I have seen Star Wars: The Force Awakens

[firecat]

Bring on the spoilers...



I watched it pretty uncritically, but sometimes I get pissed off at movies even if I try not to be critical. This movie didn't piss me off and I liked it better than I thought I would. Abrams did a good job of balancing a new storyline and new characters with bringing back old characters and tropes.

I liked that Han and Leia were allowed to look and act old.

I liked that a stormtrooper was humanized.

I thought it was hilarious that they cast Andy Serkis as Snoke and made his face look pretty much exactly like Gollum.

Now I understand why Abrams was going around bragging that Star Wars used to be "only for boys" and now it's not — I mean, the notion is totally ridiculous, but I still appreciate that the story focuses around a black man and a white woman. They could have done a better job setting up a back story for both of them, but at least they made a cursory effort.

My main criticism is that everyone was a little too earnest in this movie, and that was with Han. Maz Kanata could have been rogueish but she really wasn't. I hope they bring in some more rogueish characters in the future movies because they brought a lot of energy to the original movies.

What did you think?

Comments

[eveningstartwo.livejournal.com]

Everything old is new again. We saw the first Star Wars in a new light.

star wars stuff

[diatom.livejournal.com]

woo! i was mostly just really happy with the movie. i liked the little nods to the original series and fans. i liked the Millennium Falcon cameo! And yes, liked that Leia and Han were allowed to be old, and Luke too, for that matter.

was surprised that Finn and Ray were both thrown into using a light saber when they'd never used one before...found it both alarming and exciting to see completely new people try out a new weapon...

that said, maybe i wasn't going real deep with this. it is exciting to see this version of the franchise, as being something i can really get behind....

Re: star wars stuff

[firecat]

Loved the newbie lightsword experience.

[johnpalmer.livejournal.com]

Re: Star Wars for boys, I did see someone mention that they wanted to know what strange disease had killed off 95% of the female population [i.e.: there are *very* few women in the SW universe], and I was boggled to realize I hadn't noticed this. (In my defense, I haven't seen Star Wars in a very long time.) I would be glad to see if they started balancing characters in a more meaningful way.