Hi guys, I don’t post here often, but wanted to give some thoughts:
Saw it on the 17th with friends and we all enjoyed it (more on that later), and then again with my parents and we all enjoyed it.
My final say about the movie is this: “It’s SO good that it’s such a shame that it wasn’t more original.”
I wouldn’t have cared about the DS3 if they did something new with it. I was completely under the assumption that it would stick around for the other movies. I would have loved it if the rebels failed and it blew up the planet their base was on (sparing Leia, 3PO and R2 who would have been off planet for some reason) and the only survivors were those who survived the DS3 assault. Man, that would have been a nice twist and got me really excited for the next one.
Otherwise, I wish they would have just removed the DS3 and just focused on rescuing Rey as the last act (and bring Poe on the mission so he can get more screen time). But I didn’t care all that much, as the DS3 stuff seemed to be background noise anyway. Not sure why the rebels needed to be given something to do, as I thought their fight as Maz’s castle was good enough. It’s not like Empire Strikes Back was filled with the Rebellion.
I don’t have any other problems that aren’t nitpicks. I wish Rey had some moments of weakness, and I really wish they would have held off igniting that lightsaber until she pulls it from the snow. That would have been such a better reveal than Finn fighting a stormtrooper (although I loved that he was called a traitor. I like these new stormtroopers!)
I’m not gonna whine about what they MIGHT do in a sequel I know nothing about. I’ll just wait and see. All I know is that you don’t hire Andy Serkis so he can sit in a damn chair, so I have my fingers crossed there’s something else going on.
I understand why people like it, and I understand why people dislike it. When I was speculating about the movie back when it was announced, I admit I didn’t think it would be Empire vs Rebels all over again, and I don’t think this story has proven itself as something that NEEDED to be told, but I’m along for the ride. Good fun. Hope they address the backstory a tad in the next movie.
Kylo Ren is a fantastic villain, and those who don’t think so are nuts (joking). He was my biggest surprise, because I thought he looked very uninteresting in the trailers. Again, I’m not gonna cry about what they MIGHT do with him in a sequel, I just thought he was great. A pretty unnerving villain for a Star Wars movie.
My six year old son (who’s never seen the prequels) lives in Japan with my ex-wife, and I begged her to take him to it (“I don’t know…Episode 1 was on TV the other day and-” “Trust me, he’ll have a great time.”) so she did. He liked it, said it was a little scary, and said his favorite character was BB8. Even my ex didn’t hate it, which is the nicest thing I’ve ever heard her say about a Star Wars movie.
I went with my friend, who waited in line with me for nine hours to see a midnight screening of Phantom Menace. We weren’t sure if we were gonna get seats, a big fellow told me he was going to “Kick my fucking ass if I got a ticket and he didn’t” and other stuff like that…and the movie turned out to be The Phantom Menace (I don’t know what you guys are talking about when you say this film will be derided like the Prequels in five years, my friends and I hated Menace within 30 minutes (and it wasn’t some snobby reaction, we were really really sad)). Anyway, here’s a little then and now (and no, we did not wear these shirts to the actual screening of Awakens. And no, we are not lovers, nor are we virgins, despite what the commentators on Reddit would have you believe, but I admit this picture is pretty damn dorky out of context):
I’m on the right:
