blood
Super Freak
- Joined
- Oct 9, 2010
- Messages
- 3,087
- Reaction score
- 10
Finally seen TFA. Not a perfect film for me in a technical sense at all, but the two chars I anticipated mostly, Rey and Kylo, were exactly what I hoped for.
I think a particular accessory for Rey should make it clear her figure release in SHF form now would be too much of a spoiler.
About said spoilers:
Spoiler:
Can't believe they actually did what I theorized, but ultimately thought improbable recently: Finn isn't a force user and just uses the sabre. Sorry Finn fans, and I really liked the char btw, but really wanted Rey to be would-be-jedi and damn they delivered even more than I thought. I was very struck though by just how much they do not reveal in this fillm. It's as much a stand alone movie as LotR1 is: not, at all. It truly feels like a new beginning, but just that, only a beginning. Yet also alluding to so much stuff that happened before it. It almost feels like Episode X rather than VII... (So even in that sense it parallels to episode IV).
Loved Kylo, but knew the EU, so he played out exactly as I thought he would. I can't believe they managed to get the name 'Kylo' to sound cool to me. That was somewhat underwhelming, but better than getting something I didn't want. Regarding the conversation a bunch of posts back about lost souls... I like the fact that Kylo comes so close to the edge that I think JJ is right in saying the new villain needed to 'earn' being a successor to Vader by doing something extremely brutal (and he does so multiple times, at least twice). I do think he can come back insofar as Vader did: do something good in the end, and I do think Han's final gesture symbolises that. I do think part of his weakness in the fight with Rey is exactly because contrary to his own belief, killing his father did not free him from his inner strife and doubt at all. But it feels completely 50/50 whether he in fact WILL turn away from the dark side at any point. I really hope he won't simply devolve into mindless evil, because his actions imply a very tragic but psychologically interesting backstory. (Don't **** that up Disney like you make every marvel villain a one note disney villain.) But to be honest, and that's what I'm probably most surprised about, we know so little about most characters still. I think the Knights of Ren are all pupils from Luke that Kylo (or Snoke) corrupted. Rather than one person, it seems more potent of a reason to go in full exile, if you fail an entire group of pupils as a teacher, Luke could very well feel all but cursed. He is after all, not just Vader's son, but the last jedi trained by the very same jedis that failed and let the Sith rise up. What would make him any better teacher? He might be asking himself that... I'm rooting for Rey to be Luke's daughter, not Kylo's sister. Although I can see both cases turn out great.
There's a lot to say particularly because TFA revealed so little. I gotta say holy **** at people who anticipated Phasma. Did we see her even firing a single shot? She's not even close as iconic as Boba was in Empire alone. I'm also sort of surprised to having seen no backlash at all yet on marketing Finn as the would-be jedi when he was indeed not force sensitive. Or doesn't seem to be yet. (But I'd find it odd if he becomes one after all. Finn seems perfect as Han 2.0, which is what I expected from the beginning. If we do actually act as if there are only two black people in the star wars universe, than I'd sooner say he's Lando's son than Mace's offspring...)
As said I have technical issues with the movie. I think JJ doesn't handle some reveals that well. There's pacing issues imo, as well as quite a lot of overly convenient plot or situational progression. WTF is up with spatial distances in this movie? The Falcon is suddenly trackable!? Wut? It's a fakking smuggler ship ffs. Next time, when you have a galactic war's pivotal droid in your posession, don't take it into a bar full of untrustworthy people. (that type of weak stuff to drive the plot does really annoy me). It tried to earn weight a little too much based on nostalgic and mirroring beats (a third small point to destroy to blow up a wmd? Come on man...), rather than actual new character or world building. But that also goes back to just how baffled I am in how much was NOT shown. If there's any performance I'd criticise, it might be Gleeson's. His character felt a little too disney villain style caricature. But I'd need to see it again for that. Mostly everything else is draped in mystery and that could be unveiled as awesome, or sheer exploitation. Dem merch gold disney, dem god damn merch gold.
If anything, a sw fan should be used to technically imperfect star wars movies so whatever. The SW franchise as a wholeis fantastic, but none of the 7 films are the best in the medium imo, so I'm not bothered by that. I got the three most important things for me: nothing old is ruined (I think), Rey and Kylo were what I hoped, and SW is back alive.
I really disliked Looper and Jurassic World bored me to hell (granted not a fan of that franchise), so damnit Johnson and Trevorro, don't **** it up.[emoji38]
Son, your archetype for finn disturbs me.
