"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" Thread.

[politicallefty]

I'm not too fond of the title. It's certainly no Empire Strikes Back or Revenge of the Sith in terms of titles, but I'm still looking forward to it and have every intention of seeing it on opening day.

[politicallefty]

Yeah, I noticed that too. The closest theatres have made adjustments so that they start at 7PM and run each hour up to and including midnight. I was planning on Friday afternoon or evening, but that changes everything. For me, any Star Wars movie is a special event. If there are that many time slots available Thursday night, plans must change. There really is no movie I look forward to more than Star Wars, especially after seeing that trailer.

[politicallefty]

<SPOILERS><SPOILERS><SPOILERS>

I can't read posts in white on iOS unless I copy and paste. At this point, if you haven't seen Episode VII, you should take all due caution to avoid Star Wars topics.

I'm not going to give a critique of the movie here. Many have already done that and I don't feel it's necessary. However, I do have some thoughts after seeing it.

Firstly, I have to say I loved it. Provisionally, I'd place it behind V and III, respectively. That's a compliment of the highest manner based on how I view those two. I'll admit to reading one spoiler before seeing the film: the opening crawl. As I was unable to see the initial viewings, I needed a taste. Other than that, everything was unexpected and new.

I have to say that my adrenaline was seriously building during the Han Solo/Kylo Ren scene. The result was shocking, but really not all too surprising. With that buildup, there was almost no other rational or reasonable result. I felt the movie was most reminiscent of A New Hope overall. Han Solo was essentially Obi-Wan in this one, though obviously the former having much more impact based on character development.

If I had to take a couple issues, they are few in number. As others have noted, the relationship between the Republic, the Resistance, and the First Order wasn't really fleshed out. Hopefully, that'll be explored in depth in Episode VIII. I also agree that the score for this movie was pretty lacking overall. Most of the great musical moments were drawing from the original trilogy. The ending felt more like a middle movie, like II or V, as though it were building toward some form of finality. The unmasking of Kylo Ren was fine, but it would have worked far better if it first happened with his encounter with Han Solo.

To be honest, I wasn't expecting the Starkiller Base to meet its fate as it did. I thought it was too obvious, though it isn't an actual complaint of mine. The scene where it fired had far more impact than any Death Star strike. However, I do think they really could have played up the impact for the more casual viewer. For the more involved viewer (aka Star Wars fanatics), I think it was something of a cheated scene. It's a blow to the Republic in the way the destruction of Death Star II was to the Empire. The stage has indeed been set for Episode VIII.

My critiques, however, are minimal compared to how I really feel about the film. As I said, right now, it ranks behind only V and III. There is incredible potential for the next movies. To me, the First Order is far more terrifying than the Empire. It has purified the evil of the Emperor and Darth Vader and taken it to an extreme. I hope Leia (i.e. Carrie Fisher) plays a prominent role in the next two films, as I feel she is the personification of the old Rebel Alliance and now-Resistance. (As another nod to the past, I noticed her rather often change in hair style.) Some of the final scenes with her were the most powerful of the entire movie. It really was hard to keep it together when Leia and Rey hugged. When she first appeared in the movie, you had a feeling that everything was going to be alright. At this point, she really has that kind of presence and gravitas that you cannot discount.