SJW Wars: The Force Awakens

[Chillanodon]

SPOILER....it's not very good, even with all the one-liners and box-checking callbacks to the original series. However...I can't deny that John Boyega does an excellent job as the "everyman" character and would make the most ideal replacement for Jar Jar Binks in Episodes 1-3 Super Final Special Edition.

The First Order actors are all comically young, comically British, and act comically badly, as though JJ Abrams said to himself: "Benedict Cumberbatch is a popular actor who brought me lots of money in my last Star Trek movie, but I can hire lots of people who look and sound like him just by pulling people from the Eton freshman theater class!" Sadly, acting is a actual skill honed by actual experience, and his money-saving dodge shows through painfully. No one on the Imperial side is properly intimidating, regal, or watchable for more than a few seconds.

Ditto for most of the rebel pilots.

The dialogue is good if more suited to a Firefly episode, but JJ Abrams isn't really a visually competent director for any scene that isn't CG spectacle, and when he has to have two characters face each other down, it usually ends up turns into a hilarious grimace-off than anything that might be iconic.

Not even John Williams is bringing his A game, unless a whole bunch of his best work was cut and we have to blame the editor rather than the musician for so little musical impact.

All actors are either too old or too young for their dialogue/in-universe relationships to be believable. "The senile leading the puerile" seems to be the watchword for most of the scenes.

Verdict: Two and a half stars at best. It may sate Official Canon Star Wars hunger but isn't likely to rope in a younger generation raised on, say, Guardians of the Galaxy, which is a much better Star Wars-y movie and has much more memorable characters that work better together. Possibly it's just because everyone was trying very hard not to be Episode 1-3 bad, but that really isn't enough.

[Adam]

No "Amen" to that before I see it, but now I may wait several weeks for that.

[Chillanodon]

Basically, when I saw Star Trek: Into Darkness, I enjoyed the movie, but had a niggling feeling the whole time that a lot of the lines were simply callbacks to a better movie that I'd probably be kind of mad about if I had originally seen it. Now that I have seen the movie, I ain't mad, but I'm not really jumping for JJ either.

[Mikeenders]

I was concerned for a second reading your review but three things made me realize pretty quickly we will probably just not agree after I watch the movie

1) Most star war fans want to see "Callbacks to the original series" while you seem to think thats a bad thing
2) Again most star wars want to see the old characters before moving on with the new - theres no way to bring them back at this age and have them totally fit into action sequences like years ago. (youalso need to start out with some fairly young actors with a franchise life of 15 years or more)
3) I liked guardian's of the galaxy but it is unworthy of being called Star Warsy ( to me at least)

The reviews are almost all positive with an impressive 95% from critics at rotten tomatoes and 93% of the viewers there. I may agree with you when I watch it but so far star war fans are loving it so that bodes well for it.

[Bill the Cat]

It was good. Not Avengers level great, but quite solid.

[robrecht]

Basically, when I saw Star Trek: Into Darkness, I enjoyed the movie, but had a niggling feeling the whole time that a lot of the lines were simply callbacks to a better movie that I'd probably be kind of mad about if I had originally seen it. Now that I have seen the movie, I ain't mad, but I'm not really jumping for JJ either.

I didn't think Into Darkness was as good as JJ Abrams' 2009 reboot, which I loved. The call-backs to the earlier movies (and the original series episodes) did not bother me at all, especially since some of the call-backs were purposeful contrasts with the original. There's an added depth to the characters and their relationships when we see them behaving in opposite ways to how they behaved before the reboot but still in broad agreement with these earlier characters. They are a bit more multi-dimensional. Being a childhood fan of the original series when it was still original, I did not like some of the changes that were made when the series first moved onto the big screen and a couple of the subsequent TV series also left me wanting, but I loved the way that JJ Abrams and the new cast reinvigorated the original series characters and plot lines. Just my 2 cents. I am taking my kids to the new Star Wars film on Wednesday. Will read the OP at that time.

[Chillanodon]

I was concerned for a second reading your review but three things made me realize pretty quickly we will probably just not agree after I watch the movie

1) Most star war fans want to see "Callbacks to the original series" while you seem to think thats a bad thing

It's not terrible if it isn't overdone, it just generally distracts from the necessary development of the new characters, plus the original cast hasn't aged nearly as well as Leonard Nimoy did in the 2009 Star Trek (having him come back was a kind of silly idea in the first place.) Granted, most of the new characters are one-dimensional or Mary Sue-ish, but Finn and Poe tend to make up for it with a lot of actual enthusiasm, fun, underdog charm, competency even when making bad decisions, etc. While Rey...kind of exists to check the boxes and have things happen to her, whether it's finding all the old guys or Force-Power-Leveling with little to no effort or explanation like she's Alice in the Resident Evil movies.

2) Again most star wars want to see the old characters before moving on with the new - theres no way to bring them back at this age and have them totally fit into action sequences like years ago. (youalso need to start out with some fairly young actors with a franchise life of 15 years or more)

Star Wars with a Gen-X Christopher Nolan supporting cast who had both acting skills and the visceral understanding of how to Star Wars would have been peerless. This one's suffering from the fact that the young actrons are way too young, at least 20 years younger than the director (not as bad and off-putting as being 25-30 years younger than the director in the legendarily tone-deaf prequels, but still a generation gap or so behind intuitive understanding of a role.)

Even if you didn't use them as main caharacters, the Christopher Nolan ensemble (think Joseph Gordon Levitt, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, and other excellent mid-tier actors) would have been a beautiful fit for the First Order officers and rebel pilots who, again, are badly, badly over-acted or under-acted respectively. An Empire without an Admiral Piett or a Moff Tarkin is an Empire you instinctively roll your eyes at.

3) I liked guardian's of the galaxy but it is unworthy of being called Star Warsy ( to me at least)

Aside from getting the tone, the style, the pace, and the ages right, guess not

The reviews are almost all positive with an impressive 95% from critics at rotten tomatoes and 93% of the viewers there. I may agree with you when I watch it but so far star war fans are loving it so that bodes well for it.

My fear is that it's really the best JJ Abrams can do, given his track record. He's definitely pretty great at action scenes, so much so that he'll reflexively cut to action scenes whenever he isn't confident he can pull off a slow or character building scene. His most effective and original character is That One Stormtrooper:



It may or may not be the best he can come up with, but the fact remains that the best time to do an effective Star Wars sequel would have been around 1989.

[robrecht]

SPOILER....it's not very good, even with all the one-liners and box-checking callbacks to the original series. However...I can't deny that John Boyega does an excellent job as the "everyman" character and would make the most ideal replacement for Jar Jar Binks in Episodes 1-3 Super Final Special Edition.

The First Order actors are all comically young, comically British, and act comically badly, as though JJ Abrams said to himself: "Benedict Cumberbatch is a popular actor who brought me lots of money in my last Star Trek movie, but I can hire lots of people who look and sound like him just by pulling people from the Eton freshman theater class!" Sadly, acting is a actual skill honed by actual experience, and his money-saving dodge shows through painfully. No one on the Imperial side is properly intimidating, regal, or watchable for more than a few seconds.

Ditto for most of the rebel pilots.

The dialogue is good if more suited to a Firefly episode, but JJ Abrams isn't really a visually competent director for any scene that isn't CG spectacle, and when he has to have two characters face each other down, it usually ends up turns into a hilarious grimace-off than anything that might be iconic.

Not even John Williams is bringing his A game, unless a whole bunch of his best work was cut and we have to blame the editor rather than the musician for so little musical impact.

All actors are either too old or too young for their dialogue/in-universe relationships to be believable. "The senile leading the puerile" seems to be the watchword for most of the scenes.

Verdict: Two and a half stars at best. It may sate Official Canon Star Wars hunger but isn't likely to rope in a younger generation raised on, say, Guardians of the Galaxy, which is a much better Star Wars-y movie and has much more memorable characters that work better together. Possibly it's just because everyone was trying very hard not to be Episode 1-3 bad, but that really isn't enough.

SPOILER ... it's EXCELLENT! I agree, John Boyega and his character are great. I don't go to a Star Wars movie expecting a literary and cinematic masterpiece, but rather a good time. Not only was it NOT Episodes 1-3, I thought it was generally better than Episodes 4-6, with the one possible exception that there was no metal bikini.

[robrecht]

My fear is that it's really the best JJ Abrams can do, given his track record. He's definitely pretty great at action scenes, so much so that he'll reflexively cut to action scenes whenever he isn't confident he can pull off a slow or character building scene.

I can agree with this, but do you really expect much in the way of complex character building from a Star Wars movie? I'll reserve judgment until the next sequel to see if there is much in the way of character development.

[CMD]

I saw it yesterday. It's not perfect by any means, and I doubt it will ever be considered one of the greatest movies of all time (at least not by anyone who isn't a massive, hardcore Star Wars fan), but it's 100x better than Episodes 1-3 in every way except for the light-saber fights, and while it's obviously not as novel or groundbreaking as the original trilogy, I felt it was actually an all-around better film than at least Episodes 4 and 6.

[supton]

My MIL wanted to take the grandkids, so I got a free ticket to see it in a big theater. Free is a good price. ;)

But after seeing it... I hate to admit it... but I will stand in line to see the next one. I go to the movies like every 5 years, haven't wanted to in even longer--but I can't wait for the next one.

I won't say everything was perfect but I thought it did really good. I'd go as far as to say that it's worth the price of the tickets--that is from a confirmed cord cutter and all.

[Adrift]

I had a blast watching it. I had no real issue with the ages. Mark Hamill, and Carrie Fisher were both in their early 20s when they did the originals. Harrison was in his early 30s. The new main cast are also in their early 20s and 30s. In the original we had plenty of older characters...Alec Guinness, Peter Cushing, Yoda... All of the ages are pretty much the same (except Yoda...I mean, he's like 900). Also, the original series was also filled with bad guy British actors (granted, Leia started off with a British accent, but lost it half way through the film).

I loved the action in the film. I absolutely adored Rey and BB-8. Such fun characters, and it's awesome to see a female character that my nieces could really connect with. I loved Finn's enthusiasm. Every time he got excited it was contagious. In fact, all of the characters were interesting and memorable and full of, well, character. Something totally missing from the prequels with their sort of stiff upper lips and stoicism and boring inane dialogue. I loved the overall atmosphere. It felt like the classic Star Wars, but with an updated look. Yet, not updated in that over-CGI'd glossy look that's still part of so many modern films today.

Things I had issues with:
I didn't really feel Ford or Fisher had as much impact in the film as I thought they should. They were just kinda...there. I thought the CGI they used for Snoke and the goggle wearing Yoda wanna-be was a bit of a let down. Snoke didn't look real even though it was meant to be a hologram, and call me old fashioned, but I would have rathered a puppet for the other character. The Henson company has come a long way if Farscape is anything to go by. I wanted to see more Max von Sydow!! He's one of my favorite actors and he gets it quicker than Luke's uncle. I thought the exposition scenes were a bit drawn out and slowed the film down a bit, but then I realized the originals had a lot of exposition as well. I loved Kylo Ren's look, and I love that it was sort of a take on Darth Vader, but...he just wasn't scary. I remember being scared of Darth Vader when I saw the originals in the theater as a kid.

Finally, and probably my biggest complaint (and the complaint I see echoed online), I was really hoping for a whole new adventure, but this film is really very much a retread of A New Hope. I mean, if they just changed Death Star 3 to some other killing machine I could have just shrugged my shoulders, but it was such an over-the-top and obvious call back that it was just...eh, disappointing. Overall, the film just doesn't feel like it's breaking new ground, and maybe that's just an impossible task. A New Hope did so many new things that we all take for granted now, from creature and visual effects, to sound production, to that mishmash borrowing from Westerns, Kurosawa, 30s-50s sci-fi serials, etc.


All that said, I still loved it. Want to see it again. Am looking forward to the sequels, and am so so glad I didn't have that pit in my stomach that I did when I saw the prequels that this is all wrong, and maybe it'll be better next film. This film is a billion times better than the prequels, and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves great action films.

[rogue06]

Planning on seeing it tomorrow afternoon.

[Zymologist]

I had a blast watching it. I had no real issue with the ages. Mark Hamill, and Carrie Fisher were both in their early 20s when they did the originals. Harrison was in his early 30s. The new main cast are also in their early 20s and 30s. In the original we had plenty of older characters...Alec Guinness, Peter Cushing, Yoda... All of the ages are pretty much the same (except Yoda...I mean, he's like 900). Also, the original series was also filled with bad guy British actors (granted, Leia started off with a British accent, but lost it half way through the film).

I loved the action in the film. I absolutely adored Rey and BB-8. Such fun characters, and it's awesome to see a female character that my nieces could really connect with. I loved Finn's enthusiasm. Every time he got excited it was contagious. In fact, all of the characters were interesting and memorable and full of, well, character. Something totally missing from the prequels with their sort of stiff upper lips and stoicism and boring inane dialogue. I loved the overall atmosphere. It felt like the classic Star Wars, but with an updated look. Yet, not updated in that over-CGI'd glossy look that's still part of so many modern films today.

Things I had issues with:
I didn't really feel Ford or Fisher had as much impact in the film as I thought they should. They were just kinda...there. I thought the CGI they used for Snoke and the goggle wearing Yoda wanna-be was a bit of a let down. Snoke didn't look real even though it was meant to be a hologram, and call me old fashioned, but I would have rathered a puppet for the other character. The Henson company has come a long way if Farscape is anything to go by. I wanted to see more Max von Sydow!! He's one of my favorite actors and he gets it quicker than Luke's uncle. I thought the exposition scenes were a bit drawn out and slowed the film down a bit, but then I realized the originals had a lot of exposition as well. I loved Kylo Ren's look, and I love that it was sort of a take on Darth Vader, but...he just wasn't scary. I remember being scared of Darth Vader when I saw the originals in the theater as a kid.

Finally, and probably my biggest complaint (and the complaint I see echoed online), I was really hoping for a whole new adventure, but this film is really very much a retread of A New Hope. I mean, if they just changed Death Star 3 to some other killing machine I could have just shrugged my shoulders, but it was such an over-the-top and obvious call back that it was just...eh, disappointing. Overall, the film just doesn't feel like it's breaking new ground, and maybe that's just an impossible task. A New Hope did so many new things that we all take for granted now, from creature and visual effects, to sound production, to that mishmash borrowing from Westerns, Kurosawa, 30s-50s sci-fi serials, etc.


All that said, I still loved it. Want to see it again. Am looking forward to the sequels, and am so so glad I didn't have that pit in my stomach that I did when I saw the prequels that this is all wrong, and maybe it'll be better next film. This film is a billion times better than the prequels, and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves great action films.

Much my own thoughts.

As far as Kylo Ren is concerned: no, he's not scary, but I'm not sure he's intended to be.

Yet.

[supton]

I think I agree on all counts. They have a big task ahead of them, trying to kick off a new trilogy, with a new bad guy and a new plot--and new heroes. I don't know where Voldemort Supreme Leader came from, and he's the big "huh" in the movie. But if the dark side still exists, then there will always be bad guys wanting to come up through the ranks. Maybe the next movie will explain his existence.

There was a modern age snark in some of the lines, and some clear references to favorite scenes in the trilogy, so I'm not sure how the film will age. I could sit down and watch the trilogy any day of the week; not sure I'll be able to jump right into this one or not if I caught it half way through. But in terms of getting a new story started, and providing a bridge between old and new trilogies, I think it went well.

A lot riding on the next movie I think.

*

I'm not sure Ford was putting in his best, or just not directed well. Young swashbucklers don't age well, and seemingly Ford hasn't either. He didn't seem to fit--as much as I liked seeing him again... he might have been the low point. Which would be a billion times above the prequels. The movie was really good, and perhaps he just should have had less scenes. But (without giving away a spoiler) he was I think important to bring back, and his biggest contribution is the bridge between trilogies.