Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)

Palum

what Suineg set it to
23,747
34,562
Yea, if there was a weak point in quality it was that scene with the monsters. I probably could have given it a pass if it was just CGI tentacles and you never 'see' them, but the whole monster just looked dumb and decidedly prequelish.
 

Ukerric

Bearded Ape
<Silver Donator>
7,978
9,691
They could have just in some short 1-2 second flashbacks during the lightsaber fight of Luke fighting Vader and going the exact same moves with it.
But they can't. They've decided to keep Rey's exact origin a top-level secret, so they can't allude to anything. But the fight itself owes a lot to that final fight in TRJ, where Luke fights Vader and is basically losing, then Vader suddenly threatens to get to Leia, and Luke gets all bothered while the Emperor says that memetic "Good, good... give in...", and he barely stops (in front of a chasm, no less) before going all Dark Side. Given that there's no Luke-Vader lightsaber fight in ANH, they pulled a fight from the last movie instead (and that's why you can tell Rey was going Dark Side, since that's what Luke is doing at that moment of the original fight).
 

khorum

Murder Apologist
24,338
81,363
I've heard that there were extended sequences in this scene that got cut. Its the only part of the movie that felt tacked on. And the creature design was kind of weak
Yeah there's a long setup for King Prana, the guy Han was delivering the Rathtars to. Basically King Prana and Han's investors are set up as the next Jabba side-story.

But King Prana got mentioned like once by Han and all the other stuff pretty much got cut.
 

Araxen

Golden Baronet of the Realm
10,288
7,650
Yea, if there was a weak point in quality it was that scene with the monsters. I probably could have given it a pass if it was just CGI tentacles and you never 'see' them, but the whole monster just looked dumb and decidedly prequelish.
The monsters looked like they were copied from Final Fantasy.

rrr_img_120978.jpg
 

Malakriss

Golden Baronet of the Realm
12,391
11,798
They needed a reason for Han + Chewie to be there with no other crew (otherwise we'd care about them when they get ditched or deaded). Yes, they could have put more effort into it but that's exactly why it's better to 2-3 year gaps to revise rather than push 12-18 months like Disney wants.
 

Vulg

Golden Knight of the Realm
245
173
- And as she's in danger of succumbing to the Dark Side (because no training), the ground opens up, the battle is interrupted before she can go Dark and she gets time to recover from the (non-)metaphorical chasm she was going to plunge into, and it's a "see you next time" as the combatants are separated with no resolution. "We'll face again, mark my words!".

And that's the last bit that's badly handled. You can see that's what was intended and why the chasm appears, but it's not good enough, and people are left wondering how she could even stand to Kylo (he wants his own apprentice "now that's he's become the master", she's more powerful at the raw Force, and she was going to the easy way of winning). And it all makes better sense, better setup... but the whole sequence ends up flawed, because apparently too many people are missing it.
The novelization describes her flirtation with the dark side a little more clearly (I transcribed the paragraphearlier). In it, Rey is the one who willfully steps back from it.

If the movie undersells anything, it's the extent to which Rey was channeling the dark side during that fight... maybe Ren's reaction to killing Han too (i.e. made him more of a mess), though by then you'd been bludgeoned with the fact that he lacked control and focus.
 

Pioneer89_sl

shitlord
59
0
Most of the issues people seem to have with the Rey and Ren's inconsistent skill in the force can be explained away if you just remember that this is not the same force in the over-analyzed, over-explained, midiclorian infested force in the EU and Ep. 1-3.

The reboot of the force back into what is was in Ep 4-6 is something I liked.


This is an odd movie to rate. As a "stand alone" movie, it's a 7. As part of the larger Star Wars universe, I loved it, and give it a 9. My view on the movie changes the more I learn and read, which is sort of shitty for people who are not really Star Wars fans. I can completely understand people who are "meh" towards Star Wars rating this movie lower.
 

Khalan

Trakanon Raider
1,462
1,359
Yeah reading the visual dictionary/novelization helps to fill in a lot of the issues I had with the movie.
 

Cybsled

Naxxramas 1.0 Raider
16,565
13,069
They needed a reason for Han + Chewie to be there with no other crew (otherwise we'd care about them when they get ditched or deaded). Yes, they could have put more effort into it but that's exactly why it's better to 2-3 year gaps to revise rather than push 12-18 months like Disney wants.
Han said they had more crew before they captured those tentacle monster things
 

Royal

Connoisseur of Exotic Pictures
15,077
10,641
Yea, if there was a weak point in quality it was that scene with the monsters. I probably could have given it a pass if it was just CGI tentacles and you never 'see' them, but the whole monster just looked dumb and decidedly prequelish.
They looked like something that would have would have been part of a rough day at work for Tommy Lee Jones in MIB. That whole freighter scene is the most disjointed part of the whole movie to me. I realize they were trying to show that General Solo had gone back to being shifty smuggler Solo owing money to all the wrong people while giving him a means of entering to story but it sticks out like a sore thumb from the rest of the movie.
 

The Edge

Lord Nagafen Raider
763
262
Most of the issues people seem to have with the Rey and Ren's inconsistent skill in the force can be explained away if you just remember that this is not the same force in the over-analyzed, over-explained, midiclorian infested force in the EU and Ep. 1-3.

The reboot of the force back into what is was in Ep 4-6 is something I liked.
People need to quit making shit up. It's the same Force. All movies are canon. This wasn't a "soft reboot." It was a sequel in line with I-VI, despite what you wish it may be.
 

khorum

Murder Apologist
24,338
81,363
I did like the name Kanjiklub at least
I didn't realize all three of The Raid's main stars were in the movie until I saw the trailer for The Raid 3. I knew they had the long-haired badass (playing Kasu Leesh) and I barely recognized the main Raid good guy. I don't remember the third dude tho.


015082100_1450195390-20151215--Iko-Uwais-Yayan-Ruhian-dan-Cecep-Arif-Rahman-Jakarta-01.jpg
 

Shonuff

Mr. Poopybutthole
5,538
790
I didn't realize all three of The Raid's main stars were in the movie until I saw the trailer for The Raid 3. I knew they had the long-haired badass (playing Kasu Leesh) and I barely recognized the main Raid good guy. I don't remember the third dude tho.


015082100_1450195390-20151215--Iko-Uwais-Yayan-Ruhian-dan-Cecep-Arif-Rahman-Jakarta-01.jpg
Why didn't they use them?
 

Pioneer89_sl

shitlord
59
0
People need to quit making shit up. It's the same Force. All movies are canon. This wasn't a "soft reboot." It was a sequel in line with I-VI, despite what you wish it may be.
You don't see a difference between how Luke was able to use the force in Ep. 5-6 and how all of the Jedi were trained in Ep. 1-3, including Anakin?

My case is: JJ is pushing the force (kek) to be much more unexplainable magic, where Lucas made it into a virus.
 

khorum

Murder Apologist
24,338
81,363
They only had the brief talking scene in the hallway and their parts weren't much longer in the novelization either. I think they had like 30 secs of screen time and you can barely see the third dude:

10666227_1097951286895908_822214262_n.jpg


It was more about JJ being a giant gay for The Raid and offered the leads a cameo in the movie. Which of course they took. They must've dueled IRL for the speaking role tho.