The Force Awakens (SPOILERS)

[Psychotic]

I just got back from the midnight release showing so yes, I've seen it and there will be spoilers so GO AWAY until you've been!

The first thing we both said after it finished was that it did not feel like a Star Wars movie. Actually no the first thing was "okay wow that was pretty smurfing sweet" but yeah. I guess it comes with the territory of having a different director but the tone, pacing, dialogue, everything was markedly different from the other trilogies. Even the music felt different, even though it was composed by the same guy and some themes were obviously reprised. Obviously there's a lot of parallels and borrowing from A New Hope but it still felt different from that too. Whether or not you think it's a good thing, well, YMMV, but I for one rather enjoyed it.

I love both Rey and Finn, fantastic jobs by the actors and they felt real and believable, as well as characters we could relate to - no boring stoic Jedi. And indeed the villains of the piece were suitably rotten too, no generic robots or guys with funny face tattoos who have like two lines in the whole movie to be found here.

Han picked right up where he left off, like slipping into a comfortable pair of worn shoes. Didn't miss a trick or a beat. This was probably my favourite Chewie movie too. Leia felt a bit off and different but we'll see how we go in future movies.

Without doubt it stomped all over the prequel trilogy and left them in the dirt. Like I said, it was pretty damn good. I don't know how I feel in comparison to the original trilogy yet, I will need time to process it and think about it all but what I do know is that I had a fantastic time.

[maybee]

I just saw it as well and absolutely loved it ! One of the best Star Wars movies in a very long time imo ! The music was fantastic, the storyline was fantastic, and the characters new and old- just overall great !

Small pet peeve though K.Ren looks nothing like he could be possibly Han's son, tbh he looks more like he's Prof. Snapes's son.

[DMKA]

I've already had a big huge part spoiled for me. Like, what probably should have been the most shocking part of the movie has been ruined for me. I'm really hoping it's out of context and I'm concluding completely wrong because otherwise...ARRRRGGGGGGH!

SERIOUSLY, STAY OFF THE INTERNET UNTIL YOU'VE WATCHED IT IF YOU CARE ABOUT THIS MOVIE! There's some jerks going around posting huge spoilers all over the place. I've have it presented to me three different times today.

I'm excited to see it on Saturday. I wish I could go sooner but every showing at every theater within 30 miles of me has been completely sold out up until that point for weeks now. It's CRAZY! I can't ever recall this happening with a movie in my lifetime. It may very well end up surpassing Avatar as the highest grossing film in history at this rate, and I'm willing to bet it will become the fastest film to surpass the billion dollar gross mark in history.

[Colonel Angus]

Han picked right up where he left off, like slipping into a comfortable pair of worn shoes. Didn't miss a trick or a beat. This was probably my favourite Chewie movie too. Leia felt a bit off and different but we'll see how we go in future movies.

That's probably due to the fact that Carrie Fisher herself has been "a bit off" since the early '80s.

I'll share this here for those who may not've seen it. Colbert & JJ Abrams try to get Harrison Ford to play Han Solo again.

[Iceglow]

I just got home from watching it. I liked it, it was good. Super surprised at the patri-cide incident. I mean sure the Star Wars lore is full of son's killing father's but damn not this, not like that.

The whole idea that through connecting to the lightsaber, Rey is able to access the memories and abilities of her father and grandfather before him felt fairly well done. It also seems like a believable ability within the context of the Star Wars expanded universe (felt very KOTOR to me) The lightsaber merely being a connection, a link to the past and her heritage. That being said, after the cannon events of the prequel trilogy, the lack of some flashier moves in the combat between Kylo Ren and Rey felt a little stoic and whilst yes the prequels did get utterly ridiculous towards the end performing feats no human body could actually manage, even if gravity and velocity requirements weren't an obstacle, it would have been nice to have seen a little more ommph in the fighting.

I also felt that the pace of the aerial combat was almost a little too fast. I fully understand that the aerial battles are meant to be fast but it was very difficult to pick out some of the action going on in the scenes (though this probably wasn't helped at all by how 3D cinematography tends to pull your forcus away from the bigger picture).

It was a relatively long film but I must say the pacing kept it quite fresh and it didn't have any moments which seemed to drag on too long (here's looking at you, awkward Gungan scenes in Phantom Menace or "romance" scenes involving a 2x4 and a girl in The Revenge Of The Sith)

[Fox]

I really liked it. It's an odd feeling - it felt really like Star Wars. But a completely different kind of Star Wars to the original trilogy.

It was definitely at its best, in my opinion, when it wasn't worrying about trying to pay homage to the originals. The new characters, they are all strong enough to stand on their own. So while they were right to focus on the new cast, it left leaving the segments with the original cast a little hollow. They also tried to cram a little too much in I felt, which left certain areas feeling slightly underdeveloped.

Again, largely I think this was due to their feeling the need to squeeze in Leia and C-3PO and get as much bang for the buck outta Han Solo being awesome as they could.

Very Big Spoilers Here!!!Han and Kylo, for example. That was a really powerful moment, but it was also the first time we ever saw them speak. I didn't feel like their relationship was established enough, so it didn't have the same kind of impact as, say, Luke vs Vader. And Han's death - while very sad - felt slightly less meaningful because of that,

Having said that... Kylo Ren is amazing. In the previous films, remaining strong, noble and good was difficult, while the Dark Side was tempting and easy to fall to if you weren't vigilant. But with Kylo, darkness is his goal. His ambition. And he's seduced by the light side. He has real love for his father - a love he despises and sees as a weakness. There is good in him and he hates it. It's a great twist on the villains we've previously seen in the franchise.

[G13]

I will do my best to be spoiler free here.

It was a great movie, but something seemed very off to me and it wasn't until I was home and in bed when it dawned on me. I wasn't paying enough attention at the time, but I believe there were none of the original screen wipes used in this film. I always felt those did a very good job on their own in setting a good pace for the movies, creating the illusion of passage of time, and indicating the jump from one story arc to another. I'll have to pay closer attention to that during my next viewing, but I think because of that omission I felt like I was going hyper speed through this movie.

Other than that, I had an absolute blast. These characters are better than I could have imagined, the story, while reminiscent of A New Hope in some oddly big ways, was exciting and had me literally on the edge of my seat, and those smurfing reveals, man! One big reveal I did not see coming, but the rest I guessed as soon as they were set up, which didn't bother me at all because I can see the plot for later movies moving forward in very exciting ways because of them.

Star Wars!

[Psychotic]

I swear I saw a screen wipe or two but now I'm doubting it!

Also Eric were you as blagged as I was as not having the 20th Century Fox theme at the start? You're my only hope.

[Fox]

There were definitely some screen wipes! I noted them specifically! They didn't feel as commonplace as previous films, but there were definitely some!

[G13]

I swear I saw a screen wipe or two but now I'm doubting it!

Also Eric were you as blagged as I was as not having the 20th Century Fox theme at the start? You're my only hope.

That was the proverbial staple missing from the center of the comic book! It was so weird how quickly the movie started after the Lucasfilm credit. And now that I'm on it, was there even a THX credit?

[Pant Leg Eater from the Bad World]

This whole post is a spoiler.

I was totally expecting all of the big reveals. I knew what was going to happen before it did pretty much the whole movie. It was a big rehash of A New Hope.

With that said. I smurfing loved it. Even though I expected that Kylo was going to be Han and Leia's kid (because he is basically, you know, Jason Solo), I still squealed during the reveal. I know it never explicitly said it, but Rey is totes Luke's daughter. Like Stephen said, the connection via the flashbacks made that clear to me.
As soon as Han walked out onto that bridge I knew he was going to die so that Kylo could finish his path to the dark side. Now he can continue his training with the Supreme Leader. I'm venturing to guess by the Supreme Leaders messed up face that he is in fact Darth Plageius, and Palpatine only believed he killed him. Or maybe one of Palpatine's minions who rose to power after his death.

I actually really enjoyed how much it paralleled A New Hope. It was a good homage to it. BB8 is my favorite. I'm super glad they kept with the cheesy transitions. Those only work in a Star Wars movie.

My buddy was upset with how quickly Rey came into her powers in consideration to Kylo actually having some training. But really, it didn't bother me. She is obviously portrayed as an intelligent person who catches on very quickly. And I definitely feel like she caught on so quickly with piloting because she doesn't fight the force, she intuitively lets it guide her. Kind of opposite of Luke, where he had to focus to relax so he could blow up the Death Star. She just does that naturally.

Finn was great. I really believed in his character, and I also genuinely like him. He was relatable in that he wasn't a solid brick wall of courage. He was cowardly, but when it mattered he had the courage to do the right thing. Not fire on innocent villagers. Release Poe and help him escape. Go back for Rey. Try and fight with a smurfing dark side of the force using bad ass mothersmurfer with a sweet smurfing lightsaber. Courage when it mattered. I especially loved the part when he got knocked out and Rey checked on him and he immediately asked if she was okay.

Also. WHAT THE smurf HAS LUKE BEING DOING ON THAT DAMNED ISLAND FOR SO smurfING LONG? It is pretty apparent that Rey was there with him at one point. Before even leaving Jukka (or whatever that sandy planet was) she talks about an island and a seemingly endless ocean. This also helped to convince me she is Luke's daughter. But why was she taken away and left on that dumb planet?

I'm going to go watch this movie again. I'm probably going to see it at least four times in theaters.

[Shorty]

Was incredibly happy with the portrayal of Rey. And also every single other thing about the entire movie. 10/10

[Pant Leg Eater from the Bad World]

I'm going to watch this again tonight.

[Sephex]

Saw it. It was different, but a GOOD different while still feeling like Star Wars. That's exactly what I wanted.

I'll get the bad out of the way first. The pacing felt a little bit rushed at times. Also, some scene transitions were a bit jarring. That's basically the only two major complaints I have.

As for how I rank it concerning the other six? Well, it beats the prequels, that's for dang sure. In order of the old Trilogy, I like from best to least best V, IV, then VI. I would say I enjoyed VII better than VI.

Random things I liked:

*Explanation of how non clone Storm Troopers work. It totally makes sense now. Also makes the fact that there are both Clone Troopers and regular Joes more believable.

*That bad ass Storm Trooper that took on Finn. It shows how the Troopers have more of a human side. They aren't just drones so much in this movie, and I like that. I also liked how there were all kinds of humans on the star ships too.

*How conflicted Kylo Ren was and how he isn't just a DARK MAN GRRRRR!! Though he OBVIOUSLY crossed the line, I like how after that he still was acting like a real person. Also, lol, he earned his face scar because he accumulated enough dark side points.

*Harrison Ford finally got what he wanted. Though I am bummed that Solo is gone, I think he earned it. Plus, stakes were raised and a major character finally paid the price. Brings drama to the story. Again, REAL feelings!

*New cast was awesome. I am hoping they use Poe more since he was really fun to watch. As soon as I saw the guy I wanted to grab a beer with him. Rey and Finn had plenty of charisma and were fun to follow, as well.

*The light saber battle had passion behind it. Though the swift, flashy battles in the prequels were fun to look at, they were missing reason and passion. This was probably my favorite lightsaber fight since Luke vs Vader in Episode V.

*Great use of practical effects WITH CGI. The problem with the prequels weren't the fact that they used CGI, but they relied on them too hard. Though you can easily tell what is CGI and what isn't in most cases, the process is seamless.

*Ship battles were fun. That is all.

*Overall good feel. I had fun watching it and I didn't feel the length of the movie at all.

*That last shot with Luke. He didn't speak and he didn't need to. He looked devastated. He knows what happened. It was seriously a beautiful shot and I love the way both Rey and Luke just looked at each other. Actions....actions instead of words. That's what was missing from the prequels. I seriously got chills. The scenery. Man, everything about that shot was perfect.

[Chibi Youkai]

Overall, the movie was great. I thought that it was awesome that they didn't feel the need to reveal everything in the first movie. Very glad that we still don't really know who Rey is, and that there are other questions, but that they still made the movie feel complete. Kylo's reveal came too fast, and they could have handled it a bit better, but it wasn't enough to detract from the story overall.

One question though. What is up with Luke's hair? I know terrible, God-awful hats are canon, but really?