Movies STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS v.9 (Dragonlord's Review)
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Did you want me to show you several gifs of people being shot with that bowcaster where they behave and react differently? Like I "get" that JJ made a point to showcase the bowmaster's power when Han shot it. But after he shoots Ren, Chewie shoots several single storm troopers and they merely just fall over. So it's inconsistent.
And then you tell me Ren's on his deathbed, but then he pulls shit like this;
Guy is doing a fucking pirouette. People half dead as you claim he is don't fight like this. It's like he forgets he's suppose to be mortally wounded here. I could get ya further examples where he's chasing Rey during their fight where he seems to forget that "oh yeah, I'm suppose to be shot..."
Sorry not buying the "Rey was severly injured by Chewie" argument. And this ignores the fact that allot of people just didn't wanna see a joe nobody going toe to toe with a Sith. We just didn't wanna see it.
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Funny thing with bleeding out of a blaster hole in your torso, the longer you do it, the weaker you get. Especially when you are moving a lot.
Notice in that gif how he's dragging the saber at his side and swinging it low from his hip? By the time he's chasing Rey he's literally dragging it along the ground. Normal? No, unless you're pretty hurt.
Notice how he's only swinging the saber from his non-injured side mostly with only one hand, lunging into the swings and spinning to put his body weight into the last one because he can't generate strong blows otherwise? His third swing is so telegraphed it catches nothing but air even though Finn's guard is down.
None of this is normal light saber technique, it's someone running on anger and the force as a serious injury weakens them over the course of the fight.
Notice in that gif how he's dragging the saber at his side and swinging it low from his hip? By the time he's chasing Rey he's literally dragging it along the ground. Normal? No, unless you're pretty hurt.
Notice how he's only swinging the saber from his non-injured side mostly with only one hand, lunging into the swings and spinning to put his body weight into the last one because he can't generate strong blows otherwise? His third swing is so telegraphed it catches nothing but air even though Finn's guard is down.
None of this is normal light saber technique, it's someone running on anger and the force as a serious injury weakens them over the course of the fight.
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Didn't he say that just before Luke leaped out of the carbon freezer? Pretty much his next words were "impressive... most impressive", and then Luke kicked him off the ledge. And Vader was a Sith Lord at that point. An overconfident Sith can be surprised it seems, so I imagine that's even more likely for an apprentice.
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Did you want me to show you several gifs of people being shot with that bowcaster where they behave and react differently? Like I "get" that JJ made a point to showcase the bowmaster's power when Han shot it. But after he shoots Ren, Chewie shoots several single storm troopers and they merely just fall over. So it's inconsistent.
And then you tell me Ren's on his deathbed, but then he pulls shit like this;
Guy is doing a fucking pirouette. People half dead as you claim he is don't fight like this. It's like he forgets he's suppose to be mortally wounded here. I could get ya further examples where he's chasing Rey during their fight where he seems to forget that "oh yeah, I'm suppose to be shot..."
Sorry not buying the "Rey was severly injured by Chewie" argument. And this ignores the fact that allot of people just didn't wanna see a joe nobody going toe to toe with a Sith. We just didn't wanna see it.
^this.
Keep in mind that based on Canon the original lightsaber duels are pedestrian. from other canon sources most jedi are VERY mobile and acrobatic in combat
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Did you want me to show you several gifs of people being shot with that bowcaster where they behave and react differently? Like I "get" that JJ made a point to showcase the bowmaster's power when Han shot it. But after he shoots Ren, Chewie shoots several single storm troopers and they merely just fall over. So it's inconsistent.
And then you tell me Ren's on his deathbed, but then he pulls shit like this;
Guy is doing a fucking pirouette. People half dead as you claim he is don't fight like this. It's like he forgets he's suppose to be mortally wounded here. I could get ya further examples where he's chasing Rey during their fight where he seems to forget that "oh yeah, I'm suppose to be shot..."
Sorry not buying the "Rey was severly injured by Chewie" argument. And this ignores the fact that allot of people just didn't wanna see a joe nobody going toe to toe with a Sith. We just didn't wanna see it.
If I showed you the gif of him being shot, would that do anything for you? Because that's basically how you're arguing at this point. He was injured. There's literally no reason to think that isn't true. Your whole point is that your understanding of the severity of how a bowcaster would affect a sith apprentice is greater than anyone elses because you say so. Some people have no problem accepting that getting a bowcaster bolt through the abdomen will impede a SIths abilities. Some people do. And some people repeat it over and over again for a month.
If you "get it", then there shouldn't be a problem. Yet there is. Somehow. Because you want to complain more than anything else. You're "That Guy".
I never said he was at deaths door or half dead. He was injured. Again, we're talking about magical powers, here.
I don't think you complained this much when Luke fell like a mile at the end of Empire or wasn't crushed to death by the hand of the enormous Rancor.
At this point you're attributing positions and quotes to me that I literally never had or said, and then saying they're wrong because that guys magical, mystical powers aren't magical enough to do that with his magic.
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None of this matters. All that matters is that eventually Ren lost. Even if he completely smoked them both in the opening seconds and then became weaker the more he bled.
Also, Fin had never held any weapons at all because he had sanitation duty at some point, because in the military you never do both.
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Hmmm. Good question. That's a really fun prompt:
Well first off, a "flat arc" in storytelling wouldn't be an arc. That's kind of an arc's thing.
Having character's "flatline" in overall development isn't a bad thing, in fact many fields of literary criticism would call that "realism" in many ways. Humans change, but that change can be measured in spans of years, or days, depending on the catalyst. That's why many authors and scholars began to argue that expecting every story to impose a "major change" in their leads was unfair to the human experience.
Humans develop differently, and many ideological stories and media weren't reflecting that diversity. It could easily be described as the "banality" of life: the truth that, in many individual cases, people aren't redeemed, learn nothing, and achieve nothing. That can be a very funny premise, or a very dramatic and sad premise, depending on what kind of genre you're writing for. I think it's fucking incredible.
Stories without character arcs -
( ^ This one.)
(In film)
Bret Easton Ellis' adapted novel, American Psycho ("Bateman realizes he will continue to escape the punishment he deserves, that there has been no catharsis, and that his confession has meant nothing.")
Nearly every Cohen brothers film: (characters live and die in bizarre/cruel ways, morality is often never achieved or realized, lessons are rarely learned, and vice plows forward haphazardly)
Several Paul Thomas Anderson films: "There Will Be Blood"
"Inherent Vice" (from post-modernist writer Thomas Pynchon) and others
Several Woody Allen films: "Manhattan" (Isaac is still insecure about his relationships/doesn't get the girl/is left standing alone)
"Annie Hall" (A film critically praised for leaving its characters "unresolved" - Alvy doesn't get the girl/claims he has 'learned' the value of being neurotic and insecure, all while being left with nothing and no one)
"Cassandra's Dream" (Colin Farrel and Ewan Macgregor play brothers in crime who basically spiral, pursuing objectives that destroy them, despite their efforts to turn things around and "do the right thing")
I'm sure tons of other posters could point out other films/TV scripts where nothing is learned, gained, or resolved in a typically moralistic, ideological way...
(In books)
Don Dellilo (post-modern writer, "Americana" being one hell of an awesome example of the futility of the lead character's "arc" search)
Ray Bradbury ("Dandelion Wine" being a prime example of this style, among others)
Cormac McCarthy ("Blood Meridian" and other early, human-cruelty/violence-based works)
Fyodor Dostoevsky ("Devils/Demons" being one strong example)
Leo Tolstoy ("Anna Karenina")
Margaret Atwood ("The Handmaid's Tale" and other disturbing stuff)
William S. Burroughs (literally fucking everything)
Tim O'Brien (don't be fooled by college papers, "Going After Cacciato" is all about hopeless character arcs, among other works)
etc. etc.
Basically we'd find plenty of contemporary examples, and some surprisingly older-dated examples of experiments in narrative structure and defiance of overall "lessons learned" which can be cool as hell.
Back to Star Wars, I don't think the series has really experimented too far from the path of ideological storylines, but it certainly has its share of loss and darkness. I think the closest the entire story series has come to defiance of meta-narrative was the Great Jedi Purge, which flew in the face of the "Good Trumps Evil" theme that had seemed to thump loudly, throughout. Anakin totally killed those kids.
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Inetresting post! Thanks for the explanation!Hmmm. Good question. That's a really fun prompt:
Well first off, a "flat arc" in storytelling wouldn't be an arc. That's kind of an arc's thing.
Having character's "flatline" in overall development isn't a bad thing, in fact many fields of literary criticism would call that "realism" in many ways. Humans change, but that change can be measured in spans of years, or days, depending on the catalyst. That's why many authors and scholars began to argue that expecting every story to impose a "major change" in their leads was unfair to the human experience.
Humans develop differently, and many ideological stories and media weren't reflecting that diversity. It could easily be described as the "banality" of life: the truth that, in many individual cases, people aren't redeemed, learn nothing, and achieve nothing. That can be a very funny premise, or a very dramatic and sad premise, depending on what kind of genre you're writing for. I think it's fucking incredible.
Stories without character arcs -
( ^ This one.)
(In film)
Bret Easton Ellis' adapted novel, American Psycho ("Bateman realizes he will continue to escape the punishment he deserves, that there has been no catharsis, and that his confession has meant nothing.")
Nearly every Cohen brothers film: (characters live and die in bizarre/cruel ways, morality is often never achieved or realized, lessons are rarely learned, and vice plows forward haphazardly)
Several Paul Thomas Anderson films: "There Will Be Blood"
"Inherent Vice" (from post-modernist writer Thomas Pynchon) and others
Several Woody Allen films: "Manhattan" (Isaac is still insecure about his relationships/doesn't get the girl/is left standing alone)
"Annie Hall" (A film critically praised for leaving its characters "unresolved" - Alvy doesn't get the girl/claims he has 'learned' the value of being neurotic and insecure, all while being left with nothing and no one)
"Cassandra's Dream" (Colin Farrel and Ewan Macgregor play brothers in crime who basically spiral, pursuing objectives that destroy them, despite their efforts to turn things around and "do the right thing")
I'm sure tons of other posters could point out other films/TV scripts where nothing is learned, gained, or resolved in a typically moralistic, ideological way...
(In books)
Don Dellilo (post-modern writer, "Americana" being one hell of an awesome example of the futility of the lead character's "arc" search)
Ray Bradbury ("Dandelion Wine" being a prime example of this style, among others)
Cormac McCarthy ("Blood Meridian" and other early, human-cruelty/violence-based works)
Fyodor Dostoevsky ("Devils/Demons" being one strong example)
Leo Tolstoy ("Anna Karenina")
Margaret Atwood ("The Handmaid's Tale" and other disturbing stuff)
William S. Burroughs (literally fucking everything)
Tim O'Brien (don't be fooled by college papers, "Going After Cacciato" is all about hopeless character arcs, among other works)
etc. etc.
Basically we'd find plenty of contemporary examples, and some surprisingly older-dated examples of experiments in narrative structure and defiance of overall "lessons learned" which can be cool as hell.
Back to Star Wars, I don't think the series has really experimented too far from the path of ideological storylines, but it certainly has its share of loss and darkness. I think the closest the entire story series has come to defiance of meta-narrative was the Great Jedi Purge, which flew in the face of the "Good Trumps Evil" theme that had seemed to thump loudly, throughout. Anakin totally killed those kids.
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This is a good observation. I have mentioned this before but I knew beforehand people would find straws to pick at, no matter how the movie turned out. The theatrical release was not even that long ago and I am already tired of reading about it. This is not directed at you, it is just a general statement.
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An extremely low arching Arc
Did you want me to show you several gifs of people being shot with that bowcaster where they behave and react differently? Like I "get" that JJ made a point to showcase the bowmaster's power when Han shot it. But after he shoots Ren, Chewie shoots several single storm troopers and they merely just fall over. So it's inconsistent.
And then you tell me Ren's on his deathbed, but then he pulls shit like this;
Guy is doing a fucking pirouette. People half dead as you claim he is don't fight like this. It's like he forgets he's suppose to be mortally wounded here. I could get ya further examples where he's chasing Rey during their fight where he seems to forget that "oh yeah, I'm suppose to be shot..."
Sorry not buying the "Rey was severly injured by Chewie" argument. And this ignores the fact that allot of people just didn't wanna see a joe nobody going toe to toe with a Sith. We just didn't wanna see it.
Who said he was on his death bed? He was obviously hurt and it would hinder his performance to an extent that he would struggle with anybody. The scene was fine. Sure, there was a little dramatic fudging going on with Fin lasting longer than a complete nobody, but the end result is still the same. He is now lying in a freakin' COMA.
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So, I think I gave the movie about an 8 or so as it was fun but there are some things that, well, not a huge deal but bug me a bit, any spoiler-ish sort of things I will try to tag as such.
1.) People whining (not here but saw it online elsewhere) that it's never explained how Solo lost the Falcon are either idiots or they just don't pay attention.
2.) Rey being able to pilot it as well as she does when leaving Jakku is a bit head scratching, especially when she has to do it on her own but I can overlook that.
[spoiler[
3.) When we first meet Po his X-Wing looks to be the standard white with blue accents. However, when we see him later he's in a fancy paint scheme one. Did he get a new squadron to lead or something in his time off screen?[/spoiler]
To add to the last one:
5.) Ren's lightsaber. Did I miss an explanation in there for why his has a different vibrating type hum/visual look? Also, is it ever explained why his has the two bits coming out of the guard too?
7.) Daniel Craig's scene is fucking hilarious and awesome
9.) When Ren drops his helmet/mask combo on the catwalk with how it lands and doesn't bounce but just thuds and doesn't move... HOW HEAVY IS THAT SHIT?!
I'm sure more will pop in as I think but those are the little tiny things that kinda bothered me a bit.
1.) People whining (not here but saw it online elsewhere) that it's never explained how Solo lost the Falcon are either idiots or they just don't pay attention.
2.) Rey being able to pilot it as well as she does when leaving Jakku is a bit head scratching, especially when she has to do it on her own but I can overlook that.
[spoiler[
3.) When we first meet Po his X-Wing looks to be the standard white with blue accents. However, when we see him later he's in a fancy paint scheme one. Did he get a new squadron to lead or something in his time off screen?[/spoiler]
To add to the last one:
4.) How did Po get off Jakku? Him being thrown from the TIE fighter I can KINDA get... even if his jacket being largely intake makes zero sense but how did a guy as wanted as him get off the planet unless it was AFTER Rey and Fin run?
5.) Ren's lightsaber. Did I miss an explanation in there for why his has a different vibrating type hum/visual look? Also, is it ever explained why his has the two bits coming out of the guard too?
6.) Rey and Fin's fight with Ren. I can, SORTA, buy into either of them being able to survive some but for Rey to suddenly know how to use a "force pull" type thing and OVERRIDE Ren trying to do it? Yeah, that seems like a serious WTF?! to me.
7.) Daniel Craig's scene is fucking hilarious and awesome
8.) Was there ever an explanation for why the one Stormtrooper commander is dressed in a more specialized looking gear set? ALSO, did they seriously kill off someone like that off screen? If so weak.
9.) When Ren drops his helmet/mask combo on the catwalk with how it lands and doesn't bounce but just thuds and doesn't move... HOW HEAVY IS THAT SHIT?!
10.) How did Chewie make it out alive? Isn't he still in the Oscillator when he detonates the bombs?
I'm sure more will pop in as I think but those are the little tiny things that kinda bothered me a bit.
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STAR WARS EPISODE 8 PUSHED BACK TO DEC FROM MAY.
sucks we have to wait another 7 months more for this movie
http://www.newsarama.com/27621-star...d-men-tell-no-tales-release-dates-bumped.html
sucks we have to wait another 7 months more for this movie
http://www.newsarama.com/27621-star...d-men-tell-no-tales-release-dates-bumped.html
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Sucks. I hope Episode 9 doesn't get pushed back as well.
Still, 2 years between episodes is better than 3 years. And we do get Rogue 1 this year.
Still, 2 years between episodes is better than 3 years. And we do get Rogue 1 this year.
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Ren's lightsaber uses a cracked crystal that makes the blade more volatile, with the two exhaust points giving the effect of a crossguard.
I didn't like the design of his lightsaber at first, but seeing and hearing it in the cinema changed my mind. The first time he draws it and it hisses and crackles into life is fucking awesome with all the surround sound.
I didn't like the design of his lightsaber at first, but seeing and hearing it in the cinema changed my mind. The first time he draws it and it hisses and crackles into life is fucking awesome with all the surround sound.
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2. She stated she was a pilot, so I am assuming flying an an old pretty common ship would not be impossible, but it seems like the force was already helping her then.
3. Sure, why not.
4. Being an experienced rebel/resistance fighter, he knows how to blend in and hide and then get off planet with little difficulty. Once he knew they were not there, he split.
5. It is emblematic of the fact that he is not a real master of the Force and it shows in his shoddy saber.
No reason given yet. Might be more there. Maybe ancient light saber style? who knows.
6. Way back in ANH, Luke asks Obi if the force can control your actions. He tells Luke yes but it can also guide them as well. At that point Rey is being enlightened/guided by the Force to defeat Ren. She is already way stronger in the force than him anyway. She is the Neo of Star Wars.
8. Expect to see Cpt. Phasma in ep. 8.
10. I thought he ran out like everyone else.
