My attempt at a non-spoilery review:
Caveat: The sound in the premiere was terrible, which is par for the course. There was definitely dialogue I missed, I need a second viewing to see if it helps me understand certain scenes better. (Rogue One was like that, after the premiere my wife and I turned to each other and went 'meh'. After we saw it again a week later we turned to each other and said, 'that was much better'.) It seemed like the center channel took a crap during the film. I could really hear the right rear channel well thanks to my seat, though.
Comparison to TFA. Well, that movie was a reintroduction to the Star Wars universe and some loved it and some didn't. I enjoyed TFA more than I thought I would. This movie continues TFA obviously, but also pivots. It's darker and defines the trilogy as the Rey story. The prequels are obviously Anakin/Darth and the OT Luke. It's kind of the Empire version, but also not. If you expect any loose ends tied up you really won't get any of substance, to me it actually creates more questions. There is someone who answers the question of Rey's parentage, but I believe this a lie.
My favorite part: The opening space battle. And the last fifteen minutes. There is a lot of info in this movie, it's hard to process immediately, Rian did say you need to see it more than once and he was right. Yet I still feel I could have taken out about ten minutes total in various places in the middle and helped it. I do that with most movies, however.
My least favorite part: Two characters head off on a mission to find someone, traveling to a planet whose name I cannot remember. This was my biggest problem with the movie so far. The whole time they are there it just screams PREQUEL, especially their escape. Way too much bad CGI. Could easily have been shortened.
Humor. Perhaps a bit too much, some of it works well, some.....meh. But it is a movie in which a TON of people die and the mood needs lightening once in a while. Much discussion will be over the amount and type of humor.
Porgs: The subject of a fair bit of humor, but they aren't everywhere. Well, kind of in a funny way they might be, but they are in this less than I expected thanks to the toy market. There is one scene that the reaction to will be very divided.
Leia: Strong performance, especially after TFA. There is a late scene in this movie that may very well induce crying from some fans. I sat next to someone who did cry, but she told me she would in regards to any scene with Carrie.
Luke: Not the Luke we may want, but there is some good stuff here. Luke wil be the focus of much discussion.
Kylo: Great performance by Driver, especially later in the film. I'm not really a fan of his, btw. Even in person he seems very aloof and a bit cold, perhaps shyness in regards to dealing with fans.
Poe: Some questionable actions after the opening, I think the movie missed something between him and Laura Dern's character Holdo until the very end, that may have been me missing some dialogue, a re-watch is necessary to see if this opinion remains.
BB-8: Not in this movie as much, but when he is it shines.
R2 and C3PO: Not much with these two. R2 does have a nice scene with Luke.
Chewbacca: Finally hugs Leia. A couple of nice scenes.
Finn: Gets some good scenes.
Rose: She was okay as a character, probably a bit of her stuff on the editing room floor.
Phasma: The Boba Fett of the new trilogy.
Snoke: Essentially Palpatine with a different face.
Maz: A bit scene. Feels like a toss-in just to get her in the movie.
Benicio Del Toro: (I think he was DJ) Mysterious, like he usually plays. Not really sure about him, hope he comes back for more.
Cameos: I'm pretty sure I saw the Will and Harry scene, saw Gareth Edwards in a trench, never saw or heard Tom Hardy or anybody else. I was focusing on the movie.
Rey: Now officially the focus of the trilogy, but all the payoff will be in the next movie.
Overall: Enjoyed this quite a bit, I do have some issues like I did with TFA, but overall I think this will be well received by most people, especially the general moviegoer. I really do need to see this again, perhaps my opinion will change for the positive or negative, perhaps some huge plot holes will be more or less appparent with a repeat viewing, I don't know. I'll know Thursday when the wife and I see it. She knows nothing about this movie and I'm not spoiling it for her, and I really, really want to know how she reacts to it.
There were quite a few moments that were really awesome, and a few groans here and there. I found myself smiling quite a bit in a giddy kind of way, and a few moments where I was wondering why they did what they did. I can't wait for all the discussion. TFA haters will most likely still hate it, but it will also become a top three or four SW film for many. I'm still debating. Definitely entertaining, and going in spoiler free is the best way.
It also passed the pee test, as in there was no way I was going to take a pee break.
Edit after second viewing: I did post this later in the thread, but I enjoyed this movie much more the second time around. Still not perfect or anything, but much better.
Caveat: The sound in the premiere was terrible, which is par for the course. There was definitely dialogue I missed, I need a second viewing to see if it helps me understand certain scenes better. (Rogue One was like that, after the premiere my wife and I turned to each other and went 'meh'. After we saw it again a week later we turned to each other and said, 'that was much better'.) It seemed like the center channel took a crap during the film. I could really hear the right rear channel well thanks to my seat, though.
Comparison to TFA. Well, that movie was a reintroduction to the Star Wars universe and some loved it and some didn't. I enjoyed TFA more than I thought I would. This movie continues TFA obviously, but also pivots. It's darker and defines the trilogy as the Rey story. The prequels are obviously Anakin/Darth and the OT Luke. It's kind of the Empire version, but also not. If you expect any loose ends tied up you really won't get any of substance, to me it actually creates more questions. There is someone who answers the question of Rey's parentage, but I believe this a lie.
My favorite part: The opening space battle. And the last fifteen minutes. There is a lot of info in this movie, it's hard to process immediately, Rian did say you need to see it more than once and he was right. Yet I still feel I could have taken out about ten minutes total in various places in the middle and helped it. I do that with most movies, however.
My least favorite part: Two characters head off on a mission to find someone, traveling to a planet whose name I cannot remember. This was my biggest problem with the movie so far. The whole time they are there it just screams PREQUEL, especially their escape. Way too much bad CGI. Could easily have been shortened.
Humor. Perhaps a bit too much, some of it works well, some.....meh. But it is a movie in which a TON of people die and the mood needs lightening once in a while. Much discussion will be over the amount and type of humor.
Porgs: The subject of a fair bit of humor, but they aren't everywhere. Well, kind of in a funny way they might be, but they are in this less than I expected thanks to the toy market. There is one scene that the reaction to will be very divided.
Leia: Strong performance, especially after TFA. There is a late scene in this movie that may very well induce crying from some fans. I sat next to someone who did cry, but she told me she would in regards to any scene with Carrie.
Luke: Not the Luke we may want, but there is some good stuff here. Luke wil be the focus of much discussion.
Kylo: Great performance by Driver, especially later in the film. I'm not really a fan of his, btw. Even in person he seems very aloof and a bit cold, perhaps shyness in regards to dealing with fans.
Poe: Some questionable actions after the opening, I think the movie missed something between him and Laura Dern's character Holdo until the very end, that may have been me missing some dialogue, a re-watch is necessary to see if this opinion remains.
BB-8: Not in this movie as much, but when he is it shines.
R2 and C3PO: Not much with these two. R2 does have a nice scene with Luke.
Chewbacca: Finally hugs Leia. A couple of nice scenes.
Finn: Gets some good scenes.
Rose: She was okay as a character, probably a bit of her stuff on the editing room floor.
Phasma: The Boba Fett of the new trilogy.
Snoke: Essentially Palpatine with a different face.
Maz: A bit scene. Feels like a toss-in just to get her in the movie.
Benicio Del Toro: (I think he was DJ) Mysterious, like he usually plays. Not really sure about him, hope he comes back for more.
Cameos: I'm pretty sure I saw the Will and Harry scene, saw Gareth Edwards in a trench, never saw or heard Tom Hardy or anybody else. I was focusing on the movie.
Rey: Now officially the focus of the trilogy, but all the payoff will be in the next movie.
Overall: Enjoyed this quite a bit, I do have some issues like I did with TFA, but overall I think this will be well received by most people, especially the general moviegoer. I really do need to see this again, perhaps my opinion will change for the positive or negative, perhaps some huge plot holes will be more or less appparent with a repeat viewing, I don't know. I'll know Thursday when the wife and I see it. She knows nothing about this movie and I'm not spoiling it for her, and I really, really want to know how she reacts to it.
There were quite a few moments that were really awesome, and a few groans here and there. I found myself smiling quite a bit in a giddy kind of way, and a few moments where I was wondering why they did what they did. I can't wait for all the discussion. TFA haters will most likely still hate it, but it will also become a top three or four SW film for many. I'm still debating. Definitely entertaining, and going in spoiler free is the best way.
It also passed the pee test, as in there was no way I was going to take a pee break.
Edit after second viewing: I did post this later in the thread, but I enjoyed this movie much more the second time around. Still not perfect or anything, but much better.
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