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i_paint_the_sky) wrote2016-01-03 09:07 am
i_paint_the_sky) wrote2016-01-03 09:07 am
Entry tags:
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Hey everyone, happy new year!
I saw The Force Awakens for the second time yesterday, and also have finished reading the novelization (which I do recommend, because it fills some of the holes, though it is also based on an older script so some things aren't necessarily "canon"), so I thought it was time to make a reaction post of sorts.
Overall, I really liked it and have decided that it ranks #4 in SW movies for me, sitting neatly in between the OT and the PT. I do think it was a bit long and a bit too derivative, which keeps it from being able to rank higher, but it's a solid start to the new trilogy. And the best part about it was the new characters, who are all pretty much awesome.
I am also glad that JJ Abrams isn't going to be writing/directing the next two films, since a lot of the derivitive-ness came from his style of movie making. Also, Rian Johnson is awesome (at least from what I've seen, which is admittedly only Looper, but I loved that ... he one of my co-worker's favourite director). Though I see that he's only doing the next episode and the Jurassic World guy is directing IX. Not so sure about that, but we'll see. I typically like part 2 in a true trilogy best anyway.
Anyway, now for the more specific stuff ...
- Rey pretty much has to be Luke's daughter, it's the only way things make sense. Since it's the most obvious thing, I hope that it's addressed early in EP VIII. Maybe Luke will get to say "I'm your father" to her!
- if the above is true, then I think Rey had some really whamming Force stuff done to her memory, to make her think Luke and the Jedi weren't even real when it's pretty obvious she's at least had some Force-training. But I don't think Rey was lying when she said Luke was a fairy tale, which I admit I suspected the first time I saw the film.
- I think Leia knows who Rey is and I think Kylo Ren suspects it as well. One difference in the novel is that he outright states that he does know her, though not until the very end. This was changed in the film but I still feel like his reaction to "the girl" is extreme.
- I keep wondering if the decision to kill Han was partially done in order to get Harrison Ford to agree to come back, since he's been a bit ambivalent about SW in the past (I remember reading something that said he didn't even remember Chewbacca's name, whereas Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher could probably act out the whole movie by memory still). I actually do think it was a good move, story-wise, since it does show Kylo Ren doing what Anakin Skywalker could not.
- I still think Kylo Ren is going to get a redemption plot. Probably partially due to Rey (I wonder if perhaps he couldn't kill her when he turned on the other Jedi students) but I hope Leia gets involved there. She needs more of a role, though I see why Han had to get so much more screentime and good lines, since it was their one chance to use him.
- I wish they had cut the part with Han and the smugglers, or made it shorter. It took the movie a long time to get all the players where they needed to be in order to move the plot forward, which I think was what made it feel a bit too long.
- Or instead of cutting them for time, they could have cut them to add scenes that are in the novelization back! Particularly plot for Leia and her aide who was killed in the planet explosion ... who was freaking played by Freema Agyeman! And now she's dead. And the information about the current state of the New Republic doesn't get shared with the audience, whch is useful context for the Resistance.
- Also, there is an explanation for how the hell Poe got off Jakku that I would have loved to see on screen.
- They had better use Captain Phasma more in the later movies because she looks awesome and the information I've seen about her sounds awesome, and Gwendoline Christie is also awesome. But Phasma on screen is not too exciting, other than continuing the trend of women actually existing in this universe (which is nice). I really think she could be a character on the First Order who isn't morally black and white, given what I've read about her, and that could be neat.
- I actually would really like to see compelling characters on the Dark side for a change. Kylo Ren is already there but having more would be great.
- I don't think Hux is ever going to be compelling though. But he age didn't bother me as much the second time round - the first, I just kept missing Tarkin.
- Also I guess there is Finn, but he's only Light side so fast that I am not sure he counts. I love his backstory though, and the fact that we have a stormtrooper as a character.
- Finn and Rey are absolutely adorable and I am all for them being the end-game romance of this movie, which I'm sure they will be.
- But I still ship Kylo Ren/Rey more. Even knowing that they are almost certainly related (this has not stopped me before). I tend to ship relationships that I find interesting and this one is definitely it. Though fellow shippers are already getting on my nerves with wild declarations about how they aren't related and how much that would suck. It feels very much like the insistance that Harry/Hermione was going to happen in canon.
- Also, not directly related, but I hate the new "trash" term going around fandom. Just ... ick.
- I really wish they had played Duel of the Fates during the last lightsaber fight. It's easily the best thing to come out of Phantom Menace and this movie didn't really have a big, dramatic theme of it's own.
- Second time watching though, I did catch Rey's theme playing more often and I really like it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65As1V0vQDM
- BB-8 is the most adorable, wonderful thing ever.
- Part of me really wants Snook to actually be pocket-sized, but I don't think that should happen because it would take away from him as a threat. Maybe a bit shorter than a human would be good. I don't think he's actually as big as his projection looked.
I think that is all ... but if you want to know my opinion on anything else, just leave a comment.
I saw The Force Awakens for the second time yesterday, and also have finished reading the novelization (which I do recommend, because it fills some of the holes, though it is also based on an older script so some things aren't necessarily "canon"), so I thought it was time to make a reaction post of sorts.
Overall, I really liked it and have decided that it ranks #4 in SW movies for me, sitting neatly in between the OT and the PT. I do think it was a bit long and a bit too derivative, which keeps it from being able to rank higher, but it's a solid start to the new trilogy. And the best part about it was the new characters, who are all pretty much awesome.
I am also glad that JJ Abrams isn't going to be writing/directing the next two films, since a lot of the derivitive-ness came from his style of movie making. Also, Rian Johnson is awesome (at least from what I've seen, which is admittedly only Looper, but I loved that ... he one of my co-worker's favourite director). Though I see that he's only doing the next episode and the Jurassic World guy is directing IX. Not so sure about that, but we'll see. I typically like part 2 in a true trilogy best anyway.
Anyway, now for the more specific stuff ...
- Rey pretty much has to be Luke's daughter, it's the only way things make sense. Since it's the most obvious thing, I hope that it's addressed early in EP VIII. Maybe Luke will get to say "I'm your father" to her!
- if the above is true, then I think Rey had some really whamming Force stuff done to her memory, to make her think Luke and the Jedi weren't even real when it's pretty obvious she's at least had some Force-training. But I don't think Rey was lying when she said Luke was a fairy tale, which I admit I suspected the first time I saw the film.
- I think Leia knows who Rey is and I think Kylo Ren suspects it as well. One difference in the novel is that he outright states that he does know her, though not until the very end. This was changed in the film but I still feel like his reaction to "the girl" is extreme.
- I keep wondering if the decision to kill Han was partially done in order to get Harrison Ford to agree to come back, since he's been a bit ambivalent about SW in the past (I remember reading something that said he didn't even remember Chewbacca's name, whereas Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher could probably act out the whole movie by memory still). I actually do think it was a good move, story-wise, since it does show Kylo Ren doing what Anakin Skywalker could not.
- I still think Kylo Ren is going to get a redemption plot. Probably partially due to Rey (I wonder if perhaps he couldn't kill her when he turned on the other Jedi students) but I hope Leia gets involved there. She needs more of a role, though I see why Han had to get so much more screentime and good lines, since it was their one chance to use him.
- I wish they had cut the part with Han and the smugglers, or made it shorter. It took the movie a long time to get all the players where they needed to be in order to move the plot forward, which I think was what made it feel a bit too long.
- Or instead of cutting them for time, they could have cut them to add scenes that are in the novelization back! Particularly plot for Leia and her aide who was killed in the planet explosion ... who was freaking played by Freema Agyeman! And now she's dead. And the information about the current state of the New Republic doesn't get shared with the audience, whch is useful context for the Resistance.
- Also, there is an explanation for how the hell Poe got off Jakku that I would have loved to see on screen.
- They had better use Captain Phasma more in the later movies because she looks awesome and the information I've seen about her sounds awesome, and Gwendoline Christie is also awesome. But Phasma on screen is not too exciting, other than continuing the trend of women actually existing in this universe (which is nice). I really think she could be a character on the First Order who isn't morally black and white, given what I've read about her, and that could be neat.
- I actually would really like to see compelling characters on the Dark side for a change. Kylo Ren is already there but having more would be great.
- I don't think Hux is ever going to be compelling though. But he age didn't bother me as much the second time round - the first, I just kept missing Tarkin.
- Also I guess there is Finn, but he's only Light side so fast that I am not sure he counts. I love his backstory though, and the fact that we have a stormtrooper as a character.
- Finn and Rey are absolutely adorable and I am all for them being the end-game romance of this movie, which I'm sure they will be.
- But I still ship Kylo Ren/Rey more. Even knowing that they are almost certainly related (this has not stopped me before). I tend to ship relationships that I find interesting and this one is definitely it. Though fellow shippers are already getting on my nerves with wild declarations about how they aren't related and how much that would suck. It feels very much like the insistance that Harry/Hermione was going to happen in canon.
- Also, not directly related, but I hate the new "trash" term going around fandom. Just ... ick.
- I really wish they had played Duel of the Fates during the last lightsaber fight. It's easily the best thing to come out of Phantom Menace and this movie didn't really have a big, dramatic theme of it's own.
- Second time watching though, I did catch Rey's theme playing more often and I really like it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65As1V0vQDM
- BB-8 is the most adorable, wonderful thing ever.
- Part of me really wants Snook to actually be pocket-sized, but I don't think that should happen because it would take away from him as a threat. Maybe a bit shorter than a human would be good. I don't think he's actually as big as his projection looked.
I think that is all ... but if you want to know my opinion on anything else, just leave a comment.