Episode VII (spoilers)

[Darkstar]

I saw it with my family, and I thought it was good. My brother is really into Star Wars and he said he would be mad if the movie were merely 'good'. He thought it was amazing. My biggest worry is that it would feel more like a Disney movie than a Star Wars one, and with that pilot at the beginning acting in a 'typical non-serious protagonist' manner I was worried for a moment. Fortunately, that turned out to be just his personality.

While it's sad to see Han die, at least his death felt meaningful.

As for Kylo Ren, he kind of came off as a pissy little b*tch Vader wannabe, but I guess that was intentional as he was basically supposed to be that in-universe. I wonder what kind of abomination his boss is going to turn him into by the next movie. Speaking of that guy, we didn't really get any explanation as to where this 'supreme leader' came from. That is the only gripe I have at the moment, but Disney didn't really have any way of foreshadowing his existence since they didn't make episodes 1-6. Maybe there will be a backstory in print works?

And as for Rey using a mind trick so soon, I would imagine that most of the properly 'programmed' stormtroopers aren't used to doing their own thinking anyway, and would be more vulnerable to mind tricks. Let's just keep in mind the fact that Luke used the force to fire a perfect shot down the exhaust port of the first death star, which probably would have been physically impossible at that angle, despite having never explicitly used the force before.

I also noticed a lot of parallels with and shout outs to episode IV.

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Finn: We'll figure it out. We'll use the force!
Han: That's not how the force works!
I loled.

---

[bennyboy]

I think the death of Han Solo will stand as one of the memorable moments of the franchise, if not movie history.

I was waiting for Luke to show up the entire movie. I was emotionally preparing myself to see Han find Luke, and to see them on the screen together again. I'm bothered that we won't ever see that. I'm also bothered that we didn't get to see Chewy come to terms with Han's death. But thems the breaks.

That there is great dissatisfaction is probably the best thing about the movie.  There's plenty of joy, but some sincere disappointment, too, and that's a little Shakespearean.

[bennyboy]

About Kylo Ren:

I think it is his weakness that will ultimately prove to be his strength. It enabled him to kill his own father, when even Darth Vader in the end couldn't kill his own son. Kylo Ren's fear of being weak will make him do ANYTHING.

As for complaints about Rey being so suddenly strong, there's a scene which shows exactly why: she gave herself up to the force, and it guided her to victory.

[Clueless Morgan]

Gotta come back to this thread in the morning when I have time and consciousness to devote to putting my thoughts down and reading through the other posts.

I still think the light saber cross guard is stupid.

[TheRealJoeFish]

Gotta come back to this thread in the morning when I have time and consciousness to devote to putting my thoughts down and reading through the other posts.

I still think the light saber cross guard is stupid.

Ah! But it is not a cross-guard; it's power vents, because recent light saber technology was lost, and Kylo had to use an older design, and he supercharged it so much that if he didn't have extra holes for the power to escape it would explode!

... I think...

[Clueless Morgan]

Gotta come back to this thread in the morning when I have time and consciousness to devote to putting my thoughts down and reading through the other posts.

I still think the light saber cross guard is stupid.

Ah! But it is not a cross-guard; it's power vents, because recent light saber technology was lost, and Kylo had to use an older design, and he supercharged it so much that if he didn't have extra holes for the power to escape it would explode!

... I think...

Whether it's a cross guard or power vents, I still think it's a dangerous design for a light saber. Knowing that it's meant to be vents mollifies me only slightly.

Okay, so I discovered a second thread discussing the movie with spoilers but I'm already here so I'm going to post my spoilerful review here. Things I won't discuss are technical aspects that are going on in the other thread like aspect ratios and cinematography and the like. I'm reviewing from the POV of a casual fan.

Story:

I enjoyed the overall story quite a bit. I can't remember exactly where in the movie I realized this but at some point once the movie got really under way I realized that the plot was basically a broad reenvisioning of ep IV, and once I made that realization the whole movie because predictable which made the scene between Han and Kylo not all that surprising, shocking, or dramatic. I saw it coming from a 100 miles off - like back when Leia told Han to bring home their son if he saw him. In that respect I'm glad I wasn't able to complete a rewatch of episodes I-VI before I saw this one (but I'm going to try before I go back and see it again )

Characters:

I enjoyed all the characters, but I had a difficult time relating to Rey. She seemed too emotionally distant at times for me to really connect with her, so I much more related to Finn as the character I wanted to follow through the movie. I'm hoping she becomes more relatable on either a second viewing or in episode VIII. I had no problem with the explanation as to why Finn, a black guy, could be a storm trooper - didn't bother me at all, but I did get shades of the Unsullied from him when he told the story about how he didn't have a name, he had a number and how he had been taken at a young age and taught to fight.

I really, really liked Poe and hope we get more of him in the coming episodes - he seemed kind of like the Han Solo of this movie, the charismatic guy who is not technically the main character but who you always want to see more of. I thought Harrison Ford did an okay job as Han Solo but I wasn't blown away by him or his performance. I assume Leia will remain in the next movies as a general and a sort of mother figure to Rey. I thought BB8 was adorable and, as I mentioned in the no-spoiler thread, expressive in a way that R2D2 could never be because of the way he(she?) moved and could cock his head. I really enjoyed him as a sort of update to R2D2.

I liked Kylo Ren as the baddie, and I liked that he took his helmet off - and then when he did I kept thinking he's a dark-haired Malfoy Maybe from the Bellatrix side of the family and not the Lucius side, but he's got the look. I had a difficult time with the head-honcho guy Kylo was supposed to be working for, tho. I thought he was cool and a good baddie, too, but I kept being confused as to whether he's really gigantic like that or if that was a factor of him being a hologram or something... I also really liked Captain Phasma in her silverized storm trooper outfit.

CGI and Action:

Unlike the people in the other spoiler thread, I thought the CGI was well done and can't think of an example where it was gratuitous or overdone. I thought the battles were well done (if not predictable: see the exhaust port runs from VI and V ) and I thought the saber dual between Kylo and Rey was nice and vicious. I thought the x-wing/tie fighter battles were cool and I thought those made the price of the 3D ticket worth it (for the one time I'll see it in 3D)

Comedy and Callbacks:

I thought this aspect of the movie was handled really artfully. Unlike I-III where there were gags for the sake of gags and pandering to little kids, I thought the comedic moments were folded into the storytelling really well. The couple I can think of are when Finn comes into the town on Jakkku and is desperate for water and shares the watering hole with the big-nosed animal, and toward the end when the gang is trying to figure out what to do with Phasma and Han asks if there's a trash compactor. Great moment and excellent use of a callback to the earlier movies, even tho I think it was spoiled a little by an earlier discovery about Finn working for sanitation on the planet. And, as I said previously, BB8 was cute and expressive and had some nice little comedic character moments that were endearing and funny but not pandering to the lowest common denominator (or age).

My general impression of the movie was that it kept up a pretty good pace, there seemed to be a good scene/sequel balance and a decent action/relief balance, but I did think it felt a little long toward the end.

Overall, I really enjoyed the movie. For being in the category of big-budget hollywood blockbusters I gave it a 4.75/5, and as a general movie with no genre caveats or other qualifiers I'd give it a solid 4/5.

[Exian]

One thing I think will get a little dated as society makes progress towards equality are the scenes that show Rey as the non-damsel in distress. We get it today, as we are witness to the juxtaposition, but I can imagine as time marches forth that people will wonder why Rey keeps saying "stop holding my hand" or why Finn was trying to hold her hand in the first place, or why Rey gives him a funny look after he asks if she's ok.

But in all probability, the damsel in distress trope will always be in use, and therefor these scenes will stay poignant. It's also possible that these moments were low-key enough to not matter either way.

[Anomalocaris]

I was waiting for Luke to show up the entire movie. I was emotionally preparing myself to see Han find Luke, and to see them on the screen together again. I'm bothered that we won't ever see that. I'm also bothered that we didn't get to see Chewy come to terms with Han's death. But thems the breaks.

That there is great dissatisfaction is probably the best thing about the movie.  There's plenty of joy, but some sincere disappointment, too, and that's a little Shakespearean.

Shakespeare spins in his grave.

[brewer]

I met Lukes fathers wife outside the theater. For being famous Ella was pretty cool.

[I_am_not_mafia]

We watched all the previous episodes before The Force Awakens came out. I found TFA a rehash of A New Hope, the same mechanics but different people taking on different roles. Poe was Han Solo, Han Solo was Obi Wan Kenobi, Rey was Luke, BB8 was R2D2, Jakku was Tatooine. Ky Lo Ren was worried about being seduced by the light side.

So we have someone who is force sensitive going on a perilous mission along with an old father figure (who dies) to meet up with the resistance and then has to blow up some planet destroying base.

I think it would have been better if they had done something new with the plot rather than just shuffle the characters around and re-imagined it.

I would have liked to have seen the massive power vacuum continuing on after the end of Return of the Jedi as everyone rushes to take control. With a new Republic could be trying to establish itself and the remnants of the Empire trying to retain control, the destiny of the Galaxy could go either way. That way it becomes more tense because more is at stake and any little set back or victory becomes more significant.

You then don't need a bigger planet killing space base, you can scale it back because intergalactic civilisation has broken down. They did have this to some degree though with crap proto-Jedi and a Sith Lord who is a moody teenager who wears black, throws tantrums and isn't actually that skilled. I think they should have really exploited this theme.

Unfortunately they talked about the resistance which assumes that the First Order is in full control again. But how can this be if you have whole planets which are part of the Republic? I thought that aspect was all rather muddled. How can the First Order create a planet sized space base without the Republic finding out for example?

I'm not saying that it should have been all politics and trade talks like with the Phantom Menace, I think that it should have been set in a chaotic, ruined galaxy in war between different vying factions. Maybe it could have even had some moral ambiguity.