Spoiler Most of those force powers such as immobilizing and dragging people through the air shows up in the EU on a regular basis. The closest to date that we had seen of that in the movies was Vader's immobilizing force choke. That said the stopping of the laser blast mid air was new. Mind reading though has always been in the movies but not as straightforward and aggressive as what Ren displayed. In fact the only time it appeared as aggressive as that in the prequels or original trilogy was in a scene in the novelization of Return of The Jedi that didn't make it into the movie. The second scene in Awakens between Rey and Ren is almost identical to what happens in the RoTJ novel in that The Emperor goes aggressively into Luke's mind and almost as a reflexive reaction (similar to Rey's) Luke finds his way into the Emperor's mind much to Palpatine's chagrin and finds out that the Emperor is absolutely terrified of Luke.
Kylo freezing the laser beam mid flight was definitely bad ass. He is now my favorite SW character. Rey was not that attractive to me as a character for some reason. Finn seems dispensable, unless they give him powers in episode VIII. He really has no extra qualities that makes him stand out. He's not some kind of tech genius, doesn't know the force, can't fight, etc. I hope throughout this trilogy Kylo Ren is heavily involved, either developing into the strongest Sith in the galaxy or switching to a good guy and killing Rey. Also I hope to see more badass lightsaber fights with flips and flying and such. I'm curious though, did they kill off the The Raid guys? All I know is that they were attacked by alien monsters, but no clear shot of those main 3 guys specifically getting eaten or anything.
Abrahams does not know how to use those guys. I was a bit upset. It's cool they got in a line of dialogue or two.
Yeah unfortunately martial arts is not his forte. I would have loved to see them flipping around and roundhousing brehs left and right. They would make a good Sith assassin or something. No need for dialogue. Just point and kill.
You're exactly right? It's not like they're hired for their acting? People want to see them boys throw down. Which got me curious, were they shooting in Indonesia or something? Usually if that's the case and they don't want to pay any movie taxes or whatever you call it, they hire local actors so they can be exempt from it. Or probably they were added at the very last minute when they finish shooting the movie after post production.
Honest review: It was fun, fast paced and brought back everything we loved about 1977 star wars. I'm sure everyone has heard that already. It's about an 8/10. Main strengths of this movie is how likable the characters are and the chemistry with one another. The comedy was good, it wasn't corny like the prequels. Gripes are that it borrowed a bit too much from the source material and maybe this is just me being way to critical since I'm a star wars fan but the scenes with Han and Leia did feel a bit manufactured. Felt a bit like it was old Carrie Fisher and Old Harrison reading off a script rather than this is actually Leia and Han. I don't know, I've heard others rave about their performances. Like I said, this could just be me trying to find flaws with the movie while watching it for the first time. Also the movie in the end didn't feel epic enough, it felt very small scale. Perhaps on purpose to re-create the feel of ANH where it's just a small group of rebels against the empire in one location but compare it to the opening scene in Revenge of the Sith, the battle just didn't seem to have that epic feel to it. I could forgive this since it's the opening act to a trilogy though. With those things being said, they did the most important things right which is create new characters we are going to care about moving forward. After this movie, I can honestly say I"m excited to see Rey, Finn and Poe in the next movie and the re-casting of Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill are not as important.
7/10 Lets be honest , felt more like a reboot not a sequel per se. Adam Driver nailed Kylo. He's the star wars villain millennials deserve. Rey was great. Liked how they showed her daily routine as a scavenger. Very well developed lead. Exceptionally cast film. Felt overstuffed at times tough,
If only he left his mask on. It was nice to learn his age, though it might have been a better reveal in the future, but boy he does not look intimidating without the mask (which I suppose could be by design). Me too. The old characters don't do it for me like the new (of course I loved them in the original series). I kinda wish only one character from the original had survived, and that they played a relative minor part.
Spoiler I can see that. They may not recognize their daughter initially given the years past, and they may choose to keep it a secret from her to help keep her safe. The fact that they cut away from Han and Maz, right after Maz asks about Rey, hints that Han knows something about her (even if she is Luke's daughter, you think he would know his niece as well). Being Luke's daughter is certainly the most obvious answer, but doesn't mean she will be. Anybody complaining that he can't marry or love because he is a Jedi should remember that didn't stop Anakin, and Luke doesn't answer to a Jedi Counsel. To a degree, he can make up his own rules, because they aren't so clearly put in front of him. He also showed emotion throughout the original trilogy, so not hard to believe he would still experience them. He appears to be standing at a grave, which could be his wife, his fallen padawans, or just a marker for Han. She may have also just been a surviving Padawan of Luke's, though her connection to the force would indicate she came from Luke or Leia. On the other hand, since Jedi were banned from love, that would mean for eternity Jedi have been born to non-Jedi parents (sort of Muggle-born if you will). Kylo Ren also got angrier after the reveal that a girl was with BB-8 & Fin, and then hunted her down rather than BB-8. He also treated her gently compared to Poe. It leads me to believe there is a connection there, that perhaps he can't remember.
Solo was a talented pilot and good with a blaster (though Fin should be too, after all, "Only Imperial Storm Troopers are so precise").
Spoiler I don't think it's about recognizing her (if it's their daughter). Maybe they abandoned her and didn't want her to know she was a Jedi so she wouldn't be killed like the other Jedi's in training. Or fall to the dark side like her brother.
saw it for a second time last night and a few more thoughts I had Spoiler Again my knowledge is just from the movies I haven't read any of the books. As for Rey: I have a feeling that she is actually the 'chosen one' that the prophecies referred to, not Anakin or Luke. The only thing I know about the prophecy was that the person was to bring balance to the Force. Clearly Anakin though extremely powerful did not do that as he turned to the dark side. Luke himself never seemed to be a powerful jedi in the same way Anakin, Mace Windu etc were. Granted his will to remain on the light side was strong Luke himself never seemed to be a powerful Jedi. Now bring in Rey. As I mentioned in my earlier post she has done the mind tricks almost unknowingly to the alien in the desert that first captured BB-8. Next when she finds Luke's original light saber she has a lot of visions that were Luke's. I don't believe we've ever seen a Jedi have visions that were memories of another Jedi. The vision of being in the original death star, the confrontation with Ren and ultimately what looks to be Rey herself being left on Jakku. There were all from the perspective of Luke or Luke's memories. Then she had a vision of the future of fighting Ren herself on Starkiller. Only Mace Windu and Yoda, two of the strongest Jedis had the ability to see the future. Now we have Rey who is a young Jedi being able to do that to, almost without trying. When Ren is interrogating her he starts explaining the things he is seeing in her mind. How she was lonely and all and then at the end he says - I see an ocean with an island. Fast forward and we find out that Luke is on an island surround by a vast ocean. How long has Rey had this vision? We dont know but she again she probably didn't understand what it was either. She then was able to block the mind read from Ren and reverse it herself. Whats amazing in this scene at the beginning Ren was forceful and she was struggling. When she turned the tables on Ren his arm was visibly shaking and Rey was eerily calm and still. Then she was able to glean Ren's desire to be like Vader. The mind trick she plays on the storm trooper to release her - it was the first time a mind trick has been played without a hand being waved. Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan and Luke all had to wave their hands whenever they tried to use the Force to influence someone else. Rey was restrained and yet was able to mind trick the storm trooper and then also when she wasn't even looking at him. That to me shows enormous ability to use the Force. I believe Snoke and Ren knew about Rey's abilities. Throughout the film from the moment she was revealed to Ren about being with BB-8 it was as if he knew exactly who she was. When she escapes Ren warns the storm trooper that she is just sensing and testing her powers. It seems like to me that they wanted to find Luke so that he couldn't train Rey to reach her full potential. The Saber clearly belongs to her now and whats interesting is that when they were fighting she clearly taps into the Force when she closes her eyes and becomes still again. Her fighting style completely changes at that point. She seemed to be wielding the saber as a sword prior and then after was wielding it like her staff where she had a clear advantage over Ren. It was as if she realized what she had to do once she was able to still herself. And in an actual LITERAL sense she is going to bring Balance to the Force. Right now there is two Sith that we know of - Ren and Snoke and only one Jedi in Luke. With Rey that will bring balance in having two Jedi vs two Sith. Just a thought. Also I am really digging Ren's character more. The guy clearly desires to be a Sith but knows he probably isn't strong enough and struggles with that. Whereas we've only seen Jedi struggle with their identities thus far. The dialogue he has with Han is amazing considering the perspective he is actually speaking from. The only thing I am not sold on is Ren recognizing Luke and Anakin's lightsaber. Luke lost that with his hand in ESB so there wouldn't be a way for Ren to recognize it. Anakin/Luke's lightsaber didn't seem too distinctive the way Dooku/Maul/Yoda/Windu's were. I am sure he wants it because it belonged originally and was made by Anakin but still I still feel that stood out as a bit off. Maybe there is something I don't know about lightsaber lore. But I do believe now that Rey is Luke's daughter after seeing it a second time. Just the visions Rey is able to see through the light saber and the light saber responding to her seems to be because of a family bond. Also R2 "wakes up" when Rey arrives at the Resistance base. R2 belongs to Luke and probably sensed something that was like Luke when Rey arrived. I dont know if a droid can be Force sensitive but if a droid ever could it would be R2
I disagree because they are doing everything possible to avoid any reference to the prequels. Almost comically. I agree that Ren is awesome. He is everything Anakin should have been but better.
Spoiler Was it just me who thought Ren actually learned how to fight by reading Ren's mind during the fight
Exactly. I mean it was basically Spoiler THE EXACT SAME STORY AS "A NEW HOPE" . . . . can we please have a different threat than a BIGGER DEATH STAR Rocket River
Seriously . . . . . Spoiler the bait and Switch with Finn was not very effective Star Wars is all about the Skywalkers .. . . and he did not fit the appearence So It was not surprising at all . . . . I did not like what they did with Finn's character so far but I am patient I am tired of the mantle of THE ONE being passed down generation to generation within the same family Its such a tire and overused cliche Rocket River
