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Star Wars
Non-spoilery bit: Liked it quite a lot. Didn't love it, but don't regret ditching work for 4 hours to go see it.
And now for the spoilers...
How much do I love that Han and Leia were terrible parents? THIS MUCH. I hate it when everyone is awesome at all things, and given who they were, and their probable expectations for any offspring, I can easily see them screwing it up big time.
Feel free to discuss other things here, too!
And now for the spoilers...
How much do I love that Han and Leia were terrible parents? THIS MUCH. I hate it when everyone is awesome at all things, and given who they were, and their probable expectations for any offspring, I can easily see them screwing it up big time.
Feel free to discuss other things here, too!
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Toby's really hoping that when Luke starts training Rey he tells her that the standard Jedi line about not having attachments is BS, because that's what gets everyone in trouble.
(Really: the Jedi that seems to understand that best seems to be Kanan from Star Wars Rebels, and he and Hera are totally doin' it. Kids' show, so it's not overt but...yeah.)
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I can very easily believe that Han and Leia were... Not terrible parents exactly, but distant ones. Leia was always very wound up in politics and probably spent most of her time shoring up the New Republic/ fighting off First Order BS until she just went full on Resistance (it seems like?) Han was... Well, Han. It's not that he was a bad guy, but he just never seemed like he'd be the kind of guy to be happy being tied down to one place and handed a bunch of responsibility. Combine those parents whilst being under the pressure of not only measuring up to their "living legend" status as war heroes, but also expected to be one of the first in a new generation of morally upstanding Jedi enforcers, and well, we obviously see how that one can work out... Was honestly not in the least surprised when "The Walkway Moment" happened.
Also on the topic of Han and Leia, their few scenes together seemed so stilted. I know Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher probably haven't seen each other in 30 years and have pretty much no connection to each other bar the original Star Wars films, but surely their characters were a little closer to each other? I think both of them could have done with being given a bit more direction throughout the film TBH.
Moving away from Han and/ or Leia, I was pretty surprised at how many British voices were in this film on both "sides". I'm so used to movies just being full of the usual "Hollywood American Accent" that it was almost jarring when a different one popped up. Cool, but surprising. :)
I liked the character of Maz Kanada, but I hope I'm not the only person who thought there was a bit of Edna "No Capes!" Mole about her. I hope she makes a cameo in one of the next movies, even if it's just a wave from afar and telling her "boyfriend" to take care of himself. :D
I liked Rey. Think they could have done a better job at showing her figuring out the Force and that she could use it to do cool things, as it stood I didn't really see how she got from being able to resist Kylo Ren's interrogation to "unshackle me and get out". Also how the hell did she manage to hold her own in a lightsaber battle with someone who has had actual practice with one? Bit of Handwavium going on there.
Not sure about Finn yet. For the most part I got the impression of him being an overeager puppy let off his leash for the first time, but like a puppy he's not really trained to do anything so just ran around excitedly for a bit and imprinted on the first people who were nice to him (Rey and that pilot guy). Hopefully he'll settle down and get a bit of development in the next movies.
BB-8 was adorable and I want one.
I think I've rambled enough so I'm going to stop here. Overall I thought it was a pretty watchable film, though it suffered from the typical problem a first in a trilogy has with the need to set everything up and build some steam for the next movies and is hampered by the unrealistic expectations of rabid internet fans who can never be pleased and will compare everything to What Has Come Before.
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As for the battle: it bothered me a bit until I realized that Kylo Ren is angry and out of (his own) control, unfocused and all over the place, has just killed his dad and not immediately become the uber-Sith that he seemed to expect to become, in pain from being shot, is deliberately beating on his wound to try to use the anger and pain, and most importantly is also trying to take Rey alive, as he needs the map in her head. Rey has experience fighting with the staff (people tell me she uses a lot of staff thrusting techniques, but I never notice that sort of thing), is fighting for her friend, is trying to stay alive, and while she's not going out of her way to kill Ren (that's Dark Side thinking), she's not going to be upset if she does. She's also coming from a place of control, and that's the point when the fight turns--she relaxes and assumes control of her emotions (in a way that Ren can't).
Also someone brought up in the epic Star Wars comment thread on fanfare.metafilter.com the idea that the lightsaber itself may be imbued with the Force--when Ren and Rey were both using Force pull on it and she won, it's possible that it chose its wielder, in which case it could also help her in the fight.
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My housemate isn't convinced Rey is necessarily mixed up in the Skywalker lineage and may simply be one of the young trainees that escaped Kylo Ren's massacre somehow. I think I've settled on being indecisive on the matter because on the one hand I want Rey to be related to Leia and join up to kick arse in the name of family and galactic justice, but at the same time haven't the Skywalkers helped mess up the galaxy enough already? XD
I like the idea of the Force imbued lightsaber "choosing" Rey and helping her fight. I also agree Kylo Ren was not anywhere near his potential best during that scene.
Now I've had time to consider things I get the impression he was lured to the dark side to become entirely expendable, half-trained cannon fodder against his family and Snoke really doesn't care if that makes him unstable. Because it pains them to know he's helping to commit evil now (to the point Luke walked off to find that temple rather than try and recruit a new batch of trainees), but it'd pain them even more to be forced in to a situation where one of them has to kill him. Might even finish off their ability to continue putting up an effective fight (I mean Leia seems to be one of the biggest driving forces in keeping the Resistance and the ideals of the Republic going, but how much can one woman take before breaking?)
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