As someone who watched all his videos destroying the prequels, I'm sure he will have very valid criticisms of the new movie, while still considering it way better than what George Lucas could do
Hell yes. What I like about the Plinkett reviews is no matter if he likes or hate the movie it's always entertaining.
[QUOTE=LtKyle2;49900419]oh my god
he is going to tear it apart.[/QUOTE]
but mike loved it
[QUOTE=Zukriuchen;49900631]but mike loved it[/QUOTE]
tbh it was 4 am and he had JUST come out of the movie
I'm sure now they're gonna have plenty to say
[QUOTE=ShadowSocks8;49901250]tbh it was 4 am and he had JUST come out of the movie
I'm sure now they're gonna have plenty to say[/QUOTE]
I think the funny bit about the force awakens is that the criticism I most agreed with is the one Lucas made. There's nothing new here, it's a throwback for Star Wars fans. Ironically for being so similar to ANH, it's at the same time its antithesis- ANH was all about trying new and different things, TFA was all about playing it safe and giving people exactly what they want.
Don't get me wrong I didn't hate it and as a movie and it's definitely better than the prequels, but I wasn't nearly as awestruck as a lot of people seemed to be around release.
[QUOTE=Zukriuchen;49900631]but mike loved it[/QUOTE]
If anything, it's going to be like the Star Trek review, overall it would be positive, but he would talk about the few things that he had problems with. Probably a lot of the poetry that was in there.
I really don't see how a couple of recycled plot elements means that there's "nothing new". Don't get me wrong, [sp]blowing up the death star for like the third time[/sp] was not very interesting, and they really should have come up with something else, but the whole point of the movie is the character interactions and fun action, and that all felt fresh. The core of the movie was new and interesting. Just because the surface-level cosmetic stuff wasn't original doesn't mean it's just a copy of ANH.
I think Episode VII was intentionally made as a 'playing it safe' sort of film, with enough difference that it doesn't feel like they're just ripping off the original, but similar enough to make it clear that the trilogy is in good hands.
Or at the very least, I [I]hope[/I] that's how things are going to be. If Episode VIII is just Carry On Episode V-ing, that won't bode very well.
I really do hope he tears it a new asshole. Fact is it was just okay and massively overrated. A lot of people looked passed the issues it had.
Spoilers. Tagged even though its been out for awhile.
[sp]
- Mary Sue Rey (to get it out of the way). My main issue with her is how easily she beats Ren. It takes Luke three films to become a halfway competent Jedi, even then he only beats Vader when he gives in to the anger. Natural affinity with the force or no its apparently something that needs honing. Also she's never used a sword / saber before. So when she beats Ren this easily there's no payoff because there was no build up.
- Finn also holds his own against Ren for awhile.
- Where did Finn, the storm trooper taken from his family before he had memories and given a number instead of a name, learn right from wrong? And if he felt so bad about his storm trooper friends dying why did he have zero qualms killing many of them later? That guy under that mask coulda been your bff. Shouldn't that give him some pause?
- Snoke is pointless. He's a big intergalatic baby sitter for when Hux and Ren get in a fight because these characters can't think for themselves.
- Speaking of pointless why was Sergeant Screentime ("Phasma") marketed so much to have two lines?
- Speaking of Phasma why did she lower the shields? Again indoctrinated, extremist soldier is fine doing shit that doesn't make sense? She should've had them kill her before doing anything they asked.
- Snoke is unexplained. Its okay to have a mystery; but not when its a mystery to only the audience. Han and Leia knew who Snoke was.
- Speaking of unexplained shit the entire Republic - Resistance - First Order thing wasn't explained. As far as I can tell the FO had a treaty with the Republic and the Republic broke it by sponsoring the guerilla terrorist group known as the Resistance. So the First Order is justified lmao.
- No idea what planets they blew up with the Death Sphere or why they were important. So no impact. Good job.
- Speaking of no impact all the heroes know they can win easily ("there's always a way to blow it up"). So no tension, great.
- While it wasn't brought up in this movie it will be in future movies but I have this funny feeling Snoke will be retroactively important (eg he's Plageuis). Which is fucking dumb. You're in a sequel don't ruin the older movies by introducing new shit that was important behind the scenes of the old movies.
- Maz Canata was also pointless. She's a rehash of Yoda that has none of the mystery or the wiseness he had. I don't even remember why they went to her place. I don't think they even had a reason.
- The cinematography literally made me sick when watching imax. JJ can't keep the camera still / straight; every shot is moving and every shot is at an angle.
- [B]Fucking Leia hugs Rey[/B], someone [I]she's never met before[/I], instead of Chewbacca, Han's [I]life long friend[/I], when they get back from the Death Sphere because Han died. This confounds me so much its clear the writers had zero idea what they were doing. I literally cannot comprehend this. It does not compute.
- Ending shot is stupid and hangs too long. If the scene was cut down and didn't have the horrible helicopter shot it would've had more impact. And yes this is important since its how the film ties up.
- Film fails to move away enough from the other movies; at least the prequels had a different art style and differentiated themselves. Here we still have TIE fighters and X-Wings. Hell the use the X-Wings to bomb rather than Y-Wings because the X-Wing is more iconic.
- Filler CGI piece of crap monster sequence. Rathtars?
- And of course its a thinly veiled remake (mentioned in the video).
[/sp]
The movie had plenty of positives too; but many reviews ignored most of the issues the movie had.
There are two major things I want to respond to in your list, other portions were opinion (like on the cinematography, which I absolutely loved. It was dynamic and interesting - go back and watch the prequels and notice how it's all still shots with the occasional panning. It's boring to look at.) or I'm just too tired right now to write up a coherent response.
[QUOTE=thrawn2787;49902832]
[sp]
- Mary Sue Rey (to get it out of the way). My main issue with her is how easily she beats Ren. It takes Luke three films to become a halfway competent Jedi, even then he only beats Vader when he gives in to the anger. Natural affinity with the force or no its apparently something that needs honing. Also she's never used a sword / saber before. So when she beats Ren this easily there's no payoff because there was no build up.[/sp][/QUOTE]
[sp]No. She was retreating nearly the entire time, and was not fighting with it as a saber, but as if she still had her staff. Ren was attempting to convert her, not beat her in any case. Her calling on the force in that moment took him aback and that's why she got a few good hits in (Not to mention the severe body wound and distraction from just having killed his father. For the most part, she was on the retreat and fighting poorly)[/sp]
[QUOTE=thrawn2787;49902832][sp]- Finn also holds his own against Ren for awhile.[/sp][/quote]
[sp]For about 30 seconds before getting completely destroyed.[/sp]
Also, Chris Stuckmann had a very good video on "The Star Wars Formula" and why the "It's a remake of A New Hope!" isn't really the strongest of arguments.
[video=youtube;YbaliPyihCY]https://youtu.be/YbaliPyihCY[/video]
Is that Mike doing the Sheev voice?
It's absolutely spot on.
[QUOTE=Latex;49902981]Is that Mike doing the Sheev voice?
It's absolutely spot on.[/QUOTE]
It is. He's actually too good at it.
[QUOTE=thrawn2787;49902832]I really do hope he tears it a new asshole. Fact is it was just okay and massively overrated. A lot of people looked passed the issues it had.
Spoilers. Tagged even though its been out for awhile.
[sp]
- Mary Sue Rey (to get it out of the way). My main issue with her is how easily she beats Ren. It takes Luke three films to become a halfway competent Jedi, even then he only beats Vader when he gives in to the anger. Natural affinity with the force or no its apparently something that needs honing. Also she's never used a sword / saber before. So when she beats Ren this easily there's no payoff because there was no build up.
- Finn also holds his own against Ren for awhile.
- Where did Finn, the storm trooper taken from his family before he had memories and given a number instead of a name, learn right from wrong? And if he felt so bad about his storm trooper friends dying why did he have zero qualms killing many of them later? That guy under that mask coulda been your bff. Shouldn't that give him some pause?
- Snoke is pointless. He's a big intergalatic baby sitter for when Hux and Ren get in a fight because these characters can't think for themselves.
- Speaking of pointless why was Sergeant Screentime ("Phasma") marketed so much to have two lines?
- Speaking of Phasma why did she lower the shields? Again indoctrinated, extremist soldier is fine doing shit that doesn't make sense? She should've had them kill her before doing anything they asked.
- Snoke is unexplained. Its okay to have a mystery; but not when its a mystery to only the audience. Han and Leia knew who Snoke was.
- Speaking of unexplained shit the entire Republic - Resistance - First Order thing wasn't explained. As far as I can tell the FO had a treaty with the Republic and the Republic broke it by sponsoring the guerilla terrorist group known as the Resistance. So the First Order is justified lmao.
- No idea what planets they blew up with the Death Sphere or why they were important. So no impact. Good job.
- Speaking of no impact all the heroes know they can win easily ("there's always a way to blow it up"). So no tension, great.
- While it wasn't brought up in this movie it will be in future movies but I have this funny feeling Snoke will be retroactively important (eg he's Plageuis). Which is fucking dumb. You're in a sequel don't ruin the older movies by introducing new shit that was important behind the scenes of the old movies.
- Maz Canata was also pointless. She's a rehash of Yoda that has none of the mystery or the wiseness he had. I don't even remember why they went to her place. I don't think they even had a reason.
- The cinematography literally made me sick when watching imax. JJ can't keep the camera still / straight; every shot is moving and every shot is at an angle.
- [B]Fucking Leia hugs Rey[/B], someone [I]she's never met before[/I], instead of Chewbacca, Han's [I]life long friend[/I], when they get back from the Death Sphere because Han died. This confounds me so much its clear the writers had zero idea what they were doing. I literally cannot comprehend this. It does not compute.
- Ending shot is stupid and hangs too long. If the scene was cut down and didn't have the horrible helicopter shot it would've had more impact. And yes this is important since its how the film ties up.
- Film fails to move away enough from the other movies; at least the prequels had a different art style and differentiated themselves. Here we still have TIE fighters and X-Wings. Hell the use the X-Wings to bomb rather than Y-Wings because the X-Wing is more iconic.
- Filler CGI piece of crap monster sequence. Rathtars?
- And of course its a thinly veiled remake (mentioned in the video).
[/sp]
The movie had plenty of positives too; but many reviews ignored most of the issues the movie had.[/QUOTE]
[sp]Most of those plot and character criticisms are applicable to the original trilogy, you know that, right? I'd say the worse that can be fairly said about it is that it borrows very heavily from A New Hope.[/sp]
[QUOTE=thrawn2787;49902832]I really do hope he tears it a new asshole. Fact is it was just okay and massively overrated. A lot of people looked passed the issues it had.
Spoilers. Tagged even though its been out for awhile.
[sp]
- Mary Sue Rey (to get it out of the way). My main issue with her is how easily she beats Ren. It takes Luke three films to become a halfway competent Jedi, even then he only beats Vader when he gives in to the anger. Natural affinity with the force or no its apparently something that needs honing. Also she's never used a sword / saber before. So when she beats Ren this easily there's no payoff because there was no build up.
- Finn also holds his own against Ren for awhile.
- Where did Finn, the storm trooper taken from his family before he had memories and given a number instead of a name, learn right from wrong? And if he felt so bad about his storm trooper friends dying why did he have zero qualms killing many of them later? That guy under that mask coulda been your bff. Shouldn't that give him some pause?
- Snoke is pointless. He's a big intergalatic baby sitter for when Hux and Ren get in a fight because these characters can't think for themselves.
- Speaking of pointless why was Sergeant Screentime ("Phasma") marketed so much to have two lines?
- Speaking of Phasma why did she lower the shields? Again indoctrinated, extremist soldier is fine doing shit that doesn't make sense? She should've had them kill her before doing anything they asked.
- Snoke is unexplained. Its okay to have a mystery; but not when its a mystery to only the audience. Han and Leia knew who Snoke was.
- Speaking of unexplained shit the entire Republic - Resistance - First Order thing wasn't explained. As far as I can tell the FO had a treaty with the Republic and the Republic broke it by sponsoring the guerilla terrorist group known as the Resistance. So the First Order is justified lmao.
- No idea what planets they blew up with the Death Sphere or why they were important. So no impact. Good job.
- Speaking of no impact all the heroes know they can win easily ("there's always a way to blow it up"). So no tension, great.
- While it wasn't brought up in this movie it will be in future movies but I have this funny feeling Snoke will be retroactively important (eg he's Plageuis). Which is fucking dumb. You're in a sequel don't ruin the older movies by introducing new shit that was important behind the scenes of the old movies.
- Maz Canata was also pointless. She's a rehash of Yoda that has none of the mystery or the wiseness he had. I don't even remember why they went to her place. I don't think they even had a reason.
- The cinematography literally made me sick when watching imax. JJ can't keep the camera still / straight; every shot is moving and every shot is at an angle.
- [B]Fucking Leia hugs Rey[/B], someone [I]she's never met before[/I], instead of Chewbacca, Han's [I]life long friend[/I], when they get back from the Death Sphere because Han died. This confounds me so much its clear the writers had zero idea what they were doing. I literally cannot comprehend this. It does not compute.
- Ending shot is stupid and hangs too long. If the scene was cut down and didn't have the horrible helicopter shot it would've had more impact. And yes this is important since its how the film ties up.
- Film fails to move away enough from the other movies; at least the prequels had a different art style and differentiated themselves. Here we still have TIE fighters and X-Wings. Hell the use the X-Wings to bomb rather than Y-Wings because the X-Wing is more iconic.
- Filler CGI piece of crap monster sequence. Rathtars?
- And of course its a thinly veiled remake (mentioned in the video).
[/sp]
The movie had plenty of positives too; but many reviews ignored most of the issues the movie had.[/QUOTE]
Not to sound like an apologist, but...
[sp]-It's heavily implied (if not outright stated) that Rey has some sort of past with the Force. Most popular idea is that she was one of Luke's padowans before shit went bad. So her being that Force adept makes sense. It's not like it took Luke years and years to figure out how to do basic Force stuff, he moved his lightsaber in the beginning of Empire with no training whatsoever. Not to mention she's already shown to be handy with her staff (same basic principles as a sword), Ren is said to still be in training, and he's nursing a bowcaster shot (which was established multiple times to fuck people up hardcore) plus he just killed his dad, Young Ben is a little distracted/emotional.
-Finn is a Stormtrooper. They're trained in anti-lightsaber combat with melee weapons and the novel that takes place before TFA explains that he was top of his class.
-We see in the opening action sequence that Phasma orders the troops to off unarmed civilians. It's the moment when he decides "this isn't sitting well with me". If that's what the First Order is about, he wants no part of it. Hux mentions turning to a clone army instead of using brainwashed abductees, implying that insubordination isn't exactly a new problem for them.
-Snoke, like the Emperor before him, was only established in this one. The Emperor barely does anything but be a scary hologram in Empire; his job is to be the bad guy in charge of this movie's bad guys that we end up learning more about later.
-Phasma was marketed so much because she made for a cool toy. Sucks, but that's modern marketing at work. Apparently she's got much more to do in XIII.
-Maybe the high-ranking officer is secretly kind of a coward, willing to sell out her compatriots than sacrifice her life? Like a lot of high-ranking Nazis?
-Han and Leia didn't really know who Snoke was, just that he was a bad dude who corrupted their son. That's all we need to know right now because TFA wasn't about Snoke. This is part one of three, we're not gonna get all our answers upfront.
-The Republic is the new body in charge. The First Order is the remnants of the Empire. The Republic thinks that TFO is too weak to do anything bad, the Resistance knows better and tries to stop them. The Republic doesn't really favor either, though they're more inclined to help the Resistance since they were the good guys of the Galactic Civil War. The First Order is basically Germany after WW1; the Space Allies don't think they're much of a threat until they end up not being satisfied with just invading Space Poland. This could have been better explained in the film.
-The planets that blew up were clearly stated to be the main planets/capitals of the Republic. To use the WW1 metaphor again, France, England, USA, etc. This is stated a few times.
-Han is the only person to view this mission as "going through the motions" and he ends up dead.
-I disagree. While I have no idea who Snoke is, I feel like it'd be a strong way to tie the saga together. Don't say "OH, HE WAS ON HOTH TOO, THEY JUUUST MISSED HIM THOUGH!" or something retarded like that, but if he turns out to be tied into the established mythology somehow I hardly think that's a bad thing.
-They go to Maz to help get BB-8 to the Resistance Base; Han doesn't want to go because Leia's there. So they're gonna charter a ship. Maz's scenes are kinda rough because apparently JJ cut a lot of it out in post. She provides an interesting view of the Force; whereas everyone else seems to be either a Jedi/Sith or "that crazy wizard practices his ancient religion", she goes "look I don't practice but I know this shit is real". I agree she doesn't do much besides provide exposition/give Rey the lightsaber, but it was hardly a pointless plot point/location/character.
-The cinematography was really solid, the fact that you saw it in IMAX (probably in 3D, I imagine?) explains why it was disorienting. That's just a thing that sometimes happens with movies in IMAX.
-Both I and JJ Abrams agree with you there, Leia shoulda hugged Chewie. If anything gets changed in a "Special Edition", I betcha it's that.
-Helicopter shot was kinda awkward, I agree.
-This movie looked like the original trilogy 30 years later. The existing tech like X-Wings and Droids and Stormtroopers got an upgrade, there's remnants of past conflicts all over places like Jakku, shit looks lived in. Unlike the prequels where everything went from pristine and hyper-advanced to worn and shitty and rough within like 19 years.
-I don't really like the design of the Rathtars but that sequence was solid and a great way to introduce Han and Chewie.
-There was a lot of poetry going on, but it's not a flat-out remake. You might as well just say A New Hope is a ripoff of the story of King Arthur because a young boy gets a special sword and learns about magic from an old sage.[/sp]
It wasn't as good as Empire or A New Hope, but it did what it needed to do, mainly reestablish Star Wars as something that isn't shit and to introduce audiences to the new era in the Saga.
Holy fuck I'm excited. It's crazy how in an age of smaller and easy to digest portions of media that these gigantic multi-hour reviews can keep me captivated. They're so entertaining.
[QUOTE=bdd458;49902979][sp]No. She was retreating nearly the entire time, and was not fighting with it as a saber, but as if she still had her staff. Ren was attempting to convert her, not beat her in any case. Her calling on the force in that moment took him aback and that's why she got a few good hits in (Not to mention the severe body wound and distraction from just having killed his father. For the most part, she was on the retreat and fighting poorly)[/sp]
[sp]For about 30 seconds before getting completely destroyed.[/sp][/QUOTE]
[sp]For the Rey fight a lightbulb turns on and then she has no trouble beating him.
For the Finn fight he does well enough, even scores a hit or two.
Lightsabers/force or no I have a feeling if I picked up a sword and fought a professional sword fighter i'ld lose faster then Finn did.[/sp]
[sp]tbh I felt like Kylo Ren was more of a pushover than he ought to have been. I get that he's supposed to be a kid and still in training, but I think he still got fucked over too much. I think Snoke mentions that his training is going to be completed though, so hopefully in the next one he'll be more effective.[/sp]
[QUOTE=BanthaFodder;49903086]Fair enough rebuttal.[/sp]
[/QUOTE]
[sp]
- Luke had some training between IV and V, even if self training. There's a few years there. And while no fighter I'd assume sword and staff are very different weapons.
- I don't give no shit about no book that explains some shit that makes up for the failings of the movie (just like Plinkett!). However it is a fair point that storm troopers are probably trained in close quarters combat.
- The Emperor was the Emperor and that was all he needed to be. He was evil and overthrew the Republic, gotcha. But with Snoke we have 60 years of history that goes unexplained and it matters since we know that past; with the Emperor we didn't. Snoke can be evil and just come outta no where but at least tell us that.
- Really hope Phasma died tbh.
- Where'd she learn how to be corrupt? Could just be that she was a coward, but since you say she's doing more crap in the next movie I bet she'll be a super badass.
- Doesn't excuse none of the FO-Repbulic-Resistance stuff not being explained in the film. Its confusing bullshit because they had bad writers who need the Rebels to win yet still needed the Rebels because its a remake of IV. So they called it the Resistance and had the Republic too. Its a mess.
- Main planets of the Republic which aren't Coruscant and have no emotional or political impact. No one seems to care that they were blown up; just that the FO is about to blow them up.
- Finn doesn't take the mission seriously either. Really no one does. Its not as grave as the assault on the Death Star(s).
- Its fine to tie him into the lore but not in some important way. Plagueis = bad; some rando force sensitive the Emperor tortured and then gained power later = good.
- So Han, the man with 45 years of experience traveling the galaxy doesn't know the FO will quickly discover they're at Maz's and attack? Doesn't this go against the idea that he's a good smuggler / member of the underworld? Just because he doesn't want to see his ex wife? They literally go to Maz's so this film can have its Yoda and Rey can get the lightsaber ("why are we going to Maz's? oh because its in the script? oh did you read the script too?"). They should've cut this whole bit out and just had Leia have the lightsaber. It makes sense; Luke is her brother and she was looking for him. If she found his old lightsaber she'd keep it. Makes more sense than that CGI prune.
- I've seen a lot of films in IMAX and it has to be shot right, nice slow movements and solid shots (TDK/TDKR). This was shot in IMAX 3D, is Abrams so incompetent that viewing his movie in the way it was meant to be seen makes people sick? I could just be more sensitive than most but still never had this issue.
- How'd Rey manage to huge Rey if JJ wanted Chewie to? That sucks :(
- Yeah I agree that the prequel atheistic was too clean, but at least it was different.
- I like the lead up to the Rathtars, just not that sequence itself (eg Finn didn't get eaten just taken). Bumbling old Han = yes, pointless bad CGI monsters = no.
- There's more "poetry" than that. While I said most of the points a lot of reviews didn't bring up they brought that up. Its pretty much acknowledged this was a soft reboot. See the video in the OP...
[/sp]
It wasn't bad... just wasn't great. Just sorta eh. But since Lucas had nothing to do with it, Disney spent a gajillion in marketing, and the toys were in Wal mart 3 months before release its the best shit ever.
[QUOTE=thrawn2787;49903242][sp]For the Rey fight a lightbulb turns on and then she has no trouble beating him.
For the Finn fight he does well enough, even scores a hit or two.
Lightsabers/force or no I have a feeling if I picked up a sword and fought a professional sword fighter i'ld lose faster then Finn did.[/sp][/QUOTE]
[sp]That's the thing though. Kylo Ren isn't a professional sword fighter. He's in training, too. [/sp]
[QUOTE=TectoImprov;49903331][sp]That's the thing though. Kylo Ren isn't a professional sword fighter. He's in training, too. [/sp][/QUOTE]
He literally [sp]killed every Jedi Luke trained besides Rey[/sp]. He clearly has not only skill but experience. The incomplete training stuff is 1) a bad excuse and 2) a bullshit throwback ("poetry") to the Emperor/Vader always going on and on about training.
You can't have him be beaten by a nobody who hasn't done anything in 15 years (Rey) and have his day job be killing people with his sword / the force.
tl;dr Rey had to win for some reason (stronk womens) and they wanted poetry yet they needed a plot device to explain why Luke failed / is missing. But they tried to combine these things and they contradict each other.
[editline]9th March 2016[/editline]
Actually that's really every issue summed up. They tried to add too much poetry but it contradicts everything new that happens. Which is why the film probably would've worked better if it moved away a bit more.
You remember how Snoke wanted Rey alive, right? He wasn't trying to kill her.
Not fighting to kill isn't not fighting to win. This is a universe with bionic limbs and full bionic suits, feel free to cut a few limbs off or torch her lungs. So long as you get her to the [URL="http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Emperor_Palpatine_Surgical_Reconstruction_Center"]Emperor Palpatine Surgical Reconstruction Center[/URL] in time she'll be fine. Even without that you can fight to win without fighting to kill.
Also a nit pick while I'm at it:
- JJ did this with Trek too and it doesn't fit Trek or Wars but he shrunk the scale of the universe down. EG when the FO blows up the other planets they're all way too close to each other. The beam is visible from Maz's planet too. And Ren's ship out in space but whatever he coulda been in the right spot. Also iirc when the Death Sphere absorbs the star its too close to the star. May have been a few other instance of shit being too close together.
Episode 7 was really meh to me. I am absolutely astounded that some people place it at second best.
I would put it above the sequels, but I can't even re-watch it with how much is just a scene making a reference.
[QUOTE=thrawn2787;49903326][sp]
- Luke had some training between IV and V, even if self training. There's a few years there. And while no fighter I'd assume sword and staff are very different weapons.
- I don't give no shit about no book that explains some shit that makes up for the failings of the movie (just like Plinkett!). However it is a fair point that storm troopers are probably trained in close quarters combat.
- The Emperor was the Emperor and that was all he needed to be. He was evil and overthrew the Republic, gotcha. But with Snoke we have 60 years of history that goes unexplained and it matters since we know that past; with the Emperor we didn't. Snoke can be evil and just come outta no where but at least tell us that.
- Really hope Phasma died tbh.
- Where'd she learn how to be corrupt? Could just be that she was a coward, but since you say she's doing more crap in the next movie I bet she'll be a super badass.
- Doesn't excuse none of the FO-Repbulic-Resistance stuff not being explained in the film. Its confusing bullshit because they had bad writers who need the Rebels to win yet still needed the Rebels because its a remake of IV. So they called it the Resistance and had the Republic too. Its a mess.
- Main planets of the Republic which aren't Coruscant and have no emotional or political impact. No one seems to care that they were blown up; just that the FO is about to blow them up.
- Finn doesn't take the mission seriously either. Really no one does. Its not as grave as the assault on the Death Star(s).
- Its fine to tie him into the lore but not in some important way. Plagueis = bad; some rando force sensitive the Emperor tortured and then gained power later = good.
- So Han, the man with 45 years of experience traveling the galaxy doesn't know the FO will quickly discover they're at Maz's and attack? Doesn't this go against the idea that he's a good smuggler / member of the underworld? Just because he doesn't want to see his ex wife? They literally go to Maz's so this film can have its Yoda and Rey can get the lightsaber ("why are we going to Maz's? oh because its in the script? oh did you read the script too?"). They should've cut this whole bit out and just had Leia have the lightsaber. It makes sense; Luke is her brother and she was looking for him. If she found his old lightsaber she'd keep it. Makes more sense than that CGI prune.
- I've seen a lot of films in IMAX and it has to be shot right, nice slow movements and solid shots (TDK/TDKR). This was shot in IMAX 3D, is Abrams so incompetent that viewing his movie in the way it was meant to be seen makes people sick? I could just be more sensitive than most but still never had this issue.
- How'd Rey manage to huge Rey if JJ wanted Chewie to? That sucks :(
- Yeah I agree that the prequel atheistic was too clean, but at least it was different.
- I like the lead up to the Rathtars, just not that sequence itself (eg Finn didn't get eaten just taken). Bumbling old Han = yes, pointless bad CGI monsters = no.
- There's more "poetry" than that. While I said most of the points a lot of reviews didn't bring up they brought that up. Its pretty much acknowledged this was a soft reboot. See the video in the OP...
[/sp]
It wasn't bad... just wasn't great. Just sorta eh. But since Lucas had nothing to do with it, Disney spent a gajillion in marketing, and the toys were in Wal mart 3 months before release its the best shit ever.[/QUOTE]
[sp]-Fine then, at the end of A New Hope, literally hours after Luke first learned about the Force, he was able to guide his photon torpedoes into the Death Star exhaust port without using his targeting computer, all because a voice in his head told him to. Midichlorians are bullshit, but it's reasonable to say that some people are just naturally good at the Force; Luke sure as hell was, so it's fine for Rey to be good at it too (especially if it's revealed she's a former padawan hidden on Jakku for her own protection).
-Fair enough, just as with the Plinkett reviews, EU stuff and compendiums shouldn't be allowed to make up for something a film didn't explain well enough (though I don't think Finn lasting like 20 seconds against a badly-wounded trainee is one of these things).
-Snoke literally fulfills the same purpose story-wise in TFA as the Emperor did in Empire. He's a big evil hologram guy who is in charge of the bad guys. We don't know anything about him, where he came from or even what he is, but he's evil and in charge and we'll get to him eventually.
-I was disappointed with Phasma too, though I'd have been wicked pissed if she actually died. You don't get Brienne of frigging Tarth to be your Captain of the Stormtroopers only to off her after 5 minutes of screentime.
-Again, they hint that their brainwashing techniques are a bit dodgy, hence why Hux wants to just grow an army on Kamino. As bad as the bad guys are, the dark side is kinda built around fear; the Emperor screams as he falls down the shaft, Vader holds his hand up while Luke is wailing on him, not everyone is TR8-0R, willing to just give their life for the cause. She had a gun to her head; if she didn't shut down the shields, another Trooper would have. They lost the base and some cannon fodder, but the people really in charge of the First Order (Snoke, Hux, Ren, and Phasma) are still alive and well.
-True, they didn't explain it that well, but it makes perfect sense in hindsight considering literally the same thing happened in real life in Europe in the 40's. If Leia had been in charge of the new Republic instead of "that crackpot paranoid general who still thinks those declawed Space Nazis are a problem", then I'd agree, but the Resistance still had a reason to be "the Rebels".
-People totally cared that shit got blown up. Literally the biggest governing body in the galaxy, the source of order and justice for the past 30 years, was completely destroyed. Alderaan times a dozen.
-Finn was out to rescue Rey, so he totally took it seriously. There was levity and jokes, but it's Star Wars, that's what you get. I agree that Starkiller Base didn't have nearly the same gravitas as either Death Star though.
-See, I disagree. I feel like saying "this thing that's existed in the mythology of the saga for this whole time is now the main antagonist" is better than saying "PALPATINE HAD A SECRET APPRENTICE, HIS NAME IS GALEN- I MEAN, LORD SNOKE", but to each his own.
-Han can't account for everything. What he and Leia went through was a big deal and he's clearly the type to try and run from his problems. Both the Resistance AND First Order had spies there that even Maz didn't know about. I agree that the whole "that is a story for another time" thing was a cop-out, but I feel like it's better than Leia just saying "oh yeah I had this lightsaber Luke lost on Bespin just laying around here you go stranger". It ending up in the junk room of a wild space saloon for pirates just feels more exciting.
-Dunno what to tell you man, I didn't see it in IMAX, but this thing was gorgeously shot. Lots of great imagery and dynamic camerawork, I could always tell what was going on during the action.
-To clarify, JJ just recently made a statement that Leia hugging Rey is, in hindsight, like his only major regret with TFA. He wishes he'd made it Chewie, looking back.
-I'd rather have something that looks similar but good than something that looks bland and different, just me though.
-Agreed, Rathtars was one of the weaker moments for me. Everything around it was great and I love the guest appearance by The Raid.
-There's lots of parallels, but like I said, this is a film that I feel kinda had to play it safe. They could have gotten a little more creative than Starkiller Base, but Star Wars is a franchise all about how history repeats itself. It's all built upon preexisting archetypes and ideas, it just frames them in a unique, original kind of way. I do wish they'd taken a few more risks, but I also can't really blame them for playing it safe when their goal is to inspire faith in people that Star Wars can reclaim its former glory.[/sp]
It had something to prove, and I feel it's more than succeeded. Now with Episode XIII, they have to branch out a bit more, strike some new ground in terms of story beats.
[QUOTE=thrawn2787;49902832][sp]
- Maz Canata was also pointless. She's a rehash of Yoda that has none of the mystery or the wiseness he had. I don't even remember why they went to her place. I don't think they even had a reason[/sp][/QUOTE]
I agree with this one. Useless and really annoying character. Hopefully won't make a return in the next movies.
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