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

[Nightrunner]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Eh, it's not someone discovering their latent power that I have a problem with, it's that power coming up out of nowhere. Qui-Gon giving Ani some tips and Obi-Wan & Yoda doing the full 'wizened mentor' thing with Luke are fine, but Rey discovering it on her tod and leaving those answers as pure sequel bait seemed so cheap to me. Typical JJ 'mystery box' bullshit.

I find your lack of faith disturbing. The Force is what gives a Jedi his or her power. It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together.

All she had to do was let it in...

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Spencie

I'm hoping the next installment retcons this issue. I love the pace of Luke's learning curve in the original trilogy and I feel like having Rey jump straight into mind-tricks and lightsaber combat is the result of a much more desensitized generation that seeks instant gratification.

Finn's ability to duel with a lightsaber didn't sit right with me either (assuming of course that he isn't force-sensitive).

Completely agreed on the first part, it's like she put in a cheat code to bring her up to speed with the Force, ticking off the beats but providing none of the emotional connections to make them work. Saving the revelation for the next movie(s) is all well and good but it doesn't help me enjoy the movie now, y'know?

As for the Finn bit, that's fine by me because there's that Stormtrooper who wields that staff thingy so I think that some form of formal staff/sword training has been meted out to this generation of troops. No problem there.

[Himmel]

Originally Posted by Nightrunner

I find your lack of faith disturbing. The Force is what gives a Jedi his or her power. It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together.

All she had to do was let it in...

And boy did she ever

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Spencie

It's probably a good thing that Abrams stuck to his strengths though. He's far better and creating a sense of rising action than a conclusion, but it does leave the whole thing feeling a little to ambiguous for its own good.

I can see what you're saying, but the problem there for me is that JJ's already made two rambunctious & fast-moving Star Wars demo reels, so them combined with the tired 'rhyming' of so many beats from Ep IV left me cold when watching TFA. Hell, I think ST '09 is a better Star Wars film than TFA.

[imsounoriginal]

Originally Posted by Spencie

I'm hoping the next installment retcons this issue. I love the pace of Luke's learning curve in the original trilogy and I feel like having Rey jump straight into mind-tricks and lightsaber combat is the result of a much more desensitized generation that seeks instant gratification.

The only retcon that's gonna happen is that Anakin is no longer the One who was meant to bring balance to the Force (i.e. giving some weight to the "A prophecy that misread could have been" line). It'll turn out to have been Rey all along, and it will be used to explain her accelerated apprenticeship as a Jedi/Force user.

[flyinmunky99]

Rey being decent with the lightsaber and Finn being able to use it a little bit didnt bother me.

Rey seemed to have grown up using a staff for self defence, not a stretch to imagine she would be decent with a sword type weapon , plus add in the force and its not a stretch. Compared to luke who grew up doing no fighting/ Training untill he gets on Falcon.

Finn is trained in combat and again would know how to handle a similar weapon. He doesnt seem force sensitive so he gets defeated by Kylo and stormtrooper/

[Packerfan75]

Originally Posted by Spencie

I'm hoping the next installment retcons this issue. I love the pace of Luke's learning curve in the original trilogy and I feel like having Rey jump straight into mind-tricks and lightsaber combat is the result of a much more desensitized generation that seeks instant gratification.

Finn's ability to duel with a lightsaber didn't sit right with me either (assuming of course that he isn't force-sensitive).

That's the most feasible explanation I've seen yet.

And Finn shows that in this new series,

[Show spoiler]anyone can pick up a lightsaber and go toe to toe with a Sith. He should've been force pushed through a tree. JJ claims to be a diehard SW fan so he should've known better than to neuter the villain by having him be beaten by 2 people who've never even held a lightsaber before.

Why should anyone be afraid of Kylo now?

[imsounoriginal]

Originally Posted by Packerfan75

And Finn shows that in this new series,

[Show spoiler]anyone can pick up a lightsaber and go toe to toe with a Sith. He should've been force pushed through a tree. JJ claims to be a diehard SW fan so he should've known better than to neuter the villain by having him be beaten by 2 people who've never even held a lightsaber before.

Why should anyone be afraid of Kylo now?

To be fair (and will all due respect to Adam Driver), Kylo stopped being scary the moment he took his mask off.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by flyinmunky99

Rey being decent with the lightsaber and Finn being able to use it a little bit didnt bother me.

Rey seemed to have grown up using a staff for self defence, not a stretch to imagine she would be decent with a sword type weapon , plus add in the force and its not a stretch. Compared to luke who grew up doing no fighting/ Training untill he gets on Falcon.

Damn it, stop making sense, I'm trying to harrumph and grumble over here!

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by imsounoriginal

To be fair (and will all due respect to Adam Driver), Kylo stopped being scary the moment he took his mask off.

I didn't think he was scary to begin with, and my liking for the character greatly improved once he took his mask off because it was one of the few beats that did something for for this movie's own story rather than retreading someone else's. Driver was probably my favourite thing about the movie.

[WilsonBros]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Typical JJ 'mystery box' bullshit.

Annoys me, too. The value of the average contents is the same as found in similar box on a particular episode of Family Guy.

[mjvmovieman]

What is the best deal through a retailer for buying TFA on blu-ray? Does anyone know if buying through Walmart works with Instawatch so you don't have to use the included digital copy code?

Thanks

[disneywildcat]

Originally Posted by mjvmovieman

What is the best deal through a retailer for buying TFA on blu-ray? Does anyone know if buying through Walmart works with Instawatch so you don't have to use the included digital copy code?



Thanks

So far, Target and Amazon have the best preorder price for the regular edition ($19.99). Walmart had the exclusive for $19.96 online with free preorder shipping but it's sold out online for now.

Walmart doesn't typically offer Instawatch for Disney distributed titles. And it doesn't look like they will have a Instawatch edition for TFA.

[imsounoriginal]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

I didn't think he was scary to begin with, and my liking for the character greatly improved once he took his mask off because it was one of the few beats that did something for for this movie's own story rather than retreading someone else's. Driver was probably my favourite thing about the movie.

Maybe "scary" is the wrong word, but he's certainly an imposing villain... when the mask is on. Driver is a good actor, I don't fault him for any of this (his physical presence as Kylo Ren is incredible), but once he took the mask off (on the bridge and in the snow) he just reminded me too much of "it's all Obi-Wan's fault HE'S HOLDING ME BACK!" I hope they make him more menacing in the future films. And I hope to God that they don't bother trying to redeem him. What's done is done and there's no coming back from it.

[Packerfan75]

Originally Posted by imsounoriginal

To be fair (and will all due respect to Adam Driver), Kylo stopped being scary the moment he took his mask off.

That is the cardinal sin of movie monsters and villains. Don't show too much or they cease to be scary. With masked men, we're always curious to see what's underneath but what's there never lives up to our imaginations. All that said to say that I agree. I would've preferred we never saw his face.

[wormraper]

Originally Posted by imsounoriginal

To be fair (and will all due respect to Adam Driver), Kylo stopped being scary the moment he took his mask off.

lol, he was my main worry and he WAS the weakest character of the movie. I kept wondering when he would start telling Rey that she would fight better if she adopted a vegan diet, or start playing the imperial march on vinyl when talking to Vader's helmet.

[Will.]

Originally Posted by wormraper

lol, he was my main worry and he WAS the weakest character of the movie. I kept wondering when he would start telling Rey that she would fight better if she adopted a vegan diet, or start playing the imperial march on vinyl when talking to Vader's helmet.

Na, he was awesome. Heaven forbid there's character development throughout the trilogy, instead of just a cliched masked baddie.

[Spencie]

Originally Posted by imsounoriginal

The only retcon that's gonna happen is that Anakin is no longer the One who was meant to bring balance to the Force (i.e. giving some weight to the "A prophecy that misread could have been" line). It'll turn out to have been Rey all along, and it will be used to explain her accelerated apprenticeship as a Jedi/Force user.

I feel like they're going to leave the whole prophecy mess in the dust where it belongs. The prequels barely elaborated on it, leaving us to ponder if Anakin or Luke was actually the chosen one. To take it a step further and presume that Rey is somehow the chosen one just seems sloppily redundant.

[wormraper]

Originally Posted by Will.

Na, he was awesome. Heaven forbid there's character development throughout the trilogy, instead of just a cliched masked baddie.

He was a whiny temper tantrum throwing mess. One of the few people who could rival a villain as annoying as hayden's Anakin

[Spencie]

As for the Kylo complaints, I think he was supposed to lose his edge when the mask came off. Or at least it thematically makes more sense in retrospect. Kylo Ren presents a new sort of villain in that he's an unhinged and immature character who is actively trying to be bad. The first half of the movie presents him as a Darth Vader type menace when in reality he's literally a Darth Vader wannabe. I really enjoy his arc and think it's one of the strongest and freshest additions to the new franchise.

I hope he grows more controlled and powerful, eventually overthrowing Snoke in the process.