Star Wars: The Force Awakens
This morning I headed off to the movie theater to see if I could get tickets for the 11:30 a.m. showing of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The only seats they had left were in the very front row, and I’m not fond of a cricked neck, so I bought tickets for the 12:30 show and then went to Starbucks to get a nibble and write down a great story idea I had after hearing a song on the radio (thanks, just what I need, moar plot bunnies!).
While I was at Starbucks I somehow lost my ticket stub. I discovered this when I pulled out my wallet to take a photo of it to post on Facebook. I had my receipt, but not the stub. I thought maybe I'd handed it to the cashier with my money, so they checked the register and let me paw through the trash too. Nope. So I headed back to the movie theater to see if they could print me out a new ticket? Nope, but they let me in anyways. Luckily, I remembered which seat I’d picked (1-13) because I was thinking my lucky day, seat number 13! And I knew it was way in the back (second to last row). So yay me for actually remembering a random letter-number combination (which I usually can never do).
They picked the right damned title for this one. It really felt like the Force has been asleep for years and has finally awakened again. As Stephen said when we talked on the phone today, this movie was just what we needed to cleanse the palate from the horrible first three movies (Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith).
I came home and luckily Mea was on IM on Facebook, so I got to blather at her on instant messaging for a bit about how I had all the feels. OMG, so many feels! Then Stephen responded to my asking for a lifeline and called me on the phone and we geeked out a bit about conspiracy theories and did you notice! And where will they go next? Then Tom responded to my IM on Facebook. Then I wrote this and I feel like I’m starting to get back under control a bit.
If you want a non-spoilery review, this ain’t it. Go read this non-spoilery review by John Scalzi instead.
Cut for spoilers.
I don’t want to ruin the movie for anyone, but I really need to write about this somewhere.
[No seriously, I really DO mean spoilers] No seriously, I really DO mean spoilers.
Stuff I loved
This movie gave me so many feels. SO MANY FEELS.
As others have said, they did a fantastic job of capturing the look and feel of the original three Star Wars movies. Just amazing job there. And of course, because I’m a fan, it hit me RIGHT IN THE FEELS. So many feels. Overwhelming feels. I have….
Even though I’d seen the scene in the trailer where Han Solo says, “It’s true, all of it. The dark side. The jedi. They’re real.” But seeing it on the big screen had me practically bawling. Literal tears running down my face. In fact, I can’t remember a time I cried more in the movies.
I saw this on Facebook tonight. It’s pretty damned accurate.
SO MUCH NOSTALGIA. I think you have to be in my generation (almost 50) to really understand. I was eleven when Star Wars came out. Princess Leia had a profound effect on me growing up, as did the Obi-Wan Kenobi and the whole concept of the Force. As Frank posted today, the year before Logan’s Run had won the Oscar for best special effects (and if you haven’t seen that movie, you should go rent it, you really need to see it to understand how groundbreaking the special effects were in the first Star Wars movie). The action and the music and just all of it made such an impression on all of us young kids.
I loved hearing John Williams’ score for this. He really knows how to write a soundtrack that adds to a movie, without overwhelming it. But, much like any movie with a recognizable soundtrack (James Bond, Mission Impossible) it’s hard not to get excited when you hear that familiar score during the movie.
I really loved how the whole movie was grounded in reality this time. You could just tell in episodes I, II, and III that the whole thing was CGI, it was like
watching a cartoon. And the actors didn’t know where to look. But in this movie, the whole production design was rooted in reality, WWII reality.
• Rey’s transport looked like an old red tractor. And a little like Luke’s speeder turned on its side.
• The Empire’s troop transports looked like flying submarines.
• The enormous red and black banners in the background of First Order were so Nazi it wasn’t even funny. And their black uniforms with the little peaked hats. And the “Heil Hitler” salute at the end of his speech really rammed it home.
The script was halfway decent. Thank all the gods that Lucas didn’t write the dialog for this one (and YAY having Lawrence Kasdan back!). And we finally got the angsty, angry teenager that they tried to give us with Annikan Skywalker, but failed to deliver in movies II, and III.
I really loved the character Maz Kanata. She’s sort of a cross between Edna Mode from the Incredibles and Hetty Lange from CSI Los Angles. I hope to hell we get to see more of her, because she’s really the only new character (besides hotshot pilot Poe Dameron) that I really give much of a damn about seeing again.
I haven’t cried this much in a movie in ages. And I haven’t felt this wrung out after seeing a movie since possibly Platoon (which ironically, also had me coming out of the movie theater in tears and driving home in a complete fog of emotions in the rain). It takes some damned fine movie making to get that kind of an emotional reaction out of an audience. So kudos to Abrams for that.
But otherwise? JJ Abrams is a fucking sonofabitch.
As in [Here’s the part where I spoil the WHOLE PLOT of the movie spoilers. What has been seen cannot be unseen.] Here’s the part where I spoil the WHOLE PLOT of the movie spoilers. What has been seen cannot be unseen.
Alrighty then, I warned you.
Stuff I hated
It’s not a good thing when the best parts of your movie are nostalgia for another film. The best parts of episodes I, II, and III were Yoda and how much Ewan McGregor felt like watching a young Alec Guinness. And the best parts of this movie were Han, Chewie, and Leia. And seeing the Millenium Falcon fly again (“Chewie, we’re home!”). I just did not really relate to our two new heroes, Finn and Rey as much as I should have. While I liked Rey and Finn for what they were, their characters felt incredibly one dimensional to me. Like someone said, “Luke was a naive kid with no life experience, so that’s what we’ll make Finn. And Leia is hard headed and determined, so that’s what we’ll make Rey.” But Luke and Leia had more depth of character than that, I felt like they had backstory. They had family (Bail Organa, Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru), and jobs (Imperial senator, student and moisture farmer), and friends (C-R2-D2, C-3PO, Biggs Darklighter). These guys had none of that. I would have happily traded one of the MANY action scenes for a little more background and character building for these two.
Did this movie even pass the Bechdel test? They cast four main actresses (Carrie Fisher, Daisy Ridley, Gwendoline Christie, and Lupita Nyong'o) and but hid one of them under a helmet (Captain Phasma) and another behind a CGI character (Maz Kanata). And I don’t think any of them had an actual conversation with another female character. Leia and Rey do share a hug, but they don’t talk before it.
Carrie Fisher was wonderful, calm, powerful. But I don’t know what she’s done to her voice? Too much drinking? Cigarettes? But her voice is completely blown, and it detracted from her performance. malterre said it sounded like she was wearing a retainer, and she’s right.
It sucks when the character you’re most looking forward to seeing more of in the next two movies doesn’t survive this movie. Dammit Abrams. You bastard! Who do you think you are? Joss Whedon?!?!
I avoided spoilers for this movie. I didn’t read any articles or reviews. I only watched two of the trailers. I’ve been blocking my ears for ages, because I wanted to go into the movie without any idea what the plot was about. But I still knew within the first fifteen minutes of the movie exactly where the plot was going. I knew that the villain was Leia and Han’s son, I knew that the heroine was Luke’s daughter, I knew that we weren’t going to even see Luke until the end of the movie, and I knew that they were going to have to kill off Han Solo if they were going to have any kind of emotional punch at the end of the movie.
So Many Tropes
Gah, the problem with having a really analytical brain (and really loving Star Wars) is that I saw what JJ Abrams was doing during the movie almost as soon as it started. He had pulled out as many of the classic Star Wars tropes as he could, given then new set dressing, and stuffed them back into the movie. I saw what he was doing while I was watching the movie, even as I had tears running down my face because I was enjoying it so much. But the moment the John Williams score stopped and I walked out of the movie theater, I started getting angry. Because it’s been a long time since someone manipulated me like that. And I’m not sure that I liked having my buttons so expertly pushed.
“Star Wars Tropes” that I noticed in the movie (OR, which Star Wars movie were you just watching?)
We have scenes set on a desert world, a lush green forest world, and an ice world. All three feel familiar from previous movies.
The movie starts with a crawl, so that we can get up to speed on the state of the galaxy.
We open with a shot of a huge Imperial ship that slowly takes over the entire screen. Designed to impress you with the force and power of the current government.
Our rebel agent has obtained information that could be damaging to the Empire.
Before they can be caught by the forces of the Empire, our rebel agent entrusts the information to a droid.
Our rebel agent is caught, but the information, safely in their droid, does not fall into the Empire’s hands.
A villain in a black helmet uses the Force to awe and intimidate someone being interrogated.
The droid escapes on a sand planet, and makes his way to a small settlement.
A youngster wearing white rags is bored with their life on a dusty world, and dreams of adventure with the rebellion.
The droid (and its information) falls into the hands of the bored youngster.
The Empire comes to the sand planet, looking for the droid, and our young person has to help the droid escape.
The Millenium Falcon is derided as being a piece of junk.
Thrilling escape from the sand planet on the Millenium Falcon, involving an excitable young man shooting his first tie fighter.
The captured rebel agent is tortured by the black-masked villain in an effort to find the missing information.
The Falcon is captured by a tractor beam.
Han Solo is in trouble with smugglers that he owes money to.
Our heroes’ escape from imprisonment involves escaping a creature with tentacles that is trying to eat them.
They go to a disreputable cantina to try to get help with their problem.
Everyone stops and stares at them when they walk into the bar.
The cantina has lots of fascinating looking aliens and a four piece band playing music.
The fat, greasy looking alien has a sleek, sexy female pressed up against his side.
The Youngster has a prophetic vision provided by the Force that scares them.
A Wise Elder offers the Youngster a light saber.
The Male Hero would rather save his own skin than fight the Empire and will not join our fight.
Storm troopers still don’t know how to shoot. (handwaving over the fact that apparently a very poor Storm trooper can suddenly be a very good rebel….)
The droid and his information are safety delivered to the Rebel base.
General Organa and her council around a round table with a holographic display.
Her war council includes at least one Mon Calimari General (Still Admiral Ackbar apparently!)
The Empire blows up a planet (or five) with their Death Star.
The droids provide comedy relief.
Our male hero launches a rescue mission to get the female hero off the Death Star.
The Rebellion must take down the power grid before they can attack the Death Star.
Taking down the Death Star involves a small landing party to infiltrate the planet.
And a small group (maybe a dozen at most) X wing fighters to attack the base.
The final fight involves a bridge over a very long drop.
Our Old Wise Warrior falls when doing battle with the Villain.
And falls into the very long drop.
The Youngling(s) have a light saber battle with the villain in the dark helmet.
It only takes a few explosives to set off a chain reaction that blows up the entire Death Star.
Our heroes just barely manage to escape as the Death Star blows up in the background.
When we get back to the Rebel Base, there is much rejoicing (even though we just lost our Old Wise Warrior). (This is the part that pisses me off. Fucking Darth Vader got a funeral, which went on forever. And we can’t even spend any time in the movie to acknowledge that Han Solo is dead?!?!??! All we get is Leia stumbling when she feels a disturbance in the Force, but no time to mourn her one great love and the father of her son?)
***
The movie is, quite literally, Star Wars: The Next Generation. The bad guy is Leia and Han’s son. The heroine is so obviously Luke’s secret hidden daughter (they don’t say in the movie, but his lightsaber calls out to her, who else could she be?). And Finn? I would bet cash money that he turns out to be Lando Calrissian’s son. Because we all know there are only two black men in the entire galaxy, and Mace Windo is too old for that shit.
Look, I know this probably sounds like I hated the movie. I didn’t. I really liked it. It was a pretty damned good movie.
But I also just really didn’t like how I felt like I was manipulated by nostalgia during it.
While I was at Starbucks I somehow lost my ticket stub. I discovered this when I pulled out my wallet to take a photo of it to post on Facebook. I had my receipt, but not the stub. I thought maybe I'd handed it to the cashier with my money, so they checked the register and let me paw through the trash too. Nope. So I headed back to the movie theater to see if they could print me out a new ticket? Nope, but they let me in anyways. Luckily, I remembered which seat I’d picked (1-13) because I was thinking my lucky day, seat number 13! And I knew it was way in the back (second to last row). So yay me for actually remembering a random letter-number combination (which I usually can never do).
They picked the right damned title for this one. It really felt like the Force has been asleep for years and has finally awakened again. As Stephen said when we talked on the phone today, this movie was just what we needed to cleanse the palate from the horrible first three movies (Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith).
I came home and luckily Mea was on IM on Facebook, so I got to blather at her on instant messaging for a bit about how I had all the feels. OMG, so many feels! Then Stephen responded to my asking for a lifeline and called me on the phone and we geeked out a bit about conspiracy theories and did you notice! And where will they go next? Then Tom responded to my IM on Facebook. Then I wrote this and I feel like I’m starting to get back under control a bit.
If you want a non-spoilery review, this ain’t it. Go read this non-spoilery review by John Scalzi instead.
Cut for spoilers.
I don’t want to ruin the movie for anyone, but I really need to write about this somewhere.
[No seriously, I really DO mean spoilers] No seriously, I really DO mean spoilers.
Stuff I loved
This movie gave me so many feels. SO MANY FEELS.
As others have said, they did a fantastic job of capturing the look and feel of the original three Star Wars movies. Just amazing job there. And of course, because I’m a fan, it hit me RIGHT IN THE FEELS. So many feels. Overwhelming feels. I have….
Even though I’d seen the scene in the trailer where Han Solo says, “It’s true, all of it. The dark side. The jedi. They’re real.” But seeing it on the big screen had me practically bawling. Literal tears running down my face. In fact, I can’t remember a time I cried more in the movies.
I saw this on Facebook tonight. It’s pretty damned accurate.
SO MUCH NOSTALGIA. I think you have to be in my generation (almost 50) to really understand. I was eleven when Star Wars came out. Princess Leia had a profound effect on me growing up, as did the Obi-Wan Kenobi and the whole concept of the Force. As Frank posted today, the year before Logan’s Run had won the Oscar for best special effects (and if you haven’t seen that movie, you should go rent it, you really need to see it to understand how groundbreaking the special effects were in the first Star Wars movie). The action and the music and just all of it made such an impression on all of us young kids.
I loved hearing John Williams’ score for this. He really knows how to write a soundtrack that adds to a movie, without overwhelming it. But, much like any movie with a recognizable soundtrack (James Bond, Mission Impossible) it’s hard not to get excited when you hear that familiar score during the movie.
I really loved how the whole movie was grounded in reality this time. You could just tell in episodes I, II, and III that the whole thing was CGI, it was like
watching a cartoon. And the actors didn’t know where to look. But in this movie, the whole production design was rooted in reality, WWII reality.
• Rey’s transport looked like an old red tractor. And a little like Luke’s speeder turned on its side.
• The Empire’s troop transports looked like flying submarines.
• The enormous red and black banners in the background of First Order were so Nazi it wasn’t even funny. And their black uniforms with the little peaked hats. And the “Heil Hitler” salute at the end of his speech really rammed it home.
The script was halfway decent. Thank all the gods that Lucas didn’t write the dialog for this one (and YAY having Lawrence Kasdan back!). And we finally got the angsty, angry teenager that they tried to give us with Annikan Skywalker, but failed to deliver in movies II, and III.
I really loved the character Maz Kanata. She’s sort of a cross between Edna Mode from the Incredibles and Hetty Lange from CSI Los Angles. I hope to hell we get to see more of her, because she’s really the only new character (besides hotshot pilot Poe Dameron) that I really give much of a damn about seeing again.
I haven’t cried this much in a movie in ages. And I haven’t felt this wrung out after seeing a movie since possibly Platoon (which ironically, also had me coming out of the movie theater in tears and driving home in a complete fog of emotions in the rain). It takes some damned fine movie making to get that kind of an emotional reaction out of an audience. So kudos to Abrams for that.
But otherwise? JJ Abrams is a fucking sonofabitch.
As in [Here’s the part where I spoil the WHOLE PLOT of the movie spoilers. What has been seen cannot be unseen.] Here’s the part where I spoil the WHOLE PLOT of the movie spoilers. What has been seen cannot be unseen.
Alrighty then, I warned you.
Stuff I hated
It’s not a good thing when the best parts of your movie are nostalgia for another film. The best parts of episodes I, II, and III were Yoda and how much Ewan McGregor felt like watching a young Alec Guinness. And the best parts of this movie were Han, Chewie, and Leia. And seeing the Millenium Falcon fly again (“Chewie, we’re home!”). I just did not really relate to our two new heroes, Finn and Rey as much as I should have. While I liked Rey and Finn for what they were, their characters felt incredibly one dimensional to me. Like someone said, “Luke was a naive kid with no life experience, so that’s what we’ll make Finn. And Leia is hard headed and determined, so that’s what we’ll make Rey.” But Luke and Leia had more depth of character than that, I felt like they had backstory. They had family (Bail Organa, Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru), and jobs (Imperial senator, student and moisture farmer), and friends (C-R2-D2, C-3PO, Biggs Darklighter). These guys had none of that. I would have happily traded one of the MANY action scenes for a little more background and character building for these two.
Did this movie even pass the Bechdel test? They cast four main actresses (Carrie Fisher, Daisy Ridley, Gwendoline Christie, and Lupita Nyong'o) and but hid one of them under a helmet (Captain Phasma) and another behind a CGI character (Maz Kanata). And I don’t think any of them had an actual conversation with another female character. Leia and Rey do share a hug, but they don’t talk before it.
Carrie Fisher was wonderful, calm, powerful. But I don’t know what she’s done to her voice? Too much drinking? Cigarettes? But her voice is completely blown, and it detracted from her performance. malterre said it sounded like she was wearing a retainer, and she’s right.
It sucks when the character you’re most looking forward to seeing more of in the next two movies doesn’t survive this movie. Dammit Abrams. You bastard! Who do you think you are? Joss Whedon?!?!
I avoided spoilers for this movie. I didn’t read any articles or reviews. I only watched two of the trailers. I’ve been blocking my ears for ages, because I wanted to go into the movie without any idea what the plot was about. But I still knew within the first fifteen minutes of the movie exactly where the plot was going. I knew that the villain was Leia and Han’s son, I knew that the heroine was Luke’s daughter, I knew that we weren’t going to even see Luke until the end of the movie, and I knew that they were going to have to kill off Han Solo if they were going to have any kind of emotional punch at the end of the movie.
So Many Tropes
Gah, the problem with having a really analytical brain (and really loving Star Wars) is that I saw what JJ Abrams was doing during the movie almost as soon as it started. He had pulled out as many of the classic Star Wars tropes as he could, given then new set dressing, and stuffed them back into the movie. I saw what he was doing while I was watching the movie, even as I had tears running down my face because I was enjoying it so much. But the moment the John Williams score stopped and I walked out of the movie theater, I started getting angry. Because it’s been a long time since someone manipulated me like that. And I’m not sure that I liked having my buttons so expertly pushed.
“Star Wars Tropes” that I noticed in the movie (OR, which Star Wars movie were you just watching?)
We have scenes set on a desert world, a lush green forest world, and an ice world. All three feel familiar from previous movies.
The movie starts with a crawl, so that we can get up to speed on the state of the galaxy.
We open with a shot of a huge Imperial ship that slowly takes over the entire screen. Designed to impress you with the force and power of the current government.
Our rebel agent has obtained information that could be damaging to the Empire.
Before they can be caught by the forces of the Empire, our rebel agent entrusts the information to a droid.
Our rebel agent is caught, but the information, safely in their droid, does not fall into the Empire’s hands.
A villain in a black helmet uses the Force to awe and intimidate someone being interrogated.
The droid escapes on a sand planet, and makes his way to a small settlement.
A youngster wearing white rags is bored with their life on a dusty world, and dreams of adventure with the rebellion.
The droid (and its information) falls into the hands of the bored youngster.
The Empire comes to the sand planet, looking for the droid, and our young person has to help the droid escape.
The Millenium Falcon is derided as being a piece of junk.
Thrilling escape from the sand planet on the Millenium Falcon, involving an excitable young man shooting his first tie fighter.
The captured rebel agent is tortured by the black-masked villain in an effort to find the missing information.
The Falcon is captured by a tractor beam.
Han Solo is in trouble with smugglers that he owes money to.
Our heroes’ escape from imprisonment involves escaping a creature with tentacles that is trying to eat them.
They go to a disreputable cantina to try to get help with their problem.
Everyone stops and stares at them when they walk into the bar.
The cantina has lots of fascinating looking aliens and a four piece band playing music.
The fat, greasy looking alien has a sleek, sexy female pressed up against his side.
The Youngster has a prophetic vision provided by the Force that scares them.
A Wise Elder offers the Youngster a light saber.
The Male Hero would rather save his own skin than fight the Empire and will not join our fight.
Storm troopers still don’t know how to shoot. (handwaving over the fact that apparently a very poor Storm trooper can suddenly be a very good rebel….)
The droid and his information are safety delivered to the Rebel base.
General Organa and her council around a round table with a holographic display.
Her war council includes at least one Mon Calimari General (Still Admiral Ackbar apparently!)
The Empire blows up a planet (or five) with their Death Star.
The droids provide comedy relief.
Our male hero launches a rescue mission to get the female hero off the Death Star.
The Rebellion must take down the power grid before they can attack the Death Star.
Taking down the Death Star involves a small landing party to infiltrate the planet.
And a small group (maybe a dozen at most) X wing fighters to attack the base.
The final fight involves a bridge over a very long drop.
Our Old Wise Warrior falls when doing battle with the Villain.
And falls into the very long drop.
The Youngling(s) have a light saber battle with the villain in the dark helmet.
It only takes a few explosives to set off a chain reaction that blows up the entire Death Star.
Our heroes just barely manage to escape as the Death Star blows up in the background.
When we get back to the Rebel Base, there is much rejoicing (even though we just lost our Old Wise Warrior). (This is the part that pisses me off. Fucking Darth Vader got a funeral, which went on forever. And we can’t even spend any time in the movie to acknowledge that Han Solo is dead?!?!??! All we get is Leia stumbling when she feels a disturbance in the Force, but no time to mourn her one great love and the father of her son?)
***
The movie is, quite literally, Star Wars: The Next Generation. The bad guy is Leia and Han’s son. The heroine is so obviously Luke’s secret hidden daughter (they don’t say in the movie, but his lightsaber calls out to her, who else could she be?). And Finn? I would bet cash money that he turns out to be Lando Calrissian’s son. Because we all know there are only two black men in the entire galaxy, and Mace Windo is too old for that shit.
Look, I know this probably sounds like I hated the movie. I didn’t. I really liked it. It was a pretty damned good movie.
But I also just really didn’t like how I felt like I was manipulated by nostalgia during it.