Seen the new Star Wars movie? Full of Spoilers

I was so shocked at how satisfied I was by the film that it took me 2 days to realise that I just have to seen it again as soon as possible, probably several times in the end. That's the unique Star Wars fix for sure.

Jeff mentioned that scene with the Stormtrooper with the electro-tonfa or whatever calling out Finn...that was AMAZING.

Somebody also noted that the Stormtroopers were not the Keystone Cops in this one, that they were actually dangerous...and that scene totally brought that home because something kind of subtle happened there. For the very first time, a Stormtrooper showed EMOTION. But it was a reaction borne of indoctrination. There was hate in the way he said it because behind it was a belief. That to me is what really distinguished all of the Stormtroopers by proxy, that they was a truly fascistic ideology behind them...and brainwashing. I felt this too during Hux's "Let's be Hitler" speech- you got a sense that it wasn't just a bunch of bucketheads...it was an army of misled, mind-wiped soldiers that truly, for whatever reason believe in the First Order.

The First Order is another way that the film is about Star Wars and its cultural impact...I even think that reading of it makes the third Death Star sensible. If they are trying to recapture Imperial glory, why wouldn't they make another go of it by sucking the light out of suns (SUBTEXT) to wipe out planets?

Captain Phasma...well, there's two more movies. She made an impression, but I'm left wanting more. Which is kind of...awesome, actually. Little things like that, the Knights of Ren, how Luke's lightsaber wound up in a treasure chest in a bar on Takodana, why the Falcon had a new radar dish...those are those stingers like Ben Kenobi talking about the Clone Wars or Han talking about his prior dealings with Lando. The kinds of things that when you are ten years old (or 40) you leave the theater wondering about. Captain Phasma, right now, is a big question mark. I sort of love that because it's how we USED to think about Star Wars before the internet, the EU and everything told us the whole story, official or not. If IG-88, Zuckuss, Dengar and 4LOM can be recognized characters with stories and lore...so can she.

That said, I did feel like the serialization of movies sort of hit this movie in bad way...there were too many "to be continued" points. But you know, that's a cultural thing. And it's not like the serials that these films originally were inspired by didn't do that every week.

You know one thing I really, really loved about Rey? That she wasn't at all dark, conflicted or troubled. She was positive, sprightly and effortlessly capable. But very naïve- her entire performance reminded me of when Luke busts into save Leia on the Death Star- "I'm Luke Skywalker, I'm here to rescue you!" That sort of almost childlike (or rural, as the case may be) sense of not really quite understanding the gravity of what's going on in a larger conflict.

Mark Hamill...good god. Was that a moment or what...you knew it was coming, it wasn't a surprise...but seeing him on the screen again in that role...and naturally aged...was so impactful. The way he looked at her was quite profound- the weight of everything on him from the OT and also from what we know about what happened with Ben Solo and the Jedi trainees, just looking at her with the lightsaber he'd probably just as soon never see again.

On the people complaining about the movie repeating A New Hope...I find that kind of a strange comment. Of course it does. JJ Abrams did the exact same thing with A New Hope that Lucas did with Kurosawa films, WWII fighter jockey movies, serials, Westerns and Joseph Campbell. That's kind of the point, and it's sort of the key to how this film functions in a postmodernist reading. My wife felt like some of the homage and call-backs were forced, but that I replied that they HAD to be. This movie had to pull out all the stops to win us back.

It's strange, I've always kind of tolerated the prequels and I've argued that there were good things about them- not the least of which is that it begat the very excellent Clone Wars series- but now...I don't know if I can watch that shit again after TFA. I mean, think about going back to "are you an angel" and "NOOOOOOOO!" from this movie...

I am in the same boat as you Mike, I am usually one of the few people somewhat defending the prequel movies as enjoyable, albeit flawed, films. After watching TFA Iand seeing what actual film making can accomplish I don't think I can possibly even defend the prequels anymore. Within the first five minutes of TFA all I could think was "I am so glad Lucas wasn't behind the camera for this." The actual filming on location, the puppetry, the CGI used when needed not just because they could, Just compare scenes from Corrusant in eII with any scene in TFA. It looks like some child made the sets/scenery/etc in the prequels.

Did anyone else noticed the seemingly heaviness of the Ren's helmet? Every time he set it down it would be with a THUD! As if it was purposefully heavy to remind Ren of his path, and his conviction to the Dark Side and Vader. It reminded me somewhat of the Man in the Iron Mask 3 Musketeer tale, except self imposed instead imposed upon. It played extremely well with the whole idea of the inner battle that Ren was experiencing. He was definitely at his weakest when he wasn't wearing the helmet.

Everyone was simply fantastic, especially Rey.

My friend and I are already talking about 'That which must not be named'.

Yeah! And how powerful was it, I thought, that they gave him a face...and it's a young man. I loved that he took his mask off and we saw that it wasn't like Vader, that he needed it to be alive.

I also thought that was an interesting character piece when he kept hitting himself in the ribs after Chewbacca shot him. And that Rey said- surprised- "you're...afraid".

And the impact his actions and turn had on Han and Leia...it wasn't just "our son's gone bad", it was obviously a devastating event that destroyed their relationship, like the death of a child does to some people.

Such a complicated character already...if they write him right over the next two films, it's going to be amazing to see where they go with him.

The family isn't going to see it until Wednesday, so I snuck out on Friday and saw it on the Imax. There weren't many seats left, and I misread the seating chart, so I ended up on the FRONT ROW. A lot of the seats that were marked as "sold" were empty, so I think some of the local tech companies had reserved them and they weren't used. It was also in 3D, so that big destroyer felt like it was going to ram through me.

As a movie, I'd give this a solid 74/100. When you add the nostalgia factor it shoots up into the 80s. So Head: 74. Heart: 87


I had my kids watch The Empire Strikes Back last night and they were pretty "meh" on it, yet they still want to see the new movie.

I have read nothing of the expanded universe, so there was some slight confusion.

We had a major incident in our household this morning. My wife is recovering from surgery, and due to some complications in her recovery ended up missing the family trip to The Force Awakens. She needs to go back to hospital today and so I decided to bring the kids in to work with me. As we were preparing to leave the house, I said to the kids "There are people at work who haven't seen Star Wars, so the rules are the same as home, no spoiler discussion." And my daughter said "That must be so hard for you. You must spend all day just itching to say to your workmates 'Han Solo dies'". Everyone just stopped looking from her, to my wife and back again, just thinking, "Oh Fuck! Did that just happen?".

Went to see it with work colleagues.

Some reactions

- Finn and Rey are great, really sold on them, pretty much everything they touch turns to gold.

- Loopin Chewie!

- I love the teen angst the bad jedi dude brings. I agree that perhaps the film a bit too vividly echo'd the past in some places (though I can see why this was essential) but having a different darksider to Vader really worked for me. In general I love teen angst.

- The Claymore style saber duels are great

- It has emotion!

- If i have one criticism its that the villains lack gravitas, in quite a big way, possibly terror too. Cushing, Earl Jones, and McDiamid bring a real presence and sinister authority. The CGI dude in the basement really didn't convince me. I liked the angry facist general, but with out the CGI dude pulling his weight he felt a bit young.

DukeofChutney wrote: - If i have one criticism its that the villains lack gravitas, in quite a big way, possibly terror too. Cushing, Earl Jones, and McDiamid bring a real presence and sinister authority. The CGI dude in the basement really didn't convince me. I liked the angry facist general, but with out the CGI dude pulling his weight he felt a bit young.

My pal and I discussed the question of gravitas at length in the pub afterwards. It's true that Kylo Ren lacks Vader's immediately palpable sense of threat but his angst-ridden instability is the perfect rendering of what Anakin should've been in That which must not be named. Ren is a credibily unhinged villain who definitely has the potential to come into his own as a memorable character in the Star Wars saga. The question of gravitas was just my last attempt to rationalise a 'yes but' before I gave full reign to my enthusiasm for the return of Star Wars.

Michael Barnes wrote: I also thought that was an interesting character piece when he kept hitting himself in the ribs after Chewbacca shot him.

My buddy and were talking about how Abrhams showed us the devestating power of the Bowcaster earlier as it took out two to three 'Troopers at the same time. He then showed us Kylo Ren taking a full blast, standing and continuing to fight.

That was no accident, Kylo Ren is going to be a fucking bad ass in the next couple films. And yeah, him hitting his body was a brilliant character choice adding a rich narrative to the fight sequences.

The bowcaster gag was definitely one for the fans...after many, many years...decades even...of WTF does that thing do we got to see it in action. The funny thing is though, after playing SW Battlefront, I expected it to have that spread shot.

Oh, been meaning to mention this. Very odd, I thought. Our show was Saturday at 8pm, which I would have thought would have been prime time. I actually went ahead of my family, I got there at 6pm assuming that I was going to be waiting in line. There was no one there. But I stayed anyway. About 30 minutes before the doors opened in our theater, another group showed up and got in line behind me. When the previous show let out, there was literally like four people in it. I thought "that is really strange". Our screening wound up with like three groups in the entire theater. I guess everyone saw it Thursday/Friday and that was when the crowds hit? I still expected there to be lines. Very odd. In fact, the entire theater was kind of a ghost town EXCEPT for this Bollywood film that was showing, which was PACKED.

My family and I saw it this morning at a matinee and we really liked it. I agree with everyone who's saying that the homages and echoes of Star Wars were a good faith gesture on Abrams' part - intentional or not - to demonstrate that the franchise is in good hands. I also agree with the criticism of some of the Finn stuff and several of his lines seemed "off."

The scene between Han and Ben on the bridge was great: it was very emotional and real and I also loved that Chewie was able to tag Ben with the bowcaster.

Daisy Ridley was superb. After Hayden Christensen I would have settled for a workmanlike performance from her but she nailed it.

The design of the creatures on Han's ship and his little side adventure with the crime gangs put me in mind of the sort of thing you might have seen in the Marvel comic series between Star Wars and Empire. Viewed through that lens I think it works. Han was a little buffoonish in Jedi at times so it was nice to see that aspect toned down without losing it altogether.

Poe is the "QB of the football team" fighter ace that the series has never really had and sorely needed. I mean, I love Wedge but, EU stuff aside, he's primarily known for surviving all three films. Poe's got the fighter jock charisma and I hope we see longer-duration dogfights in the next films.

Speaking of homages to Star Wars, did we really need Porkins 2.0 with that bearded X-Wing pilot? The answer is yes, yes we did. I was bummed that the square-faced alien pilot died, though. I like seeing the alien pilots.

Also, on Friday one of my son's classmates spoiled the Kylo-is-Ben-Solo and Han-dies twists, so fuck that kid. When the next movie comes out I'm going to the midnight showing and then straight to his house to give him an oral retelling of the entire film.

I saw it over the weekend - once with my son, who is 7, in 2-D, and the next day in 3-D with my wife.

I can only echo the comments above - I loved the film, especially the first half with the new characters, how things played out on Jakku, the escape etc.

It is the first time I have seen a 3-D film: although cool, I am glad I saw it in 2-D first. As a viewer, I enjoy looking over the whole frame and I was surprised how much of the 3-D screen is "lost" and how you are 'forced' to look at particular elements rather than to be able to scan the entire frame. When they rack focus it draws much more attention to itself than in 2D, it seems, although having things so in the foreground that they come off the screen IS cool. I liked the 3D experience but I still don't think I would ever want to experience a film in the first viewing this way.

In terms of the story, Han Solo's death was not altogether a surprise but has really tragic and huge ramifications for the Ren character and the others - who don't get to live happily ever after: Luke, Leia, Han... the three who saved the galaxy appear totally cursed.

I am curious how Kylo Ren's character will develop. I wonder if he will eventually suffer damage physically or mentally that eventually he will stop removing the mask entirely or will be fused with it or dependent on it a life-support system as Vader was. Killing his father has pushed him forward, but he may still further destroy his former self, physically. In one sense, in Ren we maybe we will see in him the transformation of Vader as it should have been in the prequels, not immediate, but eventual. I think by the end, he will be very brutal, without remorse, no child left in him - his tantrums will become more focused and full of even more hate against Rey. No question he will be a formidable foe (if they do this right) and unlike Vader I don't think a character who killed his own close relative in such a deliberate manner can be 'saved'.

BTW Anybody else worried that Kasdan is not writing the whole series, or that Abrams is not directing all the way through?

The prequels, my son watched phantom menace for the first time yesterday and really it (and perhaps the other two) are just kiddie versions of Star Wars: harmless, playful even, largely boring, but more for his age than the later films. The arid and soulless acting and green screen remind me of cheap sets from a 1960s TV show instead of a movie making use of what I guess was then state of the art CGI. I think that is the only way those three films can be watched as light kiddie fare, barring the massacre of the Jedi in the later films.

On an off note, yesterday this freelancer comes into work, this kind of self-described anarchist or saboteur and throws out fro no reason, unprovoked, "Han Solo dies" in the middle of the office just to get a reaction. Well, I'd already seen it and even if my two co-workers don't give a rat's ass about Star Wars, but I still called him out as a total "asshole" which, for some reason, surprised him somehow. All he could blurt out was 'I don't care'. Seriously, I told my kid not to even give away spoilers away at school so as not to ruin it for any classmates as well as be the centre of a mini shit storm himself

I loved that it started with a stormtrooper POV. It was just so very different, and also showed them as quite competent. But most importantly it gave them personality like when the two guards walked away from Ren throwing a tantrum or the small snippet of conversation about T-17s (also a hommage to A New Hope) Rey overhears.

Another brillant thing is how the important battles are all fought in real places - most importantly the final duel in the snowclad woods. The prequels had corridors, an arena, a lava planet, and other places that aren't really real, but in TFA the fights are grounded. And the same goes for the dog fights to some extent.

I loved Kylo Ren and I love that the actor is not badass or cool looking. He looks somewhat like a dorky kid whichs makes him even more terrifying. And him trying to be Vader is a fantastic idea. I did wonder, however, if the chest banging was because he had some mods. I mean, he did survive a direct hit, so maybe he's already on his path to becoming more machine than man which is an important plot in the entire series. (And along those lines it's interesting to see that Luke now has a metal hand and not just an artificial one).

One complaint is that for all it's planet destroying capabilities, the new order didn't seem very dangerous. Maybe they should have established them as someone who rule part of the galaxy, or maybe we should just have had a bit more exposition of the senate. It did seem strange that we had both a republic, a new empire, and a resistance. I can see how it makes sense - that the resistance is a part of the galaxy where the new order rules, and that they (the resistance) are being supported by the Rebublic which is somewhere else - but it wasn't all clear. And along the same lines I did kind of wonder about the crawl saying that Skywalker was gone, but that the bad guys where looking for him. Why would they need to do that if he's gone? It just seemed weird and for a short moment I got ugly flashbacks to the convoluted and downright stupid crawls of the prequels.

Other than that it was amazing. Cool characters, great moments for everybody, and great, grounded action. I'm looking forward to seeing Rey's and Finn's progression, but also if they'll give Poe some sort of flaw so that he's not just the ace. Also, I think Leia should really have the opportunity to be a general rather than just the ex-wife/mother.