I just came from the theater.
The movie is better than the prequel trilogy (not that the bar is high) and is better than episode VI. I place it just below episode IV and V.
Short version: They played this movie safe, and what you expect is what you get.
SPOILERS:
Our main nigga Finn is a great character and I'm happy they didn't go down the stereotypical 'badass black guy with street knowledge' or 'super genius model minority' tropes that usually apply to the token black characters. Instead he was written as being clumsy, awkward with a great sense of moral duty.
The main female protagonist Rey is also very well written. Arguably better than any of the other jedi potentials in the other movies. She's pretty much a Luke Skywalker, coming from the same desert background and with the same aspirations for adventure and escaping the shithole she is in. The differences being she is female, and more importantly, she isn't a whiney shithead like Luke and Anakin often were. She has great chemistry on-screen with Finn and I think the love plot develops nicely (If you are /pol/ tier it's still going to annoy you, trigger warning :^) )
Ben (Our new Darth Vader) is my favorite new character. It's refreshing to see a badguy who is inexperienced and struggles to control his emotions. The villains in Star Wars haven't really done the human angle very well, it mostly boils down to "HURR DURR DARK SIDE, I'M EVIL". But with Ben it's him applying hero worship to Vader conflicting with his family ties, and this works well. His swordplay was novice and his lightsaber is stupid as hell (Everyone went on about this after seeing the trailer). But considering the character this makes sense, because he really is an edgelord teenager.
Carrie Fisher (princess leia) brought the film down. You don't feel nostalgia for her character at all. She was just a generic princess and with her being old she's not the same like Harrison Ford is. Her voice has aged, she has aged, she is bland and emotionless and overall she serves no real purpose. She could've been swapped out for a new Rebellion/Republic general and the story would've flowed the same.
Harrison Ford (Han Solo) is the same character, falling back into smuggling and dealing with criminal gangs. He doesn't have the same chemistry with the new cast as he did with the old, which hampers his performance a bit. His death at the hands of Ben was predictable but satisfying. Chewie is the same old Chewie, nothing really different. The action scenes are where these guys really shine, when they are running around blasting away stormtroopers it looks and feels great.
Is it true that nothing is actually explained? No backstories, no motives, no details, just a shallow copy of A New Hope with improved CGI and a cliffhanger?
>>63706546
Yes... sadly.
>>63706312
>inexperienced and struggles to control his emotions.
>he really is an edgelord teenager.
Boy, Hayden 2.0 will sure be fun to watch.
CRAAAAAAAAWLING IIIIIIIN MY SKIIIIIIIIIIN
>>63706825
Actually he's just about the only actor who is capable of portraying megalomaniacal tendencies as humane and beta.
It's really hard to pull off being a main special "bad guy" and still coming off as a beta.
This is of course the set up though for the finale.The movie ends with Rey going to a temple to be trained by Luke, Ben goes to be trained by Snoke, they'll duel in the final film and Rey will win. They're both rookies that will be masters in the final film
>>63706331
I don't agree. Fisher brought a lot to the film, even if only to fill in Han Solo's role in it.
And as for Harrison, we know he hates Star Wars and generally most films he's done, and as he answered Fallon "what did you feel when you got back to the character" - "I got paid", so we knew he was gonnadie.
If anything, the movie can be considered a master in that the explanations are sudden, and the film isn't wasting my fucking time by setting it up in a slow and impactful manner. If you get it, great, if you don't, the movie gives no fucks.
I thought it was weird that Han had never used Chewie's Bowcaster in like 40 years time.
>>63707186
He doesn't sound compelling. We need old school villains who wrecked shit and were suave about it.
>>63706312
Fuck, my name is Ben. I thought I was done with the "old Ben Kenobi" shit a lone time ago...now my name has to be associated with this emo dick.
I like the idea that Kylo has a bunch of complexes about being associated with the dark side, but kind of can't help falling to it. The fact that his relationship with Snoke also seems very similar to the Anakin/Palpatine dynamic is perhaps too pottery, but I don't mind so much. He's probably the most interesting of the new characters to me.
