[SPOILERS] SW Ep. VII: The Force Awakens Discussion Thread

[Rash Loist]

[Cael Dan’kor]

I absolutely adored the film!

I fell in love with the new characters. There is no wooden acting in the film. However, Carrie Fisher was probably the weakest link. She had her moments, but... most of her scenes were awkward, for me, at least. It does run a lot of parallels with the "A New Hope", but it did bring enough new material for it to be set apart.

Kylo Ren pulled off a spectacular performance. Hayden was able to do the "evil silent look" but Adam Driver was the whole package. I love his character! And... I was extremely happy when Chew shot the bastard for...[/size] I can't wait to learn more about his time with Luke Skywalker as his first student, failed, if I might add. I would also like to learn more about what drove him to the Dark Side aside from Snoke's manipulation. I want to learn more about his dynamic with his parents. Also after he was shot, in the duel with Rey and Finn, his acting.. superb. There is a lot of mystery surrounding the Knights of Ren, as well.

I still figure Snoke is Darth Plagueis, but it is not confirmed in the film who he was.

I was very emotional in most of Han's scenes and yes... I was dead after it happened. I did not see Harrison Ford, I saw Han Solo before my eyes once more. His dynamic with Chew was amazing. The humor was fantastic was very reminiscent of old trilogy humor. That's all I'll say about him.

Rey's power in the Force is almost astounding and almost took me aback. Without Rey being of Skywalker lineage I'm not sure how I'll feel about it. Guess we have to wait for the next film. Daisy was an awesome, real actress, same for John Boyega.

Finn was an interesting add to the crew and I would like to learn more about his past. In fact, I want to learn more about all the character's pasts! I'd also like to learn more about this cloning thing going on...

I was probably most disappointed with Captain Phasma's lack of screen time. And I thought it was "lol" how she turned off the shield as opposed to dying before she did that. I thought her loyalty was stronger than that!

But, I've saved the best for last, the lightsaber fights were perhaps... the most authentic, gory versions of lightsaber duels I have ever seen. The lightsaber duels had me shaking I was so excited.

That's all I got for now.

I would say it's about on par with Empire in my book!

[Maia Rimora]

WHERE TO START.

I thought this was an amazing addition to the Star Wars universe, I walked in excited and I left excited for more, albeit, with a ton of questions that most likely won't be answered until 2017/2018 but it'll definitely be worth the wait.

I wasn't entirely sure about the new cast, especially Daisy and Boyega, I haven't really heard of them in any other franchise aside from the latter in an English movie that was sort of lulz. BUT. I thought they were amazing, they really captured the essence of their characters as well as being enjoyable to watch.

Kylo Ren was perhaps one of my highlights for the movie itself, he has a lot of history and I feel like we were given a snippet of it, he's got a great personality, he's got character per say. In every scene he had me on edge, though, I have to admit, I found him more scary with the mask on than off, but even then, it was good to see him pull off a great visual performance with his mask off in terms of actual expressions. I enjoyed his ability to pull information out of other peoples mind, it seemed rather cruel, it wasn't really a mind trick, far more sadistic and more torturous? In any case, I loved him, I loved his lightsaber (seeing it in action made it a lot more likeable than the brief scenes we had with it in the past.) Still, for someone who hasn't finished his training, he's very impressive, can't wait to see him as the final product that Snoke will hopefully make him into.

As for Rey, I do believe she is off Skywalker lineage? I thought she was perhaps Leia's and Han's daughter, sort of drifting into the EU of Jaina and Jacen but perhaps she is Luke's? It explains her connection to the lightsaber and her powerful connection to the Force. I digged her visions, especially the corridor with Darth Vader's breathing that was reminiscent of Luke's duel with Vader in Empire Strikes Back.

All in all, I enjoyed all the new additions to the cast.

I did however have an issue with Phasma, not the character and definitely not the actress but rather, how they used her? They made her out to be this terrifying individual in the First Order yet was given lacklustre amount of screen time, and when she was used, they used her foolishly. Honestly, I was hoping to see her go hand to hand with Chewie at least, that would've made for an interesting fight.

As for the more emotional aspects, it was sad to see a character go but I think it was the right thing to do. It allows a lot of characters to take the place of others, I definitely think Han's final moments will perhaps carry on through the movies as a driving point for both Rey, Chewie and Kylo himself.

The stormtroopers were actually quite.. terrifying? Not like, scary but they weren't made out to be idiots either, they could aim and they could kill. I find this First Order to be even more terrifying than the Empire, seems to be a lot more to them, and they are definitely darker. I was quite pleased to see Finn get owned by a stormtrooper, albeit wielding a lightsaber in the process! The new star destroyer looked good, I can't wait for them to bring out bigger ships in the movies to come!

Snoke intrigues, I know it's been said that Palpatine killed his Master, but given the power Plagueis had over life itself, I think it wouldn't be a far stretch that he did manage to survive and save himself. Perhaps he had deceived Palpatine all along, and simply took his time to recuperate. It'd be an interesting twist, would explain the scars and his twisted overall appearance.

The lightsaber duels were definitely at their grittiest, they weren't afraid to actually kill people with lightsabers, and they weren't afraid to use them to hurt others. Usually when someone is hit with a lightsaber in a movie, they're usually forced to drop down and play wounded, glad that this is no longer the case, and that wounds are more bearable. I did enjoy the first half of the duel more than the second, but alas, it was a really good duel and ranks up high. It was more dynamic than the originals, but more feasible and believable than the prequels.

All in all, great movie, I truly did love it and ranks up there with Empire Strikes Back to me.

[Evanin Dawnstar]

Kylos master certainly looked Ancient in his hologram so it is possible it is Plagueis, I love Kylos drive to want to 'Be strong like Vader' because it's completely misplaced as if he doesn't know that Vader was redeemed and is his grandfather. He calls him 'The Iron Knight' which I actually love, it's almost like he knows next to nothing about what happened to his 'Idol' in the end, all he has is Vaders mask which was most likely stolen from Luke who had kept it as a reminder of what can happen if you let darkness take hold.

Seeing R2-D2 reactivate towards the end to reveal that he had the information all along was just typical Arrtwo in my opinion, he's always gets the important stuff because he's the most trustworthy of all the characters, makes sense for Luke to give his friend all but a single piece of information as a precaution.

Watching Rey stand before Luke and hold out his old lightsaber to her, I would have liked a line or two from him but I guess we'll have to wait till May 2017 to find out.

[Jago Mirax]

MAJOR SPOILERS

After sleeping on it and having a chance to collect myself after the first rollercoaster viewing, I can safely say I can't wait to see this movie a second time. I may even be driving to Germany again today to get another look before I head back to England for the holidays!

Kylo Ren (Ben Solo/Skywalker - so glad that happened!) in my opinion is the best villain throughout the whole saga simply due to the complexity and depth surrounding his personality and motivation. Like many have said, he gave us that psychotic, vulnerable, and hopelessly unpredictable vibe that many hoped to see from Hayden's Anakin. They shared similarities in their teenage behaviour, but the conflict in Kylo portrayed by Adam Driver, was just far superior in so many ways. We all loved Vader but I'm getting the feeling we're going to get our first Star Wars villain that we really hate in Kylo Ren. There's no way they can justify him coming back from the Dark Side after his decision to kill his own father. I hope they don't do a Vader on him in that regard, killing Han off would loose all substance otherwise.

Rey was also incredible, definitely on pair with Kylo and I'm finding it very difficult to find a performance I didn't like. The acting was just superb, some of Star Wars finest. Mark Hamil nailed that last shot too, what a stare! It was almost reminiscent of Kylos look right before killing Han, so full of regret and conflict. Going into this movie and knowing Luke only had a couple minutes at best had me rather annoyed, but now I realise why, the last shot said enough without saying anything at all.

Just another thing on Rey, I was surprised to see her pick up the Force as quickly as she did and use it to do things Luke couldn't do until ROTJ. Pulling the Lightsaber to her with relative ease (from the snow nonetheless, important to note I feel), the mental strength showed to redirect Kylo's probing back at him, the mind trick (although I liked how it took her a few attempts) and finally her ability with the blade, which can of course be explained somewhat due to her combat skills obtained on Jakku. It was almost like she was a JEDI character from the get go! No but really, having thought about it a lot and taking the flash back sequence into consideration, I have a sneaky feeling this was all a test for Rey set up none other by Luke himself. It would explain a lot, and the fact her and Kylo seemed to recognise one another in some strange Force related way got me thinking further. Finally amongst the emotions mixed into Luke's stare, I also got this from it; "You did it, you actually did it. Damn. I'm so sorry, looks like I will have to train you after all". There's a strong chance Luke envisioned all of this and it's even likely they are related.

I could nitpick a few things particularly pertaining to the 'rehash' elements of the storyline, some of it I just felt was unnecessary, but when you take everything else into account it's really easy to see that Star Wars is back in so many ways and more.

[Delmi N'jork]

Absolutely fantastic.

It was everything I hoped for and then some, for sure on par with the Original trilogy and easy putting the prequels to shame. Acting was fantastic, the duel was beautifully done. I had three problems with the movie, though in all honesty, they are very easily over looked: 1. Rey's ability to seemingly just "pick up" on how to use the Force. Though, if she ends up being a Skywalker then I'll gladly accept that. 2. Luke doesn't do anything, but for the sake of the story line and following sequels to 7, I understand why that was done. 3. As someone who is extremely hard of hearing, I found it hard sometimes to understand Kylo, especially with his mask on as I couldn't even attempt to read his lips.

But overall wonderful, wonderful movie.

[Amalia Feyn]

3. As someone who is extremely hard of hearing, I found it hard sometimes to understand Kylo, especially with his mask on as I couldn't even attempt to read his lips.

Poe had that same problem

[Var Dalledos]

Words can't express how satisfied I am with the movie. I think everyone was a bit apprehensive going in but J.J Abrams really did a wonderful job with the star wars universe I absolutely can't wait for the next episode.

The only -real- complaint I had was how some characters were sidelined. I feel like Phasma didn't get nearly as much time on screen as she should have. But other than that it was a wonderful movie!

I also have to give praise to those who played Rey and Finn. They pulled their characters off fantastically.

[Korona Rihera]

I absolutely loved the movie, my 2nd favorite in the entire series now. I absolutely can not wait until episode 8.

I have to admit, I was slightly terrified that since this movie was made by completely different people that the title scroll we all know and love wouldn't be there as well as it being called Episode VII: The Force Awakens since during the entire lead up to it it was always advertised as Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

My heart completely shattered when Kylo "did the deed", I'll miss future appearances of him and I probably might tear up when I watch the original trilogy again.

There was never a dull moment in the film, I was on the edge of my seat from start to finish.

[Keth Flynn]

I got spoiled beforehand about Han Solo, otherwise I'm sure I would've died or something.
Kylo Ren got owned a bit too easily for my taste I mean the guy was trained and all and then comes Rey lightsaber in hand and it's over. A bit of struggle maybe but I was expecting a lot more to be fair!
Some cringe here and there but I thought that the movie was pretty good overall.

[Evanin Dawnstar]

Rey was also trained in using a melee weapon, albeit a staff as demonstrated early on in the film, Kylo had been shot by Chewbacca and was bleeding at the time and he made it very clear that he was struggling to keep up with both her and Finn, the only reason Finn was downed so easily because he favored the blaster and didn't have any experience beyond a single fight against an electrostaff which he also lost.

[Karmarie Zar]

If you heard at the end, Snoke says something about "Completing Kylo Ren's training" so maybe he isn't even at his full potential.

[Korona Rihera]

If you heard at the end, Snoke says something about "Completing Kylo Ren's training" so maybe he isn't even at his full potential.

Kylo in my opinion was more of a bad guy that had to ACT tough instead of actually BEING tough. He had the skill with the Force, clearly. But with a Lightsaber, he was pretty bad, given that he murdered a few Padawans after falling to the dark side, he was clearly out of practice and never had another fight against another Lightsaber until Finn and Rey.

[Karmarie Zar]

Kylo in my opinion was more of a bad guy that had to ACT tough instead of actually BEING tough. He had the skill with the Force, clearly. But with a Lightsaber, he was pretty bad, given that he murdered a few Padawans after falling to the dark side, he was clearly out of practice and never had another fight against another Lightsaber until Finn and Rey.

Oh, of course though we most take into account that he had just tanked a bowcast shot to the abdomen area, plus imagine the mental state he must of been after killing his farther, I can't wait until he finds out that Darth Vader was redeemed, his reaction to that. Kylo is way to far into the darkside, there's no redeeming him after he completed his test, which waseradicating Ben Solo, by killing Han Solo, while Darth Vader chose not to kill Luke.

[Korona Rihera]

Oh, of course though we most take into account that he had just tanked a bowcast shot to the abdomen area, plus imagine the mental state he must of been after killing his farther, I can't wait until he finds out that Darth Vader was redeemed, his reaction to that. Kylo is way to far into the darkside, there's no redeeming him after he completed his test, which waseradicating Ben Solo, by killing Han Solo, while Darth Vader chose not to kill Luke.

Interesting the immense contrast between Vader and Kylo.

Vader chooses to spare his son, Kylo murders his father

Vader has immense skill with a Lightsaber, Kylo has not

Vader is still a challenge even when wounded (ravaged in TFU, he's tougher in the dark side ending), Kylo lets his wounds get to him despite his tolerance for pain.

Vader is in control of his emotions, calling on them when necessary, Kylo is almost always pissed off (though they do make for some hilarious scenes in the movie).

There are a number, but comparing Kylo and Vader, Vader is the true threat, Kylo is a mere pretender. He still has much to learn.