Star Wars Spoilers Thread [Spoilers]

So here's my review: 100% a Star Wars film which belongs with the original trilogy.

It's a transitional film, but it does it well. The new generation is really good.

I think the major death was kinda signposted a bit. You knew it was coming long before it happened. I felt worse for Chewie, but he, Rey, and BB8 make a great team.

Is this the first Star Wars film where nobody gets their hand cut off?

Luke lives in Ireland, eh?

Question: WHY was there a map to Luke, and why was it split into two? I feel like I missed something. For that matter, why a map and not just some coordinates? Seems like a random puzzle set up for the sake of it.

 

[dd.stevenson]

accessible is what Mr. Stevenson says it is, and how accessible everyone else seems to find it to be can go hang?

That's uncharitable at best, as I've already said accessibility is a normative value upon which people are free to disagree.

At any rate, I don't think my opinion of TFA is going to be presented any more clearly, or that it needs to take up any more thread space than it already has. To recap, I don't think it was a bad movie, but it was hampered by the need to withhold key information about the background and protagonist. I have hopes that this movie will be more enjoyable when seen after watching its scheduled sequels, but as a standalone experience I just couldn't love it.

 

[Vagabond234]

I posted this in another thread but I'll say it again. Hate how Rey just knew the force and could use a lightsaber against a guy who was training for a long time. I'll all for female power but this seemed too much.

 

[Ovinomancer]

I posted this in another thread but I'll say it again. Hate how Rey just knew the force and could use a lightsaber against a guy who was training for a long time. I'll all for female power but this seemed too much.

Ren didn't appear particularly well trained. He was also thrice wounded at that point. Also, that you think it was a sop to girl power that the female lead used magic to be competent is a bit misogynistic.

 

[Klaus]

I posted this in another thread but I'll say it again. Hate how Rey just knew the force and could use a lightsaber against a guy who was training for a long time. I'll all for female power but this seemed too much.

She was making a running fight, slashing blindly, against a somewhat-trained (even Snoke said Kylo's training wasn't complete) Force user who took a bowcaster (repeatedly shown during the movie to pack a mean punch) blast. Only when she tapped into the Force (and Kylo himself admitted that she was strong in the Force, even if untrained) did she manage to get the upper hand.

 

[Bedrockgames]

I posted this in another thread but I'll say it again. Hate how Rey just knew the force and could use a lightsaber against a guy who was training for a long time. I'll all for female power but this seemed too much.

This really didn't bother me for a few reasons. Personally I am not a big fan of judging movies on whether they pass a diversity test or "do better". I don't really care about that stuff when I evaluate a film. But Rey's development seemed to make a lot sense internally. The movie is called The Force Awakens and Kylo Ren says "there has been an Awakening" so clearly something is going on with her that normally doesn't. This is some special case in all likelihood just like Anakin was a special case. More importantly though, I enjoyed watching her realize she had that power and use it to do some cool things. It was fun and entertaining and made her more compelling.

I would liken it to how characters behave in wuxia films (which is basically what Jedi are, they are pretty much a western version of the kinds of heroes you see in wuxia).

The other reason that last scene didn't bother me is Kylo Ren had just done something that visibly affected him and he was hit by a blaster that they had made a point of saying was hugely powerful. He was still bleeding and punching himself near the wound to psyche himself up to fight. So it isn't like they were taking on a fully rested and healed Kylo Ren. There is also the obvious fact that Kylo wasn't trying to kill her. He was trying to turn her to the dark side.

The most important reason though is Rey was a character I really enjoyed following. The actress did a great job and was right up there with Harrison Ford and Carrie Fischer from the first series. I was interested in her story. If it had felt to me like that was all done just to have a powerful female, I don't think it would have been enjoyable. But this was a quality powerful female character, played well and presented well. If she had been male, I'd have been just as engaged.

 

[Raunalyn]

I posted this in another thread but I'll say it again. Hate how Rey just knew the force and could use a lightsaber against a guy who was training for a long time. I'll all for female power but this seemed too much.

There were extenuating circumstances there. Keep in mind that Kylo Ren *was injured!*

This article sums it up nicely, and I don't know if anyone else has posted it (since this particular thread has grown quite long). Keep in mind that it is a bit vulgar, but brings the point across nicely:

http://geekxgirls.com/article.php?ID=6221

 

[MarkB]

I posted this in another thread but I'll say it again. Hate how Rey just knew the force and could use a lightsaber against a guy who was training for a long time. I'll all for female power but this seemed too much.

Note that most of Rey's focused use of the Force follows Ren's attempted Force interrogation of her, which she reverses through force of will, pulling out details from his own mind.

It's certainly not made explicit, but my immediate assumption was that she'd grabbed more than just a few flashbacks from Ren - she'd seen something of his own Force ability and how he used it.

That's more than sufficient to account for the limited uses she makes of the Force following that scene.

 

[Maxperson]

Ren didn't appear particularly well trained. He was also thrice wounded at that point. Also, that you think it was a sop to girl power that the female lead used magic to be competent is a bit misogynistic.

It was absurd that with no training or knowledge, she just up and dominated the storm trooper. Competence implies skill and she had none.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Skill hasn't ever been necessary for the mind trick. She probably risked dark side points, as it were, but it's far from absurd that a force user who just defended themselves from a mind probe could learn from that and turn it around into pushing their will onto another, already weak mind.

 

[MarkB]

It was absurd that with no training or knowledge, she just up and dominated the storm trooper. Competence implies skill and she had none.

Maybe, or maybe the real trick with Mind Trick is gaining conscious control so that you don't use it accidentally. That might explain how Luke got his own X-Wing in Episode IV.

Luke: "Please, you gotta let me join the attack. I'm a pretty good pilot, really!"
Rebel officer: "I gotta let you join the attack. You're a pretty good pilot, really."