This is the spoiler-filled version of this ryview. It contains some pretty serious spoilers for the movie, so if you're sensitive to that sort of thing, turn back now. If you want to get back to the spoiler free ryview, click here!
I mean it, I'm going to be talking about the movie.
Details.
About things.
And so forth.
Clear?
Good.
Seriously, no turning back now.
I mean it.
Okay, now that we have that out of the way, let's get talking.
The opening shot was phenomenal. It had just enough sameness with Episode IV that it felt familiar, but the blanking out of the planet was really cool. A very nice twist to display awesome size.
Who was Max Von Sydow? Will we learn more? Was that it? I was really hoping for at least a small nod towards a previous character. Very sad...
Speaking of which, I felt that the introduction of Kylo Ren was lacking a bit. It didn't have the hit that Darth Vader's entrance had in A New Hope, It was a weak first appearance, but as the rest of the movie shows, he's not Vader. He's living in Vader's shadow, and he feels weak. As such, lesser fanfare to greet his first appearance seems almost fitting. In retrospect, I actually find it proper.
Plus, he stopped a freaking laser bolt! WTF, man?!? [1]
I really loved the interaction between Finn and Poe. If you read my spoiler-free ryview, you'll know that I love the chemistry among the new characters. And that whole opening escape was tremendous fun.
Rey was pretty likable right away. I'll get more into that with my next article rebutting some complaints I've seen online. I very much liked her interaction with BB-8, and it's nice seeing her dominate the scenes with Finn. She's a strong character with strong presence. Good for a main character, and much less whiny than Luke or Anakin.
The Millennium Falcon reveal received applause in my theater, and I'd say it was well deserved, albeit a little fan service-y. The same goes with Han's introduction scene. That all seemed a little goofy. But goofy is acceptable for Star Wars. And I like the added depth of having some characters that aren't really involved with the current plot-ful conflict.
The cantina-like scene, complete with new short alien woman was pretty fun, but it definitely suffered from too much fan service. I didn't need the shots of weird looking aliens over hip alien music. The effect of silence following Han's name was nice to break the camp, but it didn't save it from my ire.
Also, is this picture from 1977? [2]
Rey's force induced Hallucination (or "Awaken", if that's what the kids are calling it), was pretty awesome. For those of you who don't follow the nerd news as much as I do, Frank Oz and Alec Guiness were both featured in audio (using archival items). It was a nice amount of confusing/intriguing/epic.
I felt some pretty serious excitement when the Resistance showed up in their x-wings to fend off The First Order. Anyone who says this doesn't feel like Star Wars must have been asleep during that scene. And it was a solid battle with very visceral action. I was fully engaged.
Most of Leia's scenes were too heavy on the nostalgia, but I understand why that happened. People wanted original trilogy sparkle, that's what they got.
C-3PO had a wonderful intro, and I enjoyed the Resistance scenes in principle, but I was taken out of the fantasy by seeing a bunch of Lost stars in the team...
By the time it arrived, I was pretty sure that Han was going to die, but it still hurt. I saw some complaints that it was rushed, but I don't know what those commentors were talking about. It had a very high level of tension and suspense, and for any flaws it had, it still hit me pretty hard when it happened. And I'm someone who wanted more new characters, fewer old characters. It still hurt.
I enjoyed the forest lightsaber duel because of a the nice scenery and surroundings, but it definitely made me long for the prequel trilogy days of having trained Jedi in the galaxy. I'm still hopeful for some epic Rey/Luke lightsaber action in VIII.
And I liked the ending, but I reeeeeally wished Luke would say something, dammit.
Let me know what you thought in the comments!
Until next time,
Ryan
Images courtesy of Wikipedia except where sourced
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