Yea, I feel like another 15-30 minutes of set up for a lot of the scenes would have made it a great movie. As it was, I think it suffered from the same issues that a lot of sequels these days have; as the story arc becomes longer and more complex, each subsequent addition becomes more rushed to fit all of the salient points into a reasonable 2 hour-ish time frame. There's becomes so much ground to cover that they have to cut the exposition and transitions that tie the major plot points together to the bare minimum required to deliver a coherent story.
MaddocI'm Bobbin Threadbare, are you my mother?Registered Userregular
It's a good Star Wars movie, with everything that statement entails
It's a simple morality play, is more concerned with the broad strokes of the conflict than the minutia, and it's filled with fun and colorful energetic characters and action that will give it lasting appeal
Saying that this was worse than the prequels has gotta be internet reaction hyperbole.
The worst I've seen people personally say is that it's a good, B+ movie that could have been an A+ with some tweaks, which is kinda frustrating. I feel similarly, personally, but not as strongly as some.
I was tentatively tempted to say that after coming out of it, but then I don't dislike the prequels as much as most people do. I'll be interested to see how I feel about TFA after a second viewing (tonight). I always knew what the prequels were building to, and a lot of the dangling plot hooks of this are (necessarily) still dangling.
I'm not saying that to annoy people or to start a fight, just letting you know that the idea that people might enjoy the prequels more isn't too outlandish and isn't necessarily a troll.
The delivery of the opinion definitely lends itself to the latter option, though. And, really, it doesn't matter. I just felt the particular phrasing of it all was frustrating and wanted to vent in a way that didn't involve engaging a probable troll. If I'd wanted to start a fight, I'd have replied on Facebook.
Saying that this was worse than the prequels has gotta be internet reaction hyperbole.
The worst I've seen people personally say is that it's a good, B+ movie that could have been an A+ with some tweaks, which is kinda frustrating. I feel similarly, personally, but not as strongly as some.
I was tentatively tempted to say that after coming out of it, but then I don't dislike the prequels as much as most people do. I'll be interested to see how I feel about TFA after a second viewing (tonight). I always knew what the prequels were building to, and a lot of the dangling plot hooks of this are (necessarily) still dangling.
While obviously I totally respect that you may end up having this opinion
Saying that this was worse than the prequels has gotta be internet reaction hyperbole.
The worst I've seen people personally say is that it's a good, B+ movie that could have been an A+ with some tweaks, which is kinda frustrating. I feel similarly, personally, but not as strongly as some.
I was tentatively tempted to say that after coming out of it, but then I don't dislike the prequels as much as most people do. I'll be interested to see how I feel about TFA after a second viewing (tonight). I always knew what the prequels were building to, and a lot of the dangling plot hooks of this are (necessarily) still dangling.
While obviously I totally respect that you may end up having this opinion
I also think it is totally crazy bananas
I may end up recanting at a later date, and I'm much more generous towards the prequels than most people are. I enjoy the plotting and politics of the prequels, and the politics of TFA are deliberately pretty lacking. I'm also now mostly immune to the various horrible line readings in the prequels (and OT) whereas the horrible line readings in TFA (there aren't a ton, but they're there and mostly belong to Rey) are new and fresh and I have no callouses for them.
I also had incredibly bad seats in TFA, which I'm sure has an effect. That scene with
poe blowing up all the TIEs?
I can't remember it. I'm not sure I even registered it, because I was in the front row and the 3D was barely functioning at that range. I understand that there's some kind of visual component to this movie that I'm excited to experience.
Saying that this was worse than the prequels has gotta be internet reaction hyperbole.
The worst I've seen people personally say is that it's a good, B+ movie that could have been an A+ with some tweaks, which is kinda frustrating. I feel similarly, personally, but not as strongly as some.
I was tentatively tempted to say that after coming out of it, but then I don't dislike the prequels as much as most people do. I'll be interested to see how I feel about TFA after a second viewing (tonight). I always knew what the prequels were building to, and a lot of the dangling plot hooks of this are (necessarily) still dangling.
While obviously I totally respect that you may end up having this opinion
I also think it is totally crazy bananas
I may end up recanting at a later date, and I'm much more generous towards the prequels than most people are. I enjoy the plotting and politics of the prequels, and the politics of TFA are deliberately pretty lacking. I'm also now mostly immune to the various horrible line readings in the prequels (and OT) whereas the horrible line readings in TFA (there aren't a ton, but they're there and mostly belong to Rey) are new and fresh and I have no callouses for them.
I also had incredibly bad seats in TFA, which I'm sure has an effect. That scene with
poe blowing up all the TIEs?
I can't remember it. I'm not sure I even registered it, because I was in the front row and the 3D was barely functioning at that range. I understand that there's some kind of visual component to this movie that I'm excited to experience.
Oh god, the front row sucks. I hope you get much better seats this time. It might not ultimately change your mind at all, but at the very least you should be able to appreciate the visuals of the movie much better.
In one of Han and Leia's conversations, when they're talking about their son and how they dealt with their grief and eventually drifted apart, Han says, "I went back to the only thing I was ever good at," meaning smuggling. But then Leia says, "Me too," which to me suggests she's also turning toward a coping mechanism in much the same way Han had been. One can assume that when the new Republic was established, she could, if she'd wanted to, have a fairly powerful position in the new Senate. But, rather than settling down for what would be the equivalent of a "desk job," we instead see her still fighting as part of the resistance -- a path she knows best and which probably even provides a level of comfort and normalcy for her. I think it's strongly suggested that Leia is leading the resistance not just because she believes in its ideals, but also devoting herself to her work as a way of dealing with losing her entire remaining family.
I dunno. It's something I latched onto during my second viewing. I just really like how a single line of dialogue can suggest so much about a character.
All the way through, I found I kept thinking "damn, Daisy Ridley really looks a lot like Keira Knightley"
which led me to thinking that she is another member of the Skywalker lineage because they'd cast someone with a resemblance, until I remembered that Knightley only played a Padme double and is not, in fact, Natalie Portman.
So, you know, there's that.
The padme/handmaiden switch in TPM is very well done. I defy anyone to say they spotted it. I find it hard even when I'm deliberately looking and know which scenes are switched. It's easier to look for the handmaiden, it's impossible to tell with the queen.
I also had incredibly bad seats in TFA, which I'm sure has an effect. That scene with
poe blowing up all the TIEs?
I can't remember it. I'm not sure I even registered it, because I was in the front row and the 3D was barely functioning at that range. I understand that there's some kind of visual component to this movie that I'm excited to experience.
I had the same experience! I don't know if it was the 3D blurring everything out or if there was just so much stuff going on in the movie, but I barely even registered that scene until I saw a gif of it a few days after seeing the movie. All I remembered at the time was
X-wings showing up followed by Finn exclaiming about a pilot for some reason
The padme/handmaiden switch in TPM is very well done. I defy anyone to say they spotted it. I find it hard even when I'm deliberately looking and know which scenes are switched. It's easier to look for the handmaiden, it's impossible to tell with the queen.
As I recall, Natalie and Kiera's own mothers said that they couldn't tell the difference while on set
There are some occasions where I'm pretty sure it's Natalie Portman, because there are closeups. It's weird to think now that
A. Padme actually being the queen was a twist
B. It largely came off
i remember coming out of a midnight showing of the phantom menace and thinking it was everything and more. i was 17, had read a bunch of the tie-in novels, owned tonnes of reference books and other paraphernalia - had played the RPG as a Solo-esque smuggler - knew the canon inside out. i went back twice. it was star wars. nobody had told me to hate jar jar yet. it was the fleshing-out of a story i'd been waiting since i'd slept in luke skywalker bedsheets to hear. for me, caravan of courage was as much a crucial part of the lore (and vibe) of the universe as shadows of the empire.
i feel no different about the force awakens than i did about any of the other prequels. i have critical sentiments - i'm an english teacher, how can i not? as a screenplay it's better than any of the prequels, i think. thank you lawrence kasdan. it has a sense of humour for a change! visually it learnt a lot of lessons from the first, faulty 20 years of CGI. the motivations of the characters are strained at times in order to construct a text that operates as homage as much as stand-alone narrative. in that respect, it's very different from any of the first 6 except maybe Jedi.
but i still love star wars, and my appreciation for the franchise always comes in spite of critical second-thoughts. it's my generation's great escapist masterpiece - and to escape you need to succumb, to a certain extent.
i have been so pissed off that over the past 15 years you can't say you're a fan of star wars movies without having to defend or attack the bloody prequels, and george lucas personally. now that the force awakens is here i just hope that for a little while people can escape again
+3
Librarian's ghostLibrarian, Ghostbuster, and TimSporkRegistered Userregular
My Millennium Falcon for X-Wing showed up today and oh my god this thing is HUGE
And this is 1/270th scale!
That's a big ship!
My Force Awaken core set arrived today as well. It now joins the two standard core sets and various other ships I own. I should probably actually play this game at some point.
All the way through, I found I kept thinking "damn, Daisy Ridley really looks a lot like Keira Knightley"
which led me to thinking that she is another member of the Skywalker lineage because they'd cast someone with a resemblance, until I remembered that Knightley only played a Padme double and is not, in fact, Natalie Portman.
So, you know, there's that.
Well Portman is crazy similar in appearance too...I mean they aren't all twins or anything but all three could be sisters. Like somebody above said, all it took was a little make up and their own families couldn't tell them apart.
I felt like the TFA significantly undermined the OT until I read the theory that
That the Force is much stronger because there so few Force users left plus mysterious Force whatever. I hope they make that explicit because Rey picking up her powers so quickly is dumb otherwise. And I guess that can also cover Finn using the lightsaber effectively although I'm still kind of salty about that.
I didn't (and still don't) hate Jarjar, but Jake Lloyd as Anakin was a massive fucking drag. Although his reading of "I'm a person, and my name's Anakin" was pretty good!
I felt like the TFA significantly undermined the OT until I read the theory that
That the Force is much stronger because there so few Force users left plus mysterious Force whatever. I hope they make that explicit because Rey picking up her powers so quickly is dumb otherwise. And I guess that can also cover Finn using the lightsaber effectively although I'm still kind of salty about that.
using a lightsaber effectively would not require the force.
Sometimes I wonder why I disliked Anakin in The Phantom Menace, but have no ill-will for John Connor in Terminator 2. It's a very similar situation and both characters are rather hated by large portions of the fanbase.
Sometimes I wonder why I disliked Anakin in The Phantom Menace, but have no ill-will for John Connor in Terminator 2. It's a very similar situation and both characters are rather hated by large portions of the fanbase.
I've honestly never heard anyone say they disliked John Connor in T2. I thought he was great. He was realistically bratty without being too annoying.
Someone literally just told tube that he was crazy bananas because as of right now he holds the PT above TFA, although it was a subpar viewing of it. I did not enjoy TPM except for Duel of the Fates, but I don't hate on people for enjoying the PT. Hell, i really like the 3rd one myself.
I felt like the TFA significantly undermined the OT until I read the theory that
That the Force is much stronger because there so few Force users left plus mysterious Force whatever. I hope they make that explicit because Rey picking up her powers so quickly is dumb otherwise. And I guess that can also cover Finn using the lightsaber effectively although I'm still kind of salty about that.
Considering how much emphasis the Jedi Council put on training in the prequels (a 10 year old was far too old), Luke picked up his powers pretty damn quickly too. He had a guide through most of the first movie, so he didn't have much impetus to try stuff on his own, but I could see him going through a similar arc as Rey with discovering his powers, if he hadn't had Obi-Wan.
I don't like child actors. Maybe children in general, so...kinda eh on Lloyd for the most part.
Jar Jar is pretty terrible for the most part (that cartoony flip he does to get in the water was probably the first moment I frowned).
I did, and still do, like Darth Maul though, and am annoyed that he was wasted so hard
Someone literally just told tube that he was crazy bananas because as of right now he holds the PT above TFA, although it was a subpar viewing of it. I did not enjoy TPM except for Duel of the Fates, but I don't hate on people for enjoying the PT. Hell, i really like the 3rd one myself.
Blank said that he finds the opinion to be crazy-bananapants, as in "I cannot understand this opinion at all, it is entirely foreign to me". Tube doesn't strike me as a person particularly inclined to consider his opinion to be tantamount to his self or to take a reaction to his opinions personally. And, hell, Blank even said "I respect that this is your opinion". Like, it was so not a personal attack.
I enjoyed revenge of the sith until I watched the clone wars cartoon, which had so much character growth and change, especially in Anikin and Obi-wan and their friendship together, but then you watch RotS and they're basically back to how they were when Anikin was obi-wans young padawan.
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edit: but worse than the prequels? It was not.
It's a simple morality play, is more concerned with the broad strokes of the conflict than the minutia, and it's filled with fun and colorful energetic characters and action that will give it lasting appeal
I was tentatively tempted to say that after coming out of it, but then I don't dislike the prequels as much as most people do. I'll be interested to see how I feel about TFA after a second viewing (tonight). I always knew what the prequels were building to, and a lot of the dangling plot hooks of this are (necessarily) still dangling.
I also think it is totally crazy bananas
I may end up recanting at a later date, and I'm much more generous towards the prequels than most people are. I enjoy the plotting and politics of the prequels, and the politics of TFA are deliberately pretty lacking. I'm also now mostly immune to the various horrible line readings in the prequels (and OT) whereas the horrible line readings in TFA (there aren't a ton, but they're there and mostly belong to Rey) are new and fresh and I have no callouses for them.
I also had incredibly bad seats in TFA, which I'm sure has an effect. That scene with
Oh god, the front row sucks. I hope you get much better seats this time. It might not ultimately change your mind at all, but at the very least you should be able to appreciate the visuals of the movie much better.
I dunno. It's something I latched onto during my second viewing. I just really like how a single line of dialogue can suggest so much about a character.
So, you know, there's that.
I had the same experience! I don't know if it was the 3D blurring everything out or if there was just so much stuff going on in the movie, but I barely even registered that scene until I saw a gif of it a few days after seeing the movie. All I remembered at the time was
As I recall, Natalie and Kiera's own mothers said that they couldn't tell the difference while on set
A. Padme actually being the queen was a twist
B. It largely came off
And this is 1/270th scale!
That's a big ship!
It's kind of funny how much bigger the YT-1300 is compared to the YT-2400.
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
i feel no different about the force awakens than i did about any of the other prequels. i have critical sentiments - i'm an english teacher, how can i not? as a screenplay it's better than any of the prequels, i think. thank you lawrence kasdan. it has a sense of humour for a change! visually it learnt a lot of lessons from the first, faulty 20 years of CGI. the motivations of the characters are strained at times in order to construct a text that operates as homage as much as stand-alone narrative. in that respect, it's very different from any of the first 6 except maybe Jedi.
but i still love star wars, and my appreciation for the franchise always comes in spite of critical second-thoughts. it's my generation's great escapist masterpiece - and to escape you need to succumb, to a certain extent.
i have been so pissed off that over the past 15 years you can't say you're a fan of star wars movies without having to defend or attack the bloody prequels, and george lucas personally. now that the force awakens is here i just hope that for a little while people can escape again
My Force Awaken core set arrived today as well. It now joins the two standard core sets and various other ships I own. I should probably actually play this game at some point.
okay but you have to understand that other intelligent people don't have that response
Cause I was 6 years old and I didn't know movies could be bad until I was at least 12, after all 3 prequels were already out
Well Portman is crazy similar in appearance too...I mean they aren't all twins or anything but all three could be sisters. Like somebody above said, all it took was a little make up and their own families couldn't tell them apart.
Okay? I... do?
hello Hi yes they do
That's it. He had one good reading.
I've honestly never heard anyone say they disliked John Connor in T2. I thought he was great. He was realistically bratty without being too annoying.
Jar Jar is pretty terrible for the most part (that cartoony flip he does to get in the water was probably the first moment I frowned).
I did, and still do, like Darth Maul though, and am annoyed that he was wasted so hard
for me the only real inexcusable weakness of that trilogy is the lack of any chemistry between portman and christensen. blame the scripts.
Blank said that he finds the opinion to be crazy-bananapants, as in "I cannot understand this opinion at all, it is entirely foreign to me". Tube doesn't strike me as a person particularly inclined to consider his opinion to be tantamount to his self or to take a reaction to his opinions personally. And, hell, Blank even said "I respect that this is your opinion". Like, it was so not a personal attack.
Dude is as wooden as a log cabin
Everyone points to Shattered Glass, but there's a reason for that
He's real good in that movie