I honestly don't get the love for this movie. It wasn't bad at all, but a great film it is not. - plot holes galore - darth vagina being a darth vagina - it was essentially a remake of a different episode, even down to some very specific details - the action left a lot to be desired Spoiler - deus ex machina with Ren/Rey. Seriously they get split apart by an earthquake right at the end of the fight? Stupid. - The Solo death scene was a mess and you could see it coming a mile away. It would have worked a little better if darth vagina wasn't such a bitch. Meh. I guess I'm going to be the contrarian, but I just can't see how people continuously rave over this movie when it's problems are so glaring. Again, not saying it was bad, but this is your average flashy blockbuster. Nothing more. How was episode 3 so terrible and this was so brilliant? What the fuck? Commence with the fanboy anger.
I hope that the staggering box office numbers make the producers and Director Rian Johnson recognize "this is what worked" and not "we can do whatever we want." I know JJ is still one of the producers, even though he's not directing, but is Kathleen Kennedy still involved? The top domestic grossing film of all time is Avatar with a $760.5 million, but Star Wars is about to pass it. It took Avatar 72 days to reach $700 million. Star Wars did that in 16 days. When I saw it again Friday at 4 pm, the theatre was just as full as it was opening night, and the cheers and claps were just as loud. Obviously, Force Awakens is the biggest movie of 2015. I wonder if it'll also be the biggest of 2016?
I'm not angry because I don't take it personally if someone else doesn't like something I like. But in the spirit of discussion, I'll address your questions. I don't think Star Wars, the one from 1977, was a "great" film. I honestly have never heard of it being critically praised with the exception of the groundbreaking special effects. Star Wars didn't become an icon because it had meaty oscar-worthy plot and acting. A New Hope had tons of plot holes, bad acting, and deux ex machina. What made it so beloved was how likeable it was. It was a fun movie with characters that you really like and cared what happened to them, set against a beautiful realistic-looking fantasy world. FF to the present - it's not so much that TFA is "brilliant" as it just does a successful job of capturing the same likeable spirit of the original movies. The prequels failed in that regard, and so the bad stuff was glaring. Yeah Kylo Ren is whiny, but as other people have joked - whinyness is kind of a Skywalker tradition. It's funny to me that people complain about the similarities to ANH, and then turn right around and complain because Kylo isn't just as menacing as Vader. Make up your mind - either you want more original characters or you want them to be the same. Kylo Ren isn't supposed to have teeth yet, that's the whole point of this new plot. At least he had more character arc than Darth Maul, who was literally a tool.
Given the awkward sexual tension between Ren and Rey, I am definitely convinced they are brother and sister. Is everyone else thinking this too?
Wouldn't Han and Leia have at least mentioned another kid though? I never read the Star Wars books, so I have no idea how many kids they had in those.
I read a bunch years ago and in the books they had 3 which included a set of twins. The books aren't canon (I think that is what they call it) anymore so they aren't following them.
Book spoilers Spoiler Yeah, the original book canon had them with three kids, Jaina and Jacen, twins, plus Anakin. Anakin dies fighting an extra-galactic invading force, Jacen becomes a Sith, and Jaina kills him. Ben is actually the name of Luke's son. All of which was wiped from canon by Disney.
Yep, the entire extended universe was declared non-canon a few years ago when Lucas sold things off to Disney. The nerds got pissed, as if they had some say in an intellectual property they didn't own or develop.
Obviously fans aren't going to get a say in what's canon, but it's kind of unfair to say something is, and then after they all get invested in the story just declare none of it happened. It's probably better for the larger market though, rather than committing to and referencing a story 98% of the audience didn't read. And I think the extended universe goes well beyond the time frame of the new movies, so it would have been way too hard for the less hard core fans to dodge spoilers.
Was the Thrawn trilogy considered canon? Those are the only SW books I ever read. I really enjoyed them and love Mara Jade. But never thought of them as canon, just a really enjoyable what-if scenario for beloved characters. Same with all the Star Trek books I read.
IIRC, the only canon is what is in the films. Its probably better that way. Some of it is pretty good, but a lot of the EU stuff is just garbage. There's literally billions of dollars at stake and Disney doesnt fuck around with its IP. They did the same thing for Marvel.
I don't know why I just assumed it was Ren's arm holding Rey on Jakku when she was a little girl, but I imagine Han and Leia thought both of their kids were lost, but the only one they knew the whereabouts of was Ren, and so they were focused on saving him. Something about Rey's scenes with Han and Leia had the vibe that down the line there will be a scene that's like, "If I had told you I was your mother when we first met, you wouldn't have been able to handle it, but look at the way you fly and fight obviously you're our daughter blah blah" whatever. It's so cheap that I fully expect it to happen.
Really? I could have sworn the arm was black. But until the fanboys release obsessive screepcaps of every scene, I cannot say for sure.