Star Wars The Force Awakens (2015)

[K1stpierre]

OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG 

 

okay. Come on Kelli we need to speak in intelligible words now......deep breaths....

 

 

 

SKFITNEODOSMAHSHENEIDIFORMRFIDJJn!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

Okay. Now with that out of my system, I'll try to make all of this random sloppy love affair of a review for star wars as comprehensible as I can and hope I can convey each and everything about the movie.

 

First off, Star Wars was FUCKING AWESOME. This is clearly the mo ie not of the year, but of the decade and makes that pathetic excuse of a blockbuster 'Avatar' running away crying with its pants down. Abrams, that little beast. He fucking nailed way out of the park, farther than A fucking Rod or Or-fucking-tiz could ever hit a ball. He nailed the tone of the movie perfectly with the score, outstanding cinematography that relates to the first, and he absolutely brought out the new comers beautifully. So many times with these reboots, directors get so caught up in the graphics, making sure its eye candy and not putting the effort in the writing. This film doesn't rub it in your face "hey look at our graphics! Aren't we way cooler and far more ahead of the originals?!". The graphics are great, but they also mesh well enough with the originals were it doesn't feel like a totally different movie, you could have easily thought this was made right with episodes 4-6, and trust me that's not a diss. It was refreshing.

 

As for the acting, BRAV-fucking-O. The oldies we knew were great, but the newbies Rey and fin were such a joy to watch. Just great chemistry and really great build up where although there was a lot of humor mixed in, you did feel the connection was legit. Speaking of humor, I LOVED the bits of humor! It's something that even the originals didn't do much of. You might have had one or two maybe, but for the most part it was always serious and dramatic, which is perfectly fine. However I loved Abrams dropping the bits of humor here, and the best part was it never felt forced like he tried to really yank it from the crowd, it just felt natural. 

 

The story of the movie was definitely intriguing, sure it takes a bit to trick through in the first 30 minutes (though for me I didn't mind it at all), it's all worth it when they all come together. I thought the film was filled with action through-out, great fighting duels, and I KNEW Rey was the Jedi! I just knew it was her, and star wars definitely needed that. If its one thing that irks me with star wars, it's the lack of female powerful characters. Padme is anything but powerful and really made females look derogatory to how we're depicted olden times: left being only pinning away waiting for our loved one to come home, crying over and over. Leiah had a strong personality but still in physicality she was still the "damsel in distress". This movie looked like it was going there too when Ren abducted her, and when he held his hand at her trying to break her down by force (no pun intended), you thought she looked like she was giving in, but then at the last minute she surprises fans and holds her own. She then later fights against him in an outstanding final battle, ultimately making a name for her own in this and hopefully the trilogy.

 

Overall, this film delivers the epic propaganda it dished out and then some. I can't wait for part 8 and to see how Rey and Luke's relationship begins. We still don't know whose daughter she is. Is she Han and leaih's? That would she fought her own brother to almost death, and watched her own dad die by her brother. Certainly has the most drama. Or is she Luke's and Luke abandoned her after (what. We're told) Ren destroyed his hopes of building back the Jedi school/council.

 

I give this a 10/10, A++++++++++++++++++

[Cmasterclay]

Also, the Stormtrooper that Rey does the Jedi mindtrick on is totally Daniel Craig. 

[AniNate]

I may have problems with the Rey stuff if I choose to think about it for more than 30 seconds. Don't want anything else to detract from my experience

[AniNate]

Clearly not every audience reacted as mine but there was a disappointed groan when the movie cut to credits before Luke could do anything

[Jayhawk the Hutt]

Wasn't very original, the middle act was really mediocre, some potentially cool characters were wasted (Maz and Phasma), and there maybe a little too many callbacks to the OT. But man I had a blast. This movie was so much fun and quite a bit more emotional than I was expecting. The first act is pretty incredible, and I was a bit let down on how much it slowed down in the 2nd act. They just didn't really add anything interesting, other than finding Luke's saber. But the last act more than makes up for it. From the moment they bring Rey back to Death Star III. it's really good and recaptures most of the momentum the film lost. Han's death, was IMO, handled well, and kicked off a very emotional, propulsive last 15-20 minutes. The lightsaber battle was as good as SW gets. Friggin magical how Rey uses the force to get the saber away from Kylo. And the ending was perfection. It would have been nice to see more than 30 seconds of Luke, but it perfectly transitions into the new SW.

 

The new crop of main characters really, really work. Loved Finn, Rey, Kylo, BB8, and Poe. Kylo is a fascinating villain, and it's nice to see he's not fully formed yet. Tons of dramatic potential. Rey is a more than worthy protagonist. Finn is also great as well, while Poe is just charismatic as hell. BB8 was awesome (thumbs up! was absolutely hilarious). I really connected with the new characters and loved the way they played off each other. They make the movie work a lot better than it should, and it excites me for the future of the franchise.

 

The old cast is a bit of mixed bag. Ford is great as Solo, giving one of cinema's best characters a worthy sendoff. Fisher was average. Didn't think she was great nor terrible, she just was kinda there. Obviously Hamill didn't have much. Side players like Chewy, 3PO, and R2 do what they do in these movies.

 

While the film did a solid job of showing how our heroes developed in between ROTJ and TFA, the biggest problem was clearly showing how the galaxy itself developed. They didn't say what exactly the difference was between the Resistance and the Republic, who the hell the Knights of Ren are, and why no one knew anything about Death Star III. In fact Death Star III, while looking really cool, is a weak point for the film. They kind of just decide to destroy the Republic planets, and the whole thing was kind of thrown in there with no buildup. Again all of this took place in the weak 2nd act, and it's clear they were trying to find a way to connect the dots between the first and third acts. There is potential in many of the ideas and factions introduced, and hopefully those are explored in Episode 8. This seems to be the main point of contention between those who liked the film with those who didn't. Whether or not you think the film could've done both well, and not at the expense of the other, is up to you.

 

Other than some legitimately interesting narrative twists, it was mostly what I was expecting plot wise, but the new characters elevated the film past just being a simple retread. It will be interesting to see how it holds up on multiple viewings, but I suspect that the characters will keep it a worthwhile watch. It is truly tough to rank it in the series, as I've seen them all dozens of times, but, on the first watch at least, it lives up to the OT in terms of fun and character development. Could it have been better? Yes. But it turned out about as well as one could hope. If they keep the OT references and recycled plot points down to a minimum, Episode 8 has the potential to take the series in a direction it's never been in, which is something I am truly excited about.

 

A-

[Travod]

I think the RT is hyperbole at this point, but it's at least understandable given the anticipation. It's basically a remake but I'm happy with all the new characters, and hopefully the old ones become less important in future movies. 

 

8/10, IDK.

[Eastwood47]

Its so derivative of A New Hope that I felt this plot sheet really illustrates how much the film followed the plot points as opposed to just building a story for itself. It's brutality fair.

 

 

 

Edited December 18, 2015 by Eastwood47

[75Live]

Ok after seeing it a second time, and now actually being awake, I can do more of a full review.

 

I'll start off again by saying the new main 3 were great.  They all worked so well together and gives me lots of hope for them and the sequels.  Rey is an incredible character and I loved seeing her go through her arc that will obviously lead to something much more.

 

The movie looked great too. I liked all the different planets and locations which kept the look fresh instead of just being on one type of place.

 

The connections to the other movies were mostly done well, even down to seeing the floating training droid again.  

 

All the acting was good which I was so happy to see.

 

Even though I saw it coming, seeing Han get killed is still kind of surreal.

 

Kylo Ren was a good start to a bad guy.  You get to see him "grow" into the character as  you can tell he is still learning his place even with his master.  I liked him as the bad guy.  I can't wait to see Snoke in the next sequels as well

 

Of course seeing Luke at the end was awesome.  He didn't need to say a word, his expressions alone made you understand what he was going through.

 

Oh and the lightsaber going to Rey near the end instead of Kylo was one of those holy shit moments that made me love the Rey character even more

 

Now was everything perfect, no.  I get how some think it was too close to ANH and all that, but really that is what the movie needed.  It is made to get people back in and almost "get rid of the old stuff" so they can move to the sequels and not have to worry about any of the previous 6 movies any more.  But I get the take of it being a highlight reel so to speak.

 

However, the movie was funny, emotional, started something that could get into even something bigger so for technically a part one of a trilogy, I think it did exactly what it was meant to do.

 

Both times I've seen this, the audience ate everything up.

 

I could go on and on, but I think people get my take by now

 

easily one of the best movies I have seen this year and easily an A

Edited December 18, 2015 by 75live

[yads]

I think we're probably going to see something similar to The Avengers here. People who naturally focus more on the story of a movie will complain about TFA, while people who naturally focus more on the characters will enjoy it a lot.

 

Personally I'm way more interested in character arcs than plot and I thought the new characters were all emotionally engaging... so I really liked the film. Unlike the prequels, I cared about what happened to these characters. They felt like real people, the locations felt real, the conflicts felt real. That all earns TFA a lot of goodwill - so I can ignore that it's basically lifting the entire plot from ANH.

 

But I'd add that while it's fine to reset the saga like this with a loose remake of Episode 4, Episode 8 needs to be original. If they play the same card twice people will be a lot less forgiving.

 

Also, I hope they never ever, ever, ever do another Death Star plot ever again. Ever.

[JohnnyGossamer]

6 hours ago, The Futurist said:

 

This will be obviously addressed in EP 8&9.

 

Something is happening with Luke s lightsaber I am telling you.

 

I would put the "Rey grabs the lightsaber instead of Kylo" in a top 3 

The reluctance to believe in Rey in this very moment seems very "basic bro" to me like

 

"Lol, that young scavenger girl fights a Sith and wins ?"

 

 

I was even more reluctant to believe in Finn there. He held his own too. I agree that it will be explained for both in later episodes. Possibly in Trevorrow's Episode IX: Indominous Rey?

[Vanilla]

4 hours ago, Cmasterclay said:

Also, the Stormtrooper that Rey does the Jedi mindtrick on is totally Daniel Craig. 

 

 

Yea, once I figured that out, its pretty awesome.

 

 

[baumer]

6 hours ago, K1Rey said:

OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG 

 

okay. Come on Kelli we need to speak in intelligible words now......deep breaths....

 

 

 

SKFITNEODOSMAHSHENEIDIFORMRFIDJJn!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

Okay. Now with that out of my system, I'll try to make all of this random sloppy love affair of a review for star wars as comprehensible as I can and hope I can convey each and everything about the movie.

 

First off, Star Wars was FUCKING AWESOME. This is clearly the mo ie not of the year, but of the decade and makes that pathetic excuse of a blockbuster 'Avatar' running away crying with its pants down. Abrams, that little beast. He fucking nailed way out of the park, farther than A fucking Rod or Or-fucking-tiz could ever hit a ball. He nailed the tone of the movie perfectly with the score, outstanding cinematography that relates to the first, and he absolutely brought out the new comers beautifully. So many times with these reboots, directors get so caught up in the graphics, making sure its eye candy and not putting the effort in the writing. This film doesn't rub it in your face "hey look at our graphics! Aren't we way cooler and far more ahead of the originals?!". The graphics are great, but they also mesh well enough with the originals were it doesn't feel like a totally different movie, you could have easily thought this was made right with episodes 4-6, and trust me that's not a diss. It was refreshing.

 

As for the acting, BRAV-fucking-O. The oldies we knew were great, but the newbies Rey and fin were such a joy to watch. Just great chemistry and really great build up where although there was a lot of humor mixed in, you did feel the connection was legit. Speaking of humor, I LOVED the bits of humor! It's something that even the originals didn't do much of. You might have had one or two maybe, but for the most part it was always serious and dramatic, which is perfectly fine. However I loved Abrams dropping the bits of humor here, and the best part was it never felt forced like he tried to really yank it from the crowd, it just felt natural. 

 

The story of the movie was definitely intriguing, sure it takes a bit to trick through in the first 30 minutes (though for me I didn't mind it at all), it's all worth it when they all come together. I thought the film was filled with action through-out, great fighting duels, and I KNEW Rey was the Jedi! I just knew it was her, and star wars definitely needed that. If its one thing that irks me with star wars, it's the lack of female powerful characters. Padme is anything but powerful and really made females look derogatory to how we're depicted olden times: left being only pinning away waiting for our loved one to come home, crying over and over. Leiah had a strong personality but still in physicality she was still the "damsel in distress". This movie looked like it was going there too when Ren abducted her, and when he held his hand at her trying to break her down by force (no pun intended), you thought she looked like she was giving in, but then at the last minute she surprises fans and holds her own. She then later fights against him in an outstanding final battle, ultimately making a name for her own in this and hopefully the trilogy.

 

Overall, this film delivers the epic propaganda it dished out and then some. I can't wait for part 8 and to see how Rey and Luke's relationship begins. We still don't know whose daughter she is. Is she Han and leaih's? That would she fought her own brother to almost death, and watched her own dad die by her brother. Certainly has the most drama. Or is she Luke's and Luke abandoned her after (what. We're told) Ren destroyed his hopes of building back the Jedi school/council.

 

I give this a 10/10, A++++++++++++++++++

 

 

[CJohn]

Fucking hell, I loved it even more the 2nd time around. It is fucking perfect. 10/10. 

 

Dolby Atmos da bomb. Dat sound. 

[Dan9]

The score is actually far better than I thought. It's definitely a very different style to before and whilst that might seem silly given how incredible the previous scores were, I think it gives a refreshingly personal feel to the whole movie. 

[AniNate]

The score was a nice repurposing of the OT themes, but that's about all I can say about it.

[rukaio101]

4 hours ago, Eastwood47 said:

Its so derivative of A New Hope that I felt this plot sheet really illustrates how much the film followed the plot points as opposed to just building a story for itself. It's brutality fair.

 

 

 

I'm not going to pretend that TFA doesn't share a lot of story beats with ANH (although I think a lot of people are blowing it all out of proportion and are severely underplaying just how much ANH stole from other stuff (including basic storytelling formula)) but quite a few details of that are still fairly wrong. Also I enjoyed how that retelling removed Finn's character entirely. God knows he wasn't a deuteragonist or anything.

 

Basically, if you're going to come up with some bullshit plot rewrite that misses the point, at least have the decency to get the plot right.

[Ozymandias]

5 hours ago, yads said:

Also, I hope they never ever, ever, ever do another Death Star plot ever again. Ever.

 

Rumor has it the next movie has a Death Star the size of the sun.

[Kvikk Lunsj]

19 minutes ago, Ozymandias said:

 

Rumor has it the next movie has a Death Star the size of the sun.

In episode IX it is going to be size of the galaxy 

[BadAtGender]

I guess others have hit on most of my points. Good job, coolio.

 

Like, I enjoyed it. There's a lot of fun stuff, the new actors are really fun, and I think it sets the seeds pretty well for future films. But the nostalgia is incredibly grating. Every time something referenced the original trilogy showed up, the audience clapped. Sure, okay, I get that you're excited for that, but then the movie itself just keeps serving up nostalgia to its own detriment. Take Poe for example. He was really fun in the first act. But he becomes a complete non-character in act three. Who's that guy? He's a badass pilot. 

 

In a lot of ways, while this aped ANH to a huge degree, I felt it weirdly got everything in reverse. ANH was a film that took what limited resources it had and gave the impression of a much larger world. Little bits of dialogue that just hinted that things were much bigger. This one had the capacity to show a lot more, but it weirdly kept trying to make everything seem much smaller. All the details don't hint at a larger world we don't know, they hint at the films that we already do. Maybe its just me, but that made it feel less involving. As such the entire climax battle was pretty underwhelming.

 

(Sadly, I'm starting to feel like the series will never be able to live up to the space battle of Return of the Jedi. 

 

I noticed that this had a lot of the same problem ST09 and STID does where some of the storytelling choices end up making the world feel smaller. Then you had transporting across huge distances and Warp speeds that are kinda ridiculous, so that Earth feels like it's next door to pretty much everywhere else. Here, the bigger, deadlier, Death Star now shoots across galaxies to destroy entire systems. While the Battle of Yavin gave a sense of immediacy because the Death Star came to them, this loses that because I have no way to tell how far away anything is.

 

Another thought about the bigger, deadlier, Death Star. Like much of the film, it felt like it was trying too hard. For all the emulation and callbacks, it was like it wanted to show it was bigger and badder as well. "This isn't your father's Death Star! Look! It eats suns!" Like the First Order itself, much of the film feels like kids playing dress up with higher tech toys. 

 

It's weird how Abrams immediately became the first choice to be a Star Wars director after ST09 emulated Star Wars to a huge degree. That film was really invigorating and fun much like the OT. But now that he's playing in the universe itself, it seems he's held back from really putting forth his best effort. Maybe it's because with Trek, he could really just do his own thing and create the sense of Star Wars, while here he's beholden to do things much the same way. (Practical effects! Practical effects!)

 

But, still. It is pretty fun. As others have said the first act is great. The new characters seem like they could grow into their own. BB-8 is adorable. It's technically superb.

 

Not top five for the year for me, but I won't hate seeing it again.

 

3/5

[RobinHood26]

Seeing It again I feel like the movie should have ended with Rey and Chewy blasting into Hyper Space. Finding Luke feels like the beginning to VIII