But you can’t make clones out of Han Solo.
It says so, right in his name.
I thought that was cool that he did stop a blaster bolt and it was something we haven’t seen before but having it just hang in midair forever seemed a little too much. Vader deflected bolts in Empire and was a badass, Kylo Ren made it stop because of rule of cool, I think. Maybe if it dissipated while Poe was captured or something. What is the life cycle of a blaster bolt?
I like his intro and it was very much in character for him to be in Solo’s way. I’m not so hot on the red arm because it seems (so far) like a change for the sake of change but the fact that C3PO would mention it because otherwise Solo might not recognize him was very funny. He didn’t really have anything to do after that though, which is unfortunate. I mean, there’s no reason for him to get trapped in a droid factory and have his head put on another droid or something stupid like that, but after his intro he was mostly inessential.
I saw it yesterday morning and really liked it. Granted, I’m not a stickler on some things. I’m incredibly glad I managed to see it before I got spoiled: I didn’t know what was coming and it’s been a long time since I’ve seen a movie unspoiled like that - I’d say Serenity was probably the last time.
I liked Kylo Ren: there was a comment when Leia and Han are talking about him having too much Vader in him. I understand why they said that, but my thoughts up to then had been that he was much like Anakin: throwing the temper tantrums was to me similar to Anakin killing the Tusken Raiders (though admittedly Anakin’s was murderous while Ren’s was simply destructive). Vader never tended toward displays like that, but Anakin did.
As soon as Han called out to Ben on the railing, I started thinking to myself “Ohgodhesgonnakillhanpleaseno”, and it only intensified when Kylo started talking about needing the courage to do what he had to do. Then I got faked out for just a split second and thought he’d changed his mind. Then he did it.
My wild speculation is that “Ren” is a historically significant Dark Side Force-user among Snoke’s people, and that Snoke suggested the name to Kylo for his new order. In the old EU, the title “Darth” originated from the Rakata word for “emperor”, so I could definitely see Ren having a similar origin.
IIRC, blaster bolts are supposed to be superheated gas or plasma, so presumably it would dissipate over time as it lost heat to the atmosphere.
I commented on it before, but I think that Mustafar was the moment that changed Vader from being full of rage to being cold and detached. Being crippled, getting stuck in a suit of armor, and spending 20 years believing he’d killed his wife and his unborn children must have broken him emotionally, to the point that he simply didn’t feel anything anymore when he ordered entire planets destroyed in the name of “galactic peace”. Kylo is very much what Anakin would have been if he’d escaped Mustafar intact.
I liked the movie, but it didn’t quite capture the magic of the original trilogy for me. I do have some questions to speculate on.
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Why hasn’t Leia trained as a Jedi? Wasn’t the implication in Return of the Jedi that if something happened to Luke that Leia could continue in his place?
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How does Snoke fit in? He isn’t a complete unknown, since Han and Leia were aware that Snoke was the one who had corrupted Ben. On the other hand, there will have to be an explanation of some kind as to why he wasn’t present during the events of the original trilogy.
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Why would Rey give Luke the blue light saber? Shouldn’t he still have the green one he used in Return of the Jedi?
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Who are Rey’s parents? It’s tempting to think that she’s Luke’s daughter, but would he really abandon her? My wilder speculation is that she is somehow descended from Palpatine based on how quickly she picked up her Force abilities.
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Is Finn able to use the Force, and will he eventually train as a Jedi as well? When Snoke and Kylo Ren talked about an awakening in the Force, it seemed like they were referring to Finn rather than Rey.
Leia’s always been a politician, not a warrior - if you recall, the first time we see her in ANH, she’s an Imperial Senator on a diplomatic mission. She’s better suited to calling the shots from HQ than being on the front lines. She may have had some training - she definitely feels the wound in the Force when Han is killed - but I doubt she’d be very interested in lightsaber combat.
Showing him his father’s lightsaber that he lost 30 years ago tells Luke how far she’s gone to find him.
I doubt Rey is related to anyone we’ve been introduced to previously. It’s remotely possible that Palpatine created her the same way he created Anakin, but my guess is that she’s just a castaway of no significant ancestry who happened to be strong in the Force.
Do you doubt that Finn is related to Lando?
Yes, he reminded me of how Anakin behaved in II and III, only this time, it was well written, directed, and acted.
I think Adam Driver really elevated the material with his quality acting. I bought his character completely. In fact, the moment he removed his helmet, I could see so much in his eyes, it really confirmed his character is awesome.
Yeah - I guess one thing I find a tad disappointing is that this is just one more datapoint of how out of touch I am with much of popular modern film. I guess that’s nothing new. It is funny, tho. Back at one time I was a pretty big fan - and reasonably knowledgeable about - things like SW, ST, and Tolkein. There is a small sense of loss when the way I liked to experience those things gets so hugely overshadowed.
Was a little disappointed to not watch RoTK, or beyond the first Hobbit film. But there were plenty of other enterntainment options.
Was a little different with all of the Marvel, X-men, etc., since I was never a big fan. I tried a couple movies, and didn’t care for them. Special effects at the expense of story telling. And they all impressed me as interchangeable. But I didn’t really care, because it wasn’t changing something I was quite fond of.
Oh well - no need to continue in this vein. Just because I’m an old crank, certainly oughtn’t keep everyone else from their fun.
With much of the trend of movies over the past decade or so, I’m finding myself more and more interested in “small” human scale movies. Watching a lot more indies and foreign films than blockbuster releases. And when I see a big release, to me it is generally just a couple of hours of escapist eye-candy.
“Here, you dropped this.”
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They decided she chose to not train as a Jedi.
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Great question.
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She’s returning it to him. It’s almost proof she was called by the Force.
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No idea. I think she is a Skywalker and her name is not Rey.
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I doubt Finn is a Force user. I did not get that impression regarding the awakening. I think he’s just our Han Solo guy, along with Poe Dameron.
Poe strikes me as what Wedge Antilles might have been if he’d gotten more screen time and characterization.
I love that the poster puts Kylo Ren’s Lightsaber just behind Rey’s staff so it looks like she’s wielding a Maul-style double-ended Lightsaber. I always thought that was a significant choice and I’m glad I turned out to be right.
I have no doubt in my mind that Finn is the offspring of Lando and Leia. It would explain why he:
a) is the only Stormtrooper in the universe to go AWOL
b) can master spacecraft gunnery with no prior training
c) didn’t instantly die when fighting Kylo Ren with a lightsaber
I’m also predicting that Snoke is like 2 feet tall IRL.
But having your computer go into “sleep” mode is an actual thing. “Dying of a broken heart” isn’t.
“Say, thanks! Have I ever told you that this here lightsaber is a symbol of my individuality and my belief in personal freedom?”
Not because it’s sulking. It’s not as though someone just tapped the “Wake” button on R2D2 and resumed operations.
I’ll agree that the explanation for R2 being quiet was pretty thin. A few more lines of dialogue would have helped there. Maybe something like “Master Luke ordered him to go dormant and he hasn’t moved an inch since. The science unit thinks he’s waiting for something to happen before he wakes up, but we haven’t the slightest clue what that something is.”
Also, was there an explanation given for C-3PO’s red arm?
I will actually defend that one. Being depressed over Luke’s absence totally seems in character for R2-D2 to me and strikes me as a nice touch.
No, he just said “Yes I know I need to get my original arm re-installed” or something to that effect.
Spoiler free review of the movie by the Screen Junkies, fwiw. Pretty much agree with this review on most aspects.