The Force Awakens - Figure discussion (with SPOILERS!)

[SNIKT1950]

This is truly a good thing. They could've just recycled roles and called it a day. I could see Finn being a Resistance General. Anybody think he's paralyzed? He took a nasty slash to the back.

It would add depth to his character if he does end up a paraplegic. Why? Because nobody would see it coming.

 

[TaliBane]

He's not the new Han at all. Han was the anti-hero. The reluctant good guy. Poe is not reluctant in any way. Heck, He works for Leia and the Resistance.

The closest we had to Han was Finn. He just wanted to desert from the FO and when Maz put him on the spot to help the Resistance he tried to flee (like Han did in ANH).

Honestly all the new leads are truly new. Rey really isn't Luke, Poe really isn't Han, Finn really isn't anything we've seen before.

I thought they copped out with Finn - I wanted more edge. Don't make him the stormie that changes his mind on his first mission, make him a badass who has killed (that "first mission" thing reminded me of Julia Roberts as first time hooker in "Pretty Woman") but has had a reckoning.

Finn was so golly-gosh and at times goofy to me - he's a freakin' former stormtrooper for crying out loud, give him a little edge. I was amazed that when it finally comes out that he used to be a stormie, there really wasn't much reaction. Give him a bit of Lando vibe - he seems like a good guy but can we trust him?

 

[Lumos]

Finn was so golly-gosh and at times goofy to me - he's a freakin' former stormtrooper for crying out loud, give him a little edge. I was amazed that when it finally comes out that he used to be a stormie, there really wasn't much reaction. Give him a bit of Lando vibe - he seems like a good guy but can we trust him?

That's kinda how I felt. He was a little TOO friendly/happy/easy-going for someone who had known nothing but the stormtrooper life since he was a child.

 

[GhostBeard]

Until TFA Luke Skywalker gets announced all this rigmarole is meaningless claptrap!


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[IrishJedi]

He's not the new Han at all. Han was the anti-hero. The reluctant good guy. Poe is not reluctant in any way. Heck, He works for Leia and the Resistance.

You're over-thinking it. Of course they're not the same exact character. But Poe will be the wise-cracking, somewhat brash, handsome rogue of this group. They'll explore this even further with the next film. That's the comparison. Even folks at LFL and Abrams have referred to Poe as this era's emerging "new Han". There will NEVER be another true Han like character, of course. And no one can match the iconic stature of Harrison Ford. But Isaac's Poe Dameron will definitely fill in a lot of those aspects and traits.

 

[Khev]

I thought it was obvious that Poe was the new "dashing hero" of the series though I had to chuckle at the fact that they gave him some pretty big "Princess" moments in TFA. You know, hiding important information in a droid and then being rescued by a Stormtrooper who instantly takes his helmet off when they meet.

 

[Raiders March]

Saw this again yesterday. How did finn get to that age without his b*lls dropping. He has some funny lines but is' nt much of a trooper.
Would'nt the FO pick this up during the course of his military training?

 

[TaliBane]

Yeah, c'mon - time to wake up from the "SW is back!" fumes. It's been a wonderful nostalgic-headrush four weeks, but the harsh light of day is starting to reach what was actually onscreen.

Finn's a pretty weak character (played by an actor the L.A. Times review stated "frankly, seems out of his depth" in TFA) - a supposed "stormtrooper" who's golly gosh and goofy all the way and without a trace of edge, menace or mystery... yes, from a former freakin' STORMTROOPER. He has all the charisma and sex appeal of a big brother character in a Disney Channel show. Poe - although played by a great and versatile actor (huge Isaac fan) - is a bit of a snore. The new Han? C'mon - that's Disney marketing talking, not what's actually onscreen. Maybe with more focus on him in RO they can build a cool character - the actor is certainly able - but as it stands there's not a whole lot there.

Even BB-8 is like the "little Ani" version of R2D2 created by the marketing dept - not a single thing new or innovative about him except the cool mechanical trick of R2's head rolling on a big ball. You wonder why R2 was in that trance the whole movie (or whatever happened to him - couldn't figure that out) - it's because BB-8 stole his soul and there would have been one too many beepity cute-but-brave-at-the-right-moment astromechs in town.

Much of the past month really has been a hype train and I admittedly fell in - absolutely stunned that a SW movie could look, feel and sound exactly like the OT, not have the murky plot confusion, clunky dialog and lack of OT connection of the PT, and could even have Han and the Falcon in starring roles. But just as Disney manipulated the BO records (yes, several of those "records" were indeed cheats achieved by diddling the numbers*) I'm feeling like perhaps my deep nostalgia drove how I was taking things in and have felt about TFA, not necessarily what was onscreen. Maybe by a factor of 70/30. I'm a sucker for OT imagery, vehicles and characters (and fan nods) - of which TFA had most of them, or obvious carbon copies of them.

* just one example is TFA's opening day record where Harry Potter's standing one day record was taken only from Thursday midnight showings (i.e. the movie is actually playing on Friday, just very early in the morning) whereas TFA had 7pm and 10pm Thursday showings also counted into "Friday"'s take, and also factored in special "whole saga screenings" where ticket prices were up to $90 per attendee.

 

[IarnaOrgana]

Well, there's no arguing against an opinion. But I'll put in mine I, for one, think TFA lived up to the hype. While there were a lot of similarities in plot/theme to ANH, the new characters were far from carbon copies of the original line-up. Perhaps that's why it's difficult to say who the "new (insert OT character here" is. Poe is a dashing, brave, pilot but unlike Han - or Luke - in many ways. The same can be said for Rey and Finn. He's definitely not a snore. I seem to recall another character, a certain bounty hunter perhaps, that didn't need a whole lot of lines or screen time to win people over? I'm sure that based on the fan response, we'll be getting a more fleshed-out Poe in Ep 8 and 9. I'm also looking forward to his comic coming out in April.

I thought John Boyega was very charismatic. Finn is the 'average Joe,' the audience insert in the new trilogy. He has much fear in him but he shows himself to be loyal and caring. That was his true fault when it came to being a Stormie - he cared too much. When his friend Slip (I think that's what his name was, at least) died and he saw the FO executing villagers it pushed him over the edge and he ran. I don't think Finn needed to have a lot more edge to him... the scuffle on Jakku was his first real battle after all. I can see where you'd say he was "too goofy" but I thought he brought a welcome levity that wasn't overbearing or obnoxious. As for his "lack of sex appeal," one of the things I like about Star Wars is that they don't cast Abercrombie models. Just because John Boyega won't be strutting the catwalk any time soon doesn't mean he isn't a good pick for the role. Heck, neither Mark Hamill or Harrison Ford were "classically handsome." And for the record, I thought John was adorable

As for BB-8, I loved the little guy. He was more expressive and mobile than R2 (who put himself in low power mode after Luke disappeared, by the way). I thought his relationship with Rey, Finn, and Poe was one of the sweetest parts of TFA. Comparisons are always going to be drawn between R2 and BB-8, but I think he suits the story and the characters going forward. Of course, everything Disney does and will do is skewed toward marketing the movies they make until they can squeeze every last drop of money from the fans. That being said, I thought TFA had a lot of heart, a sincerely respectful attitude towards the OT and the returning cast, and ended up being a great first entry into the new trilogy. Now that they've laid a solid base, they can take more liberties and have more originality moving into Ep 8/9.

 

[ZE_501]

The article follows the same cynical we're-so-cool formula I see all over the Web.

It's okay to critique TFA and it has its flaws, but sometimes I think people forget what they're watching. I don't go out for chicken wings and beers and compare it to 60 day dry-aged ribeye with a super Tuscan.

As usual, people are drawing conclusions as to how a stormtrooper needs to be this badass killer. I dunno, I've met a number of real-life soldiers and seen enough of them on documentaries and news clips. Grunts are just like everyone else, and there were "regular guys" in A NEW HOPE chatting about "that new BT-16". Boyega did a better job with his material than most of the original cast in ANH.

The only thing I'll remotely agree with is the treatment of Poe's character. He had a great moment with Ren when he was staring death in the face and was cocky as ****, but the character was otherwise given no chance to be anything but a guy in a pilot suit, for the most part. Not his fault and maybe we see more down the line.

 

[ShadowX81]

I thought John Boyega was very charismatic. Finn is the 'average Joe,' the audience insert in the new trilogy. He has much fear in him but he shows himself to be loyal and caring. That was his true fault when it came to being a Stormie - he cared too much..

And that is the problem. This is a man that was raised from infancy to be a trained killer and special-ops warrior. He spent his whole life being raised to think of himself not as a person, but as a very small part in a machine. All traces of individuality were systematically and harshly punished to the point where the troopers were not even allowed to have names.

And when we finally see the product of a lifetime of knowing nothing beyond duty to the military, all we get is an "average joe'? He should be a steely eyed soldier, not a caring every man who stumbles his way through his first battle like he is lost.

I liked the idea of a stormtrooper who repented and joined the resistance (in fact it was one of my favorite stories that I made up when playing with my Hasbro figures as a kid) but he needed to start out as a product of the Empire (sorry, "First Order") in order to show the environment he came from and what it did to him. Without a change there is no arc.

 

[Wor-Gar]

The mystery of Snoke is solved...

Snoke spelled backwards is: Ekons

I think the revelation speaks for itself. Pretty incredible.

 

[WWEJedi]

Snoke is a dead clone trooper from an animated cartoon? Dumb theory. Clones wouldn't be able to live that long.

 

[crisis]

And that is the problem. This is a man that was raised from infancy to be a trained killer and special-ops warrior. He spent his whole life being raised to think of himself not as a person, but as a very small part in a machine. All traces of individuality were systematically and harshly punished to the point where the troopers were not even allowed to have names.

FN-2187 was an obvious exception to that rule. They're not using emotionless clones anymore. Stormtroopers are trained to be ruthless, but his heart was obviously never in it. He had no choice but to "go with the flow" during his training, and was looking for a way out for a long time. He's in his early 20's with no field battle experience. He even said it himself, he was appointed to SANITATION duties during his career. Come on, dude. Just because you go through boot camp doesn't mean it's inevitable you'll become a Marine.

It sounds like you & others were probably expecting him to be like Leon from The Professional. I would say sure, if he was in his late 20's/early 30's with plenty of battle-hardened experiences.

 

[SNIKT1950]

Snoke is a dead clone trooper from an animated cartoon? Dumb theory. Clones wouldn't be able to live that long.

Yeah, not diggin' that at all.

Fav theories so far:

1. Rey is Luke's daughter.

2. Rey's mother is Phasma. Phasma was captured by the Resistance and Luke falls in love with her while she's a POW. Phasma defects & they have Rey. When Kylo & the KOR destroy the new Temple, Luke sends Rey off to Lor San Tekka for protection on Jakku and Phasma is captured by the FO for reprogramming. She's told that Rey is dead. This is basically a female take on Vader and Luke where now the daughter must redeem the mother. It also explains Rey's British/Imperial accent.

3. Snoke is an ancient Sith (could be Plagueis, or Revan, or Bane, etc) who comes back to finish what Palpatine & Vader started (yet to be revealed what they exactly they failed to finish) and has mastered immortality via body-swapping. BDT is probably playing his new body in VIII.

 

[crisis]

who comes back to finish what Palpatine & Vader started (yet to be revealed what they exactly they failed to finish)

it's the complete eradication of the Jedi* throughout the cosmos. That was their goal, which is now Kylo's. I thought that was pretty obvious from the start, lol

*and perhaps even further, entirely snuffing out the Light Side of the Force

 

[Glennfett]

1:Rey is Luke's daughter.agree.
2:Rey was placed on Jakku by Kylo Ren after the KOR slaughter the Jedi...watch that scene again, the guy with the circular helmet is NOT a jedi, but a member of the KOR that gets stabbed in the back by Kylo as Rey is on the ground watching.
3:Kylo can use the force on his prisoners to get information from their minds...so I am sure he can easily wipe their minds....ala Rey at a very young age.
So, my idea would be that Rey is the cousin of Kylo, and in his slaughter of the Jedi,Luke would have been offworld for some reason or another, so would suspect Rey is dead.
I also believe Snoke was a pupil of Luke's but turned to the darkside with lust for power.
Or...Snoke is Plagueis.I really only want that so it marries up with the PT.

 

[IarnaOrgana]

2. Rey's mother is Phasma. Phasma was captured by the Resistance and Luke falls in love with her while she's a POW. Phasma defects & they have Rey. When Kylo & the KOR destroy the new Temple, Luke sends Rey off to Lor San Tekka for protection on Jakku and Phasma is captured by the FO for reprogramming. She's told that Rey is dead. This is basically a female take on Vader and Luke where now the daughter must redeem the mother. It also explains Rey's British/Imperial accent.

Hmm I might be able to buy that if they'd cast an older actress for Phasma. And if she'd had more of a presence in TFA. I know we will be seeing more of her, and I'm looking forward to it, but I'm not sure they'd spend such an insignificant time on the new protagonist's biological mother. I actually kind of like the theory that Felicity Jones' character in Rogue One is Rey's mother. At this point, anything is possible!

 

[crisis]

I also believe Snoke was a pupil of Luke's but turned to the darkside with lust for power.
Or...Snoke is Plagueis.I really only want that so it marries up with the PT.

It was confirmed that Snoke is very old, having been around since before Episode I & has witnessed everything that has happened up until this point.

Prevailing theory is that he IS Darth Plagueis; their themes are eerily similar (when Palpatine tells Anakin the tragedy during that scene in Episode III, and Snoke's theme from TFA soundtrack). Palpatine claimed that Plagueis was skilled in manipulating life itself. He is extremely immersed in the Dark Side, having knowledge only a Sith Lord could know. He knows of Vader's lineage, and was aware of the events that lead to his downfall (how??). Snoke has injuries on his face, perhaps injuries he suffered when his former apprentice Palpatine "killed" him...

 

[Wor-Gar]

Was there really someone named Ekons?