Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Ryan Farnes said:
I think the originals just had a touch more seriousness to them while being lighthearted as well. This one is over weighted towards the lighthearted and then tries to show serious s#!* and it just feels out of too juxtaposed for me.
Click to expand...

I agree but it didn't detract too much for me. It would if all 3 were like this. From what I can gather, Rian Johnson's take on Episode VIII is going to be much darker and more serious. Rogue One also doesn't appear to be so hammed up, at least from the very little one can gather from a teaser and interviews, but "gritty' seems to be the tone they were going for based on interviews.

Ep7 definitely had a bit of an avengers feel to the comedy. I'd be more critical of it had I not enjoyed it so much, but I am quite glad to hear that Ep8 has a darker tone and Rian Johnson seems to be just the guy to create a sort of modern day "Empire"-esque entry.

Though I will say the serious moments in Ep7 still fully worked for me. No spoilers just in case there is someone who actually still hasn't seen the movie and thought reading this thread would be a brilliant idea, but the emotionally moving scenes STILL get me and are really fantastically done.
 
David Jimerson said:
Click to expand...

The 50's Ben-Hur was a remake of the 20's Ben-Hur. Still, I can't fathom them making a better version, or topping the thrill of that chariot race, which was 100 percent legit. I'm sure the new version will be some CGI enhanced BS with impossible camera moves and physics defying nonsense.
 
Watched the blu-ray, and I still like the movie enough for what it is. My issues with it are the issues I have with all JJ's movies. They feel rushed. He seems incapable of letting a moment breathe. Not that the originals were Terrence Malick films, but they were modulated. Slow when they needed to be, fast when they needed to be. JJ's all fast, all the time. And there's too much talk. The Star Wars movies were always at their best in the purely visual moments and there's not enough of them here. This is where JJ's TV roots hinder him as a filmmaker. TV is a talk medium, and I think he comes at stories from that direction. Lucas, when he was good, thought of movies as audio/visual storytelling first. As I mentioned in my first review, I enjoyed this, but it kind of feels like an expensive TV pilot and not a piece of truly epic cinema, which is what the originals felt like. There are moments, the final lightsaber duel, and the last scene, where some of that magic happens, but not enough.
 
Last edited:
filmguy123 said:
I agree but it didn't detract too much for me. It would if all 3 were like this. From what I can gather, Rian Johnson's take on Episode VIII is going to be much darker and more serious. Rogue One also doesn't appear to be so hammed up, at least from the very little one can gather from a teaser and interviews, but "gritty' seems to be the tone they were going for based on interviews.

Ep7 definitely had a bit of an avengers feel to the comedy. I'd be more critical of it had I not enjoyed it so much, but I am quite glad to hear that Ep8 has a darker tone and Rian Johnson seems to be just the guy to create a sort of modern day "Empire"-esque entry.

Though I will say the serious moments in Ep7 still fully worked for me. No spoilers just in case there is someone who actually still hasn't seen the movie and thought reading this thread would be a brilliant idea, but the emotionally moving scenes STILL get me and are really fantastically done.
Click to expand...

True enough. I think I've been waiting for a serious Star Wars film for a while. Looks like Rogue One might be it. Perhaps VIII. The Force Awakens just had too much 2015 cheese for me. That and camera moves identical to the live telecast of the teen choice awards live!

Still were some poignant moments, yes.
 
Ryan Farnes said:
I think the originals just had a touch more seriousness to them while being lighthearted as well. This one is over weighted towards the lighthearted and then tries to show serious s#!* and it just feels out of too juxtaposed for me.....I dunno. Tons of things but the comedy really stood out to me on a 2nd viewing. Not my style.
Click to expand...

I can't argue you to like it, but damn....I've seen it 4 times now and I'm still chucking at certain subtle (and not so) subtle moments.

I agree there is some silliness and Finn overacts a lot of the time with the "wooos!" and the high fives, but overall the comedy works for me w/o ruining the more serious moments. Like filmguy said, I'm sure Ep 8 will be Empire-dark and all will be right in the Galaxy.
 
Watched the Blu-ray. My second viewing. All the stuff I thought was confusing was still confusing. Did notice that Rey has a doll dressed as an X-Wing pilot, so that may be a further clue of Luke being her father (which is indeed hinted very, very strongly).

I didn't mind the comedy so much. But I found myself laughing at Hux when it wasn't supposed to be comedy, especially during his big speech. That was just . . . wow. "Over the top" doesn't seem to cut it.

The "move" Rey makes with the Falcon to allow Finn to get a TIE fighter in his sights is kind of silly when there was another (presumably working) gun station right above him.

And all the stuff that just happens exactly when it needs to happen, just because it needs to happen right at that moment.

Now, for the worst "Abrams" moment of the movie -- what were apparently the core planets of the Republic being destroyed in view of where the characters just happened to be.

I'd say Episode VIII is going to have a lot of 'splainin' to do.
 
Yes! The gun station..I was thinking the same thing. But I seriously love that scene.

Another problem I had on multiple viewings was the Han/Leia relationship. The acting, their whole dynamic is tired and uninteresting. "We had some bad times" (ridiculously long pause) "And we had some good times too." zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Both their voices have become whispers. Harrison Ford....they've spoofed it a bit on Howard Stern, he has no ooomph. He's not delivering those lines with any intensity like the original trilogy. He just sounds tired. Same with Carrie Fisher. Lord knows she could let someone have it if she was pissed.

And one more complaint....the x-wing raid does seem a bit pointless and directionless. What was the objective again?

OK, I can't pick this apart too much. Again, at the heart of it, it's for the kiddies, IMO.

BTW, I don't think Luke is Rey's father. Why would he abandon a kid? No, what do I know...he could be.
 
David Jimerson said:
But I found myself laughing at Hux when it wasn't supposed to be comedy, especially during his big speech. That was just . . . wow. "Over the top" doesn't seem to cut it.
Click to expand...

That didn't bother me. I presume you've seen Adolf Hitler give a speech. Talk about over the top. I think it was pretty consciously supposed to echo that.
 
Batutta said:
Watched the blu-ray, and I still like the movie enough for what it is. My issues with it are the issues I have with all JJ's movies. They feel rushed. He seems incapable of letting a moment breathe. Not that the originals were Terrence Malick films, but they were modulated. Slow when they needed to be, fast when they needed to be. JJ's all fast, all the time. And there's too much talk. The Star Wars movies were always at their best in the purely visual moments and there's not enough of them here. This is where JJ's TV roots hinder him as a filmmaker. TV is a talk medium, and I think he comes at stories from that direction. Lucas, when he was good, thought of movies as audio/visual storytelling first. As I mentioned in my first review, I enjoyed this, but it kind of feels like an expensive TV pilot and not a piece of truly epic cinema, which is what the originals felt like. There are moments, the final lightsaber duel, and the last scene, where some of that magic happens, but not enough.
Click to expand...

I do agree with this. It's fun and I still love it (I mean, it's seriously one of the most non-stop entertaining and re-watchable movies I've seen in years). But I always felt even walking out after the first viewing "man, I wish they could've slow it down a bit and even just added 20 minutes for longer pauses, breathing room, and some more exposition.

Scott F said:
Another problem I had on multiple viewings was the Han/Leia relationship. The acting, their whole dynamic is tired and uninteresting. "We had some bad times" (ridiculously long pause) "And we had some good times too." zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Both their voices have become whispers. Harrison Ford....they've spoofed it a bit on Howard Stern, he has no ooomph. He's not delivering those lines with any intensity like the original trilogy. He just sounds tired. Same with Carrie Fisher. Lord knows she could let someone have it if she was pissed.

BTW, I don't think Luke is Rey's father. Why would he abandon a kid? No, what do I know...he could be.
Click to expand...

Maybe Ford's fault a little but I feel like that one's on Fisher... when I watched the deleted scenes I was like SHOOT, she's bad. Ford just seemed like Ford to me, and the "tired' dynamic sure fits for his character... but I think without the spunk of young Leia's energy that made it particular hard for Fisher who hadn't acted in forever. She's pretty weak. Which also might explain why we didn't see that fleshed out more...
 
I think the entirely too youthful casting of Hux, and the ensuing caricature, pretty well defines Abrams' approach to Star Wars. It's almost like they took a character from one of the disney star wars cartoons and wrote him into the script.
 
Batutta said:
Ha, ha...but it was totally warranted. That was exactly what was in my head during that scene, that it felt like a Nazi rally straight out of Triumph of the Will.
Click to expand...

I use "Henry V" for naming such 'motivational' speeches... especially if the topic is 'fighting', and letting slip the dogs of war...
 
I don't think he's wrong either but if you look how derivative Titanic and Avatar were in their storytelling I think there is a little bit of the pot calling the kettle black going on here. I think where Cameron really went out on a limb with story telling was with Terminator 2, he really delivered a movie, at the time, which was not quite a movie that people thought they wanted.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top