Well, I finally did it. I went and saw that movie that everyone has been trying to avoid spoiling. Star Wars, The Force Awakens... well... it is fresh, so I figured I had better put down my thoughts about it before I forget about them.
First off, before anything, I had heard mixed reviews about the movie. I was trepidatious at best. I mean, sure, it was the quickest movie to reach one billion dollars gross, and its opening nights were bigger than... well... anything. But I was perfectly willing to chalk that up to the masses flocking to garbage that they thought was acceptable. Several Star Wars aficionados I talked to were not pleased, and having seen the movie, they are not particularly wrong about what they were upset about.
Let me enumerate.
The biggest complaint I heard about the new movie is how derived it is from all the old ones. Well, yes, it is very very derived. Sometimes it is over the top, yes, but other times it is witty and nostalgic. and that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is exactly why I think it is there... Nostalgia. I think the movie director, and producers were trying to bridge the gap in their fan base, from the people that will only ever recognize the original trilogy to the people that like the universe for what it is. For me, episodes 1-3 were really not awful. I liked them, actually, though they were nowhere near 4-6. But I am not a hard core Star Wars fan. For a true star wars fan... it seems like the lack of any truly new and unique content is a pretty significant issue. But hey, they have 2 more movies for that.
Here are some of the things that really struck me as awesome about the movie as I watched it.
Sound Design was really great. It may sound trivial, but sound can make or break a movie, and star wars has always had a really great sound track, and this is definitely a spiritual successor to the original movies in this regard. Throughout the entire movie, there was only one point where I thought to myself, "Well, that sound cue was a little over the top... this must be a good guy". Overall, very impressed.
Another thing that was really awesome was the special effect content... the original trilogy is really starting to show it's age, and even the new trilogy is to in the face of new technology, but The Force Awakens really did a great job combining that new technology to immerse the viewer in the movie.
Another silly thing I really enjoyed... the Storm troopers were kind of awesome. It made sense that they were some of the most disciplined, strongest military force in the galaxy. They started out pretty well put together, anyway. But then we go back to the normal Storm trooper tomfoolery.
Lastly, the Cameos are great. All I will say.
Things I was not impressed by... throughout the time I have had to think about this, I have only be able to come up with more and more that... I was not impressed by. Now, like I said, I did not go into this movie expecting perfection, so my sights were set pretty low. But, as a whole, these are the things that I saw that disappointed me.
First of all... the character development. The character development for 3, maybe 4 or the main characters was truly lacking. I felt like I knew nothing about them, and all of a sudden they were going against their nature. All of a sudden they all could do various things that just... didn't make sense within the confines of their character development... and I expected more. Now, again, there is room for growth, to show where these characters came from, their motivation in future movies. I, for one, fully expect back stories to be fleshed out. But, for a kick off, I expected more.
Another thing that really bugged me after a while was... I know, I hate to say it... how derived it was. There was so little changed in terms origin stories, role within the story, even core planets. it is a great, big, wide universe. Show us more of it. There is really not a lot i can say about it without doing spoilers, so I will stop there.
Regardless, it was definitely an enjoyable movie. Would I go see it again in theatres? Probably not. if I had endless free time, maybe, but as it stands, I don't, and thus, I will not.
What did you think?
-Rob-
Here are some of the things that really struck me as awesome about the movie as I watched it.
Sound Design was really great. It may sound trivial, but sound can make or break a movie, and star wars has always had a really great sound track, and this is definitely a spiritual successor to the original movies in this regard. Throughout the entire movie, there was only one point where I thought to myself, "Well, that sound cue was a little over the top... this must be a good guy". Overall, very impressed.
Another thing that was really awesome was the special effect content... the original trilogy is really starting to show it's age, and even the new trilogy is to in the face of new technology, but The Force Awakens really did a great job combining that new technology to immerse the viewer in the movie.
Another silly thing I really enjoyed... the Storm troopers were kind of awesome. It made sense that they were some of the most disciplined, strongest military force in the galaxy. They started out pretty well put together, anyway. But then we go back to the normal Storm trooper tomfoolery.
Lastly, the Cameos are great. All I will say.
Things I was not impressed by... throughout the time I have had to think about this, I have only be able to come up with more and more that... I was not impressed by. Now, like I said, I did not go into this movie expecting perfection, so my sights were set pretty low. But, as a whole, these are the things that I saw that disappointed me.
First of all... the character development. The character development for 3, maybe 4 or the main characters was truly lacking. I felt like I knew nothing about them, and all of a sudden they were going against their nature. All of a sudden they all could do various things that just... didn't make sense within the confines of their character development... and I expected more. Now, again, there is room for growth, to show where these characters came from, their motivation in future movies. I, for one, fully expect back stories to be fleshed out. But, for a kick off, I expected more.
Another thing that really bugged me after a while was... I know, I hate to say it... how derived it was. There was so little changed in terms origin stories, role within the story, even core planets. it is a great, big, wide universe. Show us more of it. There is really not a lot i can say about it without doing spoilers, so I will stop there.
Regardless, it was definitely an enjoyable movie. Would I go see it again in theatres? Probably not. if I had endless free time, maybe, but as it stands, I don't, and thus, I will not.
What did you think?
-Rob-
Well put my friend. You have some good points and ones i didn't really give much thought on because i just figured the next movies would fill it in like you mentioned that they might indeed do just that. But over all very well written.
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