Hey, everyone!
We’ve posted our spoiler-free (except where carefully marked and whited out) Star Wars: The Force Awakens review, and asked that you keep the comments spoiler free.
But we know a lot of you (and us!) have seen the movie and are dying to talk about it. Here’s the place!
SPOILERS FOR THE FORCE AWAKENS ARE ALLOWED IN THE COMMENTS.
If you have not seen The Force Awakens, this is your SPOILER ALERT.
Shall we open up our spoiler tags?
CarrieS: There were so many crowning moments of awesome in this movie, and thank god for John Williams who really brings the awesome to those bits. Best two lines:
- I know how to run without you holding my hand!
- Yes, I’m a member of the resistance, this is what we look like.
DROP MIC, BOYEGA. BOOM.
RHG: “How does this work? You talk, I talk? It’s hard to tell with the mask.”
Former stormtrooper decides to become a person! He gets a name! Can we get the Finn and Poe Roadtrip series please? PLEASE?
REY IS EVERYTHING AND SHE IS AWESOME YAY.
::flails::
CarrieS: ::flails also::
RHG: Okay so. Theory: Rey is obviously a Skywalker kid, but the question is: is she Luke’s daughter, or is she Leia and Han’s (and possibly Ren’s twin) who everyone has been Force-kablammed into forgetting?
DID YOU NOTICE THAT HAN CALLED REN “BEN”?
CarrieS: I DID!
RHG: Mark Hamill got second billing for three minutes of work that was all face-acting. NIIIIIICE.
Um.
::flails more::
CarrieS: I feel like we’re sort of out of steam because honestly now it’s just flailing I mean OMGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
OK, Rey – I was sure she was Ren’s twin and I’m really frustrated that they didn’t do a reveal. So now I’m assuming she’s Luke’s kid, because of her connection to the lightsaber. I assumed she was Leia’s daughter because for fucks sake she looks just like her, but since Luke and Leia are twins Natalie Portman would be Rey’s grandmother so it would still make since that Amidala, Leia, and Rey look alike.
Just for the love of all that is good and holy don’t make her Finn’s secret long lost sister! (That’s not gonna happen).
RHG: My theater cheered with the Millennium Falcon took off, and I know a friend of mine punched the air when Rey Force-grabbed the lightsaber and lead HIS theater in a cheer for that. Also the Stormtrooper Rey first tricked with the Force? DANIEL CRAIG. Because he’s a nerd like us!
CarrieS: Oh Daniel Craig, how I love you. I have a dream that one day Tom Hardy and Daniel Craig will star in a reality show in which they visit MRA guys and have heart to hearts with them. “Misogyny is fucking awful, mate,” they’ll say.
If you have seen it (or if you don’t mind SPOILERS) chat in the comments to your heart’s content! Let the Kermit flails begin!
Oh, and did I mention: BEWARE, THERE WILL BE SPOILERS IN THE COMMENTS.
It was everything I didn’t know I needed Star Wars to be. Also, the islands at the end are real and off the coast of Ireland, so spare a thought for the poor cameraman who had walk backwards up Sceilig Michail.
I haven’t seen it yet, but don’t mind being spoiled. In fact, I’d like to be spoiled: are Han and Leia still together? They didn’t mess with my lifelong Star Wars ‘ship, did they?
It was everything I wanted. IT WAS EVERYTHING I WANTED EXCEPT FOR tHAT ONE THING.
I’ve been a Star Wars fan since the original movie. My brother got to see Star Wars the first time my mother ever allowed us to go to the movies by ourselves. I had to take my little sister to see Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo. And boy did I resent it. Thankfully, we got to see Star Wars at a drive in later that summer. I saw Empire at the theatre. I saw the first two movies and Return of the Jedi all back-to-back in Cambridge when it was first released. I went to the midnight showing of Phantom Menace with little brother the day it released. And even sat through the other two prequels in a theatre.
I wanted to go to see it on Friday, but real life responsibilities got in my way. And then I was accidentally spoiled about something (grumble, grumble) and had to go looking for more because I wanted it not to be true. So having read some of the spoilers for The Force Awakens, I don’t think I want to see it.
Oh, I’m sure I will love Rey and Finn. The visuals all look wonderful. I don’t even mind that Han is killed by his and Leia’s son. It’s the fact that Leia and Han aren’t together that I can’t accept. The director did an interview in which he said that Han was not the settling down type. Sure the Han we met in the first film wasn’t, but did the man sleep through ESB or ROTJ?
Also, it seems to me from what I’ve read that none of the events of the original trilogy made any difference. The message seems to be that it doesn’t matter what we do because history is just destined to repeat itself. No one is allowed to be happy in a committed relationship. Han unable to hang on to any character growth just plays into the (I think false) idea that all men don’t want to grow up.
I could handle them having a seemingly evil child. But why couldn’t they have a few good kids too? Why couldn’t they have stayed together and tried to solve their problems? I would have been okay with them killing him off if they hadn’t seemingly trampled all over everything I loved about the original films. As excited as I was when they announced Carrie Fisher and co would be in the film, I’m now wishing they had left the original trio out and gone with all new characters.
While I do consider myself a Star Wars fan, I guess I am even more of a Leia & Han fan. And I am just sad today.
A part of me is still hoping the spoilers I read were wrong. So if that’s the case please tell me.
Part of me feels ridiculous for being upset. But ESB and ROTJ gave me and I know others a first couple to really root for and supposedly their HEA. So to have it taken away just makes me feel so bummed.
The tentacle scene was funny.
library addict: Me too. I’m actually a bit gutted now! In a way, I’d rather they’d just left it. I’ve loved the original trilogy since I was probably too young to be watching them with my dad. I tmight just avoid the movie and live happily in denial! 🙂
I was 15 when A New Hope came out and saw it three times. It also unleashed an onslaught of fanfiction (before I knew it was a thing) featuring Draco in Leather Pants Darth Vader and Mary Sue. My parents’ marriage had just broken up when The Empire Strikes Back was released and I saw it once with each parent. I was seven months pregnant when Return of the Jedi opened. My son likes to say he saw it in the theatres on opening day.
As for the prequels, I didn’t hate them. In fact, The Phantom Menace inspired a lot of angsty slash fic, but I became increasingly less interested and invested with each release.
So, I saw The Force Awakens last night with my husband and son and I enjoyed it so much. Maybe there was a little too much pandering to Old Skool fans (like me) at the expense of developing a new story, but there are two more movies to flesh out the bits I felt were lacking. I want more Gwendoline Christie!!! In fact, I demand it. Don’t force me to start writing bad fanfiction.
As for Han and Leia, the love was still there – that was obvious. I got the impression that grief or guilt or anger over the fate of their son had driven a wedge between them.
Rey was awesome; she kicked ass, but still conveyed vulnerability and her chemistry with Finn was great. The relationship between those two was one of the highlights of the movie. My son is hoping that it doesn’t turn into a romance. He says he likes the respect and deepening affection between the two. I’m almost attempted to agree with him. It would be nice to see a leading female character achieve her destiny and fulfill her potential without it being necessary that she find a mate.
I could on and on about what I loved and my (very few) quibbles, but just seeing the crawl, hearing the John Williams score and immersing myself in Star Wars once again almost brought tears to my eyes.
Having said that, who the hell gets tickets to the most anticipated movie of the year on opening day and spends half the movie checking their phone? And starts yakking during the final scene? My son told her to shut up. There were, unfortunately, about 8 or 10 people directly in front of us, who, you could tell, got tickets so they could brag they saw it on opening day, not because they had any interest in the movie.
I was SO distracted by the casting of Ren after having watched “Girls”. There, I said it.
ALSO: My family can’t stop watching the cast sing the theme song on the Tonight Show.
The ONLY returning cast member who didn’t receive whoops of delight when they made their appearance on screen? Carrie Fisher. Second saddest part of the movie-going experience for me. 🙁
The minute they got to that bridge, I knew it was coming.
I was completely unspoiled going in. Avoided even looking at posters. Saw the “We’re home” trailer and didn’t look for more. I didn’t even watch publicity interviews or anything like that.
I’m glad I didn’t. My brain wasn’t waiting to fill in gaps with what I’d spoiled with.
Am sure that the makers got bogged on time, and necessary filmed bits ended up getting cut to speed up story. I’ll wait for director’s commentary. It feels like I let him/her sit next to me and whisper secrets sweetly in my ear.
I could see the nods to fans of eps 4,5 & 6 and avoidance of 1 to 3.
Worth the price of an opening day ticket for me. And a dvd re-watch in future.
“The minute they got to that bridge, I knew it was coming.”
Yes. I started shaking. And when it happened, I started weeping.
I don’t know if it “had to happen,” but at least they treated the heroes of my childhood with respect.
But then, when the light saber came to Rey and she held it with such fierceness and intent? I sobbed. I hadn’t realized how very, very badly I needed to see that until that moment.
I can’t pretend I have some lifetime affection for Star Wars–I was born the year Return of the Jedi came out, and while I have seen the original trilogy, I never saw Episodes I-III (and have been assured many times that was not necessary). I can’t say for certain that I’ve even seen Episodes IV-VI at any point in the last fifteen, maybe twenty, years. I only went because a coworker found himself with an extra ticket at the last minute.
And yet, like others have mentioned, as soon as Adam Driver walked onto that bridge I knew what was going to happen. I cried. Most in the theater gasped; someone fully screamed.
Love, love, LOVE that this movie’s hero was a woman, who was not dressed in some super-revealing or wholly impractical outfit, and that when she found herself captured, she all but rescued herself. She was not used as the set-up for the man to come in and be the hero. (Also love that she looked appropriately greasy throughout, as she clearly would not have bathed often. Always bugs me when women are stranded in the jungle or desert or some such and yet maintain perfect blowouts and enviable eyeliner.)
I have so many questions about the backstory here. How did Finn have a conscience? How did he even know some other life was possible, if this was all he knew from infanthood? At what point did Ben go bad and how long has Luke been hiding? I accepted that Han and Leia weren’t together at the moment because I could see each of them reacting differently to their son’s actions, and there was so much love and affection evident between the two. How did Ren make it off the death star before it blew up (because obviously he did–there’s two movies to go!)?
I didn’t need Han and Leia to still be together; many things can tear a couple apart, and an evil son could do just that. The hug they shares was so tender and bittersweet. *sniffle*
Han has been my favorite character all along, and I was so sad when he was killed, but on my way home after the movie, I was contemplating it more realistically.
Harrison Ford apparently only signed on for one movie, and let’s face it, he’s getting a bit old to be playing the swashbuckling action hero. I guess they could have made Han more of an adviser, but that’s not the character’s personality. He’d want to be in the middle of the action, shooting and flying the Millennium Falcon. And I can’t imagine another actor stepping into that role, so killing Han was probably the best choice. Also, it sets up a lot of drama for future films. Leia will probably confront her son at some point, and how much guilt will she have that she asked Han to “bring him home”?
Having said all of this, I hope another character steps up to be another wisecracking, swashbuckling, funny character that’s similar to the one that Harrison Ford so effortlessly brought to life through four movies. 🙂
Add me to the women who started crying when Rey held the lightsaber. I spent most of my childhood whizzing around with sticks and making lightsaber noises while knowing that only the boys got the lightsabers. Leia was great, and she shot blasters and strangled aliens with her own slave chains, but she never got to duel, and don’t get me started on Padme Amidala.
I think this is the first time I’ve viscerally got the representation thing – I understood the importance of representation on an intellectual level, but not like this, not when you start crying because there’s somebody like you on the screen. There’s a GIRL with a light saber. And you know, the movie posters and promotions set it up very much that Finn would be the new guy with the blue saber, and that’s what I was expecting: the good guy with the blue, the bad guy with the red, and hopefully, a girl character who wasn’t just being ‘feisty’ but genuinely independent. I did think Finn was terrific (and everyone who liked John Boyega in this part should go watch ‘Attack the Block’, in which he’s marvellous) but oh, Rey.
Also loved the apparent widespread affirmative action hiring policies which appear to have swept the Resistance after the Battle of Endor. Girl pilots! Girl engineers! More women in the command room! Hooray!
No cheers for Leia in my theater after cheers for Han and Chewie. But no cheers for Luke either so maybe everyone was just done. The men in my household went on and on about how Carrie Fisher had aged poorly which led to a shouting match between me and them last night because I thought she looked exactly like a 59 year old woman looks. And she looked normal and great and I hope I look as good in 12 years!
There were definitely cheers for Leia in our theater, it never occurred to me that some wouldn’t cheer. She’s a general, THE general. Awesome.
“There’s a GIRL with a light saber.” This. And GIRL pilots during the final battle where we actually get to hear a GIRL pilot’s voice. Part of me is so completely delighted about this; another part is kind of pissed off that I’m happy with even a little more representation. I’m 61. How much longer do I have to wait until it isn’t such a big deal, until girls with light sabers are the norm?
Wore my starwars t shirt and socks! LOVED this movie! And in my theatre we had BIG whoops and cheers for General Leia!!! I cried or welled up at least, a dozen times I’m sure! I loved the throw backs to old skool, loved that the old AT ATs were sunken in the sand! When the falcon took off totally cried! LOVED Rey…. Who is she….. Has to be a skywalker, I want her to be Luke’s daughter. I refused to listen to fan plots or spoilers so I had idea about the death, I’m still processing that.
Is JJ Abrams doing the next one??
Sigh….. Must see it again!
I have been a huge “Star Wars” fan since I was a little kid and my parents showed my sister and me the original trilogy, and “The Force Awakens” was EXACTLY what I wanted. I actually didn’t cry as much as I expected to, especially because I was able to steel myself for the big death scene because it was set up so well throughout the movie. I was crushed, of course, but it hurt so good. But, yes, as soon as he walked out onto the bridge, and then Rey showed up to watch … I knew it was all over. Ouch.
I was THRILLED by the diversity in the cast, both the major characters and the background characters. It really does mean so much to me that this movie had a woman wielding a lightsaber and using the Force in battle, a woman serving as a general, and women flying X-wings. And I am so happy for the next generation – a friend of mine reports that her 2nd grade daughter has been playing Star Wars with her younger sisters since she saw the movie. I’m glad those girls are growing up in a world where women can be Jedis and X-Wing pilots and military commanders.
Two more things: BB-8 was even more adorable than I was expecting. And Oscar Isaacs as Poe Dameron made me absolutely swoon.
Just got in a few hours ago from seeing it, was good, although perhaps trying a bit too hard to be Star Wars-y, would watch again, but…
…It really felt to me like they cut out about 5-10 minutes that were needed right at the beginning, in favour of the more action packed start. That missing bit should have set up Poe as a character, Leia as Resistance General, drop hints about the political situation — continuing chaos and fragmentation years after the fall of the Empire, it looks like — and give a reason to go find Luke rather than continuing to respect his obviously long-standing wishes not to be found.
Something like:
Poe lands his X-Wing at Leia’s HQ, as he and BB get out, fellow pilots on the pad raz him that the ‘best pilot in the galaxy’ has been reduced to an errand boy shuffling dispatches from the politicians around. He gives them some friendly backchat, until he’s told ‘The General wanted to see you immediately you got back’. He heads over to the rough hewn command centre, where people (of various species) are doing command centre-y stuff, and Leia is in the middle of it. She notices, steps aside to talk to him: ‘Did they approve the mission?’, he hands her the dispatches, she starts reading them. He say she’ll need to tell him, whatever the decided they didn’t seem real happy with her. She tells him they think she’s too personally involved, but if they didn’t want her personally involved they shouldn’t have assigned her to organise resistance in First Order occupied systems. Although maybe the assignment means they’ve finally given up worrying that she’s her father’s daughter after all these years.
And now *Leia* has a suitably weird Force flashback/forward thing.
Poe, snaps her out of it (calling her Leia rather than General for the first time in the scene) and then he — or maybe BB — boldly asks what that feels like.
Leia: ‘It feels like something is awakening, and that we are part of that something.’.
She’s not a Jedi. She doesn’t know what’s been happening in the Force, only that something (big, huge) is. There is only one known surviving Jedi in the galaxy. The mission to find her brother has been approved.
So Leia sends Poe and BB to Jakku to find the guy with the map chip, mentioning that she’ll be sending out orders to concentrate her forces in case they need backup. She tells Poe she would prefer if she didn’t have to use them for that as she been hearing disturbing things about the First Order’s massive recently completed planet-side construction in (system where not-the-death-star planet is located), but Kylo Renn, at least, has to be feeling this too.
Poe on Jakku and the Storm-troopers doing their drop on the village then becomes the second major scene. Unless we want to do Rey’s setup scenes first.
…
Rey had good set up, Finn had pretty good set up but perhaps could have done with some more, Han was set up quite clearly as Episode IV Han. Poe and Leia as General didn’t really have set up, they just got dropped straight in. And the whole force awakening thing of the title just ended up as a single line for one of the bad-guys, and maybe only related to Rey, when they could have hinted at it developing into a lot more than that.
Also, would prefer less crazy psycho and thus more menacing villains for the next one please. 🙂
I just got back from seeing the movie, so if my thoughts tend to ramble, I apologize. First thing to get out of the way–I loved it. It had a great mix of humor and action, and the acting was very good–with one exception which I’ll get to in a bit. But overall, I felt that it was much closer to the original trilogy than the prequels.
My heart broke at the bridge, even if I sensed it was going to happen the minute Han saw Ren. When Han stepped onto the bridge, I was like, “Yup, he’s not coming back. There’s no way for him to escape from there.”
Seeing Rey dueling Ren with the lightsaber–BEYOND AWESOME. From the very beginning, it’s clear she’s not the kind of woman who needs to be rescued–she’ll rescue herself, thankyouverymuch. I too figured Rey was a Skywalker, but Han and Leia talk about what happened with their son and never mention a daughter. Not only that, but Rey’s flashback of being left behind on Jakku shows that while she was fairly young when it happened, she would’ve been old enough to remember what her parents looked like.
I know, I know–there’s a chance she’s Luke’s daughter and she wasn’t abandoned but hidden to keep her safe. If so, why? Luke went into seclusion after Ren turned to the Dark Side. They don’t say how long ago it happened, but the age difference between Rey and Ren doesn’t seem to be great enough for her to be as young as she was when she was left on Jakku. I’m more inclined to think Rey’s not related to them at all, her reaction to the lightsaber notwithstanding.
Which brings me to the person we know is of Skywalker descent–Ren. I’m sorry, but when he first lost his temper and started destroying things with his lightsaber, I thought, “This is the villain we’re supposed to be afraid of?” What made Darth Vader one of the best villains ever was how calm he always was. Even when he was pissed off, he wasn’t one to go around throwing temper tantrums. Granted, at this point Ren is close to the age Anakin was when he turned to the Dark Side than how old Vader was by the time we first saw him. And we don’t know how long it took for the Vader who howled in agony at the loss of his wife to become the cold, controlled Sith lord of the original trilogy. But seeing Ren, I was like, “Why does anyone think this whiny brat is so important?” Of course, Han tells Ren that he’s just Snoke’s tool, and he was more than likely right. But still, it was a little fly in the ointment for me.
Well, that and the actor playing Ren. I knew it was Adam Driver under the mask. Until he took it off, I wasn’t really bothered by it. Then he did take it off and after that, I couldn’t stop thinking, “They got the annoying little brother from ‘This Is Where I Leave You’ to play the villain?” It threw me off and took me out of the movie a bit.
But other than that, I really enjoyed it. I’ll definitely be there when the next film comes out in a couple of years.
I’m sorry, but when he first lost his temper and started destroying things with his lightsaber, I thought, “This is the villain we’re supposed to be afraid of?”
@Azure, I had that same thought. I loved the movie overall, but those scenes where he lost his temper pulled me out of it. I can kind of understand /why/ he lost his temper, but I think it would have worked better if he’d have gotten angry like that in private, rather than in front of everyone.
I haven’t seen it yet, but I’m reading this specifically for the spoilers. (Yes, weird.)
Like so many others, I saw the first SW movie 3 times in the theater the week it came out. (Twice I went by myself since there were no other girls willing to go to a dumb sci fi movie with me.) I don’t know if people who didn’t experience it in that context can truly understand how amazing and groundbreaking it was at the time. And I don’t think I’ve ever experienced that kind of lightning bolt of excitement that occurred in the opening minutes of that movie in any other movie since.
That said, the second trilogy was such a letdown for me. Probably in part because of my age, but also, frankly, because they just didn’t measure up. I’m thrilled that the franchise has gotten back on track with people cheering in the theater again. Can’t wait to see it.
I saw Star Wars as a kid when it came out (my big brother took me) and I have loved the character of Princess Leia my whole life. I was, of course, her for Halloween one year and I have the Barbie size Leia doll with the hair bun doughnuts stil.
I had mixed feelings when I heard about the film being made because I know it is the curse of sequels to scuttle the happy ending of previous films. (Don’t even get me going on Miss Congeniality). I told myself to just go and accept whatever bittersweet story they present (unless it’s junk then feel free to ignore it). I thoroughly enjoyed the film, probably because I went in with worst case scenario expectations and as bad as it was having them tell me Leia and Han didn’t live happily ever after it wasn’t a total loss. I got the feeling they had many happy years until the problem with their son Ben. I assumed the split was relatively recent as he had to be fairly grown to be able to turn against Luke and take him on. By relatively I mean they had many good years together, far more than they were apart after the son’s issues affected them both.
I thought the new leads were both charming and sympathetic. Ren seemed like a cross between a young Lena Headley mixed with a bit of Keira Knightly, only ten times more engaging. Finn was funny and immediately sympathetic. I am curious if the second film will try to make a love triangle of sorts with the pilot (forget his name) as this movie definitely mirrored Star Wars in so many ways. I am also very keen to find out the Skywalker connection, but I suppose that is the whole point!
A couple of nitpicky things- no way does Adam Driver look like the son of Leia and Han! And if he is the big bad he seemed a little too easily beaten back by two young people with no training. I know he was wounded before the fight but he just isn’t quite imposing and scary enough now. He should seem almost unbeatable in the first movie, just MHO.
All that being said, I loved how the whole universe seemed true to the first trilogy and the exciting, energetic feel of the entire film. I will definitely be going back to see it again.
As a huge sci-fi fan, I saw the original Star Wars movie on opening night in ’77, when I was 16, so I definitely have an emotional attachment. (My friend and I loved that original movie so much that we wound up going back to see it a second time.)
I very much enjoyed the new movie. I thought J.J. Abrams did a good job being respectful of the original (and the older fans) but moving the franchise into the next generation.
I LOVED Rey and Finn and the relationship between them. How amazing to have a woman as the hero of a big action film! Harrison was wonderful (and is still quite the action star in his 70’s!), and I loved the scenes between Han and Leia. You could truly feel the love and anguish.
The same thing happened at my showing that Becky mentioned — they cheered the opening credits and when Harrison came on screen, but not Carrie. I found that odd.
I’m definitely interested in seeing the rest of Rey’s journey.
I remember the excitement in 1977 for Star Wars and enjoyed The Force Awakens but was not thrilled with the actor who played Ren. He looked nothing going like his parents. Today I was in a sold out theatre in an I-max/3D showing among 500 cheering fans. I look forward to the next movie and hope we don’t have to wait long for it.
I was a huge, massive Star Wars nerd when I was a kid and I’ve never been as excited for a movie as I was for this one. Saw it opening night and there was plenty of cheering when any original characters returned, including General Leia.
I’m in love with the new cast. Rey, Finn, Poe, and BB-8 were so much fun to watch. First thing my husband said when we walked out was how happy he was that they made Rey the jedi and I can’t agree more. I’ve been running Star Wars programs at the library and I can’t wait to see how little girls react to having a woman fighting with a lightsaber and using the force. She’s a badass already and it would be interesting if she wasn’t a Skywalker. We’re running low on characters for her to be connected to if she inherited her force abilities and or was made to forget about being a padawan, which would explain her easy access to skills it took Luke a long time to master.
Only criticism would be that it paralleled A New Hope a bit too much. Other than that I loved that Kylo Ren aka Ben was a mess and had a long way to go if he wanted to match Vader. Ugh it’s going to be a long two years before we get some answers, otherwise 10/10 will watch again and dream of Episode 8 where we’ll surely get some Poe, Finn, and BB-8 shenanigans.
I really liked the first 1/3rd or so (Go Finn! Go Rey!), but then I felt like there were too many plot ninjas and not enough emotional depth.
Like…Ben. God, so much hinted at tragedy. It seems like Han and Leia have had a really hard life. Their only (well, only one mentioned thus far) kid becomes their enemy (ouch), and then their marriage didn’t work out. I’m sure that some of this is being left for later movies, but I found the Ben/Han/Leia subplot soooo unsatisfying because I have no idea what’s happening.
How did Ben get seduced to the dark side? At what age? Was he kidnapped or did he willingly go? Where were Han and Leia? What did they do to try to get him back? Who quit on him first, since clearly neither of them are actively trying to get him back now?
I recently read The Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett. In the opening chapter, a child is lost in the snow and a magical fire MUST NOT GO OUT before they find the child (Spoiler: the kid is OK). The entire village bands together to burn everything they don’t need to survive the winter. When they run out of the things to burn, the child’s father tries to throw himself on the fire. And I bawled because…well, because OF COURSE he tried to throw himself on the fire. Of course.
The scene where Han got killed by Ben was something that should’ve had me in a ball of tears. But I just felt like, “Well, that is a thing that happened.”
I really wish that the whole scene on Han’s ship with the monsters had been replaced with a scene where Han and Leia had an info-dumpy knock-down drag-out “YOU QUIT ON OUR SON FIRST, YOU BASTARD/BITCH!” Instead, Leia is weirdly calm and hopeful and Han is stoic or constipated or something.
I loved the lady who owned that bar (I’m so bad with character names), but I would’ve been more than willing to see her cut to have the story honed down to Finn & Rey, and Han & Leia.
I actually liked the idea that Han and Leia aren’t together. I liked the idea that doing a couple heroic things doesn’t always change who you are. I definitely buy that Han and Leia aren’t really suited, and that they gave it their all, and they still love each other, but sometimes love is not enough to make a marriage last. I get very annoyed with movies that declare that character A and character B are Just Meant to Be because they both survived the asteroid or whatever, regardless of compatibility. But I really wanted the tragedy of losing their son to be explained and plumbed a bit more.
My movie theater totally cheered for Leia, for what it’s worth. I may not have, personally, I think I may have been making a happy noise so high pitched no one could hear it.
My first memory is seeing Star Wars in a drive in (or sitting in a hornets’ nest – 3 was an eventful year). The original two were deeply formative. I’m mostly ok with Return of the Jedi, even if I was embittered by the fucking ewoks and unimpressed with the sexification of Leia. I sat through the new batch, all in theatre opening weekend, because my defining personality trait is apparently never learning from my own mistakes (or anyone else’s). And yeah, this one is pandering to me, and I know that, and I don’t care because they gave me what I love. Finally.
Like the new roundy droid was a clear how can we make R2 only even cuter, and I want to be grumpy but I don’t care because it works and I want to squeeeeeze him. Plus R2, yay! Something for everyone! Most importantly me.
I was unhappy Han and Leia weren’t together, except it’s ok because they clearly still were – they’re in love and always have been, so I can handle it. I even kept it together when he died, but seeing Chewbacca in Han’s seat when he saves Rey and Finn was simply gutting. Fortunately I saw Creed the day before and spent almost two hours crying about Rocky thus my emotional manipulatability was pretty tapped out.
If anything ever happens to Chewie I will lose my shit, though. Going in I was like, who are they going to kill? You know they have to kill someone. And I was just so glad it wasn’t Leia or Chewie.
So listen, I’m happy with it, I’m happy for a zillion reasons, I’m not complaining, I’m not, really, it’s just…I’m thinking of joining the dark side because they need some fucking help. Sad sack triumvirate of shampoo commercial model, fascist twig guy, and xtra large hologram dude get together to throw tantrums and unleash deathstar redux? Like, what if we built something that wasn’t made of vents that lead to critical infrastructure? What if we ever chose to deploy superior numbers and technology, you know, effectively?
And then I’m like, no dammit, screw the dark side, I’m with the rebels! I’m with the…terrorist…rebels. I sure want to fly a suicide bombing strike to bring down those imperialist thugs because more better technology doesn’t give them the right to dictate and, uh, America is great and wait, I…I’m so confused.
And why is Finn so tormented about killing strangers but has no qualms mowing down former comrades?
No, you know what, I don’t care. Don’t. Care. Lalalalala everything is fine and everything is perfect and I am going to feel happy feelings and not think any thoughts.
@kkw: Finn and his conscience. I think he objected to killing unarmed innocent civilians, not killing itself. When it came down to it, he killed his former comrades because they were trying to kill him. I got the feeling that the scene at the beginning may have been his first time in action, which was why the death of the comrade whose blood for on his helmet upset him so much. He had time to process the death and what the First Order was doing, which led to his defection.
Every time Bill Weasley/General Hux was on screen, I chuckled a bit IDK hahaha. The dark side wasn’t very uh… dark? I had a hard time taking it seriously, maybe they’ll get eviller?
I’m not the biggest Star Wars fan but I overall liked the movie. I watched the 1-3 in the theatres as a kid and I guess my expectations were a bit low? BUT REY. She was so awesome. I want to know about her origins! Is she a Skywalker? Is she not? Who left her behind? Who’s she waiting for?? And what about Finn?! Why does he all of a sudden have the force what?!
Remembern Finn tells Han he worked sanitation. So the village may’ve been pretty much his first tour of duty.
And conditioning does fail. Look at millions of people who change consumerist ways in the face of Black Fridays of the capitalist ages.
Complete SW fangirl since 1977 here…. I loved it. Perfect, no, of course not. But it felt like going home. And I found myself being a wee bit jealous of all the little girls seeing SW for the first time – they have REY!!! Don’t get me wrong, 8 year old me was pretty happy with Leia, but even 47 year old me kind of wants to be Rey when I grow up.
@SarahV: Finn does say the village is his first battle.
And @Juniper – this is exactly what I’ve said about Han and Leia since ROTJ. (and I’m not saying this just because Han’s been my boyfriend since 1977) I can totally believe that there’s love there, and that maybe he’s not the complete scoundrel he was before getting involved in the Rebellion, but I always thought that once life got “normal” after the Empire was defeated, they wouldn’t last because they have some fundamental differences that are going to make things tough.
Oh yeah, returned to say, I lurve Rey for the same reason I lurve Danielle in Ever After A Cinderella Story – She RESCUES HERSELF. And does so in the face of her fears and self-doubt.
Love, love, love.
I was super happy that they didn’t sex up the female costumes. Rey’s outfit actually looked reasonable given her environment. And thank you so much for not putting boobs on Captain Phasma’s storm trooper uniform.
NO BOOBS ON ARMOR! REJOICE!
Now I’ll be over here reliving my bitterness over Mara Jade’s ridiculous leather catsuit
This thread is SO validating – its so nice to see that others had the same or similar reaction to me.
So, others have pretty much already made all my comments for me, but here are my highlights.
– I’m an old skool Star Wars fan (I was 7 in 1977 and I imprinted on it hard) and I thought this was SO MUCH FUN. Not perfect but fun. JJ Abrams and crew did not disappoint. And yay for more diversity in the rebellion. And a woman with a light saber. In many ways this movie is closer to the Star Wars of my memory than the actual 1977 movie.
– I loved that it was an homage to the original trilogy, but parts of it were a little too derivative for me. Anther secret Jedi kid growing up on yet another backwards dessert planet? Really? And do all cantinas in this galaxy come with the same clientele? (That said, I enjoyed the hell out of the cantina scene and loved the nods to the original).
– I agree with the other commenter who said it was really depressing to see that the actions from the previous movies didn’t have a lasting impact – different villain, same fight. (Kind of like real life, I guess).
– I also had trouble with the casting of Ren / Ben – he doesn’t look like either Han or Leia to me (Mr Cleo disagreed with me). And going into the movie, I was sure Rey would be Leia’s daughter because the actresses look so similar – now I don’t know. She could still be a Skywalker kid.
– Mr Cleo pointed out that blowing up a few planets would impact the orbits of surrounding planets and stars, making their little star map inaccurate and now I can’t unknow that, but I don’t really care.
I think it made perfect sense for Han and Leia to not be together. Leia is a monarch, a general. First and foremost, she is married to leading her people. Han is not someone who could tolerate that life for very long. Add a son following his grandfathers footsteps and you have a perfect recipe for distance between an already volatile and mismatched couple.
Re: Kylo Ren’s temper tantrums being unlike Vader. No, they weren’t unlike Vader at all. The Vader we knew in the original trilogy was older, he’d been practicing deception and harnessing his rage for 20 years… He was presumably around 40 or more in a new hope. Anakin as a young man was a hothead. He threw tantrums. He slaughtered villagers in fits of rage and despair. He essentially killed the love of his life in a tantrum. That’s the basis of his turn to the dark side. His uncontrollable, passionate, murderous emotional rage.
Kylo Ren is MORE controlled than Vader was at his age. Ren turned rage on inanimate objects rather than killing a useful admiral because he was the messenger of bad news.
Overall I loved the film.
Best part: no JarJar Binks. Worst thing: No Ewan MacGregor.
I think there must be something wrong with me. I mean, I’m 43 years old. I grew up with Star Wars. For years it was my favorite story. I’ve literally been waiting for this movie for most of my life.
And seeing it today, I’m just feeling… nothing. Not when Han died, not when we saw Luke or Leia again. *sigh*
It’s all just like, fridge logic and plot holes stitched together with some exciting chase scenes and fan service.
Plot? IDK, the bad guys’s throwing tantrums and Luke’s gone off to have a sulk. Then there’s some kind of galactic government (hell if I know how it works) but also still some rebels (what are they rebelling against) and the return of space Nazis. There’s a huge planet-murdering machine that no one noticed being built (again). Which we have to blow up (again).
Wasn’t think one supposed to have Diversity? One brown guy and two women in a sea of white dudes and a handful of aliens.
The special effects were… special. Nice explosions. Good job, ILM.
Also, I still like the music.
Seriously, is it me? You can tell me.
@sjcottrell – I don’t think it’s you, I think that this movie, like the original, is objectively bad. (But it’s also subjectively great, at least on some levels and to some fans. But not to everyone, obviously).
I think my overall experience was more positive than yours but I see all of your points – a lot of things made me roll my eyes while watching it. And I was also unmoved by Han’s death and by Luke’s appearance.
Thanks, cleo!
Honestly, I think I’m just old and cranky. I should really try to remember that this is basically a kids’ movie.
Some of the scenes were quite good. Thrilling chases and light saber battles, Yay!
I do wish there had been more Poe. He seemed so wonderfully snarky, more like a Joss Whedon character or someone from Doctor Who.
Also, to give the film some more Diversity, I am head cannoning many of the characters as LGBTQIA. So, there! 😉