StogieNinja
Derek | BoM June 2014
The movie was simultaneously a triumphant return to the Stat Wars we know and love, and a mediocre commercial event that used nostalgia instead of plot.
I don't understand a lot of what happened except for the stuff they copied from the OT, because virtually nothing was explained.
My major complaints:
(SPOILERS AHEAD)
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For real, spoilers....
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1. The similarities and homages bordered on parody. To the point of ridiculousness. Really? A other big round cannon with a fatal flaw on the surface? A lonely kid on a desert planet is the next big Jedi? A cute little droid hold the key? A mission to retrieve the last Jedi in hiding? Etc, etc, etc.
2. The feminist preaching. It was great when Finn went to rescue Rey, only to watch her hold her own. It was mildly humorous a few minutes later, the first time she rejected his chivalry, because she's tough enough to do it on her own. The fourth or fifth time, it was like "WE GET IT, SHE'S TOUGH." It was apparently the one and only thing the makers thought needed an explanation that made things clear to the viewers.
3. Which brings me to my next point: WHAT IS HAPPENING? Yeah, good guys here, bad guys there, rinse plot of ANH and repeat, I get it. But SOME exposition would be nice. Who the heck is Snoke, and why is the bad guy from Harry Potter in this movie anyway, and why is he so big? It was like we were watching a ginormous trailer for the next two movies, not a movie in and of itself. It was my big fear about having JJ Abrams at the helm, and unfortunately it was well founded.
4. Rey's use of the force. It's pretty unbelievable that without a tutor or anyone to even tell her what is happening, she is able by pure moby not only mentally fight off the grandson of Darth Vader, trained by Luke Skywalker, but defeat him at the Jedi mind-invasion game, THEN fight and beat him with a lightsaber her first time out. If I recall, there's danger in new users of the force getting all bent out of shape and going into battle against the Sith, something about that resulting in going to the dark side...
All that being said, it was the most fun I've had in the theater in a long time. It looked, sounded, and felt like a Star Wars movie, and problems above aside, was just good fun.
Also, now I get why Harrison Ford was positively giddy about participating. He HAD to have been sneering inside at all the fans during the press tours, etc.
I don't understand a lot of what happened except for the stuff they copied from the OT, because virtually nothing was explained.
My major complaints:
(SPOILERS AHEAD)
.
.
.
.
.
.
For real, spoilers....
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
1. The similarities and homages bordered on parody. To the point of ridiculousness. Really? A other big round cannon with a fatal flaw on the surface? A lonely kid on a desert planet is the next big Jedi? A cute little droid hold the key? A mission to retrieve the last Jedi in hiding? Etc, etc, etc.
2. The feminist preaching. It was great when Finn went to rescue Rey, only to watch her hold her own. It was mildly humorous a few minutes later, the first time she rejected his chivalry, because she's tough enough to do it on her own. The fourth or fifth time, it was like "WE GET IT, SHE'S TOUGH." It was apparently the one and only thing the makers thought needed an explanation that made things clear to the viewers.
3. Which brings me to my next point: WHAT IS HAPPENING? Yeah, good guys here, bad guys there, rinse plot of ANH and repeat, I get it. But SOME exposition would be nice. Who the heck is Snoke, and why is the bad guy from Harry Potter in this movie anyway, and why is he so big? It was like we were watching a ginormous trailer for the next two movies, not a movie in and of itself. It was my big fear about having JJ Abrams at the helm, and unfortunately it was well founded.
4. Rey's use of the force. It's pretty unbelievable that without a tutor or anyone to even tell her what is happening, she is able by pure moby not only mentally fight off the grandson of Darth Vader, trained by Luke Skywalker, but defeat him at the Jedi mind-invasion game, THEN fight and beat him with a lightsaber her first time out. If I recall, there's danger in new users of the force getting all bent out of shape and going into battle against the Sith, something about that resulting in going to the dark side...
All that being said, it was the most fun I've had in the theater in a long time. It looked, sounded, and felt like a Star Wars movie, and problems above aside, was just good fun.
Also, now I get why Harrison Ford was positively giddy about participating. He HAD to have been sneering inside at all the fans during the press tours, etc.