Topic: The Force Awakens (Post-Release Spoiler Topic)

Want to discuss what you saw in "The Force Awakens?" Please do it here.

SPOILERS AHEAD.

Thoughts on Captain Phasma? What about that twist for Han Solo? No Mandalorians in Maz's Castle, yet the flag out front?

I've heard a few negatives about how Phasma was underused but I think we'll see more of her in episode VIII where she'll be vindicated as a 'good' villain. She just has to escape the garbage chute - but hey, we know that's possible! Yep, nothing inside Maz's Castle that seemed to be Mandalorian related but we still have the knight of Ren with the Mando helmet we might yet see more of, presumably in flashback. Captain Ithano was cool, more of a pirate than a bounty hunter but still an interesting design. I can see his costume being recreated by cosplayers eventually. If episode VII can be said to mirror episode IV in many ways, then perhaps episode VIII will mirror episode V and we'll see the new breed of bounty hunters play a role in the story?

I was most upset that we saw the Mythosaur skull symbol and yet no Mandalorians. They lifted my hopes and then cruelly dashed them. My biggest real problem with the movie, however, was that Kylo Ren, who was supposedly trained as a Jedi, was somehow able to be beaten by a girl who had just learned that she was capable of using the Force and who had probably never fought with a light saber before. Seriously. For someone who was supposed to be a big bad he was awfully easy to fight. Even a storm trooper who I can only assume had only been in one real battle before he deserted was able to hold his own for a long time. I do not think that there was any way that the movie could have lived up to my hopes and expectations. But all in all they did rather well. It was a nice reminder of Star Wars: A New Hope.

Although it was a good movie I was a little bit disappointed. It was just too much ANH. Only a retro movie, nothing more. I wasn´t so much upset that Boba or any Mandalorian wasn´t in as I was with Snoke and Kylo Ren. For me there´s nothing special and unique about Snoke at all. His character just seems so out of place to me, he looks more like a Lord of the Rings villain or anything. Doesn´t fit at all imo. And about Ren, at first I liked him because he was shown as a powerful and menacing sith. But later he was just an immature and overly angry teenager who gets beaten by someone who just learned about the force and fought for the very first time with a lightsaber (Yes he was injured but still). And why didn´t he block Chewies shot in the first place? In the beginning he had no problem to block Poes shot (who wasn´t as far away as Chewbacca) and even hold it in the air for a minute or so. This was a force ability we never saw before and that impressed me so much at the beginning but then he turned out to be kind of weak.

I really enjoyed the film because it was so much better than the prequels! Sure there were a few moments that were similar to ANH, but I think it was more to show fans that they were getting something that understood the history of what came before.

As for Kylo Ren, I must admit I was a bit surprised when he took off his helmet to see an unmarred and young face. He's not meant to be a fully fledged villain as yet but it does seem a little odd that Rey was able to beat him. She clearly had some fighting ability as seen near the start of the film where she's defending BB8 with the "stick". I got the impression that Kylo Ren's outbursts of rage and lack of control in such circumstances were why he was beaten.

The hardest part for me was with Han. I could see it was coming but still I didn't want it to happen. Though I understand it's all part of the story development. In a lot of ways Han took the role of old Ben Kenobi in ANH being the elder with the knowledge that's sacrificed, while Luke has become more of a Yoda (who just looks like Ben Kenobi).

I did like the salute to Mando's even though we didn't see any. But overall I thought it was great.

The first time I saw the film, I was a bit disappointed. I found the plot unoriginal, Kylo Ren disappointing, and the dialogue dull. I was disappointed that this was only a good film, not a great one.

Then I saw it again.

Many of my views changed. Like I said when I first viewed the film, I was disappointed in the seemingly weak primary antagonist Kylo Ren. But now that I have seen the film more than once, it is clear to me that Kylo Ren' character is not meant to be the simple villain Darth Vader was in the first two films of the original trilogy. I feel he is meant to mirror the complete character of Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader. Kind of a strange conglomeration of the two (almost different) lives The Chosen One led. There is the Darth Vader side of Ren, with the mask, the scarred and scheming master, the exiled former master, calculating, demanding, fearsome, and powerful. There is the Anakin Skywalker side of him that is impatient, headstrong, fearsome, powerful, yet unable to completely control his emotions and pulled toward to opposite "side" of the force. (You know, sometimes I think Vader was a better Jedi than Anakin Skywalker.) This inability to control his emotions, his impatience, and stubborness are what lead to his weakening and defeat in the third act.

When Kylo Ren kills Han Solo, I believe he does not expect to feel grief, which is exactly what I believe he feels. It is this grief that overwhelms Ren long enough for Chewie to squeeze off a round and wound him. Throughout the film we are being told how powerful Chewie's bowcaster is -at one point we see it send a stormtrooper flying- and with this in mind we can draw the conclusion that Ren is seriously wounded and that he was alert and powerful enough to slow the blasterbolt enough to keep him from flying off that catwalk and tumbling to his death Palpatine style. In his impatience and stubbornness, he hastily chooses to pursue Finn and Rey in a weakened state. He is able to summon enough strength through the pain of the wound to defeat Finn (though not before he suffers another injury) however, the combination of his wounds and the fatigue from battle sap his strength enough that a Force sensitive (and in my opinion a Force-guided) Rey is able to gain the upper hand. (Interestingly enough, it seems the traits of Anakin Skywalker are to blame for his defeat rather the traits of Darth Vader). I would like to see one of you folks fight off two young able-bodied and skillful fighters after being shot in the side by a particularly powerful rifle! Anyway, when I thought about all of this, I found myself impressed by Kylo Ren, rather than disappointed.

As for the plot, I have come to believe that it was designed as an allegory for the entire original trilogy, not merely A New Hope Redux. The dialogue I have forgiven because children and people who are not as "demanding" and "nitpicky" as I am have to be able to enjoy them film too.

I believe it to be one of the best Star Wars films made, although I hope the sequel will be good enough for Best Picture. Maybe?

I love the new Star Wars movie. People that says that The Force Awakens is just a rehash of A New Hope are just being loopy in my estimation. There's similarities between the two films but there's a lot of similarities amongst all of them as well. I do like Captain Phasma. I also think that she should've been wearing an old-fashioned stormtrooper helmet from the original trilogy with the same silver/stainless steel color scheme that she adorns in The Force Awakens. It would've been a great bridge between the original trilogy and this new one. I can't wait for the Blu-ray! :-)