Movies STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS v.9 (Dragonlord's Review)

[Bob Gray]

The entire point is for the viewer NOT to know about him.
ITS THE ENTIRE POINT OF THE CHARACTER. You know to build what the movie business calls "mystery" and "suspense."
It's a trilogy, we'll find out more about him.

Just like the Emeperor in the OT.

Unlike Palpatine who even after Jedi ended the viewer knew almost nothing about him. And that was never "lame."



I wonder if people in the early 80s complained about Palpatine being "lame" because they didnt know his entire life story in Empire.

I imagine they didn't.

I can't even begin to imagine how much sites like Reddit would have torn apart the OT had they existed at the time. Lucas would have been a hack that stole every cool scene from another movie.

 

[Adamant]

Luke had skin covering his mechanical hand in ESB, so why is there no skin over it in TFA?

 

[Bob Gray]

The movie I am genuinely worried about is Episode 9 with Trevorrow directing. I was not a big fan of what he did with Jurassic World, IMO he got way too cute with everything. I know they will not do it, but I trust Abrams again over him.

Im on the exact same boat as you. I mean, I don't really expect a lot from Jurassic World, just dinos eating people and that's what it was. I was even entertained by it in a popcorn sort of way, but there was exemplary about it and my fear is that by having him on the third movie Disney is going for a by the numbers routine where everything turns out OK at the end in a "Boy, that sure was close!" sort of way.

I havent seen his first movie, so I might be selling him short and I certainly would think JW being his second feature it was almost certainly directed by a committee and wasn't a particularly specific vision he was going for. Rian Johnson on the second movie has me giddy because I can see all sorts of ways he can take it. With Colin it just feels like it's gonna be standard fair, but I hope I'm not giving him his due credit.

 

[BVG]

Luke had skin covering his mechanical hand in ESB, so why is there no skin over it in TFA?

I asked a Star Wars nerd that very question. He said in the books, Luke had left his mech hand go without maintenance for so long that the hand's skin had fallen or scrapped away over time.

 

[Gambitpool]

So after rewatching the film again, I noticed something about Poe Dameron. During his torture by Kylo he receives a bloodied scar over his right eye. I thought that was strange because of Anakin having a similar scar. Then towards the latter half of the film when he returns, I paid close attention to that scar, trying to see if it was still there.

And after really focusing on him, I saw that he still has the scar, though it's easy to miss. And we know that Anakin and now Kylo have facial scars over their right eye. Is that a subtle hint at something or am I crazy?

 

[Gambitpool]

I feel a bit dumb. I'd been scratching my brain wondering what Finn's role would be in the next two films. And the possible answer was staring at me in the face like usual.

My prediction is that Finn becomes the inspiration for many stormtroopers leaving the First Order. They saw that one of their own resisted the brainwashing and that'll help defeat the First Order from the inside.

I think it would also be badass if Finn has no force abilities, but continues to train with a lightsaber and becomes skilled enough to go toe to toe with Kylo. The next movie he has an even fight, but still loses when Kylo uses the force. Then in the final film he gets his long awaited win after gaining loads more training and experience.

 

[Brodels]

^I bet if it also gets a seven month run it will have no problem with that.

 

[Adamant]

I feel a bit dumb. I'd been scratching my brain wondering what Finn's role would be in the next two films.

Probably more comic relief.

 

[Peteyandjia]

Finally saw it. Not great, not bad. All cleanly packaged, but not much soul. Doesn't come within the same universe of touching the magic of Empire or Return.

Definitely better than the last 3 though, those are steaming piles of shit. Glad Lucas was ripped away from this franchise.

 

[fightdonttweet]

I feel a bit dumb. I'd been scratching my brain wondering what Finn's role would be in the next two films.

I've seen people complaining that Finn's role isnt important to the story, but its not like Han Solo was important either. No force powers, nobody special, just a smuggler with one of the crappiest ships in the galaxy.

 

[fightdonttweet]

Finally saw it. Not great, not bad. All cleanly packaged, but not much soul. Doesn't come within the same universe of touching the magic of Empire or Return.

Definitely better than the last 3 though, those are steaming piles of shit. Glad Lucas was ripped away from this franchise.

Its better than Jedi.

 

[Peteyandjia]

Its better than Jedi.

The Luke/Emperor/Vader scene alone at the end of Return is better than any scene in Awakens.

 

[FyrFytr998]

They count the rereleases as well? GwtW was in theaters forever? Why they making TFA fight an uphill battle?

 

[Lanx]

Has anyone ever brought up that the reason why R2 wakes up is cuz thats when Rey is introduced to the Rebels?

 

[Thunderflash500]

I've seen people complaining that Finn's role isnt important to the story, but its not like Han Solo was important either. No force powers, nobody special, just a smuggler with one of the crappiest ships in the galaxy.

That is the ship that made the Kessel Run in less that twelve parsecs.

 

[KONG-D'SNT-TAP]

Probably more comic relief.

But without Finn there is no movie.

You know, considering he rescued Poe and also Rey at the end. He rescued two of the main cast in episode 7 lol.

Comic relief. Lmao.

 

[KONG-D'SNT-TAP]

I've seen people complaining that Finn's role isnt important to the story, but its not like Han Solo was important either. No force powers, nobody special, just a smuggler with one of the crappiest ships in the galaxy.

Yet without him there is no movie either. Lol

 

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

Has anyone ever brought up that the reason why R2 wakes up is cuz thats when Rey is introduced to the Rebels?

This was J.J. Abrams' explanation:

Update: December 21, 2015

R2-D2's Closing Scene in THE FORCE AWAKENS Explained (Spoilers)

At a post-screening Q&A for the movie on Saturday, director J.J. Abrams and co-writers Lawrence Kasdan and Michael Arndt explained why they sidelined R2 – and why he finally had his own “awakening.”

When they find R2 beneath that dust cloth, the heroes already have a piece of a holographic map, but they lack the larger section of this uncharted region of space that will allow them to track down Luke. That’s where R2 became a useful storytelling device: he could be the missing framework.

The story group’s thinking went back to the 1977 original movie, when R2-D2 accessed the Empire’s mainframe as the heroes searched for the captured Princess Leia. “We had the idea about R2 plugging into the information base of the Death Star, and that’s how he was able to get the full map and find where the Jedi temples are,” Arndt said.

Abrams says he chose to spell this out indirectly in the movie because he didn’t want the story to get bogged down in “how s–t happened 30 years ago.”

“But the idea was that in that scene where R2 plugged in, he downloaded the archives of the Empire, which was referenced by Kylo Ren,” Abrams said. Thirty-eight years later, in both our own and galactic time, that data becomes useful in The Force Awakens when a new droid approaches the dormant R2.

“BB-8 comes up and says something to him, which is basically, ‘I’ve got this piece of a map, do you happen to have the rest?’” Abrams said. “The idea was, R2 who has been all over the galaxy, is still in his coma, but he hears this. And it triggers something that would ultimately wake him up.”

The director acknowledges that R2’s sudden “awakening” at the end was designed to be an emotional storytelling utility: “While it may seem, you know, completely lucky and an easy way out, at that point in the movie, when you’ve lost a person, desperately, and somebody you hopefully care about is unconscious, you want someone to return.”

So for those let wondering: BB-8’s earlier question rattles around inside R2’s dome for a while. Those old astromechs must just take a while to boot up again. Then as the movie draws to a close, our old friend finally comes back – and leads us to another one.


J.J. Abrams explains R2-D2's closing scene in Star Wars: The Force Awakens
_____________________________





Update: December 21, 2015

Writers Reveal Previous Versions of THE FORCE AWAKENS Script (Spoilers)

At a post-screening Q&A for the movie on Saturday, J.J. Abrams and co-writers Lawrence Kasdan and Michael Arndt explained how they grappled with the question of how to present Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker – who, as those who’ve seen The Force Awakens already know, was also held back as a climactic reveal in the final minutes of the movie.

“Early on I tried to write versions of the story where [Rey] is at home, her home is destroyed, and then she goes on the road and meets Luke. And then she goes and kicks the bad guy’s ass,” Arndt said. “It just never worked and I struggled with this. This was back in 2012.”

The trouble was a simple case of upstaging. “It just felt like every time Luke came in and entered the movie, he just took it over,” Arndt said. “Suddenly you didn’t care about your main character anymore because, ‘Oh f–k, Luke Skywalker’s here. I want to see what he’sgoing to do.’”

The good news for Abrams was, he got to make a Star Wars movie. The bad news was, his toybox wouldn’t include a real-life Luke Skywalker action figure. Some of the early MacGuffins of the movie – the thing that drives a movie’s plot – were a search for Darth Vader’s remains, or a quest to the underwater wreckage of the second Death Star to recover a key piece of history about sacred Jedi sites in the galaxy.

Ultimately, the writers decided to make Luke himself the MacGuffin – the thing Rey, Han, Finn and Chewie are trying to find. And they figured that if a horrific past trauma forced Luke to retreat from the world.


Writers Reveal Previous Versions of Star Wars: The Force Awakens Script

 

[hearthstone25]

Kind of disappointed that the Jurassic World director is doing the third. Why didn't they hire a director that actually has a 8.0 + rated movie under his belt?

 

[Madmick]

Kind of disappointed that the Jurassic World director is doing the third. Why didn't they hire a director that actually has a 8.0 + rated movie under his belt?

Because they're all dead?