Saw it on Christmas Eve. Had to wait until I was home because my mother wanted to see it with me. Have to say I'm glad I avoided any spoilers miraculously the whole time.
- Spoiler:
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- Overall liked the film. Felt like they kind of cheated a little by recycling the plot of Episode IV but at the same time still found some originality. The new characters are all likeable and a breath of fresh air. Really this film was saturated with the original trilogy to cast to help ease in our transition to the new ones.
Really liked Poe and felt he was underused. Looking forward to seeing more of him. He has good chemistry with Finn. As for Finn I liked him a lot. Even though he was the source of comic relief he did actually have a depth and his back story was new and refreshing. Instead of Rey who was an amalgram of Princess Leia, Padme, and Luke, and Poe who is the next generation Solo, Finn is a new character. A deserter. A man bred to kill and yet still chooses not to be what they want him to do. While the film sort of glossed over that part of Finn I hope they take the opportunity in the next films to examine that complexity of the character more closely. And I liked Rey too. Rumor online is her parentage isn't the issue but rather she is the Chosen One, not Anakin.
I liked Adam Driver a lot as Kylo because how do you top Vader? Can't go with the Maul route again and you don't want to just hire another veteran actor. Why not make someone who tries to be Vader but fails. While Anakins emo persona fell flat in the prequels (due to Lucas's bad execution and conflicting motives for the character) this one works because that's who he is supposed to be. That little kid trying to live up to grandaddys potential but in reality is a big pussy.
I'm hoping by killing Han Solo though that makes him irredeemable. It would be too cliche to make him good like Vader. I rather see him be a much more tragic villain. If he makes it to episode 9 I like to see more that he and Rey have their inevitable final battle and during it, Kylo admits remorse for what has happened but hes gone too far and invested and sacrificed too much for power that he rather keep that power than lose it. Make him the villain that is deep down regretful of his actions but does it because he has no choice.
Prequels were ok. Rather they provided more interesting back story for the universe despite them being shitty movies. Concepts were good, special effects great, music fan fucking tastic. Really it was the acting, pacing, plot framing, and the dialogue that killed the movie.
I'll get by somehow, I guess Christmas could provide some kind of distraction?
