Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (USE SPOILER TAGS!)

[Dotpattern]

Originally Posted by worldchmps

Was wondering that too. How did she learn to do so much so soon? Even the light saber battle. Is she stronger than Luke? Even if so, no teacher and she ends up looking like a Jedi expert? Sorry, just seems weird to me.

All indications (so far) are that she did have a teacher, and that it was probably Luke. She has a repressed memory of the island Luke is hiding on (which is stated in her interrogation scene) and Luke's voice can be heard when she closes her eyes during the duel with Ren (although it's unclear if it's a memory of his teachings or if he's calling out to her through the Force).

[supersix4]

Originally Posted by Packerfan75

I don't think there's any clear indication that she was

[Show spoiler]trained. That's all speculation at this point. For all we, the viewer know, she's never known anything of the force. She salvages scrap for food while waiting for her parents that abandoned her. No one ever said she's related to either Luke or Leia or was trained by anyone, though many believe it now by again, speculation. I'm going by the girl I was introduced to and the facts I was given. There was nothing to ever hint that she'd even seen a light saber before. She actually indicated that she only heard stories which is why Han said, it's all true. Being given what we were at this point all we can definitely say is that she has the ability to use the force but nothing else. For someone who seemed to be discovering it herself, she picked up the mind trick and fighting a little too easy and without instruction.

I agree its speculation, but the same way I speculate that Kylo is a whiny child based on this one film. I owe it to my own criticism to wait and see the entire picture they're trying to portray to really grasp what I'm seeing in this ONE film.

I'm going to see it again actually looking forward too it .

I imagine these same kind of debates swirled around New Hope and Empire Strikes Back, when we're trying to rush to judgement lol. Beauty of the movie though.

[Nightrunner]

Listen. Do you smell something? Um...


Crazy thought.

[Show spoiler]What if those damn midichlorians were so desperate to find someone to accept them when Rey did they told her what to do and how to do it?

Or somehow the Force told her to try the mind trick? As for the lightsaber, she was not so good with it UNTIL she closed her eyes and let the Force guide her. Speaking of closing her eyes...Why didn't Kylo just strike her down when she closed her eyes?

[danman227460]

[Show spoiler] I`m guessing either he was too injured and couldn`t push back or the force was helping her repel Ren.

Originally Posted by Nightrunner

Listen. Do you smell something? Um...


Crazy thought.

[Show spoiler]What if those damn midichlorians were so desperate to find someone to accept them when Rey did they told her what to do and how to do it?

Or somehow the Force told her to try the mind trick? As for the lightsaber, she was not so good with it UNTIL she closed her eyes and let the Force guide her. Speaking of closing her eyes...Why didn't Kylo just strike her down when she closed her eyes?

[Nightopian]

Rey has the Mary-Sue label only because we've all seen the 6 films before this one and we know the training required for both Luke and Anakin to be able to do anything with the Force. It's pretty much straight out of the Jedi handbook. It's the whole Master/Padawan thing which she seems to be exempt from but was a staple in the Star Wars universe.

But this new fast paced style is what they are going for now. Cut straight to the chase, get as much into the movie as you can and while we're at it, keep pumping out these movies as quickly as possible...we need to get our 4 billion dollars back asap. Money first, plot second.

[Show spoiler]Personally, I wanted to see her get her arse kicked. With her being too good at the start it took away the urge of wanting her to kick arse. I wanted to see her get knocked down so she has a reason to train hard, become one with the force and then kick arse in the next films...it would give us something to crave for and would build up insane tension leading up to that final moment...now it's like, meh...

[aiman04]

This whole film actually has the characters plugged into The Matrix, they can download skills i.e. flying a helicopter or using mind trick or lightsaber fighting instantly. That's why we have Tatooine and Hoth look-alikes because they're just computer simulation. And Han is

[Show spoiler]alive.

[Dotpattern]

Originally Posted by Nightopian

Rey has the Mary-Sue label only because we've all seen the 6 films before this one and we know the training required for both Luke and Anakin to be able to do anything with the Force. It's pretty much straight out of the Jedi handbook. It's the whole Master/Padawan thing which she seems to be exempt from but was a staple in the Star Wars universe.

It's too early to claim she's exempt. We don't yet know what her level of training was before she was dropped off on Jakku (and for what reason). But clearly she's had some level of training.

[JasonHensley]

I think Rey showing some type of ability, whether trained or not, was great. I grew tired of the PT beating us over the head of how great Anakin supposedly was, yet never seeing it on film.

[Gamma_Winstead]

Originally Posted by Nightrunner

Listen. Do you smell something? Um...


Crazy thought.

[Show spoiler]What if those damn midichlorians were so desperate to find someone to accept them when Rey did they told her what to do and how to do it?

Or somehow the Force told her to try the mind trick? As for the lightsaber, she was not so good with it UNTIL she closed her eyes and let the Force guide her. Speaking of closing her eyes...Why didn't Kylo just strike her down when she closed her eyes?

[Show spoiler]Because he doesn't want to kill her. He wants her to join him. He's even told by Snoke not to kill her.

[Nocturnaloner]

One of my biggest problems with the movie, and I haven't seen anyone anywhere mention this yet, has to do with Han Solo.

[Show spoiler]How much of a waste was that freighter scene? I didn't give a damn about either group of "gangsters", or the CGI beasties that gobbled them up. That scene really stood out to me as an awkward contrivance to move the plot forward. How much cooler would it have been to show Han Solo kicking ass and actually gunning down opponents who were given some dialogue and personality, instead of the ridiculous tentacle monsters? It could have emphasized again how great he was, and made his sacrifice mean even more. That was a massively missed opportunity.

[KMFDMvsEnya]

You mean the prior films were insufficient at proving how awesome said character is or that the following sequences of kicking Imperial butt were not also demonstrative of his greatness?

Saw it a second time yesterday and felt that the sequence holds up fine. Not how I would have written it but it works in light of the rest of the film.

Best regards,
KvE

[Nocturnaloner]

Originally Posted by KMFDMvsEnya

Not how I would have written it but it works in light of the rest of the film.

Yeah, I think your reaction wasn't as extreme as mine, but you know exactly what I'm talking about

[Show spoiler]Those CGI beasties weren't the worst I've ever seen, but they were not Han Solo worthy, and good god, for all the hype around The Raid alumni in the movie, you'd think they'd have been used for something besides throwaway monster fodder. Huge waste.

Oh, and for what it's worth, the Han vs. Stormtrooper stuff was great, but his identity was and is smuggler and scoundrel, which is what that scene was all about. That's why the opponent, and his style in dealing with it, really matters. That's why I think it was a missed opportunity.

[KMFDMvsEnya]

Oh I do, my initial reaction was similar. It is very much a JJ moment and instead likely would have tackled it similar to how you described. Cest la vie.

It was like the excessive escalation of the two monsters in ST09. One dangerous critter was insufficient what it really needs is an obscenely large creature with tons of eyes and exposed flesh in a freezing climate. Makes sense to me.

Best regards,
KvE

[Bickle76]

Rey kinda has that trained assassin that had her memory wiped for one reason or another (own protection, perhaps). Jason Bourne, hell Douglas Quaid comes to mind.

[Show spoiler] I'm 90% sure she has Skywalker blood. She's more powerful than Luke without reasoning yet other than the high possibility she is related to Anakin. I'm really hoping she winds up on the dark side. She's using the force with such aggression.

Did anyone else notice her facial expression when she started winning the duel?

It was the same face Luke had when he used the dark side to defeat Vader. There is irony here. We only got a glimpse of Luke using dark side and Anakins turn was poorly executed on film big reason bc most people didn't care for HC. Rey thinks, and the audience is made to think that she's got the force down pretty darn well already (if it looks to good to be true, it probably isn't). We got the impression she would have killed Ren (whose not a Sith Lord, correct me if I'm wrong) if not for the ground splitting. I would love to see her turn to the dark side. A female Sith would be interesting and we would finally get to see a well acted seduction. Maybe Fin, whose not strong with the force will come into play as the underdog Jedi, which is kinda what Luke was in comparison to Anakin. Maybe Ren will turn good. I'm rambling.... so many possibilities on where they can go, it's finally great to have empathy for SW characters again!

[Bickle76]

Originally Posted by Nocturnaloner

Yeah, I think your reaction wasn't as extreme as mine, but you know exactly what I'm talking about

[Show spoiler]Those CGI beasties weren't the worst I've ever seen, but they were not Han Solo worthy, and good god, for all the hype around The Raid alumni in the movie, you'd think they'd have been used for something besides throwaway monster fodder. Huge waste.

Oh, and for what it's worth, the Han vs. Stormtrooper stuff was great, but his identity was and is smuggler and scoundrel, which is what that scene was all about. That's why the opponent, and his style in dealing with it, really matters. That's why I think it was a missed opportunity.

I too think it's flat, at least we got to see

[Show spoiler]Han punch someone again.

[Bickle76]

Originally it bothered me

[Show spoiler]that Han went back to smuggling, but I accepted the reason why and it makes sense; that is how people deal with loss, they bury themselves in things they are good at and Han always kinda had one foot out the door. I’ve come to appreciate that he’s become a bit of a tragic character and not the whipped good guy at the end of ROTJ. It was tough at first to change that thirty year old perception I’ve had of him. I think JJ made was making a statement when he came out of that “watering hole” shooting three stormtroopers, without even looking at the third trooper. I thought Ford slipped back into the role rather comfortably and got what he has always wanted - “give me top billing, and kill me off”.

[Nightrunner]

I am getting tired of hearing how bad the prequels were/are. They were not that bad. Move along.

Just enjoy the new movie. Regardless if the whole thing reeks of a remake/reboot it was good. It was the type of movie we were looking for.

the Zahn trilogy would have made an interesting movie but I think it would have suffered the same criticism this movie has received.

The next two movies pretty much will write themselves. My only concern are the spin-offs. Will they be any good without Luke, Leia, Han, Chewie...etc?

[jayman3]

MY first ever celebrity Woman Crush Wednesday post.

[Harry Güchenschlong]

As far as the movie feeling like a big remake of previous stories, that's what initially put me off with the whole thing. I've actually lightened up on it since my initial viewing and like it quite a lot more now. Not five stars by any means but certainly enjoyable enough, and sets up some good potential for the next movie.


And infinitely better than those crappy prequels (I had to say that for nightrunner)

[Nightrunner]

Originally Posted by Harry Güchenschlong

As far as the movie feeling like a big remake of previous stories, that's what initially put me off with the whole thing. I've actually lightened up on it since my initial viewing and like it quite a lot more now. Not five stars by any means but certainly enjoyable enough, and sets up some good potential for the next movie.


And infinitely better than those crappy prequels (I had to say that for nightrunner)

Fine...be a hater!

LOL!

I still quote from all three of the films so they cannot be that bad.