"The Force Awakens" (with SPOILERS)

Or Jar Jar!!!!!

 

I showed little OOP Episode I tonight. She was not impressed. I told her to imagine a build-up just like the one for The Force Awakens, but what fans got was The Phantom Menace.

"Oh, Ewwww."

Ewwwww indeed.

 

I enjoyed The Force Awakens, but there is one thing that is starting to irritate me about the Star Wars universe.
The homework.
It's not enough just to watch the movies and get the entire story. You need to read this book, and that book — oh, and by the way there's about 50 of said books — and 15 prequel comics, and 70 episodes of this cartoon show, etc., etc. Miss even one and you miss some crucial plot point about a third-string background character.
It's a demanding universe to jump into. I appreciate Disney's efforts to streamline it (the nerds are out of control with their bitching about the repurposed plot threads from the Expanded Universe), but all they're doing is replacing it with a new and even more complex version of the EU. By the time Episode VIII comes out it's going to be difficult for the casual fans to sort through it all.

 

Saw it today, and really enjoyed it. Getting tix for the IMAX 3-D was worth it, IMO.

It is what the flicks have always been. A fun ride, a popcorn movie with an overarching theme and archetype characters. It delivered.

Great action. The humor worked. The old characters slipped back on like a warm, comfortable jacket. And the new characters, especially Rey, were great.

Liked that Chewie was played as the (very effective) comic relief, until it got heavy at the end.

For some reason, the exchange as Han, Chewie and Finn were on the snow planet going in to blow up the bad-guy weapon sticks out:

Finn: We'll use the Force!
Han: That's not how the Force works.
Chewie: Howl!
Han, to Chewie: Oh YOU'RE cold?

Great little scene.

Gotta think Lawrence Kasdan helping write was huge. The dialog was free flowing and not ham-fisted as some if the others.

Liked where Ren is starting from. And Finn and Poe are solid characters.

Yeah, the Death Star III could have been improved. Maybe a different climax that wasn't THAT familiar. But it doesn't bother me too much.

Fun movie. Good time, which is what it's supposed to be.

 

I know a guy who complained a bit about the rehashed plot. He's a big fan of the Marvel films. I made sure to point out how Ant-Man is Iron Man rebooted. The defense rests, your honor.

 

Finally saw the movie last night and really enjoyed it. Read through all these comments and you all make some good points.

The one I will add is that I don't think Han's death was as much to service the story or the character as it was to service Harrison Ford's desire to not be in any more Star Wars movies.

 

I saw it for the second time yesterday.

• I suspect that the lack of impact of Hsn's death - it didn't pack the emotional punch we all would desire, I don't think - may be somewhat by design. They have to pace the emotional climaxes here. There is one death in this trilogy that is going to mean something huge, and they have to build to it, not de-sensitize us by making every character exit an emotional wallop.
• I took my 6-year-old this time. It was a treat for both of us. He was shaking with excitement when Luke's appearance neared. He cried tears of joy when Starkiller collapsed.
• I don't like the mercenaries coming after Han. They seemed like standard-issue sci-go stock characters, not "Star Wars" universe characters.
• That said, the door on the creatures head was a callback to "Jedi," right? I haven't seen that out there.
• Ben Solo will not get a redemptive send off, a la Anakin. His arc will take him from conflicted young adult to pure evil. I think he's a red herring anyway. Snoke is the real villain.
• I have a hard time buying into Ren's angst. I know his parents. I like his parents. It doesn't make enough sense, in the story, to me. Why the turn?

 

No it's not! You see, in Iron Man, a hesitant hero uses a technological suit to stop a megalomaniacal villain in another form of advanced technology that would threaten the world. And in Ant Man, a hesitant hero uses ... oh ... nevermind.

 

Interesting take on Ben Solo/Kylo Ren's overall arch. I would actually be surprised if there wasn't some kind of Ben redemption before credits roll on Episode IX, especially if Leia is still in the mix. While you won't have the father/son redemption of the first trilogy, you could still have Luke trying, once again, to lure a family member away from the Dark Side.

And don't you feel like Snoke is just this trilogy's Palpatine? The head villain who doesn't come into full focus until the end, letting his underlings handle the majority of story and action. Or I may just be too conditioned to the story archs of the first trilogy. I actually wouldn't mind seeing a pure good vs. evil showdown, Rey and Luke vs. Kylo and Snoke.

 

Fuckin' Millennials

 

He won't be redeemed. There's nothing sympathetic about him, and we largely know his back story at this point, unlike Vader. Family turned Anakin back. Ben already faced that moment of truth, and killed his father. His fate is sealed. He's a tragic figure in this trilogy. He wants to be Vader. He has the pedigree to be Vader. He doesn't have it in him to be Vader, and he'll go to his death trying, nonetheless. A life wasted.

 

I'm interested in Leia's continued development. She's the one chsracter in the original who didn't really change. She entered as a badass Rebel fighter and exited as one. There are still places to take her story. Unlike Han, it's not run its course yet.