Star Wars: The Force Awakens (12/18/15)

[The Clown Prince of Crime]

Quick question, why didn't Kylo Ren use any force powers on Finn? A Force choke or push would have made things a lot easier for himself, in fact, why didn't he just use the force to take the lightsaber out of Finn's grasp?

Is there a decent explanation on why Rey was able to beat Kylo Ren after tapping into her force powers with no knowledge or training of the force at all?

These are the two biggest issues I had, if someone can give me a decent enough excuse I might be able to push this movie up to a 7/10.

Same reason Darth Maul lost even though he had the higher ground, bad writing. It was a bad move to have the big bad villain go down like a total puss in the very first film. It worked so well in the OT having Luke get his butt kicked in Empire and then come back and win the rematch in Jedi. There's a no payoff by having Rey own Kylo light that in their first fight in the first movie. They established she's powerful, but where do you go from there? It took a trilogy + 30 years to build Luke up to being God-like, and now Rey is almost at that level after 1 movie!

 

[pturtle]

My theory is she was already immensely skilled in hand-to-hand combat after surviving as a scavenger from a young age (we did see her in action throughout the film). Her newly discovered Force powers simply amplified those existing skills.

I can accept that, by it really does downplay the Jedi/Sith, especially one that was trained by Luke Skywalker and seduced to the dark side. A self trained scavenger that just unlocked her force powers really shouldn't be able to compete in my opinion. Training was always emphasized so much when it came to Jedi, seeing Rey just using it like a boss after a few hours felt pretty forced (no pun intended).


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[Cixx]

People gotta remember there's a whole backstory being hidden kept from us until later. That much is clear from the very first scene.

 

[pturtle]

Same reason Darth Maul lost even though he had the higher ground, bad writing. It was a bad move to have the big bad villain go down like a total puss in the very first film. It worked so well in the OT having Luke get his butt kicked in Empire and then come back and win the rematch in Jedi. There's a no payoff by having Rey own Kylo light that in their first fight in the first movie. They established she's powerful, but where do you go from there? It took a trilogy + 30 years to build Luke up to being God-like, and now Rey is almost at that level after 1 movie!

What's crazy is she seems like the most powerful Jedi ever which I find weird because wasn't Anakin the chosen one? Even he had to train before using all these force powers.

People gotta remember there's a whole backstory being hidden kept from us until later. That much is clear from the very first scene.

Fair enough, I'm not trying to bash the movie. I'm a real casual Star Wars fan, I've only watched the movies, nothing else, so I was just wondering if there was any proper explanation on why she was able to beat Kylo Ren. It sort of ruined the last battle for me, but if there's an explanation for that in episode 8 I might enjoy this movie a bit more later on.


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[Khev]

Just saying the critics are right!

Well it's good that you're here to tell us which personal opinions are correct. Keep up the good work.

 

[The Clown Prince of Crime]

It doesn't matter if she's secretly skilled or trained by Batman, the villain should never lose in the very first film...unless we never see him again, but Ren will be back, and seeing him lose so early in this trilogy isn't very smart, unless they want him to be a coward and just a Vader fanboy who no one takes seriously. If that's the kind of villain they want, which is not a bad idea, then fine.

 

[pturtle]

It doesn't matter if she's secretly skilled or trained by Batman, the villain should never lose in the very first film...unless we never see him again, but Ren will be back, and seeing him lose so early in this trilogy isn't very smart, unless they want him to be a coward and just a Vader fanboy who no one takes seriously. If that's the kind of villain they want, which is not a bad idea, then fine.

I wouldn't mind if it was written better, because I don't think Kylo Ren is going to be the big bad of this trilogy. I can even see him possibly being redeemed and finding the light, and it might be great character development for him. I expect that Supreme leader Snoke to be the all powerful baddy we have to worry about in the next two episodes.


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[The Clown Prince of Crime]

What's crazy is she seems like the most powerful Jedi ever which I find weird because wasn't Anakin the chosen one? Even he had to train before using all these force powers.

JJ must be a big fan of Anime...probably a Goku fan, considering the term awakening is associated with Goku's transformation into a Super Saiyan and discovering a new power.

 

[The Clown Prince of Crime]

I wouldn't mind if it was written better, because I don't think Kylo Ren is going to be the big bad of this trilogy. I can even see him possibly being redeemed and finding the light, and it might be great character development for him. I expect that Supreme leader Snoke to be the all powerful baddy we have to worry about in the next two episodes.


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Yeah, I also think Kylo will find redemption eventually, especially if he's related to Rey. I also think we haven't see the last of Max Von Sydow.

 

[DiFabio]

I saw it again tonight and liked it a little more the first time. I would have liked to have seen more Poe though. The beginning of the movie with the set up is really good.

The pay off at the end isn't that great on repeat viewings though. The setting of the charges where Han, Chewbacca, Finn and Rey plant the bombs really reminded me of Terminator Genisys at the end with Pops, Kyle and Sarah blowing up Skynet/Genisys. If I'm being honest, all these blockbusters, good and bad, feel the same to me.

 

[pturtle]

Yeah, I also think Kylo will find redemption eventually, especially if he's related to Rey. I also think we haven't see the last of Max Von Sydow.

Ah, I forgot about him. I thought he was killed in the beginning with the rest of the village.


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[The Clown Prince of Crime]

Ah, I forgot about him. I thought he was killed in the beginning with the rest of the village.


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He was "killed"...I hope he comes back as a villain.

 

[rushmore223]

Well, there are 50+ thread pages for me to catch up on, which I probably won't bother doing so I'll just post my thoughts.

The movie was great, very worth the wait, can't wait to see episode 8 and what the new director does with it, but JJ did a fantastic job.

What I really liked...

Spoiler

BB-8, loved the droid
Loved the Force vision Rey had, was very intense.
Loved Ren's Force tantrums, hilarious when the troopers just turned around and walked away.
Loved the awakening of Rey's powers and how she out-forced Kylo Ren for the lightsaber.
The scene with Ford and Ren was fantastic, knew Ford had to die, there was just no way else that scene could have ended, plausibly at least.
The new cast has real presence and charisma, a worthy addition to the old cast.

Not so much...

Spoiler

Not a big fan of the monster scene aboard the salvage ship, felt really unnecessary.
The end with Luke just standing there in a long pause as they pushed out to a wide shot felt poorly done.

Saw it IMAX 3D, which was AMAZING. Especially the FO Destroyers, will definitely see again once the crowds die down, don't feel like waiting in line for 45 minutes again.

By the way...

Spoiler

I think the reason Rey was an adequate duelist in the lightsaber battle stems from her weapon of choice being that pole arm, or hat ever it's called.

 

[Matt S]

Speaking of the killer meatball scene, was that the first time Han punched anyone in a SW movie? Of course, they used the Indy punch sound Fx which was funny, yet jarring......

 

[pturtle]

Speaking of the killer meatball scene, was that the first time Han punched anyone in a SW movie? Of course, they used the Indy punch sound Fx which was funny, yet jarring......

Really thought the entire scene felt out of place, but landing that punch was awesome.

Was there a reason why those aliens didn't eat Finn right away? They ate everyone as soon as they got them, but was carrying Finn for a while.


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[The Clown Prince of Crime]

One thing I really like about TFA is how characters sound like normal human beings again, unlike the prequels.

 

[xipotec]

Just wondering if anyone noticed these things.....

1. Did Kylo drop his helmet in ashes in that early scene???? Sure looked that way!!!!!!
2. Was the meatball monster suppose to be the trash compactor monster? (That scene was really unneeded added action sequence.)
3. Anyone else feel Kylo is really mental unstable? And thats why he cannot really control the force as well?
4. Is Rey suppressing memories or were they taken from her?
5. Did anyone catch Poe's amazing x-wing performance ? One long shot he takes out 8 tie's and free's the captives!! He's got the force!
6. How bad was Kylo wounded at the end? Finn?

 

[The Clown Prince of Crime]

Really thought the entire scene felt out of place, but landing that punch was awesome.

Was there a reason why those aliens didn't eat Finn right away? They ate everyone as soon as they got them, but was carrying Finn for a while.


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Same reason Finn and Rey didn't hide BB8 with them and the bad guys recognized it...bad writing, again

 

[pturtle]

Agreed, the acting was the best in series. Finn and Kylo Ren were the standouts in my opinion.


By the way, I just read that the Stormtrooper that Rey Jedi mind tricks was played by Daniel Craig

 

[Matt S]

Agreed, the acting was the best in series. Finn and Kylo Ren were the standouts in my opinion.


By the way, I just read that the Stormtrooper that Rey Jedi mind tricks was played by Daniel Craig

Finn and Kylo were great, but Rey owned the movie for me; that sure did not sound like Craig....