The Force Awakens (and Ranking all 9+ Films!!!)

[Rictras Shard]

Hey there, sci-fi fans. If you're a fossil like me, you grew up on Star Wars. You knew the magic of the original trilogy. Then, when you were somewhat older, you knew the crushing disappointment of the prequels. Now, after 32 years, the story is being continued. Does it recapture the spark of the original? Read on and see.

To avoid keeping you in suspense, yes, this is an excellent film. I'm no longer the innocent youth I was when I first met the heroes of the rebellion, so naturally the new one didn't blow my mind like A New Hope did all those years ago. However, I quite enjoyed this new installment.

The Empire may have been defeated, but a new dark force has risen from the ashes, and it hungers for the conquest of the galaxy. This new menace is known as The First Order, and is championed by Kylo Ren, a sith with ties to our original heroes. Opposing them is the Resistance. It seems Luke Skywalker disappeared some years ago, and both forces believe finding him is the key to victory.

Helping the Resistance are Rey, a young woman with a mysterious past, Fin, a former stormtrooper who has seen the (ahem) light, and BB-8, a droid that is sure to be a leader in merchandising sales. They have something that Ren wants, and he is definitely a go-getter when it comes to looking for it. Before long, the heroic trio find a familiar object that every fan of the franchise will be happy to see. This leads to them meeting some old heroes, which will inspire cheers from audiences far and wide.

There are many coincidences during the two hours that might seem very unlikely to happen, but the beauty of the premise is that it can easily be explained as the force helping things along. Ren seems to be the main protagonist, and she is up to the job. Her origins are basically left untold except for brief glimpses, but those of us who are veteran viewers will have a fairly good idea how she is connected to everything. Who knows, though, perhaps we will be thrown a curveball sometime in the next two films.

Fin at first seems destined to be the annoying comic relief, but thankfully that is not the way it turns out. His actions will turn out to be important and vital to the struggle against evil. I was expecting to hate BB-8, but it turns out to be quite the charming little tyke, and one of its interactions with Fin gets the biggest and most deserved laughs of the movie.

Ren, unfortunately, has little of the menace or intrigue we saw in Darth Vader. The writers make the mistake of unraveling his mystery far too early in the series, so he loses much of his villainous appeal. And (spoiler alert for the rest of this paragraph), he really should have left that mask on. I think I would have been more intimidated if it turned out Justin Bieber was under there.

As of yet, none of the new threats have the same presence as were found in the original series. The First Order's main weapon, while certainly impressive with its power, does not have the same suspenseful build-up as "that's no moon".

While writing this, I discovered that none of the new primary actors were yet born during the original series. Man, I'm getting old.

There was no shortage of good visuals. Near the end of the movie, (more spoilers coming up), there is a fantastic shot of our heroes in a misty forest, and the Millenium Falcon coming into view. And that last few seconds, with Rey at last coming face-to-face with her destiny, will inspire chills in many a fan.

All in all, I was impressed and happy with this movie. The spirit of adventure and fun is strong in this one. It goes a great way toward erasing the bad taste left by the last series. I am now eagerly looking forward to the rest of this trilogy. The Force Awakens gets the official Shard Seal of Approval.

[endo]

Excellent review!! Love the first 3, hated the others, and I'll definitely watch it after reading your post.

[Rictras Shard]

Absolutely do not read the following post if you plan to see the movie but haven't yet done so.  I tried adding spoiler tags, but it severely messed things up. These are a few theories and speculations I have after watching it last night.

Beware, spoilers be following

Beware, spoilers be following

Beware, spoilers be following

Beware, spoilers be following

Beware, spoilers be following

Is Han dead? Well it certainly looks grim for our favourite dashing rogue. However, keep in mind that we didn't see his lifeless body. We may not have seen the end of the beloved bad boy.

There has been much ado about Fin and Rey, neither of whom have received any training in the force, both surviving lightsaber duels with Kylo Ren. Well, my impression of him is that he has not had much training himself. Notice how he has two tantrums during the course of the movie? This is a lack of self-control not displayed by any fully trained jedi or sith so far in the series. I think that the next time any of the heroes face him, he will have been further tutored and will be a much more dangerous adversary.

I'm guessing that I am far from alone in thinking that Rey is Luke's daughter. If so, I'm theorizing that coming from such a lineage, she will be potentially the most powerful jedi the galaxy has ever seen. Look at all she did without any training whatsoever.

I don't recall any mention of Lando Calrissian. I didn't like him, but he was an important character in Empire and Return. Why does nobody say anything about him? Is there some secret that will be revealed sometime in the next two movies?

How is it that the a group that came from the shattered remains of the Empire became such an overwhelming military power? Wouldn't the Republic takes steps to prevent this from happening? Did they all take a thirty-year nap?

Despite this nitpicking, though, I think Disney has done a great job so far with this franchise.

[✶April✶]

I'll read this thread in its entirety after I've seen the movie tonight!

I will say, I actually liked the prequels, but I didn't grow up on the original three either. I do know that going to see the first movie (1977 one) was my parents' first "movie" date though.

[gorepolice]

Saw it, loved it. Planning to go again with Scott on Wednesday.

[james]

Loved it, loved it, loved it. It was everything I thought it would be and more. Episode VIII can't get here soon enough!!!

[✶April✶]

Dec 23, 2015 10:51:19 GMT -5 james said:

Loved it, loved it, loved it. It was everything I thought it would be and more. Episode VIII can't get here soon enough!!!

-nods-

Though I wasn't particularly fond of the ending, even though I do realize why they did it that way.

[NDX]

Watching the BD right now.

On a standard definition tube tv.

And it just increases the nostalgia this movie brought back 10 fold. I feel like I need to adjust the tracking in a moment, I love it even more right now.

[MacReadyOrNot]

It's been a while since I've seen this episode, but I have Disney Plus so I should rewatch it. Along with the rest of the series. This was good though. I enjoyed it quite a bit. Either New Hope or Empire are my number one pick for best Star Wars though. I can't really rank the first three episodes since those aren't as fresh in my mind as all the others, even though I did watch Phantom with friends sometime last year or the year before, but here's how I'd rank all the other episodes and spin-offs:

New Hope or Empire
Rogue One
Solo
Return
Force Awakens
Rise of Skywalker
Last Jedi

To be fair, though, I'll probably just put episodes 1 through 3 after Last Jedi any way.

When I rewatch these someday I'm going with the Machete Order: New Hope, Empire, Attack, Revenge, and Return. Then I'll watch Phantom, along with the rest.

[NDX]

We ranking movies?! AW HELL YEAH!

Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars
Rogue One
Return of the Jedi
Solo
The Force Awakens
The Phantom Menace
The Clone Wars
The Revenge of the Sith
The Rise of Skywalker/The Last Jedi

Once I see Rise again on BD (because I own them all I'll own that one too ::wimper: I'll see which really is rock bottom