Star Wars (Includes Spoilers!!!)

[Christian Slater]

Spoiler

The 'theory' about Rey is that she was in Luke's Jedi academy as a kid, being his daughter and all. After Kylo and the Knights of Ren went all out and killed everyone Luke dumped her on Jakku for Max Von Sydow to keep an eye on from distance. The latter must have been with Luke in the Jedi academy, which explains why he and Kylo know eachother. That also explains why he has the map to Luke; maybe he gave it to him if his daughter ever wanted to come looking for him?

So Rey is force sensitive, she has some prior Jedi training which was suppressed in her and was awoken when she got in touch with Luke's lightsaber; she saw her past, her family leaving her and the Knights of Ren destroying the academy (so she was there since she saw it) as well as her future encounter with Kylo. That's my only explanation as to why she managed to discover her powers so quickly; she already had it in her.

Why did Luke dump her? It's difficult to say. It could be that he was afraid that she would be in danger if she stayed with him. Either way it needs a pretty good explanation or else the most beloved character in the Star Wars universe would just be a lousy parent and a pretty flawed individual.

Rian Johnson did a great job on Looper but this is a whole different monster. I'm sure we will have a darker episode 8 a la Empire and I hope he will fill the gaps.

Spoiler

Nice theory, but why don't Kylo and Rey recognise each other or at least feel one another's presence through the force? Why does Rey not remember?

 

[allouso]

Spoiler

Nice theory, but why don't Kylo and Rey recognise each other or at least feel one another's presence through the force? Why does Rey not remember?

Spoiler

Well she's younger than Ren, at least that's how I see it. For the record Daisy Ridley is 23, Adam Driver is 32. So maybe they were cast with the age difference in mind? So that could possibly be why they didn't recognize eachother especially that it might have been a big academy.

As to why Rey doesn't remember, the lightsaber scene clearly shows that it was suppressed in her. I don't know much about psychology in a galaxy far, far away but she was most likely traumatized by her childhood and just...shut it out? Makes sense?

Ren did feel her through the force by the way, just maybe not specifically her. Hence the whole "awakening" scene with Snoke. Rey wouldn't because she didn't know she had these powers, at least not consciously.

 

[Christian Slater]

Spoiler

You'd remember if someone killed a load of people when you were younger.Blanking it out through trauma is a bit lame, especially when she's aware of the force's legend and techniques.

It'd also be nice if everything wasn't in the family. The force is becoming inbred.

 

[allouso]

Spoiler

You'd remember if someone killed a load of people when you were younger.Blanking it out through trauma is a bit lame, especially when she's aware of the force's legend and techniques.

It'd also be nice if everything wasn't in the family. The force is becoming inbred.

Spoiler

She's not though, she didn't even know it existed (which is strange, considering she tried jedi mind tricks after that)

I see what you're saying but I'm pretty sure she's a Skywalker, and since she can't be Leia and Han's daughter there's no one left but Luke. It's pretty obvious from Luke's narration in the second trailer and then how Maz mentions as well that the lightsaber is calling to her.

I wouldn't mind that personally. This saga is all about the Skywalker family so it would sort of make sense if that was the case.

 

[Christian Slater]

Spoiler

She's not though, she didn't even know it existed (which is strange, considering she tried jedi mind tricks after that)

I see what you're saying but I'm pretty sure she's a Skywalker, and since she can't be Leia and Han's daughter there's no one left but Luke. It's pretty obvious from Luke's narration in the second trailer and then how Maz mentions as well that the lightsaber is calling to her.

I wouldn't mind that personally. This saga is all about the Skywalker family so it would sort of make sense if that was the case.

She knew of the legend of Skywalker and, as you've mentioned, knew Jedi mind techniques.

I just think amnesia is lazy writing and another family revelation is too played out. She doesn't have to be another Skywalker. Perhaps she has a natural ability and her proximity to the lightsaber is the force calling her.

 

[MSB92]

 

[MSB92]

Spoiler

this is a spoiler review of the movie which talks about some of the theories. One of the guys said that Luke might have wiped her mind to make her forget. Also regarding Vader and Kylo, I think Luke told Han and Leia that Vader redeemed himself but Snoke turned Kylo to the dark side. Leia herself said told Han that it was Snoke. I also loved Adam Driver's performance, unlike Vader he was erratic and troubled which I loved. Final question, what did you guys think of the music? I loved it.

 

[allouso]

Spoiler

this is a spoiler review of the movie which talks about some of the theories. One of the guys said that Luke might have wiped her mind to make her forget. Also regarding Vader and Kylo, I think Luke told Han and Leia that Vader redeemed himself but Snoke turned Kylo to the dark side. Leia herself said told Han that it was Snoke. I also loved Adam Driver's performance, unlike Vader he was erratic and troubled which I loved. Final question, what did you guys think of the music? I loved it.

Heard people complain about the music but I loved it. Not on a par with some of Williams' previous work on Star Wars but it still stands out. Can't wait till they release the score.

Here is the sped up version by the way :

 

[MSB92]

Heard people complain about the music but I loved it. Not on a par with some of Williams' previous work on Star Wars but it still stands out. Can't wait till they release the score.

Here is the sped up version by the way :

When I first saw the movie I was a little disappointed, but it grew on me on my second viewing. I listned to the whole soundtrack yesterday and Rey's theme is my favorite followed by the Resistance March. There isn't an Iconic theme like the Emperial March or Duel of the Fates but overall it's a good soundtrack, it feels like Star Wars but has a different character to it.

 

[allouso]

When I first saw the movie I was a little disappointed, but it grew on me on my second viewing. I listned to the whole soundtrack yesterday and Rey's theme is my favorite followed by the Resistance March. There isn't an Iconic theme like the Emperial March or Duel of the Fates but overall it's a good soundtrack, it feels like Star Wars but has a different character to it.

Same here. I liked Rey's theme, Kylo's and the ending theme; absolutely loved the crescendo when she found Luke.

 

[Dave-Vale]

Spoiler

Ren is a fantastic villain. Really sinister and made me feel very uneasy whenever he was on screen. More than Vader or Maul. Really well done to Adam Driver who does a fantastic job. I hope he somehow managed to get away before the planet imploded because I want to see more of him and learn about his background. He also looked very similar to Anakin in Episode III which was a nice touch.

I think Rey is Luke's daughter. She has to be. Although some people think she is Han/Leia's daughter. Surely they would just tell her? Daisy reminds me of Keira Knightley a lot. The character reminds me of Elizabeth Swann from Pirates of The Caribean, strangely. Must be the Disney influence.

Cannot believe Han Solo is dead. Really sad moment, but like others, it didn't feel like the end of him. Maybe there is some way back but I'm not sure.

Overall, I really enjoyed the film. Some of the more humourous parts were brilliant. Fin and BB8 bringing most of them. In the TIE Fighter when Poe and Fin escaped really had me chuckling ("YES! That's what I'm talking about!!").

 

[allouso]

Spoiler

Ren is a fantastic villain. Really sinister and made me feel very uneasy whenever he was on screen. More than Vader or Maul. Really well done to Adam Driver who does a fantastic job. I hope he somehow managed to get away before the planet imploded because I want to see more of him and learn about his background. He also looked very similar to Anakin in Episode III which was a nice touch.

I think Rey is Luke's daughter. She has to be. Although some people think she is Han/Leia's daughter. Surely they would just tell her? Daisy reminds me of Keira Knightley a lot. The character reminds me of Elizabeth Swann from Pirates of The Caribean, strangely. Must be the Disney influence.

Cannot believe Han Solo is dead. Really sad moment, but like others, it didn't feel like the end of him. Maybe there is some way back but I'm not sure.

Overall, I really enjoyed the film. Some of the more humourous parts were brilliant. Fin and BB8 bringing most of them. In the TIE Fighter when Poe and Fin escaped really had me chuckling ("YES! That's what I'm talking about!!").

Spoiler

Ren definitely got away, there's no doubting that. Also agreed on Rey, she can't be Han/Leia's daughter or surely one of them would have told her. I would understand if Leia had her separately and Han never knew but I don't think that's the case. Would be a bit disappointed if it turns out that they separated them at a young age so that Ren wouldn't kill her but that would be a lame reveal imo.

Han is dead. I think we're all making the mistake of thinking he might be alive because the scene wasn't as epic as we thought it would be. It was sort of brushed aside.

 

[Oaf]

Saw it yesterday morning. Absolutely loved it. I love Episodes 1 and 3 though, so read into that what you will

Spoiler

The new cast was great. Rey sort of stole the show, Finn was a brilliantly likable charismatic character, Kylo Ren is a superb villian (the sort of reversal of the usual way of doing things in having a guy actively trying to turn to the dark side while the light is trying to win him back is a brilliantly intriguing idea) and BB8 was instantly lovable.
Also loved the humour. Some people say that it was "too funny" considering the circumstances. Star Wars always had humour. Well, the originals, at least... and it's not as if they weren't all living under an evil dictatorship and didn't have a fucking planet destroying space station, so you know, things weren't exactly rosey back then either but they still found time to come out with the funnies.

But yeah, I definitely get it when people say it pretty much copied A New Hope in terms of the story... not sure I entirely mind that fact, I mean, it brought enough new stuff along to be it's own movie. But I get it.
A lot of thoughts on here similar to mine though... regarding the question of how Rey was able to not just compete with Kylo, but beat him, there has to be more to it than we see. Yeah, so Kylo was hurt, but he should have still had no issue. No doubt we'll get a good explanation in Episode 8... at least there had better be. Even after a fair bit of Jedi training with Yoda, Luke still got pretty destroyed by Vader and lost his hand. Ok, granted, Vader is like the most powerful dude of all time, but still, couldn't you say that Kylo should be naturally pretty damned talented? The grandson of said most powerful dude of all time, trained as a child by Luke and you'd assume trained further by this Snoke guy... hm. Clearly more there than they've let on, or a massive, gaping plot hole.
But this being said, even Finn was able to hold his own a little against Kylo. Maybe Kylo's just a bit shit. But then again, the dude stopped a fucking BLASTER SHOT MID FUCKING AIR (How cool was that?) so he's clearly got something going for him. Needz sequel, me thinks.

Also, fuck off, Han Solo is dead. I know, it's a shame, but it'll be fucking shit if he comes back from that. It's like all these people who insist that Darth Maul is still alive (wait, is he? Like canonically? He's in that Clone Wars/Rebels show isn't he? I hope not), he got fucking cut in half. I don't buy people dying like that and then them saying "actually, he's alive". Yeah, fuck you The Walking Dead.

As for the music, actually, that was the very first negative thing I had to say about the movie after watching it. Even if you think they gave us nothing else, the prequels provided a fucking awesome new sound track to the Star Wars universe. I don't remember anything good from TFA. Maybe I need to listen to it on youtube or something to let it grow on me. But I was disappointed with it, after going in with high hopes.

Film as a whole, though? Very good. I don't want to officially rank it in my official Oaf official Star Wars list, but I can imagine it slotting in thusly overall:

A New Hope
Empire
Force Awakens
Return/Revenge
Phantom Menace




AotC

Very pleased, overall.

It's funny... going into the year my big 3 films were Avengers 2, Jurassic World and TFA. I had Avengers 2 down as a sure fire awesome hit (while it turned out pretty meh) while JW and TFA were the two I was worried about... instead, they've all turned out the exact opposite, with JW and TFA turning out to be two of the most enjoyable movies I've seen in the cinema in years.

I just can't believe that BB8 turned out to be R2D2 and the Death Stars son. Massive twist.

 

[hodge]

I really enjoyed it, solid 8.5/10 for me, just a few things sticking out

Spoiler: Duh

Negatives

• Fin being able to fight Ren.... even if you count Ren being hurt, Fin having some lightsaber fight training through being a stormtrooper Ren should have been able to dominate. He's been training since being a kid. However I liked the justification for the cross guard saber in how he hurt Fin. Rey I can take, given she had started tapping into the force and that Ren had just been through a fight with Finn.
• Ren being called Ben, Luke's son in former extended universe being called Ben made sense, Leia never as far as I know really met Obi-Wan, Han only met him for all of a day, the reference felt forced.
• The middle of the film felt like it dragged a bit, the build up to the final battle seemed obvious and the teasing of Fin leaving, Rey running into the woods etc took up time.
• As others have said you could have practically named it Episode VII: A New Hope
• Luke.... come on at least have him say something, I know Abrams was against post credits scenes, but seriously I think it would have been better to finish the film with the Falcon disappearing into light speed and then a post credit scene involving Luke being revealed (even if you used a slightly condensed version of the real ending)
• R2 having the rest of the map as someone suggested about and hour before its actually revealed.... really

Plus points

• Ren, Adam Driver was excellent and look forward to his character development.
• 3D - version I watched it in and felt for once the 3D added to the experience rather than being shoe horned in.
• Saber battles - take away who was in them I felt the choreography was more believable and made for excellent viewing, as much as I enjoyed Anakin/Obi-Wan that was between 2 of the most powerful force users who had known each other for over a decade and learning each others fighting style so you can expect what happened in it.
• X-Wing/Tie Fighter battles, the big one I was looking forward to personally was the potential for these and have to say the camera usage for the flying scenes was excellent.

Side note - The Daniel Craig cameo

 

[hodge]

Also just read

Spoiler: Not as much spoiler but detail in the film

Someones worked out the writing of Rey's helmet translates as RHAE, whether marked with her name intentionally or that's where she got her name from with her true one to be revealed.

 

[Christian Slater]

I can't get my head around the amount of you guys giving it such a high rating yet having so many qualms, some of them quite severe.

 

[hodge]

Theory I just read

Spoiler

Supreme Leader Snoke actually being Darth Plagueis, for him to know about Rey's awakening would imply an affinity with the force and a decent one at that, Ren being able to feel it due to the suspected family connection. It would also be another good link to the previous episodes imo as I also can't see them doing a trilogy without the Sith, especially with Luke now returning.

 

[hodge]

I can't get my head around the amount of you guys giving it such a high rating yet having so many qualms, some of them quite severe.

As much as I found fault with some of it, the overall experience was still largely enjoyable for me personally.

 

[JJ1532]

I can't get my head around the amount of you guys giving it such a high rating yet having so many qualms, some of them quite severe.

Spoiler

The most severe criticism is that the plot was too much like the force awakens.

All the other major issues I can see are ones that can be explained in future films.

I really enjoyed it, solid 8.5/10 for me, just a few things sticking out

Spoiler: Duh

• Ren being called Ben, Luke's son in former extended universe being called Ben made sense, Leia never as far as I know really met Obi-Wan, Han only met him for all of a day, the reference felt forced.

Spoiler

Not sure that this is where the name came from. Leia only ever knew him as Obi-Wan Kenobi. Not sure Han ever knew him as Ben either. So unless you've seen something that suggests the name 'Ben' was an Obi Wan reference, that might not be the origin. Harrison Ford's first son is called Ben, so maybe that is where the name came from?

 

[JustinQPR]

Seeing this later at iMax Waterloo. 3:30am start time god knows how I'll stay awake.

 

[allouso]

I can't get my head around the amount of you guys giving it such a high rating yet having so many qualms, some of them quite severe.

Because it's so much fun

Honestly the questions didn't really bother me. A New Hope had exactly the same issue and I didn't see anyone complaining.

 

[Christian Slater]

Spoiler

The most severe criticism is that the plot was too much like the force awakens.

All the other major issues I can see are ones that can be explained in future films.

Spoiler

Not sure that this is where the name came from. Leia only ever knew him as Obi-Wan Kenobi. Not sure Han ever knew him as Ben either. So unless you've seen something that suggests the name 'Ben' was an Obi Wan reference, that might not be the origin. Harrison Ford's first son is called Ben, so maybe that is where the name came from?

Because it's so much fun

Honestly the questions didn't really bother me. A New Hope had exactly the same issue and I didn't see anyone complaining.

Spoilers (forgot to tag)

A New Hope wasn't criticised for being exactly like another film. Darth Vader was introduced and didn't look stupid as an antagonist. The protagonist had a story arc and some character depth. The whole film wasn't a constant stream of jokes.

I'm sorry but you guys are going to come around to my way of thinking once the hype finally wears off.

 

[allouso]

Spoilers (forgot to tag)

A New Hope wasn't criticised for being exactly like another film. Darth Vader was introduced and didn't look stupid as an antagonist. The protagonist had a story arc and some character depth. The whole film wasn't a constant stream of jokes.

I'm sorry but you guys are going to come around to my way of thinking once the hype finally wears off.

Spoiler

I'll guess we'll agree to disagree on Kylo. I really liked the character overall and it was refreshing to have a "dark" character be tempted by the light side as opposed to what we usually have.

For me, A New Hope raised a ton of questions, but we all had access to Empire immediately so we didn't really have to think about them. I don't see how this one raises more questions than the original. For me the biggest letdowns about this one were the cliffhanger ending and the lack of Luke in the movie & the way Rey kicked Ren's ass. I'm ok with not finding out more about the rest; honestly we have to remember that JJ had to balance between the old and new cast, whilst giving everyone information about their background and how they got here. That's a bit of an impossible task imo.

In the end we got a big piece of Ren's background and bits and pieces about the rest. I suppose we will learn more about Rey's background in the sequel, which in turn will let us know more about what happened to Luke's academy and what turned Ren evil. Those are 3 big question marks that simply have to be answered in Ep 8.

As a standalone movie, it doesn't make much sense in places. But surely they did that on purpose so we could view it from a different perspective once 8 and 9 are released?

 

[allouso]

Also, concerning a New Hope, I don't have anything to back that claim but I hear it stole heavily from other movies as well? In the end it was a bit of a combination of everything. TFA obviously has many similarities with it, but for me it had enough new material to stand on its own.

 

[TheMinsterman]

Spoiler

What I enjoyed the most about Kylo Ren is the very fact he was flawed and not an almost invulnerable irresistible force, I liked that it was made quite clear that he still required training and his conflict between light and dark with a dash of recklessness that, imo, is what lead to him making mistakes that allowed the heroes to get the better of him in this episode.

Watching the actual villain grow in tandem with the heroes is actually an interesting concept and I would suspect that he will have learned to be less forgiving and over-confident in the second film and will probably get the upperhand over the heroes.

 

[MSB92]

Spoiler

What I enjoyed the most about Kylo Ren is the very fact he was flawed and not an almost invulnerable irresistible force, I liked that it was made quite clear that he still required training and his conflict between light and dark with a dash of recklessness that, imo, is what lead to him making mistakes that allowed the heroes to get the better of him in this episode.

Watching the actual villain grow in tandem with the heroes is actually an interesting concept and I would suspect that he will have learned to be less forgiving and over-confident in the second film and will probably get the upperhand over the heroes.

That's what I loved about him. Adam Driver played the role perfectely.
Also BB-8 could be my favorite new character in the Force Awakens.

 

[Jockney]

A few side notes:

*jedi training is figurative, it doesn't mean a set of tangible obstacles you have to overcome to take an exam. It's a series of experiences you undergo to make sense of yourself and the adversity you're facing -- think Luke's anger in ESB and ROTJ

*Luke had known Obi-wan his whole life, only as Ben not Obi-wan.

*the series is full of holes and mum I jumbo and we'd all probably enjoy it a lot more if we engaged with it on a cinematic level rather than getting bogged down in the paper-thin mythos. In that sense yes, I am a massive hypocrite.

I told myself I'd approach this instalment as if it wasn't a star wars movie and judge the new stuff on its own merits. Seeing it with my uninitiated 10-year-old sister helped that mindset. I thought some really good direction and a cracking cast of young, relatively unknown actors helped me past some of the more turgid stuff (another boring Death Star sequence, the shit with Snoke) but aside that and maybe some uneven pacing (it could probably have done with being about a half hour shorter), I thought it was something of a triumph. I'm just glad they didn't kill off Rey or Finn cos I cared a little more about their characters than I was probably prepared to.

Oh, but the nazi iconography was a bit much, I mean, Nuremberg rally with almost literal nazi salutes...

 

[ZianfrancoGoal]

maybe the best movie since the hobbit, sure to be the star atop your holiday season tree

5 bags of popcorn and i'll throw in 60 portions for the droid

 

[Jockney]

maybe the best movie since the hobbit, sure to be the star atop your holiday season tree

5 bags of popcorn and i'll throw in 60 portions for the droid

Four mos eisley saxophonists out of a possible six. Not as good as John Carter.

 

[Craig]

I really enjoyed it, very much what I expected it to be.

Thought Kylo Ren was a great antagonist. Don't think the humour was OTT. Loved the action scenes. Looking forward to seeing how Finn, Rey and Poe's stories develop.