: looks cool, but has minimal screentime, *maybe* five lines, and is killed with laughable ease. (As far as we know she was crushed in the trash compactor and then blown up.) I wish she had been the trooper who had the lightsaber/electro-spinny-club-thing fight with Finn, then survived to be in Episode VIII. All in all, it felt like a waste of Gwendoline Christie.
►Speaking of people we never actually saw escape: Kylo Ren turns out to be a reskinned Darth Caedus from the old Extended Universe (I never really followed the EU, but somehow “Luke built a new jedi temple but his nephew destroyed it and killed all the padawans” feels like an alternate universe version of it, like how Abrams’ Trek is an alt!TOS) who was interesting until he revealed that he shares his grandfather’s whiny teen angst. The reveal of his identity and face shouldn’t have happened until Han called his name. (Sidenote 2: why would Han and Leia’s kid be named after Obi-Wan? Han knew the guy for maybe two days and Leia never even met him.) Ben’s powers seemed cool until you realize not even Yoda, with his 900 years of force mastery, could stop a blaster bolt in mid-air and leave it suspended without even keeping his hand pointed at it.
►After Han died, I realized how sad I was that we didn’t get to see Han, Leia, and Luke reunited. It’s great that they got the original actors back, but not having all three of them in one scene feels like an opportunity squandered.
It sort of makes sense. Leia knew of Obi-Wan and sought his help in New Hope. She knew he served with her father and maybe her father told stories about him. He was her only hope. And after the series of events in the three original trilogy films, she recognized his sacrifice to save her from the Empire, as well as his continued spiritual guidance for her brother. He was Luke’s father figure and I’m sure Luke spoke a lot about his brief time with “Ben,” and its importance. Han, as dry and sarcastic as he is, would also have recognized Obi-Wan’s sacrifice to get them off the Death Star. So I find that a reasonable thing.
And I LOVED that Ben was seriously OP, because after mainlining the 6 previous films, I started to get seriously pissed off how the powers they had could be used to fantastical things, but so rarely were. I don’t know if the ancient Jedi order believed in reservation as a tenant, but if you can force push shit, why are you not force pushing all shit all the time? Ben is clearly more powerful than any Jedi or Sith we have previously come across, but then again, Rey is too. Doing some pretty basass shit with zero training? I feel like these two are a product of a new and way more exciting generation of Force users. Also, for the record, Ben is an out of control psychopath. So his Force use is probably a direct result of that insanity, amplified by some really messed up stuff in his head. I’ve worked with dementia patients for years – they have strength like you wouldn’t believe in their psychotic episodes. I saw his incredible power as an extension of his issues.
Maybe I missed something at the beginning but what was the point of the “resistance”? There’s the First Order and the new Galactic government so why the need for the third group?
No, you’re right. It was a little unclear as to how the resistance fit into the republic. And they never really bothered to delve into that at all, I’m just assuming they’re one in the same and that the resistance is the people actually out fighting in space.
According to the Internet- in the war following the Battle of Endor the Empire was more or less completely wiped-out, but retained hold of a few systems.
These remaining Empire systems signed a peace treaty with the New Republic, where each side agreed to take up arms again one another.
(Certain members of the Republic- in particular Leia- didn’t entirely trust the Empire to stick to this treaty, and formed the Resistnace to operate in Empire controlled Space, with the unofficial backing of the New Republic.)
The Empire then evolved into the First Order, and gradually started re-arming themselves.
(So its abit like a Cold War type scenario- with the Resistance operating as the Republic’s representatives within the First Order Space…while officially the Republic deny all knowledge of them.)
I’m still ridiculously grover flail emotional and made of sad Chewbacca noises. The optics of it all, are so incredibly powerful. There’s not a moment wasted in hammering home the character beats that are touchstones for those of us who grew up saturated in Star Wars while elevating the representation of complex characters who are OMG not white dudes. Rey and Han destroyed me, too. After nearly 40 years of history with the franchise, most of which was fraught with feeling hideously unwelcome, THIS is the Star Wars film I needed to be the future of it.
I love that Rey had the force qualities of Luke and Vadar with her abilities to fix things with ease and incredible flying skills. She learnt to use the force REALLY quickly while on the base. Still has a lot to learn on the various (seven?) forms of lightsaber combat. I imagine you’ll see her much stronger by the next movie (hopefully as a JEDI!)
Star Wars tend to be geometric, fractal even. Ren is being brought back to Snoke to ‘finish his training’ after killing his father and effectively passing the Dark Side test. Rey has, in a mirror, gone to Luke to beging her training. Depsite Ren’s training Rey was a near match for him. It felt like he pulled punches, though. I know he wanted the lightsaber, so maybe he didn’t want to damage it. But I get the feeling that maybe he discovered something in the interrogation that he didn’t vocalize. It was the threat the Leia, after all, that nearly broke Luke. Maybe there’s a plot reflection here in which his sister or cousin is the crack that brings Ren back?
ack! After Rey being the ultimate girl badass we have alwas wanted, my FAVORITE thing in the movie was Adam Driver. Instead of being a simplistic bombastic bad guy he was multileveled and tragic. In fact I predict a lot of Kylo Ren fanfic.
Also did anyone see the ending of the movie as an homage (or ripoff) of the Earthsea Trilogy? I think Luke was living on Selidor.
Ya know there’s a small, tiny, chance Han Solo survived that. I’m just a dreamer.
Captain Phasma is confirmed to be in the next movie, and considering they trew her in a trash compactor… I want to believe she found Han somewhere along her escape, and brought him with her… Now that she lowered the shields and is probably considered a traitor of the order, she needs something to keep her alive, right? RIGHT?
I LOVED THIS SO MUCH AND I KEEP CRYING BECAUSE REY IS THE FEMALE ROLE MODEL FROM STAR WARS I HAVE NEEDED ALL MY LIFE. REY FOREVER.
My least favorite part? Deus ex R2D2. You mean to tell me he’s been in low power mode out of sadness since Luke left? Why don’t you just make him lose the will to live! And then he HAPPENS to come alive again after the battle station is destroyed, AND HAPPENS to have the rest of the map. I wanted there so badly to be some other explanation like, when they brought the shields down at the battle station, he hacked the computers remotely, and THAT’S why he was in low power mode, and THAT is how he got the map. Instead it was just like, “Oh, hey surprise! I fixed everything!”
All I could think of was when “Low power mode” became a thing. Do you think it was around when the original Star Wars came out?
Well, C-3PO did remark that he’d be “shutting down for a while” in A New Hope.
Poe Dameron is the new Wedge Antilles! I loved the scene in which we are looking over Finn’s head as he turns to track Poe laying waste to the First Order squadron.
That is one hell of a pilot! Favourite shot for me. I really like the Poe/Finn friendship.
So, we think Rey’s gonna end up with a double-sided lightsaber?
It only makes sense. She is used to a staff-like weapon after all
Do we know the name of the character in the first image? I want to cosplay her :P
Bazine!! I was actually just informed she is in this novella.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B016GRO8R6/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B016GRO8R6&linkCode=as2&tag=34haboreco34-20&linkId=PTLLT2IGW7YB3IZE
I’m completely obsessed with her.
I knew Kylo Ren had to be Han and Leia’s son and I was 90% sure Harrison Ford wouldn’t play Solo again without being killed off, but it never occurred to me that Kylo Ren would kill him! Han’s face when Ben opened the light saber into him!!
Rey has to be Luke’s daughter. Speaking of Rey, *fist pump*.
Storm troopers have different personalities! And genders!
I want more of everything.
Personally I still ascribe to the theory that Rey is Han/Leia’s daughter and Ren’s twin sister. I like the idea that Ben went nuts turned dark and Han and Leia hid Rey on Jakku to protect her from her brother. Plus, it’d be a nice parallel to the whole Luke/Leia twin separation from the first trilogy.
I thought that might be the case before I saw the movie, but if Rey was Kylo’s twin, he would have been way too young to go all dark-side crazy and murder the new generation of Jedis. We saw her being left on Jakku and she couldn’t have been more than 5 or 6. It looked like she saw Kylo’s attack on the Jedi temple during her vision and he was much older. She still could be a younger sister, but why wouldn’t Han and Leia talk about the fact that he stumbled upon her? They talk about Kylo, but not Rey.
Did anyone else assume Snoke was an actual giant at first and began connecting to the villain from the first Ewok film?…..no just me okay then.
I didn’t connect it to anything but I was assuming he was an actual giant as well. I was actually kind of relieved when they showed it was a hologram.
But Space Giants! I’m going to assume he’s actually a tiny wee Yoda type with a Wizard of Oz thing going on.
I know! The idea of a giant is cool but the execution of what will have to come along with that later would probably be really weird.
Maybe one of the anthology films could tell the heart warming underdog story of Snoke. “This Christmas big problems require bigger solutions,”
Until the very end, I was worried Snoke (dang my mouth does not want to say that name. It always comes out as either Smoke or Snope) was actually Luke doing the whole “I am Oz the great and powerful, pay no attention to that jedi behind the curtain” thing, what with all the rumors that he’d turned to the dark side.
I’m waiting for them to reveal that he’s actually super tiny in person. :P
I really wish Finn turned out to be force sensitive along with Rey (he still might, we’ll see). His abilities with the lightsaber were pretty impressive for someone untrained, so I’m HOPING his walks the path of a Jedi in future films.
I’m really hoping they delve into his background, and what is actually involved with the first order in the next film. Lots of drama to be had there I think.
I’m really glad that jigsaw puzzle and toys with his full name as “Finn Calrissian” weren’t official. There’s a lot of coincidence in the saga, but that one is pushing it a little far.
Hadn’t even heard of that. Sounds like someone thought “wow, a black character”, and it was that or Mace Windu from the less-nostalgic prequels. >_<
I really liked the movie. The beginning of the movie on Jakku promised a perfect movie (Rey won’t let herself be damseled), but unfortunately the movie didn’t manage to stay on that level. Mostly because of the jarring problems with scale and coincidences (space seems to be TINY).
BTW: Did it seem to anyone else as if they let Lucas back to directing one specific scene?
Which scene?
The one with the cgi squid things. That seemed so prequel to me.
Actually – I don’t even know what the purpose of that scene was… I think one should have cut that completely.
I think it was there for a bit of fun, but I would’ve been okay with them cutting it in favor of something more important, like expanding on the legends Rey heard when she was young with an extra line or two of dialogue, that way, it would make more sense for her to attempt to use the Jedi mind trick and whatnot.
I did feel like that scene showed off Rey’s crazy Jedi reflexes, at least.
It actually reminded me abit of JJ’s Nu-Trek films (and felt abit out of place.)
It’s tradition for every Star Wars film to have a run-in with at least one larger-than-life monster. A New Hope had the dianoga in the trash compacter, Empire had the wampa and the space slug, Jedi had the rancorr and the sarlacc, and so on. Personally, I was happy the scene was in there because for some strange reason I’m a traditionalist about this particular aspect. :)
Leia and Han reconciling? With the hug/no kiss?
The CGI tentacle monster chase.
Was Rey actually damseled? She was captured, yes, but she also freed herself.
I’d have had an issue if she hadn’t freed herself as she was such a strong character.
I like that the only one that really needed rescuing was Poe (and maybe Luke?)
I loved the movie for the most part. BB-8 was adorable. The humor was great. Kylo was super angsty like Anakin. Daniel Craig’s part was flawless. FUCKING REI WAS AMAZING! Finn and Po were wonderful too.
I thought it weird though that this space station that sucks up sun and kills them was such a small part and rushed through how to destroy it.
Yeah I didn’t mind Starkiller Base but I feel like the Search for Spo..I mean Luke would have given the plot enough drive as it is.
Agreed, I thought the idea for the station was really cool but then used in a hurry. I’m now worried that they are going to make another one in the next film just like they did in the original trilogy with the Death Star. I mean, that thing was way too powerful to just give up on right?
That is exactly my worry and thought. I need to see it again to catch a lot of the details with the Starkiller base being destroyed.
So the Starkiller Base shoots its death ray trough half the galaxy from its more or less stationary position – is that correct? If that’s the case the beam has to be at the same time *faster* than light (to pass lighyears within seconds) and much *slower* than light (because your eyes can see its progression)?
I’m sorry…you’re bringing PHYSICS to a Star Wars conversation?!? *wink* :-)
Let’s not get started on the gravity implications of that weapon sucking in the star and what would have happened to the surrounding planets.
And also that planet wasn’t nearly big enough to contain a whole star. It only looked to be 4 or 5 times bigger than the Death Star, and that was the size of a “small” moon.
I hereby christen the Poe/Finn ship the SS Puffin and am wholeheartedly aboard. I would pay good money for Finn/Rey to remain platonic.
I LOVED that there were so many women. Lady Jedi, lady pilots, lady spies, lady aliens, ladies everywhere!
Theories:
• Rey is Luke’s daughter. That’s why Han offers her a job out of the blue, Leia gives her that massive hug, and Luke literally has NO WORDS when she turns up out of the blue with a friggin’ lightsaber.
• Finn might be Force-sensitive but not enough to be a Jedi, and it was all a red herring to distract from the glory of Rey.
I think she is Luke’s daughter too.
She has to be Luke’s daughter. She’s arguable nord force sensitive than even Kylo Ren and if they play up the whole bringing balance thing, she has to be a Skywalker.
Nord Force!
They’re the best
Created by an accident
We put them to the test
Reporting to the president
Soon it became clear
That they would become heroes
Nord Force… forever!
I’m reeaaaaly hoping Finn ends up Force sensitive enough to be a Jedi. If not, just give that man a lightsaber and blaster so he can be his own kind of badass.
I acctually expected her to say “Dad” in that last scene.
I like that…. but does *anyone* share my theory of her being this universe’s equivalent of the Old EU’s Jaina?????
I loved the film. Characterisation was so good. Rey was just. what. I. wanted. Right from the beginning, I was with her, so *all the reasons* mentioned above. She’s had to fend for herself and learnt from that. When she flew – or chimed in when Han was talking – or talked with BB-8…. *all the grins*.
Finn and Poe were pretty awesome too. They have all the makings of an epic friendship. (Also, I *love* how their reunion was not a couple of back-slapping man-hugs & handshake, but full-on hug.)
Oh, BB-8…. another encapsulation of “size matters not”. Little droid, big personality.
I loved how the new and old cast played off each other. Especially the history between old cast members. Leia and Han should have kissed like the old times as well as hug though. Having Leia feel what happened was another great choice.
My favourite parts of movies/ books is characterisation, then worldbuilding. With this movie, it worked, so well, in so many forms.
I liked how we were given hints of things and so there were lots of questions left dangling for next time.
And eep. Han………. still wrapping my head around that. The brilliance of it being that even though it hurts, the way it was done (in-verse and outside), it feels right – i.e. not forced. And the mirroring worked too, as I could sense what it was probably leading towards but was in denial (“no, don’t, J.J.! Please…. oh #@&%! :'( “) Nicely done.
I could go on and on. I keep thinking of other things about the film which I want to say, whenever I read things…..
Jill you are a Saint among beings! a Saint!
Might just be me but I feel like Kylo sort of feels like if the angsty teen vibe that Anakin’s fall to the darkside was played straight. He’s literally desperate to be this dark brooding Sith lord type and comes off as faintly ridiculous for it.
Yeah, I think the first scene where he takes the helmet off is designed to make you realise he’s just a kid, projecting an image and trying to emulate his elders.
Poe and Finn are TOTALLY going to get together right? It wasn’t just me that noticed it?
And they’re going to adopt BB-8!
YES! I need this.
THANK YOU JILL!!!!
“STOP HOLDING MY HAND.” Is the meme you are all looking for.
“NO, that one is GARBAGE!”
The Droid You Seek aboard the MILLENNIUM FALCON in the hands OF MY FATHER!!!!
“SHOW ME AGAIN, Grandfather.” So he’s had a vision from Vader… or someone pretending to be Vader….
“Garbage it is.”
::audience erupts::
“And I’ll drop my gun.”
I read that the storm trooper she jedi mind-tricked was a Daniel Craig cameo. XD
Man! Did they drop the ball with Phasma! I am so sad…
Do you think she escaped from.. *shudders*… “Starkiller Base”?
I really hope so. What a waste of such a cool look character. They hyped her up so much that she should have a bigger role in the next film.
I hear that she’ll have a bigger role in the movies to come. I was also disappointed.
I’d be surprised if she wasn’t in the next movie.
I guarantee she’ll show up in the next one and become the next Boba Fett in terms of being a fan favorite
After so much merch they’ve been pumping out, I was disappointed she had such a small role in this movie!
I think they had no idea she was going to be so well liked and then quickly turned out merchandise to fill the need even though they knew there wasn’t going to be that much of her in the film. Hopefully we will get more of her in the next one!
The BB8 thumbs up will be memed so hard!
I laughed so hard at that!
That’s what won me over for BB-8! The little guy tries.
Was that a thumbs up? I thought it was a different digit…