warriormonk

Master storyteller? Wtf? You can say many things about Cameron but to call him a master storyteller is not one of them.

Speak for yourself. I would prefer a balance between the two. I found the first order/resistance/republic dynamic confusing. One of the bigger weaknesses of the film

They definitely did not bother with the greater political state of the galaxy. My hope is that they had too much to do with setting up the new characters and we are going to see a lot more of that in the next movies. really this movie was probably 20-30 minutes too short.

Does anyone know who the heck Max Van Sydow's character was? Was he someone from one of the books or cartoons? I found his character really odd. He seemed to know way too much to be treated so casually.

This is spot on. Also editing and pacing. Basically at an execution level I was never worried. The story was always the big issue for me. It delivered in many ways but wow did they leave a lot of stuff hanging. I think this is the least stand alone Star Wars movie I have seen. ESB was a cliffhanger, yes, but not only was TFA a cliffhanger, it left a massive amount of info about the galaxy and some of the characters unanswered.

Fair to disagree. it is all subjective in the end. For me I find them rather easy to follow and very deep. I dont find they fall apart, only fail to live up to the underlying vision.

It is executed much better. But the underlying story? No way to know that till after 8 and 9. Most people don't bother to look at it because they cant get past the failed execution, but the underlying story is stellar in the prequels.

With 4 billion on the line, as a business decision, it was the only choice they could make. Hopefully going forward, now with things established, they are willing to take chances, as people will give them the benefit of the doubt again.

I would go so far as to say it was the biggest mistake in the movie. (Well Luke not talking was pretty weird decision too.) It was not needed outside of mimicking ANH. It did not add much to Kylo's character arc. It was so obvious it was coming that by the time it happens the emotional impact was missing. And Ford was so good as Han again, I wanted him back for more movies. PS. when i say biggest I dont mean it was bad. just the thing that stood out to me the most. Well that and the question of why Finn was sent to Jakku to kill a village when he works in sanitation.

Agreed. Also it would be too complicated to make her a Solo. Why did, especially Leia, not recognize her? Or Han? Kylo has no idea he has a sister? Or Snoke? They could do it but they would have to twist hard and it would not ever be really satisfying.

I took it as Rey is basically as strong as anakin if not more so. And like Anakin was using the force unconsciously (well before any training.) But yes a ton of questions are left regarding Rey. The entire movie really. Never left a movie with so many questions

Double post. Site is struggling

For sure need to see it again to know my final thoughts. My subjective view (keeping in mind I love all star wars movies, lumps and scars all) : Its a good movie. Its executed very well. Acting, editing, pacing are all best of the series. Its a modern movie with modern sensibilities. Story is hard to judge because there are so many questions left unanswered and until those are (or are not) answered in ep 8 and 9, it will be hard to have a final judgement on the film. The movie was probably 20-30 minutes too short. It needed some more time to expand on some of the characters stories as well as address the state of the larger galaxy, like show us what the Republic is and why it is failing so bad that it needs a resistance. Han's death was anti-climatic. Luke not saying a word was silly. What kind of cliff hanger is that. Let him speak. There are so many questions left unanswered. What is the political situation of the universe? Why is there a resistance? What are they resisting? Why does the Republic not help the resistance when the First Order uses a weapon that destroys planets? Why did Kylo turn? Why does Kylp hate his parents? WTF are the knights of Ren? Who is Snoke? Who was Max Van Sydow's character? And on and on... Some of things are hinted at, but barely. I had hoped for a balance between the prequels and OT. More depth then the OT but more adventure then PT. Hopefully they just had so much to set up character wise that we will get much more depth world building wise moving forward. Biggest gaff: Why was a sanitation worker sent to a planet and told to kill a village? The score is by far the weakest of all seven movies. Don't remember a single new moment from the music. No one got there hand cut off. WTF. And no one said it's a trap. WTF.

So if TFA crushes at the BO, does this change its release date to avoid Rogue One?