The Force Awakens: Official Review Thread - ** SPOILERS ** — Page 8

Alderaan said:

SilverWook said:
No, it’s people simply trying to making sense of what they just saw. (We discuss the OT too.) Some people here did miss bits of the plot, like the discussion of Finn’s defection explaining the stormtroopers are indoctrinated as children. Before the internet, we had discussions at school, or we wrote letters to Starlog magazine.

So about Finn. Supposedly he’s in an elite stormtrooper unit. You would assume they are elite since they are with Kylo on the First Order’s most important mission.

So why is this stormtrooper … who has never seen battle before … actually on this mission?

How does some random guy who has never seen combat and works as a janitor get called upon to do that job? Unless it’s all convenient for the plot of course?

He might have been in battle before. But the early events of TFA may have been the first time he’s been ordered to massacre innocents. For all we know he’s killed plenty of Resistance soldiers before.
But either way we can’t really make assumptions about these things before we have all the facts in.

I’m also curious as to how long Starkiller Base have been under construction. Like many here have pointed out, it’s strange how a remnant can make an even bigger Death Star, even if the technology have evolved in the last thirty years. Of course we don’t really know how powerful they really are, but it’s possible that they’ve been building it for many years. The second Death Star was made in under two years, so maybe they’ve spent the better part of a decade on Starkiller? That might explain why Finn was there as a janitor. It might have been several years ago while they were still building it. Someone should read the novelization, I feel like there might be a lot of answers there. Until then it’s just guessing, and making excuses.

I feel like we’re really rationalizing this film in both directions. We’re either making out to be far better than it actually is, or we’re making it far worse.

Alderaan said:

SilverWook said:

I thought he said he started out in sanitation?

And someone can do lots of training simulations, pass with flying colors, and still choke when confronted with the real deal. Remember Lt. Gorman in Aliens?

They weren’t on some top secret government mission in Aliens. I could totally buy a random stormtrooper deserting in most settings. I’m sure they have some tangible desertion rate. It defies all credulity though that someone like Finn would be involved with Kylo’s mission on Jakku.

Then again he did manage to stand his ground against Kylo Ren in a lightsaber duel so clearly he’s not without combat skills. His courage also seems to come and go a lot in the film. I think his defection was meant to be more of a moral and ideological one. I can’t remember if it’s in the actual film, but the trailers put emphasis on him having lost the will to fight for the First Order. He’s essentially just fed up with it. Also his taunting of Phasma at Starkiller Base kind of suggest that he’s tired of being order about as well. But all in all the film is partially about him finding something worth fighting for.

There really is far to much information to process in this film. I really feel like a lot of important stuff was cut out. I wish we could have seen the 4 hour version they talked a few months ago.

Eh, I really don’t think it’s much of a stretch for a total rookie to be in Ren’s unit.

Ren is basically attached to that Star Destroyer, right? So I would assume he uses the best troops that are stationed on that ship. Surely his troops have suffered casualties- Finn was the next man up. Like Silverwook said, maybe he aced his training.

And what makes you think Ren’s troops are “elite”? (If there was dialogue that indicates this, I apologize, because I didn’t catch it. Lots to process in this movie). They look the same as all the stormtroopers in the rest of the movie. If there was an elite unit of stormtroopers (say, the equivalent of Seal Team 6 or something), wouldn’t they be the best equipped, maybe have different armor, weapons, etc?

It could be that he was just on duty at the wrong time and on the wrong Star Destroyer.

Then again, Kylo did remember his serial number.

Alderaan said:

[ZkinandBonez said:]
Then again he did manage to stand his ground against Kylo Ren in a lightsaber duel so clearly he’s not without combat skills.

That was also one of the dumbest parts of the whole movie. Doesn’t work to use one terrible flaw to justify another terrible flaw.

Well, another Stormtrooper stood his ground against Finn with a lightsaber as well. Clearly these guys have some fencing/sparring training. He also shouted “traitor!” at him so he might have been someone who knew him. And if he knew him then they might have been in the same squadron (or whatever it’s called). That scene, despite clearly being an actions scene made for the sake of action, could have been a way to hint at why Finn managed to use the lightsaber so well.

Star Wars is full of incompetent Stormtroopers though. I mean the Death Star was the most important piece of tech in the entire galaxy, and the troopers aboard it couldn’t kill a farmer, a diplomat and two smugglers. An old man in a robe also managed to walk around completely unnoticed by security.

Jay said:

hydrospanner said:

It appeared that Kylo sensed something wrong with him during and after the battle? He maybe did some quick intel on that trooper upon their return?

I don’t get this either. Ren obviously senses something is off with this dude. Wouldn’t someone like Ren immediately place him in custody and have him interrogated?

Didn’t Phasma order Finn to go and get re-evaluated or something? Or, maybe it was just about his blaster? I can’t remember.