- Joined
- Jul 29, 2009
- Messages
- 584
- Reaction score
- 13
- Points
- 18
NO SPOILER IN THIS ORIGINAL POST... NO SPOILERS IN THIS THREAD UNTIL AFTER 12/21...
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...
Oh, man... from the outset the movie gives you the feels. the opening crawl is excellent & sets up the movie (and the new trilogy) perfectly. You won't be disappointed by mentions of "trade federations" crap. No politics anywhere in the movie, no circle jerk meetings in senate or jedi council chambers. No awkwardly forced slapstick comedy with CGI characters like JarJar or Watto... This really felt like the 1st Indiana Jones movie to me... Very fast paced, extremely good characters to root for and against. Awesome special effects & realistic fight sequences. The fight sequences are more like "the Raid" in tone and grit. This isn't like Episodes I-III with Errol Flynn style swashbuckling sword dancing. If you look closely, you'll even see the guys from "the Raid" in the movie & it's clear they will have an influence on the fighting going forward. While the fight sequences weren't "epic" (like in Empire & ROTJ), they had that feeling of a real death struggle to them. You won't see anyone swinging a lightsaber in this movie and a Jedi avoiding it by jumping over the blade (no dance moves like that).
The new characters did an awesome job... I hear Bill Hader contributed to the "voice" of BB-8, and BB-8 was awesome. They wanted BB-8 to make sounds that people could mimic, so they used humans to make the sounds. That's the kind of thinking that goes into this type of movie... How awesome is that? John Boyega (Finn) and Daisy Ridley (Rey) gave really great performances and "evolved" well in this movie. Ridley gives me a young Keira Knightley vibe & I think she could be heading in that trajectory with her career. Can't say enough good things about Oscar Isaac & Adam Driver. Poe really is a good character... Kylo Ren isn't just a Darth Vader rip-off... He is complex. Phasma & Hux were spot on. Snoke & Maz Kanata are intriguing. I'm looking forward to learning more about all the characters that survive this film moving forward...
Han Solo really stole the show... Interactions between Solo & Finn were a real highlight. There is one interaction between Solo & Finn that to me was probably my favorite scene. You'll know the scene, because Han & Finn talk about what Finn's job was at a particular facility. The exchange is classic, IMO.
If there are any negatives, they are somewhat nit-picky... I can't argue with anyone who thinks it borrowed too much from the Original Trilogy. However, it was successful in reminding everyone of the movies that happened 30 years ago and helping them forget the movies that happened just over a decade ago. There was a scene just after Han Solo enters the movie that involves a lot of CGI and I wasn't a fan of that... However, it served a purpose in the development of the relationship between the old characters and the new. I think the movie might be too fast paced for some and they might want more character development for some of the characters that didn't get as much screen time. However, there are at least 2 more movies with this cast. This isn't a stand-alone movie, but it did separate itself from other Star Wars movies in the past and is completely watchable without knowing anything about the previous movies.
I think you will love this movie... that's all I can really say without giving away spoilers. I tried to be extremely vague. I'd like to get impressions from others who have seen it. I hope you found this review fun & spoiler free.
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...
Oh, man... from the outset the movie gives you the feels. the opening crawl is excellent & sets up the movie (and the new trilogy) perfectly. You won't be disappointed by mentions of "trade federations" crap. No politics anywhere in the movie, no circle jerk meetings in senate or jedi council chambers. No awkwardly forced slapstick comedy with CGI characters like JarJar or Watto... This really felt like the 1st Indiana Jones movie to me... Very fast paced, extremely good characters to root for and against. Awesome special effects & realistic fight sequences. The fight sequences are more like "the Raid" in tone and grit. This isn't like Episodes I-III with Errol Flynn style swashbuckling sword dancing. If you look closely, you'll even see the guys from "the Raid" in the movie & it's clear they will have an influence on the fighting going forward. While the fight sequences weren't "epic" (like in Empire & ROTJ), they had that feeling of a real death struggle to them. You won't see anyone swinging a lightsaber in this movie and a Jedi avoiding it by jumping over the blade (no dance moves like that).
The new characters did an awesome job... I hear Bill Hader contributed to the "voice" of BB-8, and BB-8 was awesome. They wanted BB-8 to make sounds that people could mimic, so they used humans to make the sounds. That's the kind of thinking that goes into this type of movie... How awesome is that? John Boyega (Finn) and Daisy Ridley (Rey) gave really great performances and "evolved" well in this movie. Ridley gives me a young Keira Knightley vibe & I think she could be heading in that trajectory with her career. Can't say enough good things about Oscar Isaac & Adam Driver. Poe really is a good character... Kylo Ren isn't just a Darth Vader rip-off... He is complex. Phasma & Hux were spot on. Snoke & Maz Kanata are intriguing. I'm looking forward to learning more about all the characters that survive this film moving forward...
Han Solo really stole the show... Interactions between Solo & Finn were a real highlight. There is one interaction between Solo & Finn that to me was probably my favorite scene. You'll know the scene, because Han & Finn talk about what Finn's job was at a particular facility. The exchange is classic, IMO.
If there are any negatives, they are somewhat nit-picky... I can't argue with anyone who thinks it borrowed too much from the Original Trilogy. However, it was successful in reminding everyone of the movies that happened 30 years ago and helping them forget the movies that happened just over a decade ago. There was a scene just after Han Solo enters the movie that involves a lot of CGI and I wasn't a fan of that... However, it served a purpose in the development of the relationship between the old characters and the new. I think the movie might be too fast paced for some and they might want more character development for some of the characters that didn't get as much screen time. However, there are at least 2 more movies with this cast. This isn't a stand-alone movie, but it did separate itself from other Star Wars movies in the past and is completely watchable without knowing anything about the previous movies.
I think you will love this movie... that's all I can really say without giving away spoilers. I tried to be extremely vague. I'd like to get impressions from others who have seen it. I hope you found this review fun & spoiler free.