*SPOILER DISCUSSION* Star Wars The Force Awakens *POST HERE AFTER SEEING THE MOVIE*

[Wastedyouth]

That movie was amazing.

[sadora]

Originally Posted by blankall

Spoiler!

As for the Kylo Ren fight, using the force requires extreme focus. Kylo was distracted by a few fairly major things, and as you say he's prone to panic, which makes things worse:
1) He was injured and bleeding. They made a point of drawing attention to this.
2) He had just killed his own father and was super emo about it.
3) He was using an inferior light sabre, and was further distracted by the sight of Luke's old light sabre.
4) He didn't want to hurt Rey, he wanted to convert her to his side. The same reason that Luke was not decimated in any of his fights with Vader. I think that Kylo senses that Rey is related to him somehow (Luke's daughter and Kylo's cousin?). It's questionable that Kylo even lost this fight. He defeated Fin and may have just been toying with Rey.
5) Kylo Ren has a lot of power, but his training is not complete. He's more at the level of Anakin in Episode 2 than at the level of Vader. It typically takes a lifetime to become a true master.

Spoiler!

Adding just one extra bit to your points...Rey winning is in one part showing just how strong the force is in Rey but also Kylo Ren's unrefined powers. Whcih as cool as his lightsaber looked, it looked menacing but unrefined...very much like Kylo Ren himself.

Honestly loved that movie. It's been a while since I came out of a theater with a smile as the one I had today.

It had so much nostalgia as everyone has mentioned, but it doesn't distract from the story. Such a fun way to relaunch the franchise. If you haven't seen it and are a fan, you will love it. Can't wait to see it again!

[Bane]

I heard the rumors. I knew it was coming. But for a moment I thought that Han might just live. It broke my heart. He was my favorite character as a kid.

A CGI Snoke certainly wasn't needed, and looked terrible.

I hope Max Von Sydow comes back in a flashback in Episode VIII, otherwise he was wasted.

That said, I give the movie a solid 9/10. Loved it.

[dammage79]

Originally Posted by Bane

I heard the rumors. I knew it was coming. But for a moment I thought that Han might just live. It broke my heart. He was my favorite character as a kid.

A CGI Snoke certainly wasn't needed, and looked terrible.

I hope Max Von Sydow comes back in a flashback in Episode VIII, otherwise he was wasted.

That said, I give the movie a solid 9/10. Loved it.

Von Sydow I suspect if my theory is right, will be back in a drawn out flashback sequence.

[nieuwy-89]

Loved the movie. Just like seeing the original trilogy as a kid. Awesome mix of action, humour, and suspense. I loved that Han and Chewie had such major roles.

Anyone else notice the first line of dialogue in the movie was "this will begin to set things right"? I thought it was a cool nod to the fans who were so let down by Eps 1-3.

[dino7c]

Took my kids and loved every minute of it...not much more to say

[Wastedyouth]

At first I was annoyed by CGI Snoke. Less so when I realized it was a hologram.

[Jbo]

Just got out of the theatre and loved it. a couple years to the next one will be torture.

[ScorchyScorch]

I'm also hearing that Snoke in person is actually just 7 feet tall, so much closer to human sized. This gives me hope that he won't be overly ridiculous. As long as they're meticulous on the CGI of the real thing. For whatever reason, their hologram projector/whatever was just really massive, I guess.

[St. Pats]

Enjoyed every minute of the movie. Excellent reboot and looking ahead to the next installment.

[Itse]

Originally Posted by ScorchyScorch

For whatever reason, their hologram projector/whatever was just really massive, I guess.

Optical tricks to make you appear bigger has been done by leaders throughout history. Basic psychology. Why not be massive and talk down to everyone, if you have the technology?

[Ashasx]

re: Plagueis and Snoke

Spoiler!

[ScorchyScorch]

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.

[OutOfTheCube]

I also thought there was lots of 'tell the kids the name of the characters so they know what toys to ask for!' type scenes.

[SHOGUN]

90% of the scenes felt rushed. Some scenes were oddly and unnecessarily edited, for example cutting to a different scene and then cutting back. Most characters did not receive development with the exception of Rey. The dialogue was Disney/Marvel formula, witty banter coupled with action scenes. Too many action scenes, not enough drama. (I, for one, am seriously getting tired of the Marvel formula.) The one-liners aren't funny, instead awkward, corny, and sometimes down-right childish like Guardians of the Galaxy scripted into the Star Wars universe. Lack of original plot-line and mis-en-scene. A silly excuse for a narrative -- near non-existent character development. Barely passable for a plot line -- forced segues and random scene cutting. TIE fighters and X-wings with new paint jobs. Death Star 3.0: Xtra Large Version. Many of the new aliens look like they share a similar ancestor. The Resistance looks like the Rebels with new team colors. The First Order looks like the Empire with no new colors and just a different title for their faction.

I can see why some people liked this movie, because it brings back memories and the glory days. As someone who explored very far into the expanded universe and the Star Wars mythology, this was a massive disappointment. Bioware wrote a better Star Wars story than this. All the great things about Jedi and Sith and the Force was mostly ignored in this film. It's almost like the production team's agenda was to shove as many action scenes in it as possible. There are so many great narratives and characters created by people outside of the original Lucasfilms production. This film just did not match up at all. It doesn't have the same "feel." It doesn't have that epic, space-fantasy atmosphere, with emphases on epic and fantasy. But the Star Wars franchise was too rich of a money mine for Disney too keep hidden and locked up. So money-grab time meant fan-service as well as targeting new, younger audiences. To accomplish this goal, Disney will use its regular tactic of putting together a film with an action-comedy plot and to play it safe, they'll just plagiarize Episode IV. There, it grabbed the attention of old fans and new fans.

Pretty much agree everything that is said here. Taken from Reddit.

[AC]

Can't say I agree in the slightest. I thought it was nearly perfect and should set up a fantastic Episode 8.

I thought the character development was excellent, especially in Rey, Fin, and Kylo. Their emotional journeys were very powerful. I thought the scene where Fin, Han, and Chewie reunite with Rey was excellent for this. Rey is especially taken back by the news that Fin spearheaded the mission to come back for her as she was fighting with the realization and acceptance that her family was never going to come back for her at Jakku. While on the other hand the scene emphasized Fin's development as he finally stopped running away.

Even Han Solo showed some great development when you could tell he didn't want to call out to Kylo, but seemed to due to Leia's request to try and bring their son home. Seemed like a powerful emotional change for an established character who's known for his cold demeanor.

[Finger Cookin]

Whining about the movie for not following in the grand traditions of game developers and EU fan fiction. Hilarious.

[GreenLantern]

Damn maybe I just built it up in my head to much but I just thought it was OK.. I couldn't get behind Finn, I found his character to be horribly acted and one dimensional all movie. Rey was awesome I thought she was the best part of the whole movie.. but I dunno, I guess something just wasn't right. Felt like I was watching ANH 2 instead of a brand new Star Wars movie.

I'll watch it again when it comes out on demand to see if maybe it was just the theater but right now... 2/5 :/

[Luder]

I really enjoyed the movie but for the love of all that is Holy, please, no more trench runs/super weapons! The duel between Rey and Ren was the highlight of the film for me. I would assume Kylo Ren will be "Vadered" up in the next film due to his injuries.

[Fuzz]

Ya, hopefully the super weapon thing is played out...Episode 5 was totally awesome and didn't need a big space battle at the end, just one on one. Something like that may have worked better, because you don't need to dedicate a bunch of time to showing a big space battle. Would have left more room for character development.