ST From what you know now, which aspects about TFA have you most excited and which leave you flat?

Only thing I'm even slightly concerned about is too many callbacks. But that's not going to ruin it for me, I may just roll my eyes a little.

We haven't heard a single bad thing about the acting, so that's #1 for me. The story doesn't sound very deep, but people are saying it's fun, which is fine by me too.

 

LOL @ Muppet show creatures.

At least those Muppet show creatures are really there as opposed to some CGI creation that doesn't exist like jar jar Binks. Long live the Jim Henson creature shop.

 

If all I have read is true in terms of basic story points then there really is nothing of any surprise since the previous spoilers covered the majority of it. Extra details that have come out set some context up but I am one that does not care at all about "spoilers" in regards to how I see the actual movie.

Give me the script and book and I can only comment so far. I have to see the movie to see how good a movie I think it is.

My gut reaction is that it's likely exactly what I expected it to be for the most part and based on JJ's track record I expect a good to very good movie but I don't expect it to have the greatest character logic or motivation but that will be left for the next movie to develop.

 

Updated flat
-No snoke info
-Finn falls in love with Rey for no reason
-Rey knows how to fight and survive beforehand, allowing for no character growth
-Maz! Older and bettererer than Yoda!
Rehash death star
Luke doesn't say anything

Excited
Everything else

 

Flat: Maz and Phasma

Excited: Kylo and, from a technical standpoint, the cinematography

 

I look forward to seeing this film recapture the swashbuckling flair and filmmaking brio of the original Star Wars trilogy. And in that respect, I think it will deliver. Abrams knows how to conduct popular entertainments with a manic virtuosity that has infused even his lesser efforts - Mission Impossible III and Star Trek Into Darkness - with a breathtaking sense of the spectacular. But he's not an auteur. He's not a filmmaker who pushes boundaries or explores new visual or thematic depths. And so what tempers my enthusiasm, and has from day 1, is the sense of artistic timidity that permeates nearly every aspect of this instalment of the now almost 40-year old franchise. Sure, we will be spared the dramatic longueurs featuring dry political filibustering or unspeakably cheesy love scenes - not to mention the pandering juvenile humor that effectively torpedoed long stretches of TPM and ROTJ. Yet the recycled plot points, some more egregious than others - Death Star 3, Tarkin 2, secret plans, hiding in the Falcon's secret compartment, etc. - which may be acceptable on a superficial level, leave me somewhat disappointed. I would much prefer a movie that captured the essence of the original films (and by essence, I don't mean reworked plot and recycled visuals), but took the franchise to new visual and thematic depths.

But at the same time, there is a lot at stake financially for Disney, so it makes sense that they want to play it safe with this instalment of the franchise. Can't blame them for that from a business perspective.