STAR WARS EPISODE 7: THE SPOILERS AWAKEN

[SKO]

I was 100% sure Harrison Ford only signed up so Han could be killed off for good. The movie basically was Han saying "I'm only three days away from retirement" short of giving out every cliche possible indicating he was going to die. The entire scene with Kylo Ren was way too drawn out when it was obvious what was going to happen the whole time.....

...and yet goddammit Han Solo is dead and it hurts.

That was my only real complaint about the movie, they overdid that scene just a bit much. I didn't care for Rey hearing the word "Force" and suddenly realizing she can use the Jedi Mind Trick, but oh well, she was great. I am glad they showed Chewie shooting Kylo Ren and had him hitting his wound during the fight so that it made a novice beating him in a lightsaber duel more plausible.

They did a great job of giving you just enough info to get you really interested in knowing more. How did the Empire become the First Order? Who is Snoke? How did he seduce Ben Solo? Was he someone Luke trusted?

Also  "that's not how the force works!" was maybe the funniest line in the entire franchise.

[Eli]

I was 100% sure Harrison Ford only signed up so Han could be killed off for good. The movie basically was Han saying "I'm only three days away from retirement" short of giving out every cliche possible indicating he was going to die. The entire scene with Kylo Ren was way too drawn out when it was obvious what was going to happen the whole time.....

I had it spoiled for me by some random asshole on Twitter -- screenshot and all -- so I knew it was coming. Overall, I thought the scene was pretty well done. The moment where he yells out "BEN!" was goosebump-worthy.

I actually was most bummed out about it a little later when I realized that there'd be no Han/Luke bromance reunion in future movies.

They did a great job of giving you just enough info to get you really interested in knowing more. How did the Empire become the First Order? Who is Snoke? How did he seduce Ben Solo? Was he someone Luke trusted?

Also, what is Rey's heritage (if any)? I really like her character a lot.

Also  "that's not how the force works!" was maybe the funniest line in the entire franchise.

That also got the biggest laugh from me. Runner-up goes to Poe asking "Are you talking first?" and mocking how hard Kylo Ren was to understand through his helmet.

[SKO]

I was 100% sure Harrison Ford only signed up so Han could be killed off for good. The movie basically was Han saying "I'm only three days away from retirement" short of giving out every cliche possible indicating he was going to die. The entire scene with Kylo Ren was way too drawn out when it was obvious what was going to happen the whole time.....

I had it spoiled for me by some random asshole on Twitter -- screenshot and all -- so I knew it was coming. Overall, I thought the scene was pretty well done. The moment where he yells out "BEN!" was goosebump-worthy.

I actually was most bummed out about it a little later when I realized that there'd be no Han/Luke bromance reunion in future movies.

They did a great job of giving you just enough info to get you really interested in knowing more. How did the Empire become the First Order? Who is Snoke? How did he seduce Ben Solo? Was he someone Luke trusted?

Also, what is Rey's heritage (if any)? I really like her character a lot.

Also  "that's not how the force works!" was maybe the funniest line in the entire franchise.

That also got the biggest laugh from me. Runner-up goes to Poe asking "Are you talking first?" and mocking how hard Kylo Ren was to understand through his helmet.

I am also sad Luke and Han won't run into each other again, especially since the way Han said "yeah, I knew Luke" there was just a tinge of bitterness there. He maybe (understandably) held Luke somewhat responsible for what happened to Ben?

Yeah, the dialogue of that scene was perfect, I think they overdid it by having it happen on a ridiculous over the top even by star wars standards sky bridge over a giant reactor core. It wasn't a lightsaber duel, it was a moment that would have benefitted from a slightly less distracting setting, I think. But they both acted the hell out of it. I also liked when Han touched Ben's face after he stabbed him and smiled, like he forgave him anyway.

As for Rey, they'll go into her heritage somehow. A lot of people think she's Ben's twin but I think that would be very odd that they just abandoned her, regardless of what happened to Ben. I also don't think she's Luke's kid. Someone suggested maybe she could related to Obi-Wan or something. We'll see.

[Chuck to Chuck]

The entire scene with Kylo Ren was way too drawn out when it was obvious what was going to happen the whole time.....

First, I thought he was dead. "I know what I have to do, but I'm not sure I'm strong enough to do it."

Then, he loosened the grip on the saber and I thought, "OK. Maybe happy times ahead?"

Then, the sun went out. Poe's line just before of , "As long as there's light we have a chance!" sealed it.

I thought it was too drawn out AFTER Han get's sliced.

Still a little sad that the movie was more remake than newmake.  How many scenes were taken almost directly from Star Wars and Empire - 8 or 9? But it was so well done I don't really care.  I'm also very glad JJ isn't doing VIII. He's not a very original filmmaker.

[SKO]

The entire scene with Kylo Ren was way too drawn out when it was obvious what was going to happen the whole time.....

First, I thought he was dead. "I know what I have to do, but I'm not sure I'm strong enough to do it."

Then, he loosened the grip on the saber and I thought, "OK. Maybe happy times ahead?"

Then, the sun went out. Poe's line just before of , "As long as there's light we have a chance!" sealed it.

I thought it was too drawn out AFTER Han get's sliced.

Still a little sad that the movie was more remake than newmake.  How many scenes were taken almost directly from Star Wars and Empire - 8 or 9? But it was so well done I don't really care.  I'm also very glad JJ isn't doing VIII. He's not a very original filmmaker.

It definitely aped a New Hope in a lot of ways, but then again, A New Hope is about as bog standard a version of the Hero's Journey as you can get. Anytime you tell that story you're going to see strong similarities. Star Wars has never really been about original concepts. It's basic storytelling. It's all a matter of how well they execute the story and how well they use that universe and how much they make you care about the people going on the journey. It succeeded where it needed to.

[Chuck to Chuck]

The entire scene with Kylo Ren was way too drawn out when it was obvious what was going to happen the whole time.....

First, I thought he was dead. "I know what I have to do, but I'm not sure I'm strong enough to do it."

Then, he loosened the grip on the saber and I thought, "OK. Maybe happy times ahead?"

Then, the sun went out. Poe's line just before of , "As long as there's light we have a chance!" sealed it.

I thought it was too drawn out AFTER Han get's sliced.

Still a little sad that the movie was more remake than newmake.  How many scenes were taken almost directly from Star Wars and Empire - 8 or 9? But it was so well done I don't really care.  I'm also very glad JJ isn't doing VIII. He's not a very original filmmaker.

It definitely aped a New Hope in a lot of ways, but then again, A New Hope is about as bog standard a version of the Hero's Journey as you can get. Anytime you tell that story you're going to see strong similarities. Star Wars has never really been about original concepts. It's basic storytelling. It's all a matter of how well they execute the story and how well they use that universe and how much they make you care about the people going on the journey. It succeeded where it needed to.

I'm not talking about the hero's arc, I'm talking about the specific settings and action points.

- Desert planet
- Hero desperately wants to leave
- Droid with the MacGuffin
- Bar with aliens where you can hire a ship
- Death Star redux
- Trench run
- Father vs. son on a bridge over an abyss
- Stormtrooper "I'm here to rescue you!"
- Guy in mask tortures rebel in prison

I mean, they even turned on the space chess board and showed the practice remote for fan service.

Again, so well done that I don't really care.  That said, if Rian Johnson does this type of thing with VIII, it's going to suck.  You have a nice new sandbox with fun characters to play with. Don't build the same castle again.

[Eli]

The entire scene with Kylo Ren was way too drawn out when it was obvious what was going to happen the whole time.....

First, I thought he was dead. "I know what I have to do, but I'm not sure I'm strong enough to do it."

Then, he loosened the grip on the saber and I thought, "OK. Maybe happy times ahead?"

Then, the sun went out. Poe's line just before of , "As long as there's light we have a chance!" sealed it.

I thought it was too drawn out AFTER Han get's sliced.

Still a little sad that the movie was more remake than newmake.  How many scenes were taken almost directly from Star Wars and Empire - 8 or 9? But it was so well done I don't really care.  I'm also very glad JJ isn't doing VIII. He's not a very original filmmaker.

Above all else, I think they wanted to make sure they did something enjoyable to avoid any prequel comparisons. The easiest way to do that was to go back to what they know worked. Having proven now that they can make something good, I think they might branch out a little more in Episode VIII, especially with Rian Johnson running the show. He's shown a bit more depth/range in his career than Abrams has.

[Chuck to Chuck]

The entire scene with Kylo Ren was way too drawn out when it was obvious what was going to happen the whole time.....

First, I thought he was dead. "I know what I have to do, but I'm not sure I'm strong enough to do it."

Then, he loosened the grip on the saber and I thought, "OK. Maybe happy times ahead?"

Then, the sun went out. Poe's line just before of , "As long as there's light we have a chance!" sealed it.

I thought it was too drawn out AFTER Han get's sliced.

Still a little sad that the movie was more remake than newmake.  How many scenes were taken almost directly from Star Wars and Empire - 8 or 9? But it was so well done I don't really care.  I'm also very glad JJ isn't doing VIII. He's not a very original filmmaker.

Above all else, I think they wanted to make sure they did something enjoyable to avoid any prequel comparisons. The easiest way to do that was to go back to what they know worked. Having proven now that they can make something good, I think they might branch out a little more in Episode VIII, especially with Rian Johnson running the show. He's shown a bit more depth/range in his career than Abrams has.

Yep.

[SKO]

The entire scene with Kylo Ren was way too drawn out when it was obvious what was going to happen the whole time.....

First, I thought he was dead. "I know what I have to do, but I'm not sure I'm strong enough to do it."

Then, he loosened the grip on the saber and I thought, "OK. Maybe happy times ahead?"

Then, the sun went out. Poe's line just before of , "As long as there's light we have a chance!" sealed it.

I thought it was too drawn out AFTER Han get's sliced.

Still a little sad that the movie was more remake than newmake.  How many scenes were taken almost directly from Star Wars and Empire - 8 or 9? But it was so well done I don't really care.  I'm also very glad JJ isn't doing VIII. He's not a very original filmmaker.

Above all else, I think they wanted to make sure they did something enjoyable to avoid any prequel comparisons. The easiest way to do that was to go back to what they know worked. Having proven now that they can make something good, I think they might branch out a little more in Episode VIII, especially with Rian Johnson running the show. He's shown a bit more depth/range in his career than Abrams has.

Yeah, so much of this will hinge on Episode 8 and 9 and how they follow up. Abrams wisely seems to have learned from the Star Trek Into Darkness mess that he needs to go out on top. The first Trek Movie he made was the same way: the new characters were  great, the world was fun, the adventure was good, there was a lot of fan service and then a few really stupid plot contrivances that I tolerated because they had to find a way to get everybody where they needed to be by the end of the movie so the sequel could be a brand new adventure with a new cast.

Then the second movie ended up being a crappy recycled Wrath of Khan. As long as Episode VIII does something new with the new characters, and keeps the old characters in the supporting roles they should be in now, it'll be fine. If they keep cranking up the fan service that'll really wreck things. I think they'll do fine, but I am relieved Abrams was smart enough to do his part and move on.

[SKO]

Fun thing I apparently missed when watching the movie: during Rey's vision when she touches the lightsaber, she here's Obi-Wan Kenobi say "Rey, these are your first steps" alluding to him telling Luke "you've just taken your first steps into a larger world", and apparently Ewan McGregor recorded the "these are your first steps" line and they cut "Rey" out of Alec Guinness saying "afraid" so they were able to get Both Obi-Wans in there.

[Tony]

The entire scene with Kylo Ren was way too drawn out when it was obvious what was going to happen the whole time.....

First, I thought he was dead. "I know what I have to do, but I'm not sure I'm strong enough to do it."

Then, he loosened the grip on the saber and I thought, "OK. Maybe happy times ahead?"

Then, the sun went out. Poe's line just before of , "As long as there's light we have a chance!" sealed it.

I thought it was too drawn out AFTER Han get's sliced.

Still a little sad that the movie was more remake than newmake.  How many scenes were taken almost directly from Star Wars and Empire - 8 or 9? But it was so well done I don't really care.  I'm also very glad JJ isn't doing VIII. He's not a very original filmmaker.

It definitely aped a New Hope in a lot of ways, but then again, A New Hope is about as bog standard a version of the Hero's Journey as you can get. Anytime you tell that story you're going to see strong similarities. Star Wars has never really been about original concepts. It's basic storytelling. It's all a matter of how well they execute the story and how well they use that universe and how much they make you care about the people going on the journey. It succeeded where it needed to.

I'm not talking about the hero's arc, I'm talking about the specific settings and action points.

- Desert planet
- Hero desperately wants to leave
- Droid with the MacGuffin
- Bar with aliens where you can hire a ship
- Death Star redux
- Trench run
- Father vs. son on a bridge over an abyss
- Stormtrooper "I'm here to rescue you!"
- Guy in mask tortures rebel in prison

I mean, they even turned on the space chess board and showed the practice remote for fan service.

Again, so well done that I don't really care.  That said, if Rian Johnson does this type of thing with VIII, it's going to suck.  You have a nice new sandbox with fun characters to play with. Don't build the same castle again.

That's actually one of the few differences. Rey doesn't want to leave Jakku, and when she does all she can talk about it getting back so she doesn't miss her family when they come back for her.

I don't mind the similarities to ANH. I always thought the first prequel should have been more similar to it, so I can't really complain that they did it this time. But they could have mixed it up a little. Jakku didn't need to be a desert planet, and they didn't really need Starkiller Base to be a super weapon. They could have gone to a random First Order base to rescue Rey and have all the same other stuff happen without having to blow it up before it blew them up.

But overall I loved it. It was funny. The introduction of the Falcon was awesome. BB-8 was everything Jar Jar was supposed to be. Daisy Ridley was great, as was the rest of the new cast. I'll be going to see it again.

[Tony]

I actually was most bummed out about it a little later when I realized that there'd be no Han/Luke bromance reunion in future movies.

I am also sad Luke and Han won't run into each other again, especially since the way Han said "yeah, I knew Luke" there was just a tinge of bitterness there. He maybe (understandably) held Luke somewhat responsible for what happened to Ben?

I was worried about that happening before the movie even started. You had to figure Han was going to die, but I spent the first two thirds of the movie hoping Luke would show up first so they could be on screen together one more time.

[SKO]

The entire scene with Kylo Ren was way too drawn out when it was obvious what was going to happen the whole time.....

First, I thought he was dead. "I know what I have to do, but I'm not sure I'm strong enough to do it."

Then, he loosened the grip on the saber and I thought, "OK. Maybe happy times ahead?"

Then, the sun went out. Poe's line just before of , "As long as there's light we have a chance!" sealed it.

I thought it was too drawn out AFTER Han get's sliced.

Still a little sad that the movie was more remake than newmake.  How many scenes were taken almost directly from Star Wars and Empire - 8 or 9? But it was so well done I don't really care.  I'm also very glad JJ isn't doing VIII. He's not a very original filmmaker.

It definitely aped a New Hope in a lot of ways, but then again, A New Hope is about as bog standard a version of the Hero's Journey as you can get. Anytime you tell that story you're going to see strong similarities. Star Wars has never really been about original concepts. It's basic storytelling. It's all a matter of how well they execute the story and how well they use that universe and how much they make you care about the people going on the journey. It succeeded where it needed to.

I'm not talking about the hero's arc, I'm talking about the specific settings and action points.

- Desert planet
- Hero desperately wants to leave
- Droid with the MacGuffin
- Bar with aliens where you can hire a ship
- Death Star redux
- Trench run
- Father vs. son on a bridge over an abyss
- Stormtrooper "I'm here to rescue you!"
- Guy in mask tortures rebel in prison

I mean, they even turned on the space chess board and showed the practice remote for fan service.

Again, so well done that I don't really care.  That said, if Rian Johnson does this type of thing with VIII, it's going to suck.  You have a nice new sandbox with fun characters to play with. Don't build the same castle again.

That's actually one of the few differences. Rey doesn't want to leave Jakku, and when she does all she can talk about it getting back so she doesn't miss her family when they come back for her.

I don't mind the similarities to ANH. I always thought the first prequel should have been more similar to it, so I can't really complain that they did it this time. But they could have mixed it up a little. Jakku didn't need to be a desert planet, and they didn't really need Starkiller Base to be a super weapon. They could have gone to a random First Order base to rescue Rey and have all the same other stuff happen without having to blow it up before it blew them up.

But overall I loved it. It was funny. The introduction of the Falcon was awesome. BB-8 was everything Jar Jar was supposed to be. Daisy Ridley was great, as was the rest of the new cast. I'll be going to see it again.

It's true, the movie is basically no different if Starkiller Base is replaced with a non planet-destroying weapon. I guess the new Senate was on that planet it blew up? Eh, you could have had the First Order bomb the senate like a bunch of terrorists or something without recycling another superweapon.

But yeah, my complaints are all very minor. The main thing it did was create characters I give a shit about, which was the biggest failing of the prequels. You knew where Anakin and Obi-Wan were both going to end up, so the appeal of the movies had to come from how much you liked and cared about them and felt Anakin's fall, and they failed so utterly at that.

[Chuck to Chuck]

The entire scene with Kylo Ren was way too drawn out when it was obvious what was going to happen the whole time.....

First, I thought he was dead. "I know what I have to do, but I'm not sure I'm strong enough to do it."

Then, he loosened the grip on the saber and I thought, "OK. Maybe happy times ahead?"

Then, the sun went out. Poe's line just before of , "As long as there's light we have a chance!" sealed it.

I thought it was too drawn out AFTER Han get's sliced.

Still a little sad that the movie was more remake than newmake.  How many scenes were taken almost directly from Star Wars and Empire - 8 or 9? But it was so well done I don't really care.  I'm also very glad JJ isn't doing VIII. He's not a very original filmmaker.

It definitely aped a New Hope in a lot of ways, but then again, A New Hope is about as bog standard a version of the Hero's Journey as you can get. Anytime you tell that story you're going to see strong similarities. Star Wars has never really been about original concepts. It's basic storytelling. It's all a matter of how well they execute the story and how well they use that universe and how much they make you care about the people going on the journey. It succeeded where it needed to.

I'm not talking about the hero's arc, I'm talking about the specific settings and action points.

- Desert planet
- Hero desperately wants to leave
- Droid with the MacGuffin
- Bar with aliens where you can hire a ship
- Death Star redux
- Trench run
- Father vs. son on a bridge over an abyss
- Stormtrooper "I'm here to rescue you!"
- Guy in mask tortures rebel in prison

I mean, they even turned on the space chess board and showed the practice remote for fan service.

Again, so well done that I don't really care.  That said, if Rian Johnson does this type of thing with VIII, it's going to suck.  You have a nice new sandbox with fun characters to play with. Don't build the same castle again.

That's actually one of the few differences. Rey doesn't want to leave Jakku, and when she does all she can talk about it getting back so she doesn't miss her family when they come back for her.

I don't mind the similarities to ANH. I always thought the first prequel should have been more similar to it, so I can't really complain that they did it this time. But they could have mixed it up a little. Jakku didn't need to be a desert planet, and they didn't really need Starkiller Base to be a super weapon. They could have gone to a random First Order base to rescue Rey and have all the same other stuff happen without having to blow it up before it blew them up.

But overall I loved it. It was funny. The introduction of the Falcon was awesome. BB-8 was everything Jar Jar was supposed to be. Daisy Ridley was great, as was the rest of the new cast. I'll be going to see it again.

Fair point. I keep going back to that scene of her watching the ship take off. I guess she was more remembering whomever left her behind leaving than wanting to leave.

Did laugh but get a bit annoyed with the banter between Rey and BB8 echoing 3PO/R2 deciding which way to go in the desert. And inside the base, the stormtroopers could even be heard saying a direct line from ANH "We think they may be splitting up now..."

But the Falcon and the callback to "What a hunk of junk!" was excellent.

The whole thing was fun and a great deal of nostalgia.  I'm buying it Day 1 on BluRay.  Do something different next time.

[Canadouche]

I felt this movie definitely had elements of all three of the original trilogy. So, yeah, hopefully the next one is markedly different from Empire, except perhaps for a downer ending.

I've read in a lot of places where folks are confused about Rey and her parentage. My theory is that she is the child of two Force Adepts who were in training with Luke when Kylo went evil. I think Kylo is supposed to be 10-15 years older than her, and she would've been a toddler when everything went down. Trying to escape the inevitable, her parents must've taken her to Jakku and dropped her there, promising to return later only for Kylo to catch up with them before they could. This would explain why nobody seems to recognize her except possibly Luke.

(Alternatively, I suppose it's possible that Luke had a wife who ran with their daughter, but you'd've thought he'd have known if she died and he would've turned the galaxy upside down to find her.)