How did you like Star Wars Episode VII? You can write spoilers and everything. My rating and review comes with a separate post.
Less space battles and more character development would have been better. But still give it a 8 out of 10.
Didnāt like how they cut mid action to some more action, or the teenage-angst-filled antagonist, or the love-actually/about-time-esque Domhnall Gleeson as the 1st order commander. But those are small gripes in a very good, well made film.
I went in expecting the usual JJ Abrams nostalgia trip, and thatās what I got. Iām not interested in detailed plot accuracy or complex characters. Anything that makes up for the prequels is great in my book and thatās exactly what it was
I especially love how the bad characters were basically just scared people wielding lots of power and intimidation. That was the best temper tantrum Iāve ever seen on screen XD
Generally I found it quite good. I wish they would have taken a bit more time for more exposition in the beginning: the political situation, general state of the galaxy after 30 years, that kind of stuff. But on the other hand I can totally see why they didnāt want to do that. The movie was made as a safe bet and I believe it worked, the fans got what they wanted in general.
Personally I only have two issues with the plot beyond what many others have already pointed out: one is that when Starkiller base fires everyone sees it happening although that beam must be travelling via hyperspace and through multiple systems (which is unlikely in itself, but oh well); second is that Reyās vision when she touches the lightsaber seemed strange to me, it kind of broke the immersion for me.
Something I found really awesome is how Poe is shown flying his X-wing (orange and black is soooo cool) when the resistance defends the bar thingy. The way you can see how he downs like ten TIEs in one run plus manages to shoot troopers on the ground is really cool.
I plan on rewatching it with my family (previous viewing was with friends). What more can I say except that no matter how it was, I really look forward to seeing the next installments!
Iāve seen it twice now and I would give it an 8/10 right now. Felt a bit like a copy paste of a New Hope. I also felt like the first order guy, Domhnall Gleeson, looked a bit young for the position he was in. But I did like how kylo ren would throw fits of anger when things went wrong, it just felt right for a dark side apprentice. Kylo ren had some parts to him I liked and few I didnāt.
I liked BB-8 a lot more than I thought I was going to. He had enough character to him that he felt right in the film.
For me it seemed like the 3 planets destroyed and the 4th planet with Han, Finn and Rey were all in the same system. Tell me if Iām wrong, because that would suckā¦
I also didnāt like the fact that Finn and especially Rey were experts at using a light saber on their first try against a trained user of the force. Yes he had been shot on the side and yes he might not be a fully trained Sith/Ren or what ever yet. But it was still an immersion breaker for me.
And another Death Star? Please! Doing the same mistake of building a planet siezed super weapon with a fatal weak point 3 times is just a mark of insanity of the bad guys. And also cataclysmic use of resourcesā¦
Still a lot better than the prequels imo and I liked the new characters (minus the stuff mentioned above).
Bad guys displayed some consistency with their military doctrine. =) And, for a Star Wars movie, this Death Star was impenetrable indeed: no holes in the reactor, and no shield generator left with ewoks. Sure, no superweapon can possibly be plot-proof, but the weak spot was actually armored this time.
As @LucasFIN1 points out, seeing the other planets explode from the surface of another seemsā¦ a poor excuse to quickly let the characters know something terrible happened.
To be precise, the second Death Star didnāt really have any weak point, or at least none that were known during its construction. The shield generator was a big trap for the rebel force and the ewoks were barely known from the imperials, let alone seen as a potential threat.
Overall, I did raise my eyebrows several times during the movie but it was nothing immersion breaking point.
I did hate though the āraftar escapeā scene. The moment Finn got caught, he was dead-ish to me but this stupid animal, instead of taking a snack out of his limbs then taking his corpse to a temporary lair, decided to ājust take him for a strollā. With Rey conveniently saving him last moment.
Not sure if it is really āPixarās guidelineā, but I agree to the general rule in a plot that āputting characters into trouble by coincidence is fine, getting them out of trouble with that technique should be exceptionnalā.
While today most blockbusters tend to give coincidences instead of constructed scenario to break the stalemate, this tactic seems particularly strong in this episode.
Itās almost as if they wanted to rush so much content in this reboot, while remaining dynamic and just above 120 minutes of film that they overused this method.
The awakening of R2D2 is yet another example. Some people asked JJ Abrams about this andā¦ well, his answer is kinda disappointing. Iāll quote it down for the lazy people:
[QUOTE]āBB-8 comes up and says something to him, which is basically, āIāve got this piece of a map, do you happen to have the rest?āā Abrams said. āThe idea was, R2 who has been all over the galaxy, is still in his coma, but he hears this. And it triggers something that would ultimately wake him up.ā
The director acknowledges that R2ās sudden āawakeningā at the end was designed to be an emotional storytelling utility: āWhile it may seem, you know, completely lucky and an easy way out, at that point in the movie, when youāve lost a person, desperately, and somebody you hopefully care about is unconscious, you want someone to return.ā[/QUOTE]
Denton and Jenson must be quite happy to have so much apparitions.
Saw it, didnāt like it all that much. Visuals were impressive, but the storyline isā¦ huh. Third time they recycle the ādeath starā ( err, planet ) idea, and the raid on it was less than interesting, it felt rushed. I also agree there are too many stupid coincidences ( love on how they land in the exact spot Rey was captured on the star killer planet at the end ) and actor play was āmehā at best.
If it wasnāt for Jar Jar and Padme + Anakin stupid romance, Iād say the first trilogy was better. The politics at least were interesting and you discovered a lot about the Star Wars universe. Ep7 though ? Other than a few cool action scenes, I canāt remember any particular scene that wow-ed me
Watched it back to back with Return of The Jedi and frankly it stands up perfectly to the level of the old trilogy.
Thereās way way more wrong with the prequels, they are fundamentally broken as films and even if you remove the most awful parts it still just makes the universe seem stupid and simple(the force is just midichlorians, being a jedi is just like attending a school, vader is an angsty brat, lightsaber fights are just cirque de soleil in space etc.).
Basically my sentiments are mirrored here http://redlettermedia.com/half-in-the-bag-star-wars-the-force-awakens/
Meh. I found some scenes redeeming, but cohesively it didnāt really work for me. Apparently the new badguys order has an age cap at like 35 or so. Snoke CG was meh. All in all I preferred Gardians of the Galaxy and it almost had a more star-wars vibe to me.
The scene where Rey finds and touches the Lightsabre was the best part in my opinion.
Other then that, I liked the atmosphere inside the megastructures like the Stardestroyer wreck or the weak point installation as well as the snowy woods.
Story was meh on the other hand. Liked most of the side charakters they introduced though, quite fun.
Watching it with no expectations at all I found it a fun film to watch.
I liked the movie but it was not at the level we are accustomed to with JJ Abrams work. The Star Trek sequels he did were absolutely stellar in my opinion. The Force Awakens however was rushed at the expense of character development. And the battles went on forever also at the expense of character development. I mean some stranger rescues you from an Imperial prison and they are suddenly the best of buds making up nicknames? lol. If it were me I would be thinking potential spy trying to gain my trust. There are numerous other instances of awkward dialogue and questionable plot lines, and for me the only thing that made the movie somewhat original was the killing of Hans Solo (looks like Harrison Ford finally got his way). That said, I think the movie was still worth seeing - partly because it is now a right of passage for all true SF fans and also because itās the most awesome eye-candy in the galaxy. But I think they missed a great opportunity to make the movie truly original with more depth. And I am all about depth, which is why I dressed up as a Wookie during the Premiere.
Star Trek? Not in my opinion. And even if, that would be just one example. The StarTrek reboot also has the problems you mentioned. Execusion was done well in both, the StarTrek and Stawars reboot.
I generally donāt watch movies because of directors, actors or any other guys former movies I liked. I like looking at things without preconceptions.
Either way. I really donāt like these type of science fiction action movies. They are fun but they lack any depth or mystery.
Iām waiting for more new movie to go that route. It comes down to preference though.
I donāt really see the correlation ā¦ but must have been fun, right.
Iāve been thinking about the Plagueis theory for Snoke since I saw the film.
The music for Snoke is very, very similar to the music of Palpatine describing the story of Plagueis to Anakin. Same deep choral drone. The rhythm of the revelation theme is similar, surprisingly similar. Listen to the choral drone, then pay attention to the fact that the two themes that are identified with the scores appear to be thematically related:
I donāt think that he scores them correctly, but you recognize the pattern when you see it.
Plagueis has a lot more freedom to be whatever they want with the de-canonizing of the extended universe. Plus, if you just look at Snokeās face, he just looks like a āDarth Plagueis.ā In fact, Snokeās theme sounds like a precursor to a Plagueis theme, and the reveal of Plagueis theme sounds like the harmony to a main Plagueis theme. Think of the way the Vader theme was used in bits and pieces. It feels like that here. This is just me speaking as an amateur composer. Lol.
I think the quality of this movie is really unknown. It actually surprisingly depends on the quality of the future films, as they reveal things, we may seem more hidden signs turn out to be meaningful.
I think it was an okay movie, but definitely not what I was hoping for.
I think J.J. Abrams is a ācowardā in some sense, he played it too safe. I canāt think of any scene that was truly original. The whole movie appears to be a calculated crowd pleaser, designed to grab as much cash as possible and to appeal to the broadest demographic possible.
What also bothered me was how much of todays politics was forced in. Iām totally fine with the lead character being female, but why does she have to fight a gender role from the real world in 2015? (ādonāt grab my hand finn I can run myselfā) Is it really so unimaginable that in the star wars universe women are not treated like they are incompetent? It looks like obvious social engineering, just like the upcoming romance between finn and rey.
What I didnāt understand: Why did Han Solo tell Rey and Finn not to stare at the Yoda-type female character?
Because reasons ā¦ [shakeshead]
Honestly though. This shoehorning is just ā¦ fucking ā¦ stupid.
Yes, stupid people making stupid decisions thinking the audience need that in the movie. Why not have the character express this part of their existence differently if you want to put it in? Why not have them have a mature conversation about it? āI can do things maahself, wahhh!ā, wut should that convey?
Probably interpreting too much into it. I thought Fins reaction to grab Reys hand was ok. Stressfull situation inducing emotional reaction and such. And after thinking about it, I think Reys reaction is ok too. āHey Fin, this is stupid, letās just run!ā.
Both are stupid. I just picked this one because people remember it more.
I want to clarify. I wouldnāt have had a problem with it if it hadnāt been StarTrek. These scenes, done that way in the StarTrek reboot would have been ok in another universe and another movie. Itās not the characters reaction. I buy that such a situation may very well have had happened with Kirk being Kirk. But how the movie captured it ā¦ a little comedic afternote and less focus on the assets and it would have fit in nicely to the progressive nature of the future society and quirky personality of Kirk.
I still canāt believe people were bothered by that scene, Chris Pine had shirtless scenes too!!
Just unbelievably sexistā¦