movies/tv Opinions on The Force Awakens?

[Unr3alGamer 230]

I loved it. And that's not a word I use very often to describe my feelings for a movie: love. It worked well as a stand-alone tale and as a beginning. Rey is very interesting and shrouded in mystery, but not to an annoying extent, which I really appreciate. Finn was very fun to watch and brought a boost of energy to the movie. Kylo Ren is actually a very interesting villain, and despite what others might say, him being inexperienced and in the process of becoming a bad guy is a much more interesting journey to take with a villain than the flat out intimidating face of evil Darth Vader was in Episode IV. 

 

The return of the old characters didn't feel like tact-on fan service and they brought a boost of Nostalgia and fun (particularly Han Solo) that I found great.

 

The movie kept a fluent fast-pace and never had a dull moment, something they adapted from my favorite SW movie, Empire. 

 

The action kept the movie fun and was very cool to look at.

 

The cinematography in some scenes were striking and beautiful, and the use of practical effects (for the most part) made this movie feel real.

 

John Williams' score, while not having anything particularly iconic (besides maybe Rey's Theme), was still Star Wars, and you can't really get better than Star Wars.

 

And, unlike most people, I don't think this movie was completely derivative of New Hope. It definitely had elements taken from New Hope, but I never felt once like I was watching a remake. I was actually actively looking for specific plot points copied from New Hope on my second viewing, I only caught a few.

 

Lastly, without spoilers, the lightsaber fight at the end was awesome. It felt grounded and natural, despite a few criticisms made my snarky critics who try to pick apart problems with a movie to look smart. There's one particular moment during the sequence (and people who have seen the movie know exactly what I'm talking about) where you get the feeling of "HOLY S***. THAT. IS. AMAZING.". I loved every second.

Edited December 25, 2015 by Unr3alGamer

[Sporemane 545]

I was not very impressed with the film. The visuals really bugged me. I felt like I was watching a cut seen to a video game. I don't plan on watching the next two.

[Celli 4,332]

I saw it earlier today, I loved it! Seeing the old characters like Han and Leia was cool, and Luke at the end, old and frazzled, obviously he's like Yoda now. The music score was incredible, familiar tracks as well as new ones. The starkiller base was crazy and intimidating, even if it was too similar to the death star, and it was destroyed easily.

Kind of sad that Han was killed, though if anything I feel like they dragged that part a bit longer than they should have.

The new characters were great, too. 

Kylo Ren was a cool and threatening villain, until he removed the helmet, then he reminded me too much of Anakin in episode 2 and 3, Eugh. And those fits he threw, like seriously?  And then the lightsaber fight at the end with him was so stupid.

It didn't really hurt the movie that much for me, though. 

The visuals were great, too. The CGI felt natural and not obtrusive and over-done like the prequels and the special editions of the original trilogy. 

If I had to score it, I'd give it a 9/10. Great new addition to the series, with a few minor gripes.

I look forward to the next two!

 

I was not very impressed with the film. The visuals really bugged me. I felt like I was watching a cut seen to a video game. I don't plan on watching the next two.

Really? Is that the only problem you had with it? Seems a bit harsh, but that's just me, eh.

[JeyWiz 1,097]

I was not very impressed with the film. The visuals really bugged me. I felt like I was watching a cut seen to a video game. I don't plan on watching the next two.

 

Come one really? You should give the next two a chance. At least they're better than the crappy prequels. 

[Side Bird 565]

I think it was alright. It for sure didn't let you down, though it didn't have much connection with the older ones. All you really needed to know was the bloodlines. I really did enjoy it though, it was great seeing all the new CGI.

Already hyping for 2017.

[Confucius 194]

I know!! I thought exactly the same. He's also weak as hell... I mean, defeated by someone who has never used a lightsaber before?

 

Right!? The moment Kylo removed that mask I was literally like "Damn, more like hunklo ren now" he looked like a young snape but I love the fact that he was a character that actually showed emotion in his evil, added depth.

[Shanks 10,811]

A good start, with a ton of references to the original trilogy. They drew from the expanded universe a bit but altered a couple of things such as.

In the expanded universe it was Chewbacca not Han that died and the circumstances of his death were very very different, Kylo Ren didn't not go by the alias Kylo Ren and went by Darth Caedus along with having very different motivations for going to the dark side. He was stopped by his twin sister Jaina and for whatever reason they decided to give him the name Ben which is actually the name of Luke Skywalkers son in the expanded universe though Rey does look a bit like Jaina which does make me wonder a bit.

 

 

 

I know!! I thought exactly the same. He's also weak as hell... I mean, defeated by someone who has never used a lightsaber before?

 

To be fair he was severely injured before that lightsaber duel, if you look closely you will notice some of his movements during that duel were a tad sluggish and clumsy and there was clearly blood dripping down his leg. Chewie shot him almost immediately after he killed Han and it showed during the duel, he probably would have killed them both easily if not for that. It is incredibly that he was even able to stand up after that.

 

[Fluttershutter 2,118]

A giant turd

I say again: A giant turd

[Film Reel 75]

My thoughts on it is it sucks this movie is the lowest point in the franchise. This movie as very dry characters, bad acting from the lead that is dry stale and emotionless, reused plot, one of the worst plots I have ever seen, no tension at all the only good things are the music and the choreography of the action everything else was dry stale reused seen before and un original but because this movie has the stamps disney and star wars on it it takes in 600 million usd in the box office to fund more dry and stale star wars films please can we just have Christopher Mcquarrie or the Russo brothers make star wars now as they are great film makers JJ and disney not that great.

[El Duderino 878]

I really liked it. I think it lived up to the originals and kept true to them. Also, I think that the villain wasn't supposed to be as threatening as Vader was. He is kind of a Vader wannabe, but that is what the character is supposed to be like. The character is young and hasn't had time to hone his lightsaber skills. I think he will become better as the series continues. I also think that the true villain is supposed to be the First Order and Snoke, not necessarily Kylo Ren.

Edited December 31, 2015 by El Duderino

[Kadae 655]

I quite liked the new movie!

 

It's currently sitting as my second favourite Star Wars movie, the first being Episode V.

[redaxted 1,765]

I really enjoyed it! I actually thought the villain was pretty awesome. I was afraid that this movie would be overhyped and so modernised that it didn't even feel like Star Wars anymore, but it wasn't. I mean, it was still so easy to tell that it was made very recently (not just because of the amazing visual effects), however it still has the air of the classic Star Wars films about it. That's my opinion, anyway. So... yeah, I think it was great.

[DJW 142]

Finally got around to seeing it today.

 

Likes:
It's a Star Wars film. The prequels simply did not feel that way.

Dialogue. Characters talk like people, comedy is good but doesn't try too hard.

Characters. Mostly complex, or at least if not more-so than the originals.

FX. Better than the prequels, which fell prey to the 'omg look at all the cool stuff we can do in zee compootorz now!' Only really caught one shot that looked 'fake'.

Kylo. Vader in the first film didn't seem to have much motivation aside from 'I am bad guy'. Here we have someone who has the burden of legacy and a desperation to prove himself. Like Luke wavers briefly in Return of the Jedi, here he wavers from the dark side for a moment, before using the opportunity (the presence of his father) to reaffirm his position. This cements his role as the Dragon in the new trilogy but leaving the potential for a true reformation.

 

Dislikes:

SUPOR DEFF STAR!!11. This just came over as over the top, and an attempt to one-up the originals. If they had simply damaged/crippled it as their intention, then they could have built it up as an ever-present looming threat. Destroying it felt a little cheap.

The ending scene. This dragged out way to long, or rather, little happened in it. The expressions of both Luke and Rey are somewhat confusing beyond Mark Hamil's reveal. What exactly were the messages the characters were (trying) to convey.

Rey. While not a Mary Sue, she does come close. Sure, she's a scavenger and would know all about the systems of numerous different machines including space craft and frequently has to defend herself, but it's not established why she's instantly a elite-level pilot, a brilliant mechanic, have sudden intimate knowledge of the Falcon (she dismisses it as garbage early on, so although it is established that she knows about it, as it is owned by someone else it's a little tenuous that she would have anything other than an exterior appreciation), there's not a situation that she can't handle on her own and is a better fighter than a conditioned from birth elite stormtrooper. Which leads me to....

Finn. Arguably the most interesting character and yet he is completely under-used and over-shadowed. He suffers the most from Rey's characterisation, constantly humbled to the point where his inclusion in the story is entirely questionable. He is her inferior in every way. The film sets up these two as the primary protagonists, but since they cannot compliment each other and thus truly rely/need each other, the dynamic is lost. Aside from the first act, he has almost no impact on the story once he joins with Rey. He feels like a sidekick, not a partner.

On one hand you might feel that they were so afraid of portraying a female character as inferior in some respect and responded by assuring that they couldn't be taken to task on it by making her better at everything than pretty much all of the characters she interacts with.

On the other, it could be that this was her film and (remembering that this is a trilogy) Finn's story has yet to really begin.

The problem there though is that the film still needs to operate in isolation.

If one or the other has a skill set the other lacked and the other could fill in the blanks, then we would have got a genuine supportive duo.

 

 

Trying to compare this with the originals seems like a pointless task. New Hope is a seminal point in cinematic history, if only because it told an age old story (the Hero's Journey) in a new way to people who mostly weren't even aware of the existence of the storytelling mechanic, especially when framed in a space opera setting. The formula has been told and retold (in different settings and different levels of competence) for decades, so the awe, wonder and excitement is dulled. Add to that the expectational, hype-laden and, arguably justified, cynical baggage that this franchise has been afforded, living up to what we were promised (or rather, what we assumed we were promised) was always going to be a challenge.

 

And as a result, in the end the thing that dragged this film down the most was.... me.

I spent the whole 135 mins analysing, waiting for the transition between acts, looking for character flaws, trying to find plot holes, dissecting motivations.

My own trepidation prevented me from just sitting back and watching. I killed the potential for my own enjoyment.

 

I'm going to give it a week or two and watch it again, try to forget everything, and try to look at it as someone who has never even heard of this thing before.

[~Chaos~ 3,966]

I really enjoyed it personally! Excited for more in the upcoming years. ^^

[Lisa 5,552]

I thinks it's way over hyped

 

Well of course, it's the extremely long awaited episode 7 of the Star Wars series. How could it not be overhyped? If you actually meant to say that "it's overrated for being lacklustre/didn't live up to the original movies." Why?

[Blackshirt Brony 415]

I thought the movie was very enjoyable! The cast did an incredible job and I thought the villain was written very well. My main complaint was that the Rey character seemed like sort of a Mary Sue in many instances, but this was relatively minor. An overall fine revival of the franchise.

[Thaliel 116]

I finally came around to seeing it, and oh my Force!

 

Not spoilering anything, the nods to former movies were nice, the only thing I could not quite grip was the villain, I mean he...oooops, spoilers

[Metemponychosis 1,236]

I liked it. It's no where near the wonder of the originals, but it was good enough to get the ball rolling again. I see this as more of a set-up for the next movie.

 

Yeah, it's basically a condensed remake and it has it's silly moments, like the new superweapon, but no movie is perfect and I don't care enough about it to annoy me.

[Grtxkkyz 387]

Much better than i expected! It's like a New Hope made for a whole new audience, but continuing the trend of the originals!

[Aladdin Mane 17]

It was great. Anakin finally fulfilled his prophecy (Yeah, remember that 'balancing the force' thing that was never accomplished in the prequels?)

AND Kylo actually lent some new interesting depth to Vader's entire film presence.

Edited January 12, 2016 by Aladdin Mane

[Megas 27,063]

I definitely had a blast with it, though I do agree with the camp that feel a lot of it felt too much like a retread of A New Hope, especially towards the end. Still, great story, great use of characters both old and new. I'd say it's on my top 3 favorite Star Wars movies

[Hovershy 3,812]

Better than I thought it would be, but if I'm being honest, something felt wrong to me, like it felt different from the star wars I remembered but also too similar to the original and I didn't think the plot twists were good. I think it started out really good but I was not really satisfied with the ending.

 

All in all though, I'll give it a 7/10, because it was still a pretty good movie, and I like the most of the new characters.

[Splashee 28,537]

First opinion:

 

Puppets, no CGI? Cool!

 

Second opinion:

 

No cool light saber fights? Come on!

 

 

Third opinion:

 

Bleh!