There are a million things I could say about this. Since I agree with a lot of the other comments, positive and negative, I´ll try keeping it under 100.000.
Technically, this is beyond doubt. I would say TFA is the new benchmark. I love everything about the design in general, my favorite beeing the new Stormtroopers. And since I have been one of the biggest critics of JJ Abrams let me say his directing is solid. Maybe not Oscar worthy but I´d say it is his best work so far.
I won´t comment much on the story, not because I don´t want to spoil too much, but because this is only the first part of it. There are some things I didn´t like that may make sense in the context of the complete story.
One part of the movie where I seem to have a totally different point of view is the charcater of Kylo Ren. He started out interesting but the moment he removed his mask the character was finished for me. What made Vader so strong wasn´t only that he acted sinister and evil it was that he had no face. Just this motionless mask without eyes, without expression. That gave him that little bit extra from just beeing an evil person. When Ren removed the mask and he had a face he became a young man with daddy-issues. He was finished as a villain, I couldn´t take him serious any longer. Having his butt kicked by Rey also didn´t help. And if she is anything BUT (!) Luke´s daughter it wouldn´t make much sense.
Concerning the death of Han it was Harrison´s wish to get the character killed long ago. But it should have been done diffenrently. Han was a crucial part in the SW universe and his death should have more meaning.
So is it a great movie? Yes. Is it Star Wars? Well, it has the right ingredients. If the story developes where I hope it leads than, yes, this could become monumental like the original.
One big advantage this has already over the prequels is the discussion and speculation it will spawn over the coming months. With the prequels everybody knew what would happen it was just a matter of getting there. This feels more like the original saga.
Review by FinFanBlockedParentSpoilers2015-12-23T11:57:56Z
There are a million things I could say about this. Since I agree with a lot of the other comments, positive and negative, I´ll try keeping it under 100.000.
Technically, this is beyond doubt. I would say TFA is the new benchmark. I love everything about the design in general, my favorite beeing the new Stormtroopers. And since I have been one of the biggest critics of JJ Abrams let me say his directing is solid. Maybe not Oscar worthy but I´d say it is his best work so far.
I won´t comment much on the story, not because I don´t want to spoil too much, but because this is only the first part of it. There are some things I didn´t like that may make sense in the context of the complete story.
One part of the movie where I seem to have a totally different point of view is the charcater of Kylo Ren. He started out interesting but the moment he removed his mask the character was finished for me. What made Vader so strong wasn´t only that he acted sinister and evil it was that he had no face. Just this motionless mask without eyes, without expression. That gave him that little bit extra from just beeing an evil person. When Ren removed the mask and he had a face he became a young man with daddy-issues. He was finished as a villain, I couldn´t take him serious any longer. Having his butt kicked by Rey also didn´t help. And if she is anything BUT (!) Luke´s daughter it wouldn´t make much sense.
Concerning the death of Han it was Harrison´s wish to get the character killed long ago. But it should have been done diffenrently. Han was a crucial part in the SW universe and his death should have more meaning.
So is it a great movie? Yes. Is it Star Wars? Well, it has the right ingredients. If the story developes where I hope it leads than, yes, this could become monumental like the original.
One big advantage this has already over the prequels is the discussion and speculation it will spawn over the coming months. With the prequels everybody knew what would happen it was just a matter of getting there. This feels more like the original saga.
So let the rumors run wild.