So I loved the movie.That doesn't mean I didn't see any flaws in it.
Leia's Space Flying Whatever-The-Fuck
Initially, it bothered me. A lot.
Then I thought about it more.
I thought, Leia is the general of a rebel army. My warrior brain said, if I was in her position with the weight of a colony on my shoulders, basically had magic powers I didn't know how to use, and my brother was like Gandalf or some shit, I'd totally have my bro teach me some things. I mean, at the very least, the Jedi mind trick would be good if I got captured again. And really, the floating thing is basically like calling a lightsaber to your hand, but instead you're calling your hand to something stationary.
Basically.
So what's wrong with it? Well, I can't say I fully understand the math and such in this article, but I think it's saying Leia could move in space, just not as fast as she did, thus making it impossible for her to actually make it back to the ship in time to survive.
I think that means that some of the other things that shoot in space are also problematic except lasers as they travel at or passed light speed.
I thought they were going to use the moment to end the Leia's storyline given the loss of Carrie. Now I'm left wondering what they're going to do about that.
Rose
I think it's great that they have an Asian character, but I'm not a fan of the Rose and Finn ship. I mean, Finn clearly had feelings for Rey. Did they think Rey should stick to the rule that Jedi can't have relationships? I mean, that goes against the whole idea of changing the way Jedi live in the future. And why can't Rose have saved Finn without being in love with him? We already had a love triangle with Luke, Leia, and Han in the original trilogy.
Finn
Finn was a rather useless character for most of the story. He probably should've died. I hope they do better with him in the next one.
Rey's Parents
I don't care one way or the other about Rey's parentage, but it's entirely possible that Kylo was just being an asshole to her. He's kind of the bad guy. He wants her to join him. He has an agenda that doesn't involve her being happy unless she's with him. Finding her real parents might go against his plans in some way. Yeah, they could be losers. She could even be another immaculate conception force baby for all we know.
Kylo
Kylo's character arc has been decently written. It's almost as if he's struggling to grow into manhood. Those pants though. Awful. He should fire his fashion designer. Don't believe me? Check out the proposed LEGO mini figure.
I hope he does actually grow up soon because the whiny teenager attitude is getting to be a bit much.
Snokes's Death
Snokes's death kind of bothers me, but then I think back to how Vadar killed The Emperor and I realize that a lot of the deaths of the sith masters have been rather pathetic. Darth Maul looked like he was going to be a formidable foe, but he didn't get far either.
Captain Phasma
Captain Phasma is a crappy character. Look, we all know her purpose is to look cool, but you'll sell even more toys if she's not completely useless.
I'd love to see a strong female on the sith side.
The Credits
The memorial message in the credits made me cry. Actually, there was a lot of time I was choking back tears because I fucking miss Carrie Fisher that much.
Plot
I think some of the things that people are complaining about with regards to plot holes will be answered in the third film.
They might not, but that's the whole point.
I find it exciting having no fucking clue what will happen next. Movies aren't meant to tell you what you already know. This was the most exciting Star Wars film I've seen in a long time. Yeah, some things could have been smoother. One friend's review covers it as he talks about there perhaps being too many subplots going at once and the transitioning between them being done clumsily.
Here's another good review.
Here are more memes. Many make fun of Kylo.
The bigger plot problem in the last two Star Wars films is that they keep recycling the story from previous episodes as the below meme borrowed from the Star Wars Sithposting Facebook group shows.
A list of things about the film that make me love it, but also make me unsure about where things are headed.
Fight Scenes
Yeah, I always love a good lightsaber scene. I know there wasn't as many in this film as some others, but it's good to change things up.
I enjoyed watching Rey show her fighting skill on the island. It actually doesn't take much to translate skill with one weapon to another though lightsabers are rather more dangerous than her staff. I've seen seventh degree black belts cut themselves with katana they've been training to use for 30 or so years. Realistically, it would be hard for anyone to safely use a lightsaber unless the force helps protect them from cutting themselves with it. Too much realism in a fantasy (yes, space operas are fantasy, not sci-fi) story detracts from it. It might have been nice to see her singe her hair or something though.
Rey's Force Lifting
I felt like the levitation of the rocks was too easy for her. It would've been nice to see her struggle with it a bit and maybe have to remove the rocks in small chunks to clear the path.
Porgs
They're cute, but I'm not sure they really add much to the story. I wanted Chewie to munch away.
The Milk
It was pretty savage seeing how Luke's been living on the island. We didn't see much of that need for survival skills with Obi-Wan or Yoda in their rather isolated places. There are a lot of funky creatures in the Star Wars universe, so the seal like animals don't bother me.
Final Points
I thought the movie could've been a tad bit shorter. I think it sagged a bit. I liked Luke's storyline, but they almost lost me on the way to the final battle because it seemed like we we already had a natural climax moment earlier as usually the big bad killing device is destroyed then the baddest dude is killed and everyone celebrates. As the middle film of a trilogy, I think it's supposed to leave us in the lurch wondering if the rebels will survive or Kylo's minions will crush the rebels once and for all. It had to continue until Luke had his final battle so Rey could take her place as the last Jedi.
The bottom line is that it's a divisive, subversive film and I loved it. It might not be your thing. That's cool. I feel like Star Wars has finally been brought back to life. Despite the recycled content, it looks like we may actually be heading into new territory. At least, I hope so.
R~