Star Wars The Force Awakens (2015)

[Punishment]

Just finished watching TFA a second time, this time in IMAX.

 

I had to watch it a second time as my anticipation level was a little too high to give a fair review after my first viewing.

 

I really enjoyed the movie an liked how JJ decided to basically reboot the series by following the script of ANH.  I thought most all of the characters roles were very strong especially Rey, Finn, and Poe and was pleased with the action/special effects.  I also liked Kylo Renn, but wished he would not have taken his helmet off until the next movie or at least his face-to-face meeting with Han.  Looking forward to see how JJ proceeds with the next two movies.

 

My complaints are only minor:

• I thought Rey was able to learn the force much too quickly and was a stretch to believe she could stand toe-to-toe with Kylo and even best him (I know he was injured, but still).
• Even though I did like the script mirroring and paying homage to ANH, I wished they would have come up with something different than blowing up another Death Star.
• The ending was a bit drawn out, but again only a minor complaint.

I give it and A-/B+, just below the original trilogy for me and above ROTS.

 

Fun times

[MovieGuyKyle17]

Star Wars The Force Awakens: (No Spoiler Review)

WE HAVE FINALLY MADE IT. We have made it to the new Star Wars film and J.J. Abrams delivered. Star Wars is a lot of fun, there is a lot of humor to this film that lands unlike Episode 4 - 6 and the prequels. The actors did a fantastic job playing these characters. When your watching the film, you feel that your not watching a performance, it feels like your watching the real thing. The new characters are great. I loved Rey and Finn, the two actors together have great chemistry and work off one another very well. The new villain Kylo Ren is that he feels a little more human, he's no Darth Vader but he's still a menacing villain. J.J. Abrams broke his back making this movie. No, he actually broke his back making this film. Now I will admit I had some problems with this movie but those contain spoilers and I will discuss those when its time. I had a great time with Star Wars, its the film we needed to kick start the franchise, and I can't wait for Episode 8.

Grade: A-

Edited December 21, 2015 by MovieGuyKyle17

[Water Bottle]

16 hours ago, Goffe said:

fuck that, this is not a TV show.

 

A movie should strive to stand on its own.

 

 Also, no one said they wanted all the answers? they want enough answers for the movie to feel complete, which in their minds it didn't. I literally laughed when, in the final lightsaber fight, Kylo and Rey were separated by the earthquake, like, it was the most shameless attempt to save things for future sequels.

 

That wasn't the problem I had with the movie, but I can easily understand people who think that way. The serialization of movies, the act o stretching a story that should have been just one movie into 3-∞ movies is an awful trend. It's just horrible. Reason why I hate 95% of the tv shows out there that aren't comedies, I can't really stand the amount of filler.

 

Right. Cause Harry Potter never, ever left questions hanging for the next movie. Nope, not at all. You could jump right into Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 2 without having seen a single movie beforehand because it was 100% a standalone journey. Yup.

 

For the record, a science fiction/fantasy movie that does answers every single question didn't build a world right. TFA does stand on it's own and while it doesn't answer every question, it answers the one it needed to answer to have a complete entertaining story. And Star Wars has always been based on the idea that it's a serial.

[Guest BK007]

38 minutes ago, Darth Water Bottle said:

 

Right. Cause Harry Potter never, ever left questions hanging for the next movie. Nope, not at all. You could jump right into Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 2 without having seen a single movie beforehand because it was 100% a standalone journey. Yup.

 

For the record, a science fiction/fantasy movie that does answers every single question didn't build a world right. TFA does stand on it's own and while it doesn't answer every question, it answers the one it needed to answer to have a complete entertaining story. And Star Wars has always been based on the idea that it's a serial.

 

What a stupid statement and comparison.

 

The events of the Force Awakens should be explained in the previous 6 movies. 

 

Nope, we get a rehash of A New Hope. Some idiot goes bad while training to be a Jedi...we've seen that story twice before. 

 

The triumph of the OT means nothing because we are right back at the start. It's made to merchandise.

 

Sorry fanboy. 

[Blankments]

Star Wars: The Force Awakens is a minor miracle. I chose to rate it after a rewatch, since I knew I was so hyped the first time I wouldn't be able to appropriately rate it. I had the pleasure of seeing it with an amped, cheering crowd the first time, and the second time, a totally dead theater. It managed to be better on rewatch though. Don't get me wrong, there's a slight issue with some rehashing, and some nitpicking here and there, but this is a Star Wars movie, on the big screen, for the first time in ten years. Furthermore, it's the first good Star Wars movie since Return of the Jedi, and easily eclipses that film in quality. The action is astounding, the editing is pretty flawless, and the new characters steal the show in the way it's meant to be. Driver, Ridley, and Boyega are great in that order. I'd honestly say all three of them have star-making roles. There's no weak point except maybe Gleeson and Christie, but that's just because their characters feel underused. Harrison Ford actually gives a good performance for the first time in a very long while, and Chewbacca and BB-8 are fantastic too. The story isn't too impressive, but Star Wars never really has impressed there; it's all about the characters, and The Force Awakens nails that. This has the most HYPE moment in a movie since Hulk smashed Loki, and many other moments where you'll become a child again watching it again and again. Star Wars: The Force Awakens is a fantastic beginning to a revitalized iconic series, and a more-than-worthy installment in the biggest film franchise of all time. A-

[Jessie]

Adam driver was a good villain until he took off the mask, then all intimation when out the window, he's just a fucking kid and he's meant to be the baddass villain, and gets beat at the end by someone with no training experience

[BoxOfficeZ]

1 hour ago, Jessie said:

Adam driver was a good villain until he took off the mask, then all intimation when out the window, he's just a fucking kid and he's meant to be the baddass villain, and gets beat at the end by someone with no training experience

 

I think that was the point though. He is basically Anakin (does a better job being him then Hayden did lol). He's a poor imitation of Darth Vader (something he doesn't want to hear) and he even threw temper tantrums like a child. Not yet completed his training. 

[Jessie]

1 hour ago, BoxOfficeZ said:

 

I think that was the point though. He is basically Anakin (does a better job being him then Hayden did lol). He's a poor imitation of Darth Vader (something he doesn't want to hear) and he even threw temper tantrums like a child. Not yet completed his training. 

 

Still, the guy struggled against fin (who doesn't have the Force on his side) and lost to the girl whinged never picked up a saber in her life. That was pretty silly

[Dan9]

That's what I love about Kylo Ren. He's an incomplete character and we probably still have a lot more to see from him, literally and in terms of character progression. He could go in so many directions. 

 

In this he's clearly very powerful but very raw, emotional and unpredictable which in TFA sometimes gets the better of him. It gives him a unique kind of edge and to me he's probably the most interesting character in the movie. 

[Goffe]

7 hours ago, Darth Water Bottle said:

 

Right. Cause Harry Potter never, ever left questions hanging for the next movie. Nope, not at all. You could jump right into Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 2 without having seen a single movie beforehand because it was 100% a standalone journey. Yup.

Harry Potter was my childhood. I can't be objective or true to my standards when evaluating them. Terrible comparison. 

 

Also, I think all Harry Potter films but two are more self contained than TFA.

 

 TFA does stand on it's own and while it doesn't answer every question, it answers the one it needed to answer to have a complete entertaining story.

For some people it didn't, are you saying their opinion is wrong? because that's what I'm getting from your (and Baumer's) post.

[Water Bottle]

38 minutes ago, Darth Water Bottle said:  

Right. Cause Harry Potter never, ever left questions hanging for the next movie. Nope, not at all. You could jump right into Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 2 without having seen a single movie beforehand because it was 100% a standalone journey. Yup.

 

For the record, a science fiction/fantasy movie that does answers every single question didn't build a world right. TFA does stand on it's own and while it doesn't answer every question, it answers the one it needed to answer to have a complete entertaining story. And Star Wars has always been based on the idea that it's a serial.

 

What a stupid statement and comparison.

 

The events of the Force Awakens should be explained in the previous 6 movies. 

 

Nope, we get a rehash of A New Hope. Some idiot goes bad while training to be a Jedi...we've seen that story twice before. 

 

The triumph of the OT means nothing because we are right back at the start. It's made to merchandise.

 

Sorry fanboy. 

So you agree then you disagree with me and then think I should have been right and call my comparison stupid?

The previous six films DO explain the events of TFA but you can also watch TFA without watching the first six films.

As to the cynical assertion that the movie is made for merchandising, no shit: like every Star Wars film since A New Hope was made for merchandising reasons. Doesn't mean I don't actually enjoy the movie and the movie itself is an amazing Star Wars film.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[Goffe]

Going full Ethan here...

 

but I thought Kylo Ren was a fantastic and welcome breath of fresh air of a villain.

 

Better as a character than Vader.

Edited December 21, 2015 by Goffe

[Jessie]

9 minutes ago, Goffe said:

Going full Ethan here...

 

but I thought Kylo Ren was a fantastic and welcome breath of fresh air of a villain.

 

Much, much better than Vader.

 

Seriously wtf

[Water Bottle]

7 hours ago, Darth Water Bottle said:

 

Right. Cause Harry Potter never, ever left questions hanging for the next movie. Nope, not at all. You could jump right into Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 2 without having seen a single movie beforehand because it was 100% a standalone journey. Yup.

Harry Potter was my childhood. I can't be objective or true to my standards when evaluating them. Terrible comparison. 

 

Also, I think all Harry Potter films but two are more self contained than TFA.[emoji185]

 

 TFA does stand on it's own and while it doesn't answer every question, it answers the one it needed to answer to have a complete entertaining story.

For some people it didn't, are you saying their opinion is wrong? because that's what I'm getting from your (and Baumer's) post.

Just because you feel unsatisfied doesn't mean the movie didn't tell a complete story. Just because you wanted to know more doesn't mean anything. I want to know more as well. That's just a sign that I liked it: there are so many questions I want answered. If the movie raised questions and I didn't care, that would have been a problem.

It's not a terrible comparison just because you can't be objective about it. If you don't like the serialization of films then Star Wars simply won't be for you. Even with A New Hope, the franchise was built on being a series of serial films. But Harry Potter was serialized even if most of the movies had their own plots. Just like how Star Wars films have their own plots...even if there is a Universe out there that the movies constantly remind you.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[The Panda]

The I loved it!  It felt very new and refreshing, to ally and visually it was evident it was a new trilogy from the last two, but that's not a negative.  

 

What I Loved

1.The new alien designs were really fun, they really expanded the world and created  a distinct universe that feels changed since we last saw Star Wars (which it should, that's one thing the prequels did well, it felt like a different period in that universe's history.  The different look and feel helped a lot)

 

2.Daisey Ridley, John Boyega, and Oscar Isaac were all great in their roles, and cemented their like ability as soon as they came on screen.  They were vividly fun characters, lots of personality, and very personable.  You want to root for them as soon as you meet them.  JJ arguably does better characterization here than Lucas did for any human character besides Solo.

 

3.The film is gorgeous to look at, albeit I was watching it in true IMAX, but it is gorgeous.  The production design is gorgeous, and seeing the environments was like a wet dream.  

 

4.Harrison Ford was great in his role, it was a shot of joy to see him and Chewie working again.  It really seemed like Han Solo aged, he's not the exact Solo of the OT but that's a good thing!  He should be different, it's been 30+ years.

 

5.The lightsaber fights were beautiful.  I also didn't have a problem with the end fight.  Kylo was no Sith Lord, it was evident he lacked completed training, he lacked the control that menacing Sith Lords like Vader had.  He was also shot and injured, and while he was obviously using the pain (which was great characterization), it was going to weaken him.  Plus, I think there's more to Rey's past, I think she has some force experience (it seemed to be a recall when she heard the force, like when she heard it, she knew what to do.).  So until we know her past for certain, I'm not going to complain about her whooping a very raw  and uncontrolled Ren or her Jedi mind trick.

 

6.While on the topic of Ren, I'm going to mention the star of the movie for me.  Adam Driver was incredible as a villain, he was what I wanted Anakin to be more like when becoming Darth Vader.  He's a conflicted boy, and he's really not as great as he makes himself out to be (which I loved).  He was a human villain, and a very unique one for Star Wars, instead of being a badass Sith Lord he was just a guy desperately trying to be.  You could tell Snoke was using him, but he was so desperate to have the power of his grandfather that he just let him.  You could tell he was losing his mind and while he had a lot of raw power, he had absolutely no control over his emotions (which is something a lowly trained Sith would be like).  You can tell the conflict, but you also despise him at the same time in a Joffrey Baratheon type of way.  He's menacing in his own way, and when Han Solo confronts him, you rightfully fear for Han's life.  If I nominated an actor for an Oscar from this film, it would be Adam Driver.  His performance has the most nuance and depth to them, beating out Harrison Ford's solid performance.

 

7.As for fearing for Han Solo's life, that scene was devasting.  It was the most effective death scene in any Star Wars movie, in fact one of the most gut-wrenching death scenes I've probably seen period.  This rivaled some of Game of Throne's most iconic death scenes and the power of them.  You have a heightened sense of anxiety the entire scene, and the longer the scene lasts, the more it builds that anxiety. There's also the emotional power of seeing Han as such a different person from the OT, seeing the guy who always was kind of a runner go up to his son hoping he could save him was emotional.  You can see the conflict on Adam Driver's face, and the sadness and desperateness in Han's.  And when Ford is finally stabbed, it's a punch to the heart to see one of your favorite characters get murdered in such a cruel way.  That pain only twists harder when you hear Chewbacca's scream.  Also, the way they used the lighting as a symbol to show hope when Han tried to save his son, and despair when his own son killed him and cemented his path to the dark side was a great effect.  One of the most powerful scenes is the franchise.

 

8.BB-8 was hilarious, and the bits we got from C-3PO were still pretty fun.  I want to see a BB-8 and R2-D2 road trip comedy spin off.

 

What I Liked

1.John Williams score was nice, it wasn't as good as I have come to expect from him, but it was an effective score.

 

2.I liked a lot of the new alien designs and such, but at times, they did look a bit like a fan-creation rather than the actual Star Wars world.  It was kind of like watching part of the Expanded Universe in movie form.  I like a lot of that, because there's some great things in the EU, but I also kind of wish it could have felt a bit more Star Warsy and less video gamey.  However, don't take that as me comparing the visuals to a video game, because I'm not.  The visuals are great

 

3.Carrie Fisher was good in her role, she probably was the weakest out of the big cast members, but she still seemed like an older, battle-hardened Leia.

 

4.The action feels non-stop, it's very fun, and it's incredibly engaging.  I kind of wished they had taken a bit of time to breathe and world build like the original trilogy, but it was a different approach.  Definitely the most action packed Star Wars film.

 

5.Theres a lot of mystery to the film, and it's very fun.  It feels like watching ANH for the first time in some ways, it would have been nice if there was some closure at the end, but it was fine how was.

 

6.I loved the look Mark Hamil had for the 1 scene we got of him, he looked exactly like a man going into hiding because he was ashamed of failing as a teacher.  Great backstory for him, I wish we could have gotten just a line from him at the end (which is a nice shot).

 

Things That Were Okay

1.Rehashing the Death Star was meh.  I liked the twist of it, and I liked seeing it in action.  It made it fairly formidable.  But I wish they could have come up with something else.  No more Death Stars from here on out, okay?

 

2.It does borrow from ANH a little bit too much.  I'm not going to say it's as much as some make it out to be though.  It is it's own film, and it's by no means a rehash.  But some plot devises are obviously borrowed and used as similar beats.  Despite that, there's a lot different, so calling it a hack-job is being fairly over dramatic.  The more I think about the film, the less the film felt like it was a copy and paste (minus the Death Star).  I'm just hoping the next episode takes the new saga to it's own territory completely, though.  This isn't a real big complain from me.

 

3.I wasn't a huge fan of Snoke's design, I'm glad he was a hologram and not actually giant though.  He doesn't have the menacing feel the emperor had.  Maybe that will change?  Also, his identity as either Darth Sidious or Plagueious feels fairly obvious.

 

Those are my only complaints, and I didn't get to touch on everything I liked and loved about the movie.  A+  My favorite Star Wars film since Refurn of the Jedi, it might even be my second favorite, I'll have to do some thinking and rewatching.

Edited December 21, 2015 by The Panda Menace

[Dark 33Legend of the Sith]

Absolutlely loved it. Will get a review later but I am thrilled they pulled it off!

[Goffe]

2 hours ago, Darth Water Bottle said:

Just because you feel unsatisfied doesn't mean the movie didn't tell a complete story. Just because you wanted to know more doesn't mean anything. I want to know more as well. That's just a sign that I liked it: there are so many questions I want answered. If the movie raised questions and I didn't care, that would have been a problem. 

It's not a terrible comparison just because you can't be objective about it. If you don't like the serialization of films then Star Wars simply won't be for you. Even with A New Hope, the franchise was built on being a series of serial films. But Harry Potter was serialized even if most of the movies had their own plots. Just like how Star Wars films have their own plots...even if there is a Universe out there that the movies constantly remind you.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

As I stated in the first post, that wasn't the problem I had with TFA, sure it bothered me a little, but it didn't make or break the movie for me. 

 

I was merely defending the POW that serialization is awful, awful trend. You don't need to agree with me to see my point. People have different tastes. Some thought TFA was perfect as it was; others thought it felt like remake, a remake that doesn't even feel like full movie because they had to save story points for later. I don't know what's so hard to grasp here.

 

Quote

If you don't like the serialization of films then Star Wars simply won't be for you.

what is this nonsense? all movies should be targeted to me. 

 

 

[Dark 33Legend of the Sith]

6 hours ago, Jessie said:

Adam driver was a good villain until he took off the mask, then all intimation when out the window, he's just a fucking kid and he's meant to be the baddass villain, and gets beat at the end by someone with no training experience

 

I can't respectfully diagree anymore and his imperfections were one of the high points of the movie IMO.

 

I LOVED that they made Kylo so flawed, and imperfect.  For some of the things the movie "played safe" this was not one of them.  So easy to have the unstoppable, fully intimidating, baddy in every movie.  But they made the character so much more human-so many insecurities and insufficiencies were exposed and you NEVER see that out of a villain. It was riveting seeing that slowly play out and will be even more riveting to watch how it devlelops in Episodes VIII and IX.

[Water Bottle]

1) If they had given Adam Driver a scar across his face, nobody would be saying anything. He just looked so....normal. Which is fine and I understand why they did this. Not every Sith has to be horribly and yet awesomely disfigured.

2) My dad wondered why he was wearing a helmet since he didn't need it to breath. I pointed out he was trying to emulate Darth Vader and the helmet makes him look cool. But maybe the helmet also set up expectations that there's something horrible under the mask...and when it's just a normal looking dude, it's anti-climatic, leaving people feeling disappointed?

3) For the people complaining that he was too whiny....well I mean he is trying to be like Darth Vader who we all learned was a whiny Jedi. 

 

I think Kylo Ren worked for me as a villain. I mean come on he stopped a blaster shot in mid-air for MINUTES before changing it's course to hit something else. He was able to extract information and he took as little shit from his underlings as Darth Vader did.

[RobinHood26]

The first Star Wars is 100000% a Stand alone movie if you think other wise you are just wrong.