Dunno if anyone mentioned this yet, but recall that Kylo Ren killed every other Jedi apprentice Luke was training and caused Luke to go into hiding. So he shouldn't have sucked so bad.

Also, Snoke sounds like something straight out of a Dr. Seuss book.

exactly, I recall previous episodes having awesome light saber battles

Finally got to see it. Enjoyed it a lot. It had its roughs and edges, like pretty much all SW movies. Maybe even a few more than usual, but that was offset by a good presentation and returning to SW core values. Maybe the fact that I love ships and space battles, and they had just the right amount of that makes me see it that positive.

I can chime in with pretty much all of the criticism from Zoan's reddit post. I'm surprised though, that nobody mentioned Leia. She was the biggest disappointment in the movie for me. She's gotten so old you don't even recognize her anymore and she's lost her edge along the way. She has zero acting skills, charisma and edge left. She's supposed to be an inspirational leader, not an old granny. Personally, I'd have supported to replace her by a proper actor.

Finn was cool tho. His demeanor fit someone going through an identity crisis. Although him lying to the rebellion to be able to save Rey was a bit cheesy to me.

Btw. BB-8 showed a thumbs up. I think it makes far more sense as a response to Finn's thumbs up.

A highlight of the movie, imo, was the initial Millenium Falcon chase when Rey instinctively used the Force to bring the gun in position without even realizing it (and supposedly generally flying like a badass). Her and Finn being so hyped about it was the icing on the cake. It's the scene that named the movie and was really well executed.

I, too, was bothered by Rakku being a Tattoine clone without an own identity (or any at all, fot that matter), but apart from that, the first third-half of the movie was a lot better than the rest, which is probably why most of us can forgive it all the ridiculousness that followed. Like with Dakku they failed with all places to generate some sense of intrigue. Pretty bland with no heart.

The worst no-go was the 3rd death star (!) shooting hyperlight lasers that can be seen on the target before they hit. Like what? Are they projectiles, flying FTL, or regular lasers?! Get your shit together damnit.
And the rebels response? 2 squadrons of X-Wings. The 1. Order's response to that? Guns and a handful TIEs. Like we built this badass planet cannon but we had to sell everything to afford it, and then we signed a disarmament agreement with the rebels so they wouldn't take it from us right away. Somehow despite this agreement they got to keep this 1 Star Destroyer though.
It just doesn't fit that a battle of few star fighters decides the fate of such a huge weapon. (Not that the starkiller base fits in the first place.)
Anyways, the Y-Wings, the workhorse of the rebellion since forever should've been included. And some heavy firepower B-Wing bombers. X-Wings and A-Wings for cover.

Another big plus of the movie was the music for me. Though this goes without saying by now, probably.

Yeah, Carrie Fisher was really bad. She went on Graham Norton to talk about Star Wars, and said she had no fucking idea what was going on. I think she was only half-joking. Leia didn't really have that much of a part in the first movies anyway, but in this one she seemed completely superfluous, just like she was put in there purely as fan-service and shoe-horned into a general role, despite us never actually seeing her do any leading whatsoever.

I like the fact that Kylo Ren has anger issues. The two stormtroopers and their reaction was great. Since all Star Wars movies timeline go from generation to generation, it seems like they don't really advance much into technology. When Anakin Skywalker is a child to the point Kylo Ren is in charge, technology didn't necessarily improve that much. Starkiller Base is an exaggerated version of Death Star, and it was easily destroyed. A bit of a disappointment there.

If there's a future Star Wars movie where they have a sun sized base capable of destroying a galaxy far far away, where someone eventually succeeding Kylo Ren in charge... it would be lame.

Post has been edited 2 time(s), last time on Feb 17 2016, 7:37 am by KrayZee.

The tech problem you mention seems to be a side-effect of most western storytellers' inability to increase the scale and importance of a plot element. This is commonplace in most media, but for some reason people never recognise it in 'classics' like Star Wars.

Not only that, but for some reason, the Galactic Empire is always in existence. Since they are based on Nazi Germany, their defeat should have some significance. Both Germany and Japan were dismantled and demilitarized to the point they are friendly with the Allies. When Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader, you have Yoda and Kenobi going to exile and wait in hiding. When the Empire is defeated, the Empire still remain to exist over generations.

The lame thumb's up interpretation has been confirmed: http://www.dailydot.com/geek/star-wars-force-awakens-bb8-thumbs-up-middle-finger-debate/

Yeah that's pretty dumb. I don't understand why they'd used a torch if it was supposed to be a thumbs up.

It's either that, or some metallic shaped thumb.

AWwwwwwwwwwwwww yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah

The flip off theory was always way off for me. The thumbs up was the much more natural reaction to a thumbs up.
Even though it had some plausibily when looking at the scene in isolation, nothing before or after hinted at any tension that would've been created by or led to such harsh disagreement.

@Demon "why torch" >>> probably because they thought it'd be a nice touch compared to a metal claw or other possible tools. I can see how you can view a torch as aggressive, but personally I don't. It's simply a tool for me. To make it look aggressive I'd expect it either to be lit much closer to the person or to be larger or directed it towards him.