WHAT A LET DOWN
PROBABLY A 4/10
Pros: Jakku, BB-8, ChewbaccaThe tone and atmosphere was completely off. Disney's command of the movie becomes apparent very quickly with character interactions and action sequences. It's feels very much in the same vein as Disney's other cinematic universe. This is Disney action movie #143 with Star Wars iconography plastered across it.
The pace of the movie is seriously lacking in care and direction. There is no time to set any of the scenes or build to any set pieces. 4 different characters are trying to be established in the first half hour and because of this, the story never feels like it gets to settle down. And it never does. The movie desperately needed moments of calm and reflection.
The score is possibly the most disappointing aspect of the picture. At no point did it feel like it was used to its potential. Again, the generic soundtrack feels like another Disney trope.
Character development is non existent and we're treated to some of the worst examples of plot armour in recent memory. Rey is an unrealistic character even in a fantasy setting like Star Wars. Her invulnerability makes her far less engaging than she could be. Finn feels like wasted potential. His sole role as the comic relief contradicts his character in many ways and a lot of the time, JJ trades in any sense of tension for a quip from Finn. Ford and Fisher on screen together were distractingly bad. Kylo is very angsty and his obsession with Vader is like a metaphor for this movie.
There isn't a single iconic scene in TFA. At no point does the film feel like its building to a memorable, deliberate set piece. Han dying will be remembered only because it affects the following sequels.
(1/2)
JJ shows that he's a company man in every way. Not a single risk in creativity was taken. The story was paint by numbers from beginning to end. Hiding behind Poetry to justify such a lazy reskin of ANH is bordering on insulting.
It being a kids' movie doesn't excuse it from criticism or scrutiny. Some of the best movies ever made have been aimed at children. A "kids' movie" is not a synonym for poorly made or lacking in ideas. Trying to appeal to children does not exempt it from missing any sense of foreboding or gravitas.
Excuses of it being a part of a series can only go so far. Good movies can exist within themselves as satisfying stand alone films as well as part of a bigger story.
(2/2)
I don't see it as that bad, but all the cuts and sudden scenery switches make it lose the feel of previous Star Wars movies. It's more like a music video.
Also, Snoke is a really stupid name for a villain character. It sounds like a quirky sidekick in a Disney cartoon.
I'm not joking, this movie was literally worse than The Phantom Menace (I never though the prequels were bad anyways)
All those people who said this would be hunger games in space, they were right sadly.
I'm giving it 4/10 too
The pacing was the weakest point of the movie for me, I completely agree. Everything is happening so fast and so immediate there's no time to establish the "lived-in universe" feel.
Felt like I watched two movies' worth of material in one sitting. Far too fast.
Why did Abrams choose to direct the movie in the way he did?
If he was adamant on doing a copy and paste job then why didn't he mimick the style of Ep4? Those wide angles and lingering shots that were inspired by Ford, Lean and Kurosawa were a big part of what made A New Hope special.
It's one of the reasons this movie doesn't 'feel' right.
>>63833327
>There isn't a single iconic scene in TFA.
Rey putting on the old helmet while eating qualifies.
>>63833327
It was JUST what I expected, this rehash is nothing but a glib facsimile.
If Star Wars was all I had access to as a child in terms of sci-fi I probably would become one of those crazy fanboys, but thankfully I had access to anime from very early on in my youth years that my
mental balance is very stable.
Seriously, if you have watched Akira, you'd realize just how sophisticated anime is and it blows away anything Star Wars would have to offer.
A lot of people mention Ghost In The Shell, which has just enough of sexuality in the mix to draw in the western audience I suppose but I must say that Ghost In The Shell is not even in my top 10 anime, not
even close, that's just how deep the world of anime is.
Some anime is so disturbingly mature like Fractale that I wish it would challenge the system and submit it as a Drama category in the Oscars just to bitchslap the snotty Academy.
It's not just the level of maturity and sophistication anime has, it's also quite original, entertaining, and visually fantastic. I would regard anime as the highest form of cinema art-form.
But hey, me preaching about anime won't do you any good, you gotta go out and see it for yourself just how much you are missing.
The recent one I would recommend to check out is Sword Art Online which is light and easy to get into anime for the first time yet appreciate it as much, but if you want the heavy stuff right off the line
check out Guilty Crown in which the plot is so complex and twisted that you'll need extra oxygen pumped into your brain in order to comprehend everything, and if you want amazing visuals and a gripping
drama that also has awesome mecha battles Aldnoah.Zero is the shit.
Seriously, if you know anime like I do, Star Wars looks like it's something for little kids.
>>63833806
He wanted to be the guy who added diversity to star wars.
Seriously they have all the budget and fictional places in the Galaxy Far Far Away and the pick the most generic places for set-pieces?
Fucking Tattoine 2.0
Fucking Hoth 2.0
Really, fucking Disney?
Talk about lack of imagination.
>>63833327
>PAY ATTENTION TO ME ;____;
fuck off fedora
Music was the most dissapointing part of the movie to me
If Williams KILLED the score it would have redeemed a lot of the mistakes in the movie
>>63833736
You're right about the pacing. It's the biggest problem for the movie.
>>63833734
Please explain how this is remotely similar to The Hunger Games minus having a teenage female lead.
>>63833866
>>63834104
Indeed
>>63833327
This is very similar to my review, I'm glad at least someone agrees.
>>63811850
Memes aside, it really did have hindering problems that were probably because of Disney's rushing of the production and fear of treading new ground.
>>63833971
>fuck off fedora
but the fodoras are the one who like it
ironic isn't?
>>63833971
Feel free to refute the points m8.
Or are people that didn't like it just 'contrarians' for you?
Speaking of editing, it was really jarring how much the camera moves in the TFA. Most of the shots in the old trilogy were from a fairly still position, with a tracking camera.
Also, stupid decisions by characters. Why would you have onlya single trooper guard the super important rebel character?
>>63833327
>The tone and atmosphere was completely off
Stopped reading here. TFA even if the story is a rehash of ANH feels more like a Star Wars movie than anything else since the OT.
>>63833866
You spent way too much time on this shit bait
Am I the only one who felt there was a lack of droids?
>>63833866
>Anime makes Star Wars look like something for kids
that's something a neckbeard with dakimakuras would say.
>>63834370
Being better than the prequels doesn't make this one good.
And no, it was nothing like Ep 4, 5. They weren't hectic action movies like this one. There was a certain sternness to those ones that's lacking here. Humour was used where appropriate in Ep4. JJ had natural comic relief with BB-8 and Chewbacca here; there was no need to make almost every character a vehicle for marvel quips.
This movie takes a massive nosedive after Jakku where it made a pretty good start. After that it could pass for any Disney action movie. That horrible freighter scene being a great example.
>>63834861
This. The freighter scene was one of the weakest moments of the film.
>>63835093
It was straight out of Guardians of the Galaxy.
And it just went on and on and on. It felt like nothing but action filler at a point when the movie needed to slow down.
>>63833866
This is a glib facsimile of good bait.
5/10
>>63834369
>Why would you have only a single trooper guard the super important rebel character?
There's a lot of horrible conveniences in the movie. There's probably a lot from A New Hope that I'm forgetting though.
Those moments are forgivable however when your movie has charm, which this one didn't IMO.
>>63833734
>I'm not joking
I'm not joking either, nobody cares about your shit opinions :^)
>>63833327
I agree completely. It just felt "detached" from the other films.Han dyingdidn't help either.
Of course, most faggots right now will probably get buttblasted at you and everyone else criticizing the movie, but in a few years, they'll see it was another Phantom Menace, which by the way seems to be more coherent than TFA, even with all the shit going on near the end.
>>63834463
BB-8 should have had another droid with him.
JJ kind of misses the point of Ep4 when he only put one central droid in TFA.
>>63834370
Are you fucking kidding me? Prequels most definitely still felt like Star Wars, unlike this pile of shit.
>>63833327
Agreed about everything except for BB8.
BB8 is shit
>>63833866
>drama that also has awesome mecha battles Aldnoah.Zero is the shit.
I see. You cannot be taken seriously.
>>63833806
yes!
every shot was a closeup anyong af
>>63834018
True, though I think JJ had a hand in directing the music a bit too much and might have hampered Williams a bit. Also he is really old.
A good original score would have kicked this movie up a notch or two.
Unfortunately this is the best we go, and Rey's theme is ok. Both are not very memorable though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueqKtype7Kk
>>63833327
The movies main problem is it doesn't know what it's about
The title crawl and MacGuffin are for a movie that is about trying to find Luke Skywalker. But we never get a compelling reason why finding Luke is important. Instead, the story waits until Act 2 to introduce a completely different primary plot: the Starkiller.
Then once that's taken care of, the MAIN STORY OF THE FILM suddenly just resolves itself, Daisy travels to Ireland and the story ends. That's it.
The movie isn't about finding Luke, or about Han dying, or about the threat of the Starkiller base. It's awkwardly attempting to be all three at once. That's why it ends up feeling so empty.
You could 100% argue that the second two prequels did a better job in this regard: AotC is clearly about the clone army and RotS is about the rise of the empire. PM is a bit more of a trainwreck but it is reducable to the Trade Federation conflict and Anakin story, it didn't try to do three things at once.
>>63833327
I know it's popular to bash this movie, but the thing I hated about was that it felt so...generic. Just a typical Disney sci-fi 2010s action movie, like John Carter.
Unlike the original trilogy, there was no real sense of gravitas. I didn't feel like anything was at stake, it felt more like a parody of Star Wars than actual Star wars.
>>63836524
Yes, the starkiller seems out of left field and it completely changes the focus of the movie. The producers just needed another death star so that they could have another reference to the original trilogy to show us at ten minute intervals. The R2-D2 "we've had the map with us all along" thing is a total cop-out. Also why does the map need to have a line going to a planet; Why not just a dot where luke is? and why were they not able to find where the map they had was located when it ended up being like 14% of the entire galaxy?
>>63833866
>you'd realize just how sophisticated anime is and it blows away anything Star Wars would have to offer.
>sophisticated anime
>anime
Did anyone else feel like Abrams passed up cinematic scene after cinematic scene in this movie? Films like this can live and die by their iconic scenes.
It felt like there was lots of opportunities for the scenes to be 'more' than they were. Not even the straightforward pandering was done well. For example, our reintroduction to Han and Chewie was then running around a corrider. Han was deserving of a hero's death instead of the anticlimactic confrontation we got. Maz's discussion with Rey concerning her destiny was forgettable and took place in the basement of a bar. The assault on Death Star 3.0 was barely memorable. There was no sense of anticipation or dread before Kylo confronted Finn and Rey. Luke's appearance was horribly lacking in any kind of mood or atmosphere.
>>63833327
>tone and atmosphere
Fuck no, they nailed this down.
>pacing
I'll agree it's way too fast paced, but they had too much to tell in the span of 2 hours.
>score
I'll second this.
>Character development
It's a long term investment project where many things are left unexplained to have an open ended discussion
Why is Rey such a good warrior? Why was she abandoned? She was a natural pilot, much like Luke and Anakin were, could they be related? Han seemed to connect with her well, maybe he's her father?
Finn was awesome. He is the bumping hero who leaves the empire because he feels its the right thing to do, and stumbles along the way because he's the everyman.
>>63837083
The tone and atmosphere were all over the place due to two reasons:
1. Godawful marvel brand comedic timing; the movie ruined many scenes by putting a terrible joke right after anything that was remotely serious. The movie got better about the humor towards the end on the starkiller base, but the plot was all over the place at that point.
2. References; while things like admiral ackbar in the conference room may get cheers and chuckles from the audience it does not make for a memorable scene (especially when they are thrown in our face every 10 minutes) and a very clear divide existed between old design elements and new ones creating a disconnect, and all it served to do was remind me of how much better those movies were. I almost expected the movie to pause so JJ could walk onscreen and wink to the audience at some points.
On pacing they didn't need to put everything into one movie. Had they stayed on one or two planets and not pushed the starkiller plot in favor of adding some more character development it would have helped the movie greatly.
I agree Finn was awesome, he was really the only thing I liked about this movie.
>>63836787
>I know it's popular to bash this movie, but the thing I hated about was that it felt so...generic. Just a typical Disney sci-fi 2010s action movie, like John Carter.
It's not popular to bash it... yet. Even on /tv/ of all places.
>>63837083
>Fuck no, they nailed this down
There seems to be a total split on this. I felt like it totally missed the mark. It felt like Star Wars through a marvel/Disney filter.
>It's a long term investment project where many things are left unexplained to have an open ended discussion
This feels like a lazy excuse (not from you, but generally). The movie and the characters shoud have been able to stand up as an independent feature like literally every other Star Wars movie. Or every other GOOD film that's part of a series. I think it says a lot about the current culture of movie making and audiences that people are happy to accept answers in 2 years for this movie's inconsistencies. In the same way that tent pole movies are constantly released in 2 parts now: Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Avengers. Like audiences have been told that studios making more money out of two films instead of one is a good thing.
>>63833971
/tv/ is truly the worst board
>>63837478
>I almost expected the movie to pause so JJ could walk onscreen and wink to the audience at some points
Jesus christ this. Was the constant references and pandering what audiences wanted and/or liked about the movie?
>>63835747
Like, how is it that Finn and Rey run into Han Solo, aka the only person able to advance the plot, RIGHT after they leave Jakku? Out of anyone, anywhere in the whole fucking galaxy, they meet him. What are the odds? Even for the fantasy-logic of the universe it felt like JJ just needed to follow his shitty action movie pacing.
>>63838182
Holy fuck, I hope there is backlash if they make IX a two-part movie.
Literally in all instances this has been done, it has only weakened the plot of it. It's the highest jew offense of all time
>>63837478
>and all it served to do was remind me of how much better those movies were
This is a good point. It was very "haha guys do you remember this classic character from the memorable scene?". After the 40th time they did this it pissed me off that Abrams and Disney were so reluctant to make their own film. It's one of the main reasons I can't understand the praise for TFA. Were people desperate to like it no matter what? Is this what they wanted from the movie?
TAR WARS
A
R
W
A
R
S
>>63838965
The Force Awakens feels like the first of two parts.
Disney can get away with it because audiences are ok with it for some reason.
When you see pic related it becomes clear than Disney have no intention of making complete satisfying, stand alone movies. Every one of them will be made to lay the groundwork for the next one.
Some movies these days feel like 2 hour trailers for the next instalment.
>>63838878
Han was tracking the falcon. It was one of the worst plot points of the movie.
>>63836471
>[YouTube] John Williams - March of the Resistance (Audio Only) (embed)
I agree, this was one of the only decent/memorable themes, but even so, Williams more or less just ripped off his own Trade Federation/droid march music from TPM.
Name 1 (one) scene from The Force Awakens that's as iconic/memorable as the podrace or the Duel of the Fates fight from The Phantom Menace.
protip:you literally can't
>>63833866
>>63833327
>Chewbacca
YES.
>>63836260
That's because you've grown up with them you're blinded by you shitty nostalgia for them.
I just realized that I actually like "disney feel" movies...
I don't think VII was a "disney feel" movie tho..
As someone who thinks original star wars is not very good, I thought this was passable. I'm glad people had real emotion in it. The original trilogy is stale and the characters are just okay at best. The fanservice in this was a little too much but Finn is awesome and I hope by episode 9 they can just drop all the old shitters and make the story about him
>>63833866
It was JUST what I expected, this rehash is nothing but a glib facsimile.
If Star Wars was all I had access to as a child in terms of sci-fi I probably would become one of those crazy fanboys, but thankfully I had access to Garfield from very early on in my youth years that my
mental balance is very stable.
Seriously, if you have watched Garfield Gets Real, you'd realize just how sophisticated Garfield is and it blows away anything Star Wars would have to offer.
A lot of people mention Garfield's Fun Fest, which has just enough of sexuality in the mix to draw in the western audience I suppose but I must say that Garfield's Fun Fest is not even in my top 10 Garfield movies, not
even close, that's just how deep the world of anime is.
Some Garfield is so disturbingly mature like Garfield's Pet Force that I wish it would challenge the system and submit it as a Drama category in the Oscars just to bitchslap the snotty Academy.
It's not just the level of maturity and sophistication Garfield has, it's also quite original, entertaining, and visually fantastic. I would regard Garfield as the highest form of cinema art-form.
But hey, me preaching about Garfield won't do you any good, you gotta go out and see it for yourself just how much you are missing.
The recent one I would recommend to check out is Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties which is light and easy to get into Garfield for the first time yet appreciate it as much, but if you want the heavy stuff right off the line
check out Garfield: The Movie in which the plot is so complex and twisted that you'll need extra oxygen pumped into your brain in order to comprehend everything, and if you want amazing visuals and a gripping
drama that also has awesome lasagna battles Garfield and Friends. Happy Birthday, Garfield is the shit.
Seriously, if you know Garfield like I do, Star Wars looks like it's something for little kids.
>>63833806
>Those wide angles and lingering shots that were inspired by Ford, Lean and Kurosawa were a big part of what made A New Hope special.
i remember how much that long shot of her driving past the star destroyer reminded me of that. thought it would have those calm, reflective kind of shots where you could just enjoy the visual and let your mind digest a bit.
but nope, typical kinetic, frenetic jj/disney hack shit
>>63842028
It was so disappointing
>>63841967
>but Finn is awesome
What did people like about Finn? Genuine question. I thought he underminded any scene that was verging on being serious.
DISNEY HAD NO HAND IN MAKING THIS MOVIE YOU IDIOT!
They gave complete control over to lucasfilm (Kathleen kennedy).
Didn't you notice that they did not show the Disney logo before the film started. Even at the end of the credits all it says is
"This film is DISTRIBUTED by Walt Disney Co."
>>63842402
Are you literally retarded? Disney didn't pay $4bn for the franchise so they could hand over all creative control to JJ and then fuck off. The movie was made to their stipulations.
Not putting their logo before the film was just a show of respect to the previous movies. Bad Robot was the same.
>>63842899
Because that's what totally turned out to be the case with Marvel.
>>63842945
What are you trying to say? You think Disney had no hand in this movie because their logo doesn't come up before the movie? Seriously?
It's always nice to encounter genuine autism here now and then.
>>63842009
LOL good take on the original
Would it still be shit if the leads weren't a whore and a jiggaboo?
>>63833327
What about all the extended universe stuff that gets so callously retconned, 30-odd years of comics that get hand-waved without a second thought. Maybe if JJ spent more time reading up on the lore and less time furiously masturbating to the thought of his SJW agenda this wouldn't have been such a canon-desecrating clusterfuck.
Having said that Boyega was based, his screentime with Isaac was the most entertaining part of the film. Stormfags can fuck right off
mfw chewie's rage after the death of han
>>63844221
This, I just want mah nigga Kyle Katarn to still be relevant
>>63843728
It depends. If the protagonist was a male then JJ and Kennedy would be far less inclined to make him an invulnerable fantasy insert.
Call me edgy, but I think heroes should have lost in Force Awakens. Death Star 3 shouldn't have been blown up. R2D2 should've woke up to be last ray of hope in a hopeless situation when Rebels lost. It would've made impact because throughout the movie you don't feel like there are stakes at all, movie doesn't take chances.
>>63845084
>Call me edgy, but I think heroes should have lost in Force Awakens
Of course they shoud have lost. The movie could have had some significance that way. They could have retained a sense of danger. Rey defeating Kylo was the cherry on the cake. If she had lost the fight and been rescued by the earth breaking up then Kylo would have retained some menace and there'd be a sense of anticipation before their next encounter.
>>63844528
I thought there should have been more of it tbqh.
So JJ was right when he admitted Guardians of the Galaxy was better?
>>63836830
Why the fuck did they need a third Death Star?
Why the fuck did they have to defeat it in the exact same way?
Why are Death Stars the limit of Disney's imagination?
>>63844528
Yeah, too bad it lasted for all of three seconds though.
>>63833736
blame americunt attention span
The movie was calling out for a few non-frenzied scenes. Just for the story to gather its self and actually build to moments of importance with some anticipation.
>>63847903
Fags across the UK loved everything about it too.
>>63833806
Episode IV has a very slow first Act which would be hard to replicate in a modern-style idiot movie.
>>63837052
With respect to mood, it may sound a little ironic, but I think JJ tends to ask a little too much of the actor's performance alone. You can't just go for another closeup and expect that to be enough coverage.
Having said that, the briefness of the ending was very much like ROTS.
>>63849649
>modern-style idiot movie
Brain damage and no attention span from a generation that grew up with the internet using twitter, snapchat, and instagram. Literally retards that need the camera to jump at least once every 7 seconds to keep their attention.
Is the new series canon? Or is it part of the alternate disneyverse?
I personally don't accept it as canon.
I just got back and I loved it. Yeah there was pacing issues, and it seems like the exposition was hit or miss for certain topics (what is the relationship between the republic and the resistance?), but unless a Star Wars movie is Kung-Pow tier bad, I'm going to love it
http://247365hatemachine.blogspot.ca/2015/12/star-wars-force-awakens-reviewfact_19.html
>>63841470
X wing assualt and Mazs cantina and the duel between kylo and Finn and then Rey.
>>63833373
>Blood and death
>kids movie
Pick one
>>63850043
You'll get called a 'le wrong generation faggot' for saying that but you're right.
Big modern movies reflect their audiences' wants.
Raiders of the Lost Ark is perfect example of a brilliant seemless adventure movie and yet there are very deliberate slowed down sequences of the movie where Indy is just talking to Brody or Marion or Sallah or Belloq. These create anticipation for the flashier scenes to come. They stop the audience from tiring of the constant running and screaming.
TFA misses moments like this greatly. And I'd guess its partly because the modern audiences whip out their phones for scenes like this when they're watching at home. It's also because JJ is mediocre.
>>63838267
Check out /fit/ dude
Nah anon, people just expected it to move earth and sky. They wanted a fucking miracle, they got a movie.
>>63850258
>Mazs cantina
You think the Maz cantina scene will be as iconic as the Duel of the Fates fight? Really anon?
>>63850574
People expected some effort; more than a copy and paste. They got a copy and paste.
>>63851438
>face cheek
Kek
