Good review, Johnny.


In many ways the new film is as seriously flawed as the prequels, just in a different way.

The Force Awakens got the tone spot on, but the story is derivative and the bad guys seem awful, thus far.


You've got teenage parodies of Vader and Moff Tarkin. Ren has already been bested by a novice. Unless he kills her now, there's little way to restore his credibility (and that won't happen.) Perhaps he'll go to the light side.

PHASMA even manages to out stupid Jar Jar Binks. This is a character that has acquiesced to the killing of millions (you'd presume by the size of the Starkiller) of her fellow soldiers, and destroyed the strategic advantage the First Order have over the Resistance/Republic the first time a gun is held to her head. She's also so wildly incompetent she trains Stormtroopers who refuse to kill.

We're now going to watch the inevitable attempt to make her seem tough when she starts fighting in the next one, but it's too late. They may as well have killed her off.

The only story-line that would make sense now is if she was some kind of plant, deliberately undermining the First Order. She's tall...maybe it was Chewie with a dictaphone.

Let's hope the overgrown Gollum has got something up his sleeve.

The bad guys have a lot to prove for "The Order Strikes Back".

Yeah,

Once the "euphoria" wears off, this movie has lots to be desired. I'm already in a love-hate feel and i only saw it once. The Death/reveal was horrible.

So much was right - but like any film, it lives and dies on the script. And once they leave Jakku, that starts to feel a bit first drafty. Major conveniences, unclear motivations, choices undermining characters, pacing troubles - these are all issues we as screenwriters know. And they can be fixed, you just have to put the work in and not assume everything else will make up for it!

It's a well-directed, well-acted, enjoyable film. Just in need of a rewrite! But hey - that's Hollywood, right? Apparently even the near-perfect Pixar dropped the ball on The Good Dinosaur...

I Having seen it opening day, my first reaction was that it was good, but not great. A few days pass, and I am faced with a sad truth. I liked Revenge Of The Sith better.  In fact, I have no intention of seeing Force Awakens a second time in theaters. None. Once was enough. If anyone wants repeats viewings, knock yourselves out but....

Look, i liked Force Awakens, alright? But now I'm convinced that, in spite of of the first rebooted Star Trek, I will never be a JJ Abrams fan. Ever.

SPOILS AHEAD

So...let me get this right. Luke Skywalker disappears and everyone is trying to find him. The revived remains of the Empire, now known as First Order, wants to kill the last jedi once and for all. So, Luke Sywalker FAILED to teach Leia the ways of The Force. He FAILED Han and Leia's son who went over to the dark side and who killed off any other jedi students Luke was training (although I suspect he missed one). Han Solo, whose character arc in the OT was well defined, FAILED. He goes back to being in debt as a smuggler. Leia seems to have stuck with 'The Resistance' - wait a minute. You mean the defeat of The Empire at Endor was as liberating as we thought? Hmmm...oh yeah, Leia FAILED as a mother and as a JEDI.

R2 D2 is depressed. Refuses to turn on. C-3PO has a red arm because, metaphorically, his right arm (R2) is shut down.

and the Rebels, now the resistance, are outgunned and overwhelmed.

Welcome back, fans.

Great introduction to Po.  MIA during most of the film. Guy helps you escape, you leave him for dead and leave your jacket behind. Hell, you don't even bother looking for the faithful BB8. Finn finds the driod he's looking for without much problem.

The First Order wants the droid because it carries info on Skywalker's location. They knock out entire communities without caring if the robot might get blown up with it. But it's by reputation. I liked the upgrade, and the possibility of one or more could defect (I suspect Cpn Fassma one to either look the other way, given the fact that she caved into lowering the shields very quickly)

BWhy is a character named Kylo Ren? Why is he dressed like he is? Why does he worship the memory of Darth Vader? We find out that he was formerly known as Ben Solo but he does not have a 'Darth' name. He is, for the most part, not scarred so he really does not need this getup and, given his worship of his grandfather, isn't he aware that his grandfather still had reddeming qualities and chose to re-join in his final moments, the light side of The Force?  There's only but a few answers:

1-  It's a bad attempt at mis-direction on JJ Abrams part for a second film in a row, where a character goes by a  false name to conceal his actual identity. If he isn't a Darth yet, why bother changing his name and if he did worship his grandfather in that way, why not call himself a Darth? Darth Ren. Hey, that works, doesn't it? Folks have correctly speculated that he is related to the Skywalker line, so it wasn't a big surprise.

2- He's a Darth Vader wanna be. He really doesn't need the mask, and wears it just to be mysterious, even though EVERYONE knows who he is/was.

3- He's delusional and is second guessed by FO officers who love to give big dictator-ish speeches.

The squid scene didn't belong in this film. It kills the Raid actors in mere seconds. It drags Finn along and ....well, these creatures only kills the expendable characters I 'spose.

The telegraphing of Han's death. You see it coming, but there was no buildup to it. It's also not a hero's death. And I heard folks say "we didn't actually see him die" Yeah, well, Leia felt the disturbance in the force and Han was stabbed through the chest with a lightsaber, fell down the bottomless chasm and the PLANET BLEW UP. So, unless Han learned The Force and becomes a Force Gost or has a hologram goodbye, that's it for Han Solo. Least until his early years spinoff movie anyway, which now seems llike a moot point.

So what made the film worth my time? The actors. While I hated Attack Of The Block Boyaga was entertaining as Finn as Daisy Ridley's Rei is a great discovery. BB8 was also enjoyable.  I didn't mind some of the parallels between this and A New Hope. I felt they were different enough.

The film is a money generator. It does just enough to rake in the cash.

Star Wars had its day. It's time for something new.

Quoted from DustinBowcot The film is a money generator. It does just enough to rake in the cash. Star Wars had its day. It's time for something new.

MAKE IT SO!

oops, wrong universe!

Quoted from DustinBowcot The film is a money generator. It does just enough to rake in the cash. Star Wars had its day. It's time for something new.

You'd hope Disney would use the billions it's making from Marvel, will make from Star Wars, etc, and the creative freedom that financial security can provide, to do something other than finance live-action adaps of fairytale movies from its back catalogue. Take smart, considered but ambitious risks on introducing the NEXT generation of great stories and characters.

We shall see.

Most studio models these days use existing franchises to support new films...

Disney/Pixar had Inside Out, Last Dinosaur and Tomorrowland out this year and next year has Zootopia, The Finest Hours, Moana and Queen of Katwe on it's slate.

Should the mix be more orginal films? Definitely. Will it be anytime soon, no, not while current model works for the studios... Disney has just hit 5bn dollars for the year, why would it change?

Anthony

Quoted from AnthonyCawood Most studio models these days use existing franchises to support new films... Disney/Pixar had Inside Out, Last Dinosaur and Tomorrowland out this year and next year has Zootopia, The Finest Hours, Moana and Queen of Katwe on it's slate. Should the mix be more orginal films? Definitely. Will it be anytime soon, no, not while current model works for the studios... Disney has just hit 5bn dollars for the year, why would it change?

Of course it's showbusiness first and foremost. I get that. Any private company is accountable to its shareholders, their duty is to protect their profits and investment.

And actually I don't include Walt Disney Animation (and now by extension Pixar) in that. John Lasseter appreciates the value of an original tale, has done back since Toy Story. Pixar is a brand where people now expect high-calibre, original storytelling, which is why I'm slightly disheartened by the upcoming run of Finding Dory (Nemo 2), Cars 3, Incredibles 2 and Toy Story 4, with one original story in there. Even they're apparently starting to play it safe.

In terms of live action... I suppose what I'm saying is, where's the next original, surprising action franchise? The MCU has to date turned a profit of just under $7bn. But the comic book bubble will surely burst eventually. No genre stays on top forever. Queen of Katwe, the second upcoming live action film you cited, has a budget (according to Deadline) of $15m. Hardly like for like. Meanwhile, Jungle Book, Beauty and the Beast, Alice Through the Looking Glass (In Wonderland 2) are on their way, with Dumbo, Mulan, Pinocchio etc announced. And even on the Animation front, which I defended earlier, Zootopia and Moana are followed by Gigantic (a Jack and the Beanstalk adap, not IP), Frozen 2, Wreck-It-Ralph 2, and Big Hero 6 2.

I know that's probably just the way the world is, get in line and stop whining etc. But even simply as a movie fan, it's a bit sad. I guess it sort of chimes with TIME's review of TFA:  "somewhere along the way, Abrams begins delivering everything we expect, as opposed to those nebulous wonders we didn't know we wanted." I'd love it if studios gave me the future classics I didn't know I was going to fall in love with, rather than the big-budget pictures their focus groups, tracking and audience insights tell them I'll, to an acceptably safe level of probabilty to commit that investment, like.

All I know is that if you have kids and you tell them, oh my gosh, there's Finding Nemo part 2 coming out!!!! vs there's a new original movie coming called Kitty the Cat goes to space!!! Which one would you like to see? I'm pretty sure the child would pick the Nemo one. Unless they have never seen that movie and are unfamiliar with the characters. Same thing goes for me, sorry to say. I'll stick to stuff I know I've liked in the past. You can even take that out of the movie business and into any other business. If I go to a restaurant and I've eaten a dish there that I really loved, I'm more likely to chose that dish again, rather than pick something new and unfamiliar. I'll take that same theory to appliances even. I bought Samsung's washer and dryer a few years back. Best washer and dryer I've ever had. Super happy with them. I recently needed to buy a new dishwasher and went straight for the Samsung brand because I trusted them to be good. Fortunately, my husband did some research first nd learned that their dishwasher are garbage! But, that shows you how eagerly we are willing to pick something we've had a good experience with in the past over something new. I'm guessing that's why studios stick to the familiar the audience are most likely to pick. My take.  

Disney drops more money from its pockets than the whole Star Wars franchise in 1 week.

The slew of kids animated movie is the sludge pit of entertainment in my book. They just keep churning them out and the drones keep going and watching. Parents relish that the kids will be kept quiet for a couple of hours ( actually more like 90 minutes now). Pure shit in my opinion.

Actually I'm surprised these rubbish keeps making money as most kids now play far more mature games on the consoles. I guess they still like the cartoony things as well.

Quoted from Grandma Bear All I know is that if you have kids and you tell them, oh my gosh, there's Finding Nemo part 2 coming out!!!! vs there's a new original movie coming called Kitty the Cat goes to space!!! Which one would you like to see? I'm pretty sure the child would pick the Nemo one. Unless they have never seen that movie and are unfamiliar with the characters. Same thing goes for me, sorry to say. I'll stick to stuff I know I've liked in the past. You can even take that out of the movie business and into any other business. If I go to a restaurant and I've eaten a dish there that I really loved, I'm more likely to chose that dish again, rather than pick something new and unfamiliar. I'll take that same theory to appliances even. I bought Samsung's washer and dryer a few years back. Best washer and dryer I've ever had. Super happy with them. I recently needed to buy a new dishwasher and went straight for the Samsung brand because I trusted them to be good. Fortunately, my husband did some research first nd learned that their dishwasher are garbage! But, that shows you how eagerly we are willing to pick something we've had a good experience with in the past over something new. I'm guessing that's why studios stick to the familiar the audience are most likely to pick. My take.

Ha, fair enough.

It's that old business vs. art dilemma, I guess. Are films ultimately the same as dishwashers? Are we as screenwriters basically dishwasher designers?

My kids would pick both. With a dishwasher we only need one (most of us do anyway)... with films we can watch two if we please.

My point was that humans tend to pick what we already know to be good or are familiar with wether it's movies, restaurants, appliances or anything else. And, for the record, I only have one dishwasher.