Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - *SPOILER DISCUSSION* Star Wars The Force Awakens *POST HERE AFTER SEEING THE MOVIE*

ScorchyScorch · 12-19-2015, 01:47 AM

Reading thoughts of fans who weren't impressed by the movie due to too much "fan servicing" and rehashing and thinking about it a bit more.

I hope episode 8 takes a lot more risks and moves the franchise in a completely new direction. If one criticism is correct, it's that this movie played it a little safe, and didn't do too much to carve its own identity. The characters are completely fresh, but that's not enough. Abrams did what he does well in setting the table for a franchise so that its open ended and can go in a number of interesting directions. Though maybe because of the rehashing of certain events (Starkiller Battle = 2015 Battle of Yavin, with bigger explosions and visuals but less heart and suspense) it still fell short of a true "classic" feel. Which few directors today have proven they can deliver. Abrams did at times here, particularly in the opening hour or so, but there was too much familiarity in the events to keep us on our toes and make us feel like we had absolutely no idea where it would go next.

I thought everything up until they left Jakku was perfection and had the feel of an original classic and a beast of its own. When they started revisiting the old characters and began doing the obligated catch up and exposition stuff (Solo giving basically a summary about the new Jedi order stuff to two new characters that probably realistically couldn't even follow along because they hardly know anything of Jedi lore etc), and it lost that momentum it had early on. But we forgave it because the fans in us wanted to catch up with old friends too. Yet..is it crazy to say that the inclusion of the old cast prevented it from paving its own way as an original classic story within the confines of the SW universe? I think, strangely enough (and I LOVE the original characters) that the inclusion of the old faces is what prevented this film from reaching greatness. I think if we just followed Finn and Rey around, trying to escape Kylo, and building up the First Order as a menacing force. And have the time spent on filling audiences in on the old cast replaced with scenes focusing on the new leads and developing their characters and forming chemistry, it could've been this totally new and amazing story. Feels weird to say now, seeing as the thing I was most excited for going in was seeing the old heroes again.

12-19-2015, 01:47 AM	#133
ScorchyScorch Scoring Winger Join Date: Apr 2015 Exp:	Reading thoughts of fans who weren't impressed by the movie due to too much "fan servicing" and rehashing and thinking about it a bit more. I hope episode 8 takes a lot more risks and moves the franchise in a completely new direction. If one criticism is correct, it's that this movie played it a little safe, and didn't do too much to carve its own identity. The characters are completely fresh, but that's not enough. Abrams did what he does well in setting the table for a franchise so that its open ended and can go in a number of interesting directions. Though maybe because of the rehashing of certain events (Starkiller Battle = 2015 Battle of Yavin, with bigger explosions and visuals but less heart and suspense) it still fell short of a true "classic" feel. Which few directors today have proven they can deliver. Abrams did at times here, particularly in the opening hour or so, but there was too much familiarity in the events to keep us on our toes and make us feel like we had absolutely no idea where it would go next. I thought everything up until they left Jakku was perfection and had the feel of an original classic and a beast of its own. When they started revisiting the old characters and began doing the obligated catch up and exposition stuff (Solo giving basically a summary about the new Jedi order stuff to two new characters that probably realistically couldn't even follow along because they hardly know anything of Jedi lore etc), and it lost that momentum it had early on. But we forgave it because the fans in us wanted to catch up with old friends too. Yet..is it crazy to say that the inclusion of the old cast prevented it from paving its own way as an original classic story within the confines of the SW universe? I think, strangely enough (and I LOVE the original characters) that the inclusion of the old faces is what prevented this film from reaching greatness. I think if we just followed Finn and Rey around, trying to escape Kylo, and building up the First Order as a menacing force. And have the time spent on filling audiences in on the old cast replaced with scenes focusing on the new leads and developing their characters and forming chemistry, it could've been this totally new and amazing story. Feels weird to say now, seeing as the thing I was most excited for going in was seeing the old heroes again.