Star Wars: The Force Awakens (SPOILERS)

[Nicklab]

Wow.  Where to begin?  Like I mentioned in the non spoiler thread, I think there was here was an emotional component to this movie that was  lacking in the PT.  I was able to feel a much greater sense of empathy with these characters.  Now, I've always felt that the Jedi of the PT are not all that interesting as characters go.  They're part of this spiritual/peacekeeping order that's almost monastic in nature.  And I think that made for some dry characters.  That doesn't excuse Natalie Portman, who I think could have delivered stronger performances, but I don't think you should be hanging it on one actor/character to be the emotionally compelling center of the story.

I felt much more in touch with Rey, Finn and Poe as characters.  They were genuinely likable, and I felt a vested interest in what was happening to them.  And the arcs that their stories took were interesting, particularly Rey's.  It seems like she's lived an even harder life trying to get by on Jakku than Luke ever did on Tatooine.  Finn's story is great, too.  We really haven't seen a Stormtrooper explored as a real character before.  And seeing him break out of this very regimented life into something more free had a freshness to it.  Especially when both Han Solo and Maz Kanata called him on his BS.

Maz was an interesting character.  Who knew she was sweet for the Wookiees?  And at a thousand years old or so, it seems like she knows her way around the universe and knows The Force.  Her castle seemed like a mix between Jabba's palace and the Cantina, but a lot less agro.  The highlight of the visit to Maz's castle had to be Rey's Force vision.  I saw some of the hallway on Cloud City from Luke's duel with Vader.  Kylo Ren standing amidst that massacre with his cohorts was incredibly forbidding.  And then that shot of the ship leaving her on Jakku as a child?  That was just heartbreaking.  I did notice that the ship she watches departing Jakku in her vision actually looked quite a bit like Leia's Resistance transport.

I've got to hand it to Adam Driver for the way he portrayed Kylo Ren.  He came across as seriously conflicted, fearful, insecure and angry.  I was glad to see some exposition about how and why he got to where he was.  His take on the Dark Side was really well developed.

As much as this movie was about Rey, it was also about Han Solo.  Who thought that 38 years later it would be Han Solo who was the spirit guide?  The eternal cynic could be swayed to do the right thing and turn away from the easy path of smuggling to try to help a new generation.  But I think his scenes with Leia were incredibly powerful, too.  And that scene on the catwalk?  What is there to say?  It was coming from a place that we've never known from Han before.  But it also seemed like the ultimate evolutionary step in the character of Han Solo.  He started as this guy who was in it just for himself, and nobody else.  Gradually we saw him grow and become more selfless.  He seems to have stumbled between the events of ROTJ and TFA.  But I think his time with Rey and Finn along with his reunion with Leia made him come to terms with the man he had truly become.

The film went to some pretty dark places.  But it also offered up hope of reconciliation, redemption and a new beginning.  And that ending?  I think that was just fantastic.

Oh, and was it me, or does anyone else think that JJ was messing with us?  Because when the Falcon first landed on Starkiller Base, Han's cold weather coat was brown.  And when he put it back on to go outside again it was blue.   WTF?!?!

[solrac]

I think the 1138 thing was George's an JJ made it his own by not following in his footsteps. I  think those round monsters were pathetic and totally unnecessary.  Rey is way to strong in the Force for someone with no training I mean talk about raw talent, mind control. If the young people didn't know about Jedi's how did she know about the mind trick. How did Finn kick a  Sith's a$$ with a saber?

[Scott]

Both Rey and Finn were skilled in hand to hand combat with staffs.  Like the Trooper he faced who used that riot stick against him he would have been trained the same way

Rey shows off her skills with her staff which she brings and uses everywhere

So...I am pretty sure the New Republic is toast...that planet the First Order blew up was Hosnian Prime home of the Chancellor and the Senate, plus 3PO mentions their fleet is gone as well.  Was that a JJ shot across the bow as well?   "I am not going to talk politics at all"

[Matt_Fury]

Oh - also - so this is the first SW movie without a limb being severed or an injury along those lines, right?

And did anyone catch any 1138s?

I almost forgot...but C-3PO had his arm removed...and reattached by the end!

[Carpeteria3000]

Ha - well I guess that counts.

I saw awhile back someone post that BB-8 might be a subtle 1138 - the line in the first "B" is the "1", the second "B" when separated can be a "1 3", and the "8" (GET A LOAD OF THIS) is the "8".

Who knows - someone did a graphic of it, but I can't find it.

[Phrubruh]

I'm really hoping that Rey isn't related to any Skywalker and that Finn isn't one of Lando's love children. When Han said Kylo Ren's true name of Ben, I said "His name isn't Ben! It's Jacen! That's Luke's son's name!" I knew Han was going to get it in the end but when he did there was a collective cry of shock from everyone in the audience. It hit pretty hard even though I could see where that was going.

[Phrubruh]

I've been wondering about the Starkiller base. Does this planet have the ability to make a hyperspace jump or does it just sit there shooting at long distance tagets? If it uses up all the energy of a near by sun how does it maintain any form of life on it's surface. What happens when all the sun's energy is gone? Does it go find another sun to leech off? What happens to the sun it sucked inside? Does it become a black hole? What happens to gravity around it if the sun is gone?

[StBrianOfMinneapolis]

I just spotted a Hassk thug, a third wave 5poa figure. The camera follows his back as they walk inside of Maz's castle. Now I need to spot Judah Friedlander.

[Nicklab]

I'm fairly sure that I spotted a cameo of Joseph Gordon Levitt as a Resistance pilot. 

[P-Siddy]

I thought I caught Thomas Brodie-Sangster in cameo as a FO Officer on the hanger control room (has a speaking part), but I didn't get a clear look at his face since there was so much action going on at the time.

[Brian]

Little late to the party here, but we saw it yesterday once our daughter was out of school, and loved it.  Now I of course wasn't a fan of losing my all-time favorite character in all of fiction, but at the same time, I sort of thought that it would be coming and I'm sure that is as Harrison Ford wanted it as well.  The movie itself was a lot of fun.  As others have said, very A New Hope-esque, but in a very good way.  It didn't feel repetitive to me.  I thought the new cast was all pretty great, and the ending definitely left me anxious for Episode 8.  My daughter and I are heading to see it again tomorrow.

The best part of this whole Force Awakens experience has been sharing it with our daughter.  She has been, and even more so now, completely obsessed with Rey.  She was so excited watching this movie, and I love that she has a strong role model in Daisy Ridley's Rey.  She is in total Star Wars mode now, and it is a lot of fun.

We were discussing this last night, so are we to assume that Ren, Hux, and Phasma all escaped?  I'm pretty sure that Phasma was already confirmed as returning, and I assumed the other two escaped as well going with the dialog.  My daughter was asking about Maz as well, and I would assume she survived since they didn't show here getting offed in that raid on screen (or mentioned).  So many thoughts to try to put down, but overall, I really enjoyed it a lot.  Can't wait to see it again (and again and again).  We picked up the Visual Dictionary as well, so it is fun to go through that today and also pick out "I want a toy of that, and that..."  I'm glad now I held off on thing like that Speeder Bike and Sand Speeder to see if they were actually in the movie.  There are several characters (like Maz, Luke, Leia, etc.) that I hope we see in both the Black Series and basic scales.

[Nicklab]

I thought I caught Thomas Brodie-Sangster in cameo as a FO Officer on the hanger control room (has a speaking part), but I didn't get a clear look at his face since there was so much action going on at the time.

I thought I recognized him.  He played Jojen Reed on Game of Thrones. 

[name]

Bugging me...did Poe wake up on Jaku and just decide "meh...screw it. Finn probably has the BB8 situation covered. I'm going home."?

[Jesse James]

My theory, he makes it to the place Rey was at, hears the FO have left to search for her and the droid, maybe hears about Finn too, finds a way off planet and hopes.

[Diddly]

Caught a second showing yesterday, this time in IMAX. It was in 3D (thought I had bought 2D) but overall it was a lot better than the 3D "IMAX" we saw at the AMC theater on Thursday night. The picture was more focused and there were definite layers that I never noticed on Thursday night.

Perhaps it was because the sound was better or it could have been because I've had some time to listen to the soundtrack, but I liked it a lot better on the second showing. Didn't realize it was all original recordings, just not performed by the London Symphony Orchestra.

It also felt like the movie went by MUCH faster on the second viewing. It felt rushed on Thursday too, but I know they crammed a lot in there and JJ has even said something like 30 minutes of stuff was cut out, including Poe's escape from Jakku. I think they did a pretty good job fitting everybody in.

Still interested in how Maz wound up with Anakin/Luke's lightsaber.