New Star Wars movie gets 100% on Rotten Tomatoes

[lackblogger]

You might smile, but that actually is a spoiler

 

[Moriendor]

SPOILER ALERT

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Hate to be a party pooper but I thought it was pretty mediocre at best.

The disappointment started with the rolling text. Kind of a lame premise and just strange stuff after how Episode VI ended.

The movie totally failed at delivering answers to the important questions. Who/what is this first order exactly? How did it rise to power? How much of the galaxy is it controlling? How was it possible for the remnants of the empire to grow that strong again? Whatever happened to "balance to the force"? How can there be dark side force wielders again?

The conflict in Ben Solo… WTF? According to canon (Yoda) there was supposed to be no way back from the dark side and the only person who ever achieved it was Anakin Skywalker who brought balance to the force by turning back over to the light side.
This movie kind of ruins the whole legacy of Anakin Skywalker and the prophecy.

Then why the hell is there a map of where Luke went into hiding? That makes absolutely no sense at all. His reason for hiding is also not comprehensible if you look at the power of the 1st order and the fact that having a high midichlorian count appears to be fairly common among the galaxy's populace when random junk collectors and stormtroopers have it in them.

Well, and then all the silly stuff like Rey nearly defeating Ben, a trained Sith/1st order apprentice (maybe even lord?) after she just barely discovered that she might be gifted. Or how she and Finn instantly turned into best friends after they just barely got to know each other. The "emotional" scenes came across as completely silly. In fact, most of the emotional scenes in the movie had me rolling my eyes, cringing and sighing out loud because I just did not feel it if you know what I mean.
And then all the rehash stuff and (near) straight copying of themes, scenes and lines from previous movies. Sheesh. Playing it super-safe much, Abrams?

Nah. The movie was way too shallow with a poor plot and lots of things that did not make much sense or just plain not any sense at all. The new cast (Rey, Finn, Ben and that pilot) was not convincing and you can see it from a thousand miles already that Ben and Rey is gonna be a thing in the end. She'll bring him back to the light side. Thank you, Captain Obvious.

On a whole a pretty disappointing beginning of a new trilogy. I was definitely hoping for more… a stronger story/premise, more interesting and deeper characters, more answers to obvious, pressing post-RotJ questions, and more innovation.

This was almost like a collage of the previous movies just with different characters but just about every key element was a rehash.
Maybe the problem as a gamer is that most Star Wars games (including SWTOR) have done the same and have constantly rehashed movie themes, too. So maybe that is why this movie comes across as extra-unoriginal to me.

Oh well… but the effects (I watched it in 3D) were really good as usual for Star Wars. I'll give them that at least.

 

[joxer]

SPOILER ALERT

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Errr… At least half what you mentioned doesn't seem understandable to someone who didn't watch the movie so no alert needed IMO.

Since Ewoks are not in the movie, all left I care about is how Harrison Ford looked in the movie.
Did he nail the role, or they just wasted him and used to bait older audience on nostalgia basis?

 

[Couchpotato]

Well I agree with all of Moriendor critiques above in his post.

I'll sum up why the movie is mediocre at best, or you all ready?

It's simple really because of Disney and J.J. Abrams.

Though I doubt Lucas himself could do any better nowadays either.

PS: I expect I'll get flamed for not liking a well liked movie again.

 

[CelticFrost]

I'll sum up why the movie is mediocre at best, or you all ready?

It's simple really because of Disney and Michael Bay.

Though I doubt Lucas himself could do any better nowadays either.

You are so wrong to blame the Shepherds to the sheep. The reason is they(Shepherds) don't have to care!!!!

Sheep follow and they don't care what the are following. If enough people say it is good then it is good.

Let us not forget the loneliness of not being apart of social media if you don't see it. Even if you don't like and it and post it on your phone, laptop etc the backlash you might feel and the pills you have to get from your doctor because you didn't get likes only unlikes.

 

[txa1265]

Excellent movie ... excellent. Brought back depth and fun and humor and pathos we haven't seen since 1980.

 

[Damian]

Excellent movie … excellent. Brought back depth and fun and humor and pathos we haven't seen since 1980.

I honestly cant see how someone could not love the movie.

 

[CelticFrost]

I honestly cant see how someone could not love the movie.

Well CGI, crappy plot, done not 1 not 2 not 3 not 4 not 5 not 6 but this is the 7th time with the exact same name. They are not even covering up the fact that it is the same stuff done the same with different people and planning 2 more.

 

[Damian]

What? This movie had less cgi than any of the prequels.

 

[txa1265]

What? This movie had less cgi than any of the prequels.

Don't bother ... He already pronounced anyone who likes the movie or anything Star Wars as 'sheep' ...

One thought: joining the 'hate' bandwagon without experiencing what you claim to hate makes you MORE of a sheep. Oh well.

 

[CelticFrost]

What? This movie had less cgi than any of the prequels.

You asked a question and I gave an answer, not even saying it was my personal feelings.

But you did pose the questions.

 

[CelticFrost]

Don't bother … He already pronounced anyone who likes the movie or anything Star Wars as 'sheep' …

One thought: joining the 'hate' bandwagon without experiencing what you claim to hate makes you MORE of a sheep. Oh well.

No Mike!!!

I understand the people that love the movie Star Wars moves and what it means to them. I love movies, games and books. I know what it is like to be a fan of something.

My point was to the 1,000,000's that are going because of the hype and the need to be apart of something.

I don't really hate anything or anyone, I am not in my 20's any more and don't have time for hate.

Though you can't say the people that produced this movie and over hyped it cared that much for the real fans can you? They only care about getting everyone and their sister to see it..

 

[Jaz]

Well … seen it. It's okay I guess, but for me it was not all that great. Finn and BB-8 are likeable, Kylo is kind of interesting, the rest … um … well.
It shouldn't have featured those OT old timers - I lost all interest in their antics and progeny around the time of the Yuuzhan Vong books. All in all it the movie was way too much OT for my taste, but I didn't expect anything else.
At least Hondo's flag was there, and thanks to one of the accompaning anthology books I now know that one of my favorite SW characters is actually somewhere on Maz' premises.

Back to playing SWTOR and waiting for Rogue One.

@Celtic: But ... who ARE the real fans? The OT fans? The PT fans? The EU fans? The members of one of the charities? All of them?
There are so many reasons for SW fans to be SW fans.

 

[lackblogger]

If someone came out the movie disappointed, then there's not a lot I can do about that, that has already happened and can't be changed, however, I can challenge the facts presented as to the reasons they gave as to why they disliked it:

The disappointment started with the rolling text. Kind of a lame premise and just strange stuff after how Episode VI ended.

Sounds like you tried to negatavise yourself to the max before the first scene. Really? The short rolling text had you "disappointed"? I can't even...

The movie totally failed at delivering answers to the important questions. Who/what is this first order exactly? How did it rise to power? How much of the galaxy is it controlling? How was it possible for the remnants of the empire to grow that strong again? Whatever happened to "balance to the force"? How can there be dark side force wielders again?

The original Star Wars from 1977 didn't answer those questions either. In fact, no Star Wars movie has ever answered those questions properly. You could post that exact same criticism on a thread about any of the movies, just changing the nouns. The movie isn't about the big picture, the movie is about following 2 characters who haven't a clue what's going on - we just see the world as they see it, which is actually quality story-telling.

The conflict in Ben Solo… WTF? According to canon (Yoda) there was supposed to be no way back from the dark side and the only person who ever achieved it was Anakin Skywalker who brought balance to the force by turning back over to the light side.
This movie kind of ruins the whole legacy of Anakin Skywalker and the prophecy.

Yoda is like any religious preacher, he spouts pithy one-liners to apply to whatever his current agenda is, and most likely tells the next person something completely contradictive if it gets then to conform to his will. why you would base your enjoyment of a blockbuster 'light' predominantly visual spectacle on the odd line of a bit part character is beyond me. This isn't Midichlorian's level of dumb, its just an excuse to have a cool bad-guy again, you know - MOVIES. No Star Wars movie has ever fully detailed an entire Bible's worth or lore at us, and the series has never been fair with us in this regard, why were you expecting this one to?

Then why the hell is there a map of where Luke went into hiding? That makes absolutely no sense at all. His reason for hiding is also not comprehensible if you look at the power of the 1st order and the fact that having a high midichlorian count appears to be fairly common among the galaxy's populace when random junk collectors and stormtroopers have it in them.

What are you even talking about? Don't you know the concept of a cliffhanger? I've no doubt Luke will do a couple of lines about "why" next movie. Also, who cares why he's hiding? We're following some characters having adventures, you know, can you even talk about them at all, the people for who the movie is actually about? Also, the movie doesn't mention midichlorians and why does 2 people out of an entire universe somehow make you think the concept of the force is somehow "fairly common"? Are you so desperate to be negative that you even need to make stuff up? It's Star Wars, the reason we're following the people we're following is because they're the ones with the Force, duh.

Well, and then all the silly stuff like Rey nearly defeating Ben, a trained Sith/1st order apprentice (maybe even lord?) after she just barely discovered that she might be gifted. Or how she and Finn instantly turned into best friends after they just barely got to know each other. The "emotional" scenes came across as completely silly. In fact, most of the emotional scenes in the movie had me rolling my eyes, cringing and sighing out loud because I just did not feel it if you know what I mean.

Ben was injured quite badly, Ben is himself a trainee, Rey has already previously been shown to be dab hand with a weapon, Ben has been shown to be too quick to anger, Rey has already previously been shown to be dab hand with a weapon, she is aware of her gifts well in advance, there are other problems with her character development and picking the issues you have merely shows you weren't even watching properly. If you're not invested in the normal plot-lines it's no wonder you can't feel the "emotional" scenes, whatever they were you don't actually say. Once you've let minutia get to you you've taken yourself out the movie anyway.

And then all the rehash stuff and (near) straight copying of themes, scenes and lines from previous movies. Sheesh. Playing it super-safe much, Abrams?

The nature of some of the repeated concepts is indeed a very real fact. However, that's what movie sequels do don't they? Would you like me to reel off a list of movie franchises that do basically the same thing, but differently, each installment? The list is really, really large you know. "This series of 24 is just a rehash of the last series of 24 with slightly different motivations and cliffhangers!!!" or "This installment of Die Hard is just a rehash of the previous Die Hard movies, what a rip-off!!!". Duh...

Nah. The movie was way too shallow with a poor plot and lots of things that did not make much sense or just plain not any sense at all. The new cast (Rey, Finn, Ben and that pilot) was not convincing and you can see it from a thousand miles already that Ben and Rey is gonna be a thing in the end. She'll bring him back to the light side. Thank you, Captain Obvious.

You're right, it's not Citizen Kane, but the new cast were just fine and made plenty of sense in the sense that 'you are watching a dumb blockbuster movie', in fact, better than most dumb blockbuster movies, including many Star Wars installments. And using future self-predictions to use to analyse a movie, well, that's just... duh.

On a whole a pretty disappointing beginning of a new trilogy. I was definitely hoping for more… a stronger story/premise, more interesting and deeper characters, more answers to obvious, pressing post-RotJ questions, and more innovation.

The story was fine, the characters were fine, most movies don't answer all our questions, the point about innovation is valid, but why you were expecting more innovation is beyond me.

This was almost like a collage of the previous movies just with different characters but just about every key element was a rehash.
Maybe the problem as a gamer is that most Star Wars games (including SWTOR) have done the same and have constantly rehashed movie themes, too. So maybe that is why this movie comes across as extra-unoriginal to me.

The nature of some of the repeated concepts is indeed a very real fact. However, that's what movie sequels do don't they? Would you like me to reel off a list of movie franchises that do basically the same thing, but differently, each installment? The list is really, really large you know. "This series of 24 is just a rehash of the last series of 24 with slightly different motivations and cliffhangers!!!" or "This installment of Die Hard is just a rehash of the previous Die Hard movies, what a rip-off!!!". Duh...

Oh well… but the effects (I watched it in 3D) were really good as usual for Star Wars. I'll give them that at least.

How kind.

So, yeah, you're free to have an opinion, I'm not denying that. Heck, I fell asleep during Batman Dark Knight Rises and I'm still happy to trash talk that movie, being dicks about pedantry is our human right, but it sounds pretty evident to me that you went in planning to be let down and jumping on every minutia possible to achieve this. You don't even mention Harrison Ford.

Dude, this could be the last ever decent quality Harrison Ford blockbuster action movie we get to ever see, at least have some respect for his swan-song and acknowledge the guy! Same goes for you Jaz, "the rest … um … well. It shouldn't have featured those OT old timers - I lost all interest in their antics and progeny around the time of the Yuuzhan Vong books." Really? omg, really? I just can't...

 

[Caddy]

Well I thought it was a great Star Wars movie for the 21st century.

And...

DON'T PISS OFF THE WOOKIE!!

 

[Moriendor]

Sounds like you tried to negatavise yourself to the max before the first scene. Really? The short rolling text had you "disappointed"? I can't even…

Yep. That must be it. It can't possibly be that I, you know, actually just read the text as it scrolled by and thought it was 'meh'. Nope. I must have gone into the movie with a flaming hate for the yellow text. Of course!

Yoda is like any religious preacher, he spouts pithy one-liners to apply to whatever his current agenda is, and most likely tells the next person something completely contradictive if it gets then to conform to his will. why you would base your enjoyment of a blockbuster 'light' predominantly visual spectacle on the odd line of a bit part character is beyond me.

Well, I disagree. I know that there are different interpretations to the whole prophecy and the "balance to the force" theme but the one I have accepted for myself is that Anakin Skywalker manages to bring balance to the force by doing the impossible, i.e. switching back to the light side. Yoda always said "forever will it dominate your destiny" when talking about falling to the dark side.
Anakin Skywalker fulfilled the prophecy not just by killing his master (many Sith betrayed their masters and killed them) but by actually making the switch back to the light side in/while doing so.

Episode VII completely trivializes this huge accomplishment and the fulfillment of that ancient prophecy that was obviously held in very high regard by the wisest of the Jedi.

[No Star Wars movie has ever fully detailed an entire Bible's worth or lore at us, and the series has never been fair with us in this regard, why were you expecting this one to?

I know… my mistake for expecting things to change in a positive direction.

What are you even talking about? Don't you know the concept of a cliffhanger? I've no doubt Luke will do a couple of lines about "why" next movie. Also, who cares why he's hiding?

Well, I care obviously . And the reason given to us in the movie which is that his padawan (Ben) turned on him and he decided to call it quits is not very convincing when there is a galaxy at stake and the rebellion could use every capable hand.
OK, you could say it fits Luke's character being a whiny little cunt, throwing a fit and giving up immediately when things don't work out the way he likes but you'd think that after episode VI he would have finally grown up and become a real Jedi like he always wanted to be(?).

Ben was injured quite badly, Ben is himself a trainee, Rey has already previously been shown to be dab hand with a weapon

Haha dab hand with a weapon. She couldn't even fire a blaster a few minutes before that duel with Ben.
This is actually one of the points why her character was not very convincing. She was portrayed as this tough junk collector girl who can handle herself on the one side and then on the other side she was portrayed as an utterly clue- and helpless girlie girl.
They should have stuck with one theme.

she is aware of her gifts well in advance, there are other problems with her character development and picking the issues you have merely shows you weren't even watching properly.

OK, maybe you could write up a guide on "how to watch Episode VII properly" then (including a list of the drugs you have to take to properly enjoy it)?
As for "aware of her gifts"… this contradicts the canon. Anakin (you know, the most powerful force user ever) and Luke needed quite a bit of training before they could even pull off very simple stuff.

The nature of some of the repeated concepts is indeed a very real fact. However, that's what movie sequels do don't they?

Not necessarily and especially less necessarily after a whopping six episodes and when there is some 20-odd fictional and 32 real years between episodes.

Would you like me to reel off a list of movie franchises that do basically the same thing, but differently, each installment? The list is really, really large you know. "This series of 24 is just a rehash of the last series of 24 with slightly different motivations and cliffhangers!!!" or "This installment of Die Hard is just a rehash of the previous Die Hard movies, what a rip-off!!!". Duh…

Yes. "Duh". I am, of course, very sorry for being so dumb as to expect something different when everybody else is doing the same crap! Oh noes. How could I ever expect a little more creativity after six episodes and a fresh start? Unbelievable… the nerve of this Moriendor guy!

… the point about innovation is valid, but why you were expecting more innovation is beyond me.

I naturally expected nods and references to the old movies knowing that the old cast would make an appearance. But this was like nod-nod-nod-nod-nod-nod-nod-nod-nod-nod-nod…. ad infinitum. There was barely any original theme or content in this movie. I found that to be disappointing. Sorry?

So, yeah, you're free to have an opinion, I'm not denying that. Heck, I fell asleep during Batman Dark Knight Rises and I'm still happy to trash talk that movie, being dicks about pedantry is our human right, but it sounds pretty evident to me that you went in planning to be let down and jumping on every minutia possible to achieve this. You don't even mention Harrison Ford.

Nope. I went into it with as open a mind as possible for a fan of the OT. The letdowns were not my fault but the movie's.
As for Harrison Ford, yes, I do not even want to imagine this movie without him. He sort of saved the day… or what was left of it anyway…

But I totally understand now why he wanted to be only in one more Star Wars movie and why he choked at the mere mention of Abrams' name .
By the way his final scene was an excellent example for a scene that could have used some well written dialogue to deliver some explanations and background for the viewer. But instead they just tried to stare each other down and then Han Solo exited the stage downwards for good. Meh.

 

[lackblogger]

Haha dab hand with a weapon. She couldn't even fire a blaster a few minutes before that duel with Ben. This is actually one of the points why her character was not very convincing. She was portrayed as this tough junk collector girl who can handle herself on the one side and then on the other side she was portrayed as an utterly clue- and helpless girlie girl. They should have stuck with one theme.

So I guess you missed the part where she singlehandedly took-out two bandits with just a staff and physical prowess, that moment when you though Boyega was going to rescue her but she didn't actually need help in dispatching them? She got handed a blaster, but had never used a blaster before, that doesn't mean what your imposed interpretation means, it just means she had never used a blaster before, pretty simple logic really. And this sums up most of your points, self-imposed irrationality.

 

[lostforever]

@Moriendor The impression I got about Rey was that she was already trained (may be even by Luke) but her memory got wiped when she was put on the planet...

 

[lackblogger]

Heeey, I was saving that one for later in the discussion!

 

[txa1265]

OK ... So a movie came out.

Some people liked it, some loved it, some were mildly disappointed, some hated it.

Like every other movie ever released.

But due to history, some people were positively biased, others negatively biased.

Liked every series movie ever released.

But due to the splitting of OT and Prequels, the group who were either negatively biased or entered the theater with arms crossed saying "show me" had more entrenched feelings.

For most movies, people with a negative bias just don't go. But not here. Which is interesting in itself ...

Oh well. It is a movie. I loved it, I loved how many EU book references were used throughout, loved the actors, the characters, the chemistry, and the overall experience.