Rey was my favorite. She's obviously very powerful, self-reliant, incredibly fast at learning
(a big thank you to the force)
, and yet I don't think she's in Mary Sue territory. She gets scared. She runs. She is able to overcome those traits, but she still has weaknesses. And that makes for an interesting character.
I think Kylo Ren was a close second. He's obviously very conflicted, and that inner conflict is an interesting one. He's essentially willing himself to be something that -at his heart- it seems like he doesn't want to be. And for all his power (say, that first scene he shows up in), he's also filled with flaws. From my point of view, that makes watching his development very interesting.
I like Finn, too, but I don't know where he's going. He seems to be overshadowed in basically every area by Rey (piloting, fighting, knowledge about the galaxy), and yet he is still pulled to help out. And that's really compelling, for me. He's closer to the every-man, so he's easier to identify with. And even with all that, he still has fear and flaws that he has to overcome. And he does because of his big heart, which makes him easy to root for.
I liked Poe and BB-8, too, even though I didn't think I'd like either much. I was much more impressed by the new characters than by our old favorites. They blew my (low) expectations out of the water. So, props to Jar Jar Abrams for that.
I think that, with Finn, there are two things going for him. One is as you stated, he's the everyman. He makes a good proxy for the audience. The second is that he's full of possibilities. We know that he's important, but why? Did The First Order recruit from families who were strong in The Force, in hopes of discovering their next Vader? Is it just his knowledge of their internal workings? Is he an undiscovered natural pilot or weapon user?
They've got 5 seasons in the can, at this point. Well worth the watch, if you can manage it. Imagine an American 'James Bond' except that he's a well rehearsed alcoholic idiot savant whose mother owns the private equivalent of MI5. He's also a huge fan of "Top Gun", or at least the music from it, and of Burt Reynolds.
BB-8! I loved that robotic ball. There was a lot of emotion into that optic lens, truly. And I like that the movie continued the vein of telling the story as it unfolded around the robots. There's something great about that.
Finn would be my second favourite. I really liked the concept of a Stormtrooper gone rouge and the constant internal debate between being a hero and being a coward. Though there were a couple of lines that felt out of place (in particular, when he asks Rey about a boyfriend. Felts odd in Star Wars), in general I enjoyed the character very much.
Yeah, that's who I went with too. He's got no personal agenda except to escape his old life, and yet when he first sees someone in trouble, his immediate instinct is to help them, and his personal journey is at least equally as compelling as Rey's.
I liked Finn as a everyman character, hiding his secret and wanting to get as far away as possible from his past. But I found it hard to buy in to just how quickly his story arc happened. He came across too much like a nice guy who had just signed on to work with a nasty employer and not like someone identified only by a serial number and brainwashed since childhood who was suddenly having a crisis of conscience.
Rey of course was the most developed character and thus the one who developed the greatest rapport. Her hypercompetence was fitting and I agree not too Mary Sue
I also liked General Hux and in particular the snarkiness and tension between himself and Kyro Ren as they earn points with Snoke. I'd like to see where that relationship is going to take them considering how their respective plans in episode one ended.
I liked Finn as a everyman character, hiding his secret and wanting to get as far away as possible from his past. But I found it hard to buy in to just how quickly his story arc happened. He came across too much like a nice guy who had just signed on to work with a nasty employer and not like someone identified only by a serial number and brainwashed since childhood who was suddenly having a crisis of conscience.
Rey of course was the most developed character and thus the one who developed the greatest rapport. Her hypercopetence was fitting and I agree not too Mary Sue
I also liked General Hux and in particular the snarkiness and tension between himself and Kyro Ren a they earn points with Snoke. I'd like to see where that relationship is going to take them considering how their respective plans in episode one ended.
I've voted BB-8 for sheer cuteness factor of going down the steps, but it's hard to call. It really did come to something when I wanted them to stop focussing on Han Solo and get back to the interesting characters.
Mine is a tie between Poe & BB8. BB8 is fun in almost every scene it's in (unless just rolling along). Poe? I liked his intro. And then he wasn't really in the rest of the movie.
