Star Wars Episode VII

[Ryujin]

Just saw it at a 12:30 pm screening, and I have to say IT WAS GREAT, FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS:

Spoiler

--There were LESS THAN THIRTY PEOPLE in the entire theater.
--I had the freedom to choose where I wanted to sit (balcony, the seat in the very center, of course).
--No screaming little demon children complaining about whatnot.
--No one munching loudly at their food (everyone presumably just had lunch).
--No cellphones ringing, no glaring-bright smartphone screens.
--No one crossing my line of vision to get at a seat.
--No one kicking the back of my seat.
--No one making loud, spoileriffic conversations during the film.
--No usher shining a flashlight for idiot latecomers.
--No one was seated uncomfortably close to one another (everyone had at least a one-seat boundary for their personal space).
--The theater was nice and clean since it was the first screening of the day.

Oh, you mean the film itself. I enjoyed it, although there were some things I took issue with--but that's for next year. Also, Kylo Ren's temper tantrums were hilarious.
Surprisingly enough, I wasn't able to make bingo, which I'll count as a good thing.

[ChaoticSheep1]

It's a shame I did not get to watch it as it came out, I guess I'll have to buy the BluRay or something.

[monster]

It's a shame I did not get to watch it as it came out, I guess I'll have to buy the BluRay or something.

It should still be playing in theaters.

[ChaoticSheep1]

Hehe. Yeah I forgot, my bad.

[Zeonista]

Do we still have to worry about spoilers? Well, better be nice about it. Yes, I have seen it. Wow...I can believe in Star Wars again. My inner child was happy once more at all the action and antics, and my older self appreciated the effort put making The Force Awakens connect with the story that had gone before.

Famous thespian sighting: You!! A-And you!! In the first hour no less!!
BB-8: Great droid, well thought out concept that actually works. (No, that's not a CG construct, that's an actual machine rolling around.) Very cute and likable, even if I have to restrain the urge to run after BB-8 and give him a kick.
"Chewie, we're home.": Yes, yes we were. *sniff*
two smart stormtroopers: Little bits like this really make a difference.
ZOMG!!! Climax 1 & 2: No I'm not telling you, go see it yourself.

[Wingnut]

BB-8: Great droid, well thought out concept that actually works. (No, that's not a CG construct, that's an actual machine rolling around.) Very cute and likable, even if I have to restrain the urge to run after BB-8 and give him a kick.

Hey! He's not some 2-bit Haro you can kick down the hall. The fact that Ray can talk with it in droid language without a translator is an interesting quirk too.

Speaking of mech stuff, the new types were okay I guess, but I still gotta go with T-65 and /ln for my X-Wings and TIEs. Also where the rest of the rebel fighters at? No Y-Wings even? It certainly would have helped.

[ShadowCell]

two smart stormtroopers: Little bits like this really make a difference.

those little mood lighteners are really what Lucas desperately wanted to do and was desperately bad at. he needed uncomfortable racial stereotypes that weren't funny anyway, Abrams can make do with a couple stormtroopers who see their boss going apeshit and just nope on back the way they came.

plus

Spoiler

it is just so perfect that Kylo Ren is an angsty little pissbaby who throws lightsaber tantrums and wears his big goofy helmet so he can look tough and scary and nobody really buys it, and General Draco Malfoy um i mean Hux over there has only as much respect as it takes to keep from getting diced up and not one iota more. he demands to be taken seriously and the universe he inhabits only sort of halfheartedly does so. it means he can grow into a genuine menace, and it's a totally hilarious departure from other villains, for whom the universe always acquiesced completely when they demanded to be taken seriously.

and it led to the Emo Kylo Ren twitter account so you know it's good.

[Calubin_175]

After watching the movie, the family dynamics strongly reminded me of the final chapter in this: http://gundam.wikia.com/wiki/Mobile_Sui ... _Bloodline

[Vent Noir]

Finally saw this, had a great time, loved Rey. Kylo Ren needs to be Brightslapped, though.

Although, come to think of it, Bright's own son turned out a lot like Kylo.

[Zeonista]

Wingnut: I played soccer as a schoolboy. If BB-8 isn't the unofficial mascot for the next World Cup I will be amazed.

Shadowcell: The Force Awakens had a lot of situational humor that was part of the first trilogy and had largely departed from the largely humorless prequels. Well, not entirely humorless, but I have been known to laugh out loud in the theater at things that most people don't. It was good to see that the heroes could get stuff done and look good doing it, without tripping over their dignity half the time. Or sometimes admitting they were doing crazy stuff. "I can do this! I can do this!"

I think Vent Noir shares your opinion about Kylo Ren too. There is something to it, as he is still very much the apprentice and not the master. (Admittedly, I too have often flown into a rage with the desire to hit a computer until it breaks! Stoopid computer... ) It's one of those things that separates the Knights of Ren from the Sith. They haven't got to the respect-my-authority-or-else aura the Sith had in spades. But they haven't earned it yet, and so General Paraguayan Nazi gives him 'tude. Just as well, since the older canon material and the SWTOR game have convinced me the Sith were gratuitous and wasteful to the point of hindrance.

Calubin_175: First Gundam comparison reference, you win a cookie.

Vent Noir: Rey is a real action girl, and no mistake! But would she look great in a dancing girl costume? *flees oncoming Disney lawyers in pin-striped Jegans*

[ChaoticSheep1]

Some of my random thoughts on the movie:

Spoiler

Kylo Ren's face reveal I think should have been left until the Han Solo scene on the bridge.

Fin is my favourite new character alongside that pilot he helps.

The retread of the Death Star I am very conflicted about. At least they made it different.

Some of the cinematography is really bad. Not an expert however and its just my opinion.

The ships scene had my blood pumping and felt and sounded like Star Wars. Although the two seater Tie Fighters seemed really out of place.

[Amion]

Spoiler

I really found the film enjoyable enough. Abrams style of camera angles and zooming in on faces and stuff really, really hurt the movie for me. But I view this movie through three lenses: story/plot, cinematography, and acting/characters.

On the latter front the story had me sold from the beginning. Each new character in the Star Wars universe felt real and interesting. The acting, too, while over-acted now and again, came off about as good as I can expect. Ray was the true star, she really felt like herself, and not an actor portraying her character. It amazed me how well Ford's brilliant performance bolstered her own portrayal in this regard. They definitely enriched each other, same with how Finn and Moz (or whoever she's called) filled their own respective niches.

I liked Kylo Ren/Ben Solo as a character. The actor did well enough, and his portrayal so far shows us at least enough to realize he's being pulled equally by the Dark and the Light sides, with no one who apparently can offer him guidance. I also was pleasantly surprised to find his face reminiscent of Anakin's in subtle ways. Nice tie-in there. My hope is the family patriarch appears to guide his wayward grandson down the path he himself chose to walk, hopefully to redemption at the end he himself experienced. If they pull this off right it could be great story telling.

What surprises me is the backlash people have with Ren. It's obvious he's a character with flaws, but that is what gives him the potential to become something better, to develop properly. I admit the first lightsaber tantrum was taken a bit too far. Perhaps they should have shown him barely containing his rage, so that the second tantrum would then be the first, and obvious straw that breaks his restraint. Would have made him more menacing, more conflicted.

Luke, you look like Obi-wan! And, hey, wait, say something, hurry! No, don't g-*cue ending music* Blast it. Oh well. 2017, then.

On the cinematography:

Sadly, the camera angles and such work left me with a headache. I was VERY disappointed because its clearly a stylistic choice. Members of my family loved it, while I cringed and longed for the old days when cameras didn't pan and shift like hyperactive commercials.

As to the plot: This was where I fell away. We basically got episode IV replaying while Episode VII tries to tell us its story. Shame on Abrams or whoever decided to do things this way, it was foolish. It might work as a homage, but to me it will never escape the miasma and taint of mere fanfiction. Abrams gave us his version of A New Hope, and that's it. Sure, the use of the droid with a McGuffin (the map is a McGuffin, right?) actually came off reasonable enough to me, but the Starkiller Base and all such subplots tied to it were unacceptable.

I feel like the writers were afraid of giving us a new story, and feared the only means of giving the episode dignity was to leach off the original's own appeal. And it failed in my eyes to even snatch half of it. At least the characters intrigued me. There are some new spaces in me Star Wars fan heart for them, and they revived said heart when I felt sure it was long dead.

Like Destiny, I feel the truly interesting stuff is yet to come now that setup is done and Abrams has had his meddlesome turn already. Who knows, maybe Lucas will return to assist more actively where he's needed. The man could give plot, just not dialogue, correct? Then again, I enjoyed episode 1, so perhaps I'm being to forgiving. Either way, new director, new plot direction. New hope.

*That last cheesy bit was not intentional.

[Dark Duel]

@Amion: Maybe it's me, but I had no issue whatsoever with the cinematography/camera work in this film.

They have achieved the impossible. They have actually created a droid cuter than R2! But the scene near the end when

Spoiler

R2 wakes up at last, then displays the map, and BB asks for the data so he can project his bit and fit it together with R2's piece of the puzzle

was so heartwarming.

those little mood lighteners are really what Lucas desperately wanted to do and was desperately bad at. he needed uncomfortable racial stereotypes that weren't funny anyway, Abrams can make do with a couple stormtroopers who see their boss going apeshit and just nope on back the way they came.

OHMYFREAKINGGOD, I KNOW! Unlike with Hoskins and Delta in JW, I actually barely managed not to laugh my ass off right there in the theater when I saw that, but it took some effort.
I also concur with your statements on Kylo Ren.

Speaking of Storm Troopers, I like that the First Order's are actually pretty decently competent and - surprise surprise! - at least some of them are trained in close-quarters combat.

Rey is totally badass. Seriously.

Spoiler

Let me start when she threw off Emo Ren's attempt to mind-rape/mind-probe her with Da Force through nothing more than sheer freaking willpower, and then on the fly, with no formal training whatsoever, managed after a few attempts to Jedi Mind Trick that one stormtrooper? BADASS. And how long she actually held off Emo Ren in a lightsaber duel after Force Pulling it to her and very nearly beaning him in the head with it...and then proceeding to whup his arse despite having no formal training whatsoever? BAD.ASS!

The greatest moment of all though for me was very early, on Jakku, when

Spoiler

Rey and Finn are running for that one slick quad-engine transport, Finn points to another one(which we don't see) and she dismisses it as a heap of garbage, until the slick quad-engine one gets asploded...then as they change direction, we see her. The Falcon herself.
That, and when they get captured by what you think is the First Order...and the doors open...

"Chewie...we're home."

Honestly though, except for that one scene - you know the one, I'm sure. The...casualty - This entire movie was basically one long continuous series of moments that defied and exceeded my admittedly very high expectations, in the absolute best and most awesome way possible.
And if he can top that the way Into Darkness topped his first Trek movie, I can't wait to see what Abrams can give us next...

One final note. I'm not sure if I'm the only one who thought this, but...

Spoiler

when they showed Supreme Leader Snoke, My immediate reaction was something along the lines of
"WTF? When did Gollum become a Sith Lord?"

[SNT1]

This movie has already beat Avaturd as the #1 grossing movie of all time in N. America (and still rising fast). Any poor souls here still hasn't seen this movie?

[ShadowCell]

i don't think it's opened in China yet either?

this movie is going to make all of the money, there will be no money that this movie has not made

[Areku]

this movie is going to make all of the money, there will be no money that this movie has not made

Not true, I may have seen it 3 times already, but there are $9 in my pocket that it won't get. See, right he-- Wait, where'd this Force Awakens ticket come from?

[Dark Duel]

i don't think it's opened in China yet either?

Nope. I do not believe it has yet.

[Amion]

Lord Smeagol! Gollum the Great!

You fools! You thought he died with the Ring of Power in Mt. Doom? Ha! The truth is revealed! It was a dimensional gap between LotR and the Star Wars franchise! Now Gollum, with the force artifact, The Precious, has created his own empire to rule over! All the fishy for him!

[YokozunaBulldozer]

Lord Smeagol! Gollum the Great!

You fools! You thought he died with the Ring of Power in Mt. Doom? Ha! The truth is revealed! It was a dimensional gap between LotR and the Star Wars franchise! Now Gollum, with the force artifact, The Precious, has created his own empire to rule over! All the fishy for him!

...I think we need Patton Oswalt to sort this all out.

[SNT1]

Lord Smeagol! Gollum the Great!

You fools! You thought he died with the Ring of Power in Mt. Doom? Ha! The truth is revealed! It was a dimensional gap between LotR and the Star Wars franchise! Now Gollum, with the force artifact, The Precious, has created his own empire to rule over! All the fishy for him!

...I think we need Patton Oswalt to sort this all out.

You definitely need the Reality Gem involved through that "dimensional gap".