Saw the movie again yesterday. Like it even more, but downgrading my enthusiastic 9/10 rating to 8.5/10 if that makes sense. I just think there were a little too many plotholes and scientific miscues to give it a full pass, the main issue being the Starkiller weapon. I just don't think they did a great job of explaining it. 1) Something that powerful should have been a one and done, meaning that it would have destroyed the planet just from the residual energy and blowback, which is okay because it should have been built, moved into place, and then remote fired. The dread could have been that the FIRST ORDER could not only have built a weapon of such power, but that it had several more under construction. 2) I don't know if it was ever established if the base was mobile. If it was then no life forms should be able to live on the surface, people, plants, etc. If not and it's just a long-range laser cannon, how far away was the target it was destroying? if it was firing beams into another system to destroy Corusant, why were they viewable from Maz's planet? And assuming the planets are even a few light hours away (i.e. about distance from earth to Pluto) there might have been time to activate some kind of planetary defenses as opposed to just getting blindsided. Whereas if the weapon somehow created an artificial singularity/wormhole between the source and the target, then it could have conceivably destroyed planets from a broad distance. I know Star Wars has never been about technospeak, whereas Trek would have went on and on. But even adding a quick line would again have made the weapon seem all the more frightening. And I've already mentioned in another thread that the Starkiller base would have all the more aptly named if the weapon worked by blowing up suns thereby incinerating planets. The only other issue that I had was the Galaxy seemed smaller in this outing. They never seemed terribly far from Jakku at any given time. And when Rey went off to find Luke it took about 30 seconds in hyperspace to get to him. That could have easily been fixed with a couple of edits suggesting a passage of time.
It will be interesting to see where they take Kylo. At first I thought the fact that he was being conflicted between the dark side and the light side meant that he would eventually be redeemed, it will be all the stronger of an arc if we are watching a character descend further and further into darkness. He's of course very strong with the force, and could even be stronger than Anakin/Vader or Luke, but he's undisciplined and not fully trained. Now that he has both patricide and had his ass handed to him by another powerful force-wielder (possibly a cousin) and picked up some battle scars, he might be primed to go even darker. He will want to be more powerful for his next encounter, and Snoke will be able to draw him even more into the dark side, which could include sith training, sorcery from the witches, cybernetics, and whatever else. So unlike some I thought seeing the human behind the mask might be a brilliant move as opposed to a letdown. There is actually the possibility that this will be closer to the arc that Episode 1-3 actually should have shown for Vader. With each movie "Ben" could become more twisted, evil and powerful. His name could even continue to evolve from Kylo Ren to Darth Ren to High Lord Ren or something along those lines. While I liked the Kylo Ren armor, it basically looks like a fanboy knockoff of Vader (which is probably exactly the intent). Assuming he is the primary villain (or at least Snoke's main dragon) by the third movie, Kylo could and should end up making Vader look like a cuddle toy.
Other musings. With Rey Star Wars and J.J. have really delivered the strong female heroine Hollywood has been asking to see. Miles better than J.Law in the Hunger Games or Scarlett in the Avengers. She's plucky, resourceful, hopeful, powerful, and a force-wielder to boot. Also she can act! I absolutely loved her expression when BB-8 pointed out Finn as having taken his master's jacket and she tears off after him with this fierce look in her eyes. Priceless. She played an entire range of emotions unlike Portman who had about 3 different expressions over the whole trilogy. I can't imagine a better choice, and Daisy is just an adorable young actress. I imagine she will be sensational over the next two movies.
Boyega's Finn is equally fantastic for different reasons. The character has a self-awareness and a moral and heroic nature, and it makes sense that he probably grew up a non-conformist trapped in a rigidly conformist system. So of course he risked everything to jump at the first real opportunity he had to get out. The chemistry between Finn and Rey is instant and undeniable. It's just unfortunate that because of the color of the actor's skin folks are wanting to put on the brakes. If they were both the same color (while or black) fans would probably be cheering for them to be a couple. I think they will. I also really like how he played against Ford's Han. On repeat views I think folks are just going to see magic in those exchanges. "We'll use the force!"
I think Isaac's Poe Dameron is good but there wasn't enough screen time for the character. I'm sure we will see it develop in the next movie. I don't know if there will be a love triangle, but I do think he and Finn will have a great bromance. There may be another love interest for Poe because they've already cast a couple of 20ish females for Ep VIII. I am also wondering if BB-8 will somehow get back to Rey, because it does belong to Poe but the pairing was nice.
I haven't seen Harrison Ford this engaged in a film in at least a decade, and he hasn't been a better Han Solo since The Empire Strikes Back. In Return of the Jedi I thought Han was practically neutered. From the moment he stepped back on the Falcon and said "Chewy, we're home" (which played a lot better in context than in the trailers) it was like the "living legend" Han Solo, who shot first by the way, was back.
Of course now we understand why Luke was not featured in any of the trailers, but for the time Hamill was on screen he was gold. He looked right, and keep in mind he was acting only with his eyes.
The only real flat note for me was Carrie Fisher as Leia. Of course they had to bring her back and I'm 100% glad they did. But her acting was practically tone deaf and her voice was grating. She is 59, but looks almost a decade older IMO. And while Fisher complained about being "forced" to lose 35 pounds for the role, she could have stood to lose another 10. Not to say she had to be thin as she is a mature woman, but had she come in with the extra 35 pounds I'm sure her screentime would have been cut and they would have shot her standing behind machinery or other people.
BB-8 was kind of like when a smaller, younger, cuter actor is cast in a TV series. Suddenly the precocious little kid from the first few seasons reaches those awkward middle years. That's what has happened with poor R2D2.
There were some other quips here and there. After all the buildup and a cool design, Phasma was a letdown, but will probably be fine in the coming movie. Hux was okay, but doesn't hold a candle to Tarkin. I don't know if Snoke is 5' tall or 25' tall. It would be cool and different if it's not just a giant hologram but a giant human. But doubtful because he would have to come from a planet of giants and nothing like that has been established in the SW galaxy. So when we finally do see Snoke, I hope the character comes across better, because Palpatine (ep. VI) set a very high bar for how an evil emperor should look and act. And Star Wars needs to get back into the stars and open up the galaxy so that it doesn't feel like "solar system war". That means giant ships, more planets, more species, and more hyperspace hopping.
I do tire of the haters bashing for the sake of it, but it's a fact of life these days. You can't please all the people, but I'd say Disney and J.J. have managed to please 90-95% of them. Keep in mind this is a trilogy with a lot more to come. But it's definitely off to a great start.
At least Luke tried teaching a bunch of students the force. In the OT the Emperor knew about the force, yet his own people doubt it the existence of the force and they made fun of it.
