Star Wars The Force Awakens was....ok

[jukebox_csi]

So, we went to see Star Wars The Force Awakens finally.  We'd been waiting for the crowds to thin out a little.  It was a good movie and I enjoyed it, but I have to admit I was a little disappointed.  I guess I expected more based on all the hype and money it's made.

Instead, in a way, it was pretty much a retelling of the story just using different characters - scared farm boy ex-storm trooper rescues princess girl-jedi-in-the-making and together with a rogue-ish pirate pilot and wookie wookie destroy the death star starkiller base, all while battling Darth Vader Kylo Ren (......Kylo Ren, I am your father....er grandfather).  There is even a saloon scene!  So nostalgic.  Deja vu.

Then my significant other and I discussed the plot holes of science....not that we are scientists by any stretch. But seriously, can a weapon within a planet really absorb an entire sun without the planet exploding? I mean...an ENTIRE SUN. That's like a coodle-kajillion-babillion-sasillion watts of energy. And yet the starkiller base is like Iceland on the surface....all snow and cold and crap. Where's the tremendous gravity coming from that is needed to draw in that power that drains the sun? My brain is trying to wrap around the concepts and just can't. Maybe that's the point and I'm not supposed to think about those kinds of things.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it and glad I went.  But, it's not worth going a second time (I'll wait for it to come to Netflix), and it definitely wasn't worth standing in an obscene waiting line or paying an arm, leg, and kidney for coveted tickets on ebay.

Comments

[icassop.livejournal.com]

I really liked TFA, saw it twice even ^^

You need to keep in mind that people were enraged that the prequels were nothing like the old ones and now that TFA pays tribute to the originals by honouring the theme, people are still not satisfied.

Also, if you haven't realized yet, in cases of big franchises, there is always a formula that the movies adhere to. In case of SW:
1) character of lowly status on an isolated planet
- Luke, adopted son of a farmer, on Tattooine
- Anakin, slave, on Tattooine
- Rey, abandoned scavenger, on Jakku
2) meets older mentor figure
- Luke meets Ben/Obi-Wan Kenobi
- Anakin meets Qui-Gon Jinn
- Rey meets Han Solo
3) who dies
- Darth Vader kills Obi-Wan
- Darth Maul kills Qui-Gon
- Kylo Ren kills Han Solo
4) big space battle at the end
- Death Star gets blown up
- Confederation ship gets blown up
- Starkiller Base gets blown up

Of course after 6 movies the plot will feel familiar but that's kind of the essence of Star Wars.

You should also look at the things that TFA did differently: The jedi-to-be and the main character is female this time; we get a glimpse behind the mask of a stormtrooper; Kylo Ren has depth and an actual back story in comparison to the very one-dimensional Darth Vader in ANH; we see new ways that the force can be used; the main goal of the movie was finding Luke, not blowing up the enemy; and several mysteries to solve in the coming movies (Rey's past, Luke's exile, Kylo's turn to the dark side, etc.).

I think TFA establishes itself as a strong foundation for a new Star Wars trilogy while setting up a new story.

The Starkiller Base is ridiculous though. It's nice that they made it a solar-powered Death Star (how environmental friendly lol) but to make it more contemporary, they should've made the empire into a terrorist group à la ISIS... Because iirc the rebels won at the end of ROTJ, so shouldn't the Republic be back in power? Hence smaller and focused but more destructive attacks by the Empire would've made more of an impact on us, the viewers. But maybe they're saving that idea for episode VIII since a ton of people must've died on Starkiller Base when it blew up.

One more thing people were upset about was that Starkiller Base had a weakness somewhere on the inside again. But from what I understand, shooting at those things wouldn't really have made massive damage. It would've only disabled its ability to gather energy, I think? The only reason the Base blew up was because it was so pumped full with solar energy that needed to go somewhere.

Btw, what DID you expect to happen in the movie? You seemed to have high expectations. I was honestly thoroughly entertained. It was funny, exciting, engaging, had great characters and looked incredibly good (except for the CG characters).