The Force Awakens: Official Review Thread - ** SPOILERS ** — Page 12

Been lurking round here for ages, figured I should actually register.

I thoroughly enjoyed it and can’t wait to see it again. Will be interesting to see if I’m bothered by “plot holes” the second time round or not.
I was lucky enough to see it in 70mm at the London Science Museum IAMX and it looked and sounded fantastic. My next viewing is in the same place but I may me tempted to catch a 3rd viewing in a 3D IMAX.

To me this was all about character introduction and that was pulled off superbly. Making Rey THE protagonist is great, finally a true female lead. The moment when the lightsaber flew to her (intentional wording) was my favourite in the entire film. Finn is interesting too - there’s a little bit of Kyle Katarn in there I think, his ability to use a lightsaber seemed to stem from his military rather training rather than ability to use the force but where his character goes will be very interesting to see.

Kylo Ren is a great villain for reasons already stated… The whole Snoke thing came off as a bit “Lord of the Rings”, even the name sounds a bit Middle Earth. Hopefully when we see him in the flesh they’ll do a better job. The Darth Plagueis talk may have some weight.

Would have liked to have seen more Poe Dameron, maybe we will in a directors/extended cut but who knows.

Music was decent, listening to it on Spotify I really like Rey’s theme. Use of the binary sunse/force music was excellent.

Other random bits: I like the First Order as a kind of Brown shirts of the Galaxy/junta. The empire was fascistic but we really see it on another level. BB8 is just the coolest thing.

I’m not really buying complaint’s about Luke we have no idea what on earth he was doing, I’d be surprised if he really had just gone to sulk on a mountain.

Issues I did have;
Probably a bit too similar to A New Hope. Did we need another desert planet and Death Star?
C-3PO sounded a bit off, maybe they had to adjust something in dubbing to make it fit.
Five Planets get blown up and people don’t seem that bothered, but this isn’t new to Star Wars… I feel like bits around there may have been cut out.
Occasionally dialogue felt a tad forced.

Anyhow, big thumbs up from me overall.

Jay said:

It does come across as somewhat condescending.

Well, it depends who it was directed towards. Some people here just make me sad in general, because they suck the joy out of everything. And of course they didn’t like it. But then again, some of the people who didn’t like it (or felt meh about it) are people I like and are people I truly wish would have enjoyed it. For example:

captainsolo said:

Finally got to go. Did the RPX big screen at the same theater where I saw TPM opening week in Dolby EX.

…

The film I was most reminded of while watching this besides STAR WARS? (Abrams TREK reboots I haven’t seen, because I know nothing of ST.) SUPERMAN RETURNS.
Why did Luke do the SR thing? Why? And why and HOW IN THE WORLD did everything suddenly go to hell after dancing in the Ewok village?

So many questions, so many problems, so much that I simply didn’t care about. All this is going to be pure post-screening conjecture and randomness–not a cohesive review as of yet.

The spirit is gone for me. I felt more in even ROTS, which was my most disliked of the prequels. Sure the new characters were great and there were flashes of sparkle in the dialogue here and there and practically whenever Harrison opened his mouth. But that was it. The story continually goes back to SW for no reason. There is nothing new developed, no new plot threads, no new anything other than the three leads. (Well, two leads really.)
And then we have the stuff that felt badly ripped out of the most cliched of the EU, i.e. the Kylo Ren stuff. And then…I said to myself just get it over with guys, you want to kill off Han, and then the scene appeared and they stretched it out forever before finally just giving Harrison what he wanted in 1983.
Nothing is really explained; such as how can there be a New Republic and still be a Civil War, how do the factions fit in if there is a new government and why does the government back a side, where did all the Imperials come from if not a Remnant, what’s up with the brainwashed armies, are both leads meant to be Force-sensitive, What exactly does Rey’s backstory mean, who/how/what is the main vilain…and I could go on and on.

I just…didn’t buy any of it really. I wasn’t involved in the story and couldn’t believe the degree to which they just said f*** it let’s use the original story elements because they worked and are the opposite of the Prequels that the fans hated.
It felt as if the original cast and icons are being dangled in front of us to entice both the heart and the wallet to open.

I feel like I just watched a big fan film derived from a truly bad non-canon EU novel. It looked horribly fake to me, and not the CG ships like I thought it would be–no what I abhorred was how bad the sets looked-particularly the quasi-Imperial ones. To my eyes nothing really fit together, and this was compounded by shooting 35mm stock and then apparently deciding to remove the grain in post. With all the digital effects whizzing about it was the less technical moments I could start to get into.

And boy was the music quoting in the final fight truly weird. I didn’t expect it at all and it was truly jarring to me.

I simply don’t know right now. But it sure wasn’t STAR WARS for me. I’d take even Jar Jar stepping in the poop. Or coarse sand. Or even love has blinded you. Or better yet just bring back the EU.

They should have just done HEIR years ago. Now who knows what the heck Disney will put out every year. Young Han movie…great…just great…

Seriously bummed guys, but I’m glad so many enjoyed themselves.

I can hear George going: “See…it’s not easy to not have another Death Star!”

The sound mix was un-inventive. Perhaps worst of all was the JW score, especially since he understands these so well and truly made the Prequels watchable.

I’m just still in WTF just happened mode. And I too am convinced they digitally softened and altered all of Carrie’s closeups.

This made me legitimately sad, and I feel bad for the good captain. Because I wanted him to enjoy it. I wanted hairy hen to enjoy it. I wanted you to enjoy it. And you guys didn’t, and that legitimate makes me sad, because I loved it, and I hoped you would love it too.

I am relieved Anchorhead enjoyed it…and I think Silverwook too, though I haven’t seen him render judgement yet (I don’t think).

To sum up, it was definitely meant to be condescending to some here, and definitely not to others. You can work out who is who. 😉

Incidentally, for those who saw it in 3D, what did you think of the 3D? It seems to me that conversions have come a long way, and that this made for a really enjoyable 3D experience.

Having said that, I’m also looking forward to watching it in 2D this coming weekend.

The 3D effect was the best I have ever seen.

TV’s Frink said:

Incidentally, for those who saw it in 3D, what did you think of the 3D? It seems to me that conversions have come a long way, and that this made for a really enjoyable 3D experience.

Having said that, I’m also looking forward to watching it in 2D this coming weekend.

I saw the 2D first and must say that’s the only way I’ll be viewing it from now on, unless I happen across a 70mm theater during the holidays (I just found out that my theater does have the Tarantino film in 70mm, though).

I agree that the conversions are good these days. And mild enough that it doesn’t distract from the movie. The image gets a bit ‘choppy’ (appearing as low frame rate) during fast action, people running, etc. And I felt the darker scenes, such as the first one, were harder to focus on detail. But that might just be me. I really disliked the previews for Civil War and Warcraft, and their unnaturally layered shots. It was impressive looking, but distracting.

The sound was much better in the IMAX viewing, but that’s maybe just because I was in the higher up reserved seating area for 2D. No real complaints about the sound either way, but I’m no audiophile.

Edit: Oh, and the IMAX shots during the Falcon’s escape from Jakku looked really nice. The cockpit shots of the First Order TIE trooper actually stood out as looking really great in IMAX, which I didn’t expect.

SmegPod said:

Why did it take them 7 films to realise that it makes the effects more convincing if the sabers actually cast light on their surroundings?

They do in AOTC… Anakin vs Dooku

That said, the lightsabers looked awesome and better than ever, they felt really physical and had a certain heft to them. Kylo Ren’s unstable beam and low frequency buzz was a really nice touch. I heard that they made them actually spark on set when they hit eachother. The bit when Finn is first using it more as a melee weapon than a sword is superb.

CrazyH said:

SmegPod said:

Why did it take them 7 films to realise that it makes the effects more convincing if the sabers actually cast light on their surroundings?

They do in AOTC… Anakin vs Dooku

That said, the lightsabers looked awesome and better than ever, they felt really physical and had a certain heft to them. Kylo Ren’s unstable beam and low frequency buzz was a really nice touch. I heard that they made them actually spark on set when they hit eachother. The bit when Finn is first using it more as a melee weapon than a sword is superb.

Yeah, AoTC and RoTS had saber lighting at times. The original film did to some degree, given they actually had rotating reflective sabers.

I thought the score was competent. Complemented the action well, etc. But no, it certainly wasn’t iconic in the way that IV, V, I, and even II were. Rey’s theme was a good, new, piece, but in general I think it will be as forgettable as III.

I’ve seen the film twice, and still think it works well with the score. But listening to the score alone is mostly a chore, aside from a few great parts. That’s just not the case for SW77 or things like Dual of Fates.

TV’s Frink said:

Jay said:

It does come across as somewhat condescending.

Well, it depends who it was directed towards. Some people here just make me sad in general, because they suck the joy out of everything. And of course they didn’t like it. But then again, some of the people who didn’t like it (or felt meh about it) are people I like and are people I truly wish would have enjoyed it. For example:

captainsolo said:

Finally got to go. Did the RPX big screen at the same theater where I saw TPM opening week in Dolby EX.

…

The film I was most reminded of while watching this besides STAR WARS? (Abrams TREK reboots I haven’t seen, because I know nothing of ST.) SUPERMAN RETURNS.
Why did Luke do the SR thing? Why? And why and HOW IN THE WORLD did everything suddenly go to hell after dancing in the Ewok village?

So many questions, so many problems, so much that I simply didn’t care about. All this is going to be pure post-screening conjecture and randomness–not a cohesive review as of yet.

The spirit is gone for me. I felt more in even ROTS, which was my most disliked of the prequels. Sure the new characters were great and there were flashes of sparkle in the dialogue here and there and practically whenever Harrison opened his mouth. But that was it. The story continually goes back to SW for no reason. There is nothing new developed, no new plot threads, no new anything other than the three leads. (Well, two leads really.)
And then we have the stuff that felt badly ripped out of the most cliched of the EU, i.e. the Kylo Ren stuff. And then…I said to myself just get it over with guys, you want to kill off Han, and then the scene appeared and they stretched it out forever before finally just giving Harrison what he wanted in 1983.
Nothing is really explained; such as how can there be a New Republic and still be a Civil War, how do the factions fit in if there is a new government and why does the government back a side, where did all the Imperials come from if not a Remnant, what’s up with the brainwashed armies, are both leads meant to be Force-sensitive, What exactly does Rey’s backstory mean, who/how/what is the main vilain…and I could go on and on.

I just…didn’t buy any of it really. I wasn’t involved in the story and couldn’t believe the degree to which they just said f*** it let’s use the original story elements because they worked and are the opposite of the Prequels that the fans hated.
It felt as if the original cast and icons are being dangled in front of us to entice both the heart and the wallet to open.

I feel like I just watched a big fan film derived from a truly bad non-canon EU novel. It looked horribly fake to me, and not the CG ships like I thought it would be–no what I abhorred was how bad the sets looked-particularly the quasi-Imperial ones. To my eyes nothing really fit together, and this was compounded by shooting 35mm stock and then apparently deciding to remove the grain in post. With all the digital effects whizzing about it was the less technical moments I could start to get into.

And boy was the music quoting in the final fight truly weird. I didn’t expect it at all and it was truly jarring to me.

I simply don’t know right now. But it sure wasn’t STAR WARS for me. I’d take even Jar Jar stepping in the poop. Or coarse sand. Or even love has blinded you. Or better yet just bring back the EU.

They should have just done HEIR years ago. Now who knows what the heck Disney will put out every year. Young Han movie…great…just great…

Seriously bummed guys, but I’m glad so many enjoyed themselves.

I can hear George going: “See…it’s not easy to not have another Death Star!”

The sound mix was un-inventive. Perhaps worst of all was the JW score, especially since he understands these so well and truly made the Prequels watchable.

I’m just still in WTF just happened mode. And I too am convinced they digitally softened and altered all of Carrie’s closeups.

This made me legitimately sad, and I feel bad for the good captain. Because I wanted him to enjoy it. I wanted hairy hen to enjoy it. I wanted you to enjoy it. And you guys didn’t, and that legitimate makes me sad, because I loved it, and I hoped you would love it too.

I am relieved Anchorhead enjoyed it…and I think Silverwook too, though I haven’t seen him render judgement yet (I don’t think).

To sum up, it was definitely meant to be condescending to some here, and definitely not to others. You can work out who is who. 😉

Pretty much exactly how I feel. I don’t even care that it rhymed with ANH. That was almost part of the charm. What an amazing and emotional film. I too feel sad and disappointed for those that didn’t feel the same. Although there were a few I knew wouldn’t.

Solid 7.5/10 film for me, much better than the prequels but it apes ANH far too much. That pulled me out of being fully engrossed in the movie.

Also, I really disliked how they ignored the implicit promise of the end of RotJ and the whole idea of the Republic of a more civilised time. 30 years down the track we have what basically appears to be the same status quo as the beginning of ANH, big evil Empire and small underdog resistance.

Supplementary materials reveal that theFirst Order is an Imperial Remnant stationed in the Unknown Region and that the Republic haven’t investigated that area really so we’re only seeing an absolute corner of the galaxy and the whole galaxy isn’t like this.

But the movie doesn’t hint at that at all. Everything we see basically points to the Empire being dominant again. It’s lazy and bugged me as well.

Nepheronia said:

Solid 7.5/10 film for me, much better than the prequels but it apes ANH far too much. That pulled me out of being fully engrossed in the movie.

Also, I really disliked how they ignored the implicit promise of the end of RotJ and the whole idea of the Republic of a more civilised time. 30 years down the track we have what basically appears to be the same status quo as the beginning of ANH, big evil Empire and small underdog resistance.

Supplementary materials reveal that theFirst Order is an Imperial Remnant stationed in the Unknown Region and that the Republic haven’t investigated that area really so we’re only seeing an absolute corner of the galaxy and the whole galaxy isn’t like this.

But the movie doesn’t hint at that at all. Everything we see basically points to the Empire being dominant again. It’s lazy and bugged me as well.

I thought Hux’s speech made it sound quite like (from their perspective) the First Order were underdogs trying to right things and that the evil new Republic was lying and spreading propaganda, etc. What was not clear was the secretive nature of the ‘resistance’ and how/why they were unofficially sanctioned by the Republic. I only caught Ren mentioning that fact on my second viewing. I get now that the official Army (which is presumably quite small as the new republic did not want to be a new empire) wasn’t involved, and probably took massive losses in the Hosnian strike, thereby being unable to help attack Starkiller.

But why the secret faction in the first place? Too many major targets from the old Rebellion? Are they actually viewed as terrorists in this time of peace? A special unit to deal with Sithy folks like Snoke?

I actually like the fact that we’re being dropped back into the Galaxy without all the answers. But we’ll see once the deleted scenes are released if there would have been some things better explained now as opposed to in the next two films.

Just been to see it and thought it was okay, a lot better than any of the prequels but still full of holes, some cheesy jokes the pace of the film is all over the shop. Pretty predictable what’s going to happen in the next installations. I’d give it a 6 and it’s still not better than any of the OT imo!

TavorX said:
think Leia mentions that the Senate is too slow to enact anything so therefore Leia took action into her own hands to lead the Resistance. Leia apparently also sent a negotiator to the Republic, but you see her get blown up on that Coruscant-esque planet.

Damned slow Senate. Someone should have called for a vote of no confidence.