obvert
Posts: 14050
Joined: 1/17/2011 From: PDX (and now) London, UK Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: John 3rd quote:
ORIGINAL: Chickenboy We had some Disney Rewards money left from being former account holders of a Disney Visa card for years. I spent the last $30 we had for e-movie vouchers that gave us 'free' tickets to the movie. Just saw it with wife and son today. It was difficult to find a theater nearby that was showing it. Only 6 weeks after release and it's already rapidly fading from theaters. After seeing the movie, I kind of understand why. I'd rate the movie a 3 on a scale of 1-10, with 1 being the worst and 10 the best. Moments of promise with a bunch of non-sequitur nonsense standing in the way of an interesting premise. I liked the refocusing on 'the force' and the balance between the light and dark sides of the force. That exploration was unique and well done and walked back the episode I mumbo jumbo about mitichloridians being the ultimate purveyor of force powers. The 'connection' between Rey and Kylo Ren was well done as well and the interplay between them was solid. I liked Skywalker's character conflict and understood its relevance to the ultimate balanced struggle between light and dark / good and evil. His showdown with Kylo Ren was well done too. The special effects were marvelous, but there isn't a chasm between Star Wars special effects and other movies like there once was. Alas, the wooden and stilted character development so typical with Lucas' pictures in general was still, unfortunately, present. Meaningful dialogue that wasn't insipid or brazen posturing was short. I didn't like most of the rest of the movie. Too many unnecessary plot threads that didn't need to exist. Poor tactical and strategic leadership within the rebellion and the First Order. Contrived plot lines about poor upbringings yielding disgust for entitled bourgeois lifestyles-and the aforementioned and totally unnecessary political subtext and commentary about wealth. Inclusion of goofy species for the sheer purpose of plush toy sales. Unremitting noise and special effects with no discernible purpose. Limited advancement of the story arch beyond liquidation of key characters. I could go on and on. Not very good. I won't see it again-I don't need to. Unless I have some more Disney e-vouchers (which I won't), I am unlikely to see the next one in the theaters. Ditto! I understand why all of these things exist in Star Wars, but I agree with the critiques many of you have shared here. It left me feeling less excited than the last one. I did like Rogue 1 more than either due to the more serious nature of the struggle and the more consistent plot, goals and world view present. This is a rebellion, and it just too often seems silly! I get it's not for 46 year old adults, and has to play for 4 years and up, but it still can with some smart film-making and understanding of the world in the film. I feel, as many here have said, that the depiction of this universe is muddied by this film, so may plots left unfinished or rendered unimportant. So many of the characters seem like charactatures now. Those aspects were always there, but Han, Leia, Luke, Darth Vader nd many other more minor characters, were not. They were fleshed out and solid and complex. The one performance that stood out to me was Laura Dern as the sacrificial general of the rebellion. I did like the moment of silence (so powerful and underused) when she hit light speed into the New Order Battlecruiser. The moment stands out. It was still a fun experience for me, though, and I'll have to think about why this was.
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"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm." - Winston Churchill
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