ST Overall public response to new characters - your thoughts?

Rey does sell super fast though:

At Disney's retail stores, sales of Rey toys have grown three times as fast as those with other characters from " The Force Awakens." A $200 pair of figures, Rey and the robot BB-8, sold out within 10 hours of going on sale at the Disney Store website last month.
http://www.nasdaq.com/article/hasbro-disney-launching-new-rey-star-wars-toys--update-20160111-01301

 

I'm female and I don't hate Kylo Ren.

I'm also the only one in the conversation that seems to have a grasp on supply and demand.

 

Lol so we're doing the middle school "he/she is a hater" thing here instead of staying on topic and discussing it? Anyway, toy sales doesn't prove anything because they overproduced Finn/Kylo etc anyway and Kylo has a cool costume, lightsaber and also is a villain, of course his toys will be far more popular. Phasma for instance, is one of the most popular action figurine but that hardly reflects her role in the actual movie lol. People go for cool costumes and accessories more often than favourite characters. It's easy enough to understand that. Phasma's role was awful but her toys are mad popular, why is that? Finn/Poe/Hux etc have no cool toy selling factor to them, as simple as that. Rey will obviously be popular because she is the lead.
Anyway, people have been very warm towards every new character from what I have seen. Kylo has had the most impact in a very conflicting way. People either love him or laugh at him. Rey is pretty much the universal favourite and except for some people, I am yet to see any legitimate complaints regarding her. Finn, again, is more or less well-liked by people around me. Most people found him funny and relatable and people who genuinely dislike him, were against him from the start. Hux is a nonentity, nobody cares apart from Kylo/Hux shippers on Tumblr. Phasma is not really talked about much by general people. My friends loved Maz Kanata and BB-8. BB-8 was clearly the breakout star lol. Most people seem to like Poe and wanted to see more of him.

 

Following that link that was just posted, there's also a 75 dollar finn in his storm trooper outfit. Just saying.

The marketplace clearly underestimated Rey's appeal, I assume they thought that only little boys were into toys. So I would say it's safe to say they under produced her, big time.
Ren is always going to be popular, he's a bad guy, has a new suit, etc.
Ditto for the new order soldiers.
Many factors affect whats on shelves and whats not. I don't think Disney is stupid enough to let what toy happens to be hot dictate their planned trilogy.

 

The new characters is the main reason I think TFA is a great movie. it was one of the highest point of the movie.
It did not depend much of the original characters(which many sequels do...) but still not totally discard them.
I think I don't need to mention how each character was great.. Every one of them was perfect for me

 

Following the link, there's also a Black Series Darth Malgus for $32. That one is worth more than Rey and Kylo. Maybe they should rewrite Ep.VIII to focus on him.

 

I haven't heard anyone is real life who didn't like Ren.

 

Also, another thing about Finn is his attire is quite basic.. black shirt, pants and jacket. Kids tend to gravitate to figures that have unique armor, uniforms etc. Things that are eye-catching. I really dont think it's a reflection of his character at all. I almost gaurantee that if Finn gets some cool tactical gear or something to that effect in ep8, his figures will fly off the shelves.

 

This has been my experience as well.
Everyone I know who has seen TFA was talking about Kylo Ren's character and praised Driver's performance as stand-out, though not everyone was impressed with his looks.
I happen to be friends with two psychiatrists, who found Kylo Ren fascinating, spent an entire dinner formulating him and concluded that he was in dire need of psychotherapy lol.
Two people I know (a 29 year old woman and a 54 year old woman who don't know each other) were actually furious that he killed Han, but they don't dislike Ren for it which was interesting.

Some of the women in their 30's that I know talked about how handsome and charismatic Poe is, and how they wished he had more screen time. I personally am indifferent to Poe/Isaac, but I'm impressed that he made such an impact on these women with such little screen time.

Rey universally liked, but criticized for being "too good at everything."

People I know were either indifferent to Finn, or thought that he was funny.

 

If we're looking at toy sales to judge popularity, I'd have to say every character seems quite popular. Locally, I have yet to see a single action figure on the shelves other than constable zuvio. Everytime I've checked the store, every single other figure is sold out.

But more closely on topic, I quite enjoyed all the new characters and (almost) everyone I've spoken to in person felt the same way. I generally feel that Abrams and Kasdan did a good job with the script and the actors delivered. It was quite refreshing. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked Finn. Don't misunderstand, I didn't expect to dislike him or anything of the sort. I just mean that Boyega's performance really sold me on the character to a greater degree than I had expected. I actually liked him better than any new character other than Kylo Ren, who remains my favorite.

 

Rian Johnson is rewriting the script now and Kathleen Kennedy has said Phasma will be in 8 and 9 and play a bigger role. So I think that business-side really had some effects.

 

^^ Phasma has been a major selling toy since the very beginning and has jumped up higher now, if they really decided to do things for toys, they would have had at least a less awful arc for Phasma. Toy selling may affect things but not to an extent where Disney will literally switch characters around. That's just delusional. Also, all the rewriting rumours seem exclusively focused on Finn/Rey/Poe and expanding there characters so I am not sure if any "business-side" had any effects, especially since Finn isn't popular like people here are claiming. The podcast about rewriting rumours only talked about Finn, Rey and Poe, so they are probably doing well enough for Disney to invest in.

 

They cast a pretty big named actress to play Phasma after complaints about the lack of female presence on the villains side. They then added that character into more scenes. She was always going to have a bigger part in 8 and 9, sales had nothing to do with it.

 

It's a provably ridiculous premise. The toy companies and Disney didn't think Rey toys would sell, hence they didn't manufacture many, and they still wrote a movie around her. JJ didn't kill off Han because of toy sales. Maz wasn't created because LF thought 10 year olds would beg their parents for her action figure.

But why bother using logic. If someone really wants to "prove" that a character is unpopular because of toy sales (well, not actually toy sales because we don't have raw data, but through a lack of understanding of supply and demand), that sounds like the post of someone that's just hating.

To the overall thread, as I said previously, I think all the new characters have been really well received. Even characters like Kylo and Finn, who at least online divide people (but not in my normal world where both were liked overall with only maybe a comment here or there borderline negative), people care about the characters. TFA works, imo, primarily because the characters and casting was so spot on. Per tptb, we know that's their perception and it's why they're rewriting the script. It's why RJ seems to be a big stormpilot promoter. I mean, the top online ship doesn't involve Rey or Kylo Ren. That's how much love there is for Finn and Poe.

 

Yeah from my experiences most of the negative comments about Finn and Kylo tend to be from online fandom. Who, lets face it, tend to be much more critical and harder to please than your average moviegoer (and I'll count myself as one such fan to be fair). Even the "OOP Rey" thing seems to be mostly and online thing as well, and even there it's not a majority opinion from what I can tell.

It's not surprising that the characters and performances are particular highlights in this film. Because those have always been two of JJ's greatest strengths. Also dialogue, which was also quite good here overall.

 

SPOILERS BELOW This is just my personal opinion on the characters(that is what this thread is for after all and i have lots of thoughts on all the characters{I love Star Wars my ranking from best to last would be ESB, ANH, ROTJ, ROTS, and then after that the order matters a lot less, they swap places often for me but id say TFA, PM ,AOTC(I'm going off of the anti-cheese, mature cuts on youtube in HD, not the bluerays Lucas used, I highly recommend them and the despecialized editions of the OT). Please know it is just my opinion, and you are of course welcome to disagree with me. We are all fans of Star Wars:

BB-8: BB-8 was great, despite the fact that he was one gigantic toy advertisement throughout the movie. He had by far the best dialogue of any character in the film. He also made me smile when he helped Finn out and gave him the blow torch thumbs up seal of approval, I truly enjoyed that. It was funny and I laughed. He was really awesome and fun and a cool character.
This is a very minor complaint, but when Poe refers to BB-8 in the beginning of the film he says “Come on BB-8!” while under fire from the Empi- sorry the “1st” Order. Why not give BB-8 a nickname and humanize him a little and just say “Come on BB!” Did you ever hear any of our heroes in a battle sequence awkwardly calling R2-D2 by his full name? “Come on R2-D2!” Thats not what we’d hear. R2-D2’s nickname was R2. C-3PO’s nickname was Threepio. Why can’t BB-8’s just be BB? Honestly it would have been better. Then again no amount of sensible dialogue could have saved this steaming, bantha poodoo plot.
I give BB the same thumbs up seal of approval he gave Finn when all is said and done though. He’s a worthy new literal and figurative torch bearer for the next generation’s droid, R2 would be proud(if he was awake).
Han Solo: Make that money Harrison! You’ve earned it. He did a wonderful job acting and delivering entertainment, top notch as always. Despite Harrison’s prowess as an actor though, something felt off about Solo. This Han has aged thirty years, but has inexplicably regressed thirty years emotionally/character wise to “A New Hope” status Han. Somehow, despite being under the tutelage of not only Leia, Han, and Luke, Solo’s son goes dark side anyway and how does Han handle this? He abandons his wife and his best friend and his boy and decides “Screw it, let’s smuggle some CGI aliens around and just do that for a while.” To me that feels like the culmination in character growth of Han from the first three films was tossed straight out the window because whoever decided these things decided Han from A New Hope was the most popular flavor, so that was the one that was going to appear in the film. If his selfish, bizarre about-face in character wasn’t enough, Solo also becomes obsessed with Chewie’s bowcaster. THIS bit IS FORCED not once, not twice, but on three separate occasions. Cool, we get it, Han likes Chewie’s bowcaster. You know, the one he’s been perfectly aware of for over thirty plus years. Did that have anything to do with the actor playing Han? No.
Han(and Chewie) are in THE MOVIE to do one-off “remember when?” JOKES CONSTANTLY. The fans that demand Star Wars characters and their respective arcs be given the respect they are due are instantly insulted by this egregious use of core characters in such cheap, pandering ways. Respect the lore and characters of the world you’re filming, please save the campy, goofy bits for Disney TV. Some laughs are ok, don’t get me wrong. Humor is important and a few fun laughs add great levity to a high stakes movie. But the script abused this concept far too often at the expense of the characters, and I”d humbly argue that hurt the stakes of the film as well as the plot’s structure.
I think my favorite part of Han in this movie is when he aims behind him NOT EVEN REMOTELY LOOKING WHERE HE IS FIRING and nails a stormtrooper dead on with a blaster shot.
He can just close his eyes and blast away stormtroopers at will? I thought Luke was the jedi? It made my inner child/fan cry out in pain and it was clearly a “Han’s a badass” moment for fanboys. Han Solo was cheapened, in my opinion, because of this. He died a little bit in that very moment before literally dying minutes later.
The original cast was lazily dumped onto this film simply to appease Star Wars fans of old. They weren’t written in seamlessly, they were slapped onto the movie with the grace and subtly of a four-year-old glueing hard macaroni onto craft paper. And the handling of Han’s death scene was a freakin’ travesty. Han felt like a Saturday Night Live Skit version of himself. Because he was intentionally portrayed that way. No funeral for General Solo? Or even acknowledgment of his death? Or the billions of deaths from that quickly brushed over Starkiller-Base galactic genocide for that matter? Really??
“There’s got to be a way to blow it up, there’s always a way to blow these things up.” -Han-
I can’t believe this line was in a Star Wars movie. I’ve never seen a Star Wars film make meta Star Wars references, it was surreal to watch. The Force Awakens just doesn’t take itself seriously and this line is proof. Harrison Ford genuinely made me laugh, because he’s an awesome actor. Han made me cry. Except when he died.
Leia: They should have renamed General Leia “Exposition Organa” because she was in the film solely to vomit exposition onto the audience. To those bashing Carrie Fisher for aging and doing a “poor” acting job? “When 900 years old you reach…look as good, you will not.”, also that’s not even a remotely legitimate critique to make in the first place. Second, you try acting that exposition dialogue of which she was given four lines of at max and see how great you come across as an actor.
Leia hugging Rey and not Chewie after the death of Han(hugging a stranger for two seconds doesn’t count as recognition of Han’s death), quite possibly the rebels most prolific hero, was insanity to me. Holy Horrific Character Representation Batman! Han just died and instead of hugging Chewie(her and Han’s long time friend and fellow war veteran of decades), Leia hugs someone she doesn’t even know!
The old characters were a mess, and it was never more obvious then during that incredibly cringe worthy scene between Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher. That…whatever THAT WAS, was NOT STAR WARS. That “scene” didn’t have Han or Leia in it as far as I’m concerned. I’ve never see two actors spit more exposition and work harder for their paychecks than that. *shudders*
Lastly, whatever happened to Leia being force sensitive? Remember when Yoda said-
A huge storyline in Star wars is that there is a second force sensitive Skywalker(this is still cannon information even in The Force Awakens!). Luke goes on to tell Leia she’s only beginning to understand the powers she possesses. And then $tar Wars dropped that like a hot potato, simply because.
I think somewhere along the way JJ forgot he was making the sequel to ROTJ and thought he was supposed to create a remake flick of the original Star Wars film. And what I mean by that is, starting from day one, JJ WAS COMMANDED TO REMAKE A NEW HOPE and WAS FORCED TO jam tons of iconic moments from A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back plot points into this reboot masquerading as a sequel. Because that’s what was assumed would make the most money. And it did.
So to be clear Leia gets dumped by Han and decides not to pursue practicing and exploring her force powers(THE COOLEST GIFT EVER!) for thirty straight years and instead opts to be a “cat-lady-leader” of the rebel- sorry, the resistance even though she only has five minutes of screen time and about as many lines? And we‘re supposed think this is forward thinking, progressive, positive writing where women are concerned?
Chewie: Chewie now kind of looks like Chewie again. This wookie is more familiar than the one in the prequels and usually behaves like the Chewbacca of old. Sadly, like Han, the movie’s sole use for Chewie is to wink at usto remind us that this is Star Wars, and Han and Chewie appeared in previous Star Wars films. The amount of abusive, flat, not funny one-liners/moments that Han and Chewie and Finn are all forced to force on us make me cringe just thinking about them.
“Dialogue is really a function of character. If you know your character, your dialogue may very well flow easily with the unfolding of your story. Dialogue and scenes serve two main purposes: Either it moves the story forward, or they reveal information about the main character” – Screenplay: The foundations of screenwriting by Syd Field-

That author and screenwriter has the respect of people in the ‘biz like James Cameron, Alan Ball, and Robert Towne, just to name a mere few. This movie repeatedly and unabashedly ignored these two foundational principles of writing, it’s the equivalent of shooting one’s movie in the leg with a rifle and then asking it to run a two hour marathon.
Hokey one-liners and ancient Star Wars plot points are no match for fresh ideas and a well written script at your side, kid.
Moments with Chewie that stand out to me upon looking back are his scene when he is being tended to medically, and the nurse praises him for being “soooo brave”. Just let Chewie be a wookie, he’s a piss poor stand up comedian. The other is when Chewie grabs Finn by the throat(suddenly he’s the serious and violent wookie of old{like when Luke tried to put handcuffs on him}??) but then stops just in time to revert back to “silly nursery Chewie” so Finn can spout yet another painful, not funny one-liner. At times it felt more like Star Wars A Christmas Special Chewie than normal Star Wars Chewie, except the Christmas version was funny because he was so accidentally and horrifically bad(and IT WASN’T A MAIN ENTRY IN THE SAGA). The Profits Awaken’s Chewie moments were all intentional, making them unfathomable. He also seemed like he could give a hoot when Han died, I’d much rather have seen him go out in an explosive, kamikaze, woookie rage than see him nonchalantly growl his displeasure before quickly forgetting Han existed and randomly becoming Rey’s new and massive teacup poodle(and why the heck does Rey inherit The Falcon instead of Leia or Chewie???).
Luke Skywalker: Mark, you and Billy(where was he by the way?) and Harrison were all incredible role models to me growing up. You were my heroes, and you all still are. Mark, I saved the review of your character(of the originals! respect your elders) last because Luke was my hero more than any other growing up, and I had to save the best for last. Thank you for making my childhood special and helping me grow into the man I am today. I owe all of you guys, big time. *salutes*
Luke’s a myth now? WHAT?! It’s been thirty years, not three hundred! Trust me, it would be common knowledge that he existed in this universe. “What?? Vietnam happened?! I thought that was like, a total myth or something! Cuz it was like…forty years ago bro! Martin Luther King, Jr. was real?! Whoa bro….”
Give me a break. What Luke did by the end of ROTJ, along with the accomplishments of the rebellion, would be remembered throughout the galaxy for centuries to come. Lucas lobbed you a nice easy fastball right over the plate Force Awakens, and you couldn’t even make contact. I love Mark Hamill and what he did for Star Wars, I think he’s a great actor. I wish I could praise his acting in this movie, but he wasn’t given any dialogue or screen time so I guess I’ll have to wait until the next movie. But I’m sure his acting will be kick-ass if Disney actually lets him be in the next $tar Wars movie for realsies. The way The Force Awakens treated Luke Skywalker leaves me almost speechless, which sadly is more than can be said for Mr. Hamill.
Rey: I thought the actor playing the role of Luke $kywalk- er, Rey, did a wonderful job doing what was asked of her, my hat is off to Daisy as an artist and a performer. Ms. Ridley’s acting was powerful despite THE SCRIPT GIVING her ZERO CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT or adversity to grow and learn from. She made mountains of performance out of molehills of script/dialogue and I give Daisy Ridley all the credit in the world.
Rey on recounting how she escaped Starkiller-Base to Han: “I don’t know how and you wouldn’t believe me if i told you!”(literally says this after MAGICALLY learning jedi mind tricks). Yea, neither did the audience. Rey also MAGICALLY speaks beepity-doop(droid) and can speak wookie too??? That’s amazing for someone who has been living meal to meal and digging in sand her whole life.
And before one retorts with “Just wait and see in the second film, you’ll see how wrong you are!”?
Nah. If I sit through an entire film and nothing was explained(this is what happened by the way) the movie failed from a storytelling/script perspective and the excuse of “It will all be made clear later!” is, in reality, simply terrible writing and despicable marketing. When I find out later on in the second film that Rey was force trained a long time ago with Luke along with some force-sensitive wookies at the academy and she lost her memory and got stranded on “tatooine 2.0” down the road(or something even remotely similar to this nonsense{and heaven help us if that ends up being the case})? Then it’s already too late, that doesn’t magically justify this poorly conceived script. THIS MOVIE CANNOT STAND on its own at all AS A SINGULAR FILM EXPERIENCE, it’s a total mess. And even to the people who do accept this ridiculous “I have to pay for two or three movie tickets before I actually learn what’s going on in this world” mentality? This movie is a sloppily copied and cobbled together rehashing of the first Star Wars movie. It’s plagiarism, plain as day for all to see. In school you get expelled for doing that type of thing. Apparently in the movie making business you get applause for doing it?
“It wa$ obviou$ly a wildly intentional thing that we go backward$, in $ome way$, to go forward$ in the important way$, given that thi$ i$ a genre – that $tar War$ i$ a kind of $pecific gorgeou$ concoction of George [Luca$]’ – that combine$ all $orts of thing$.”

“I can understand that $omeone might say, ‘Oh, it’$ a complete rip-off! What wa$ important for me wa$ introducing brand new character$ using relationship$ that were embracing the hi$tory that we know to tell a story that i$ new – to go backward$ to go forward$.”

“I understand that thi$ movie, I would argue much more than the one$ that follow, needed to take a couple of $teps backward$ into very familiar terrain, and using a $tructure of nobodie$ becoming somebodie$ defeating the baddie$. – JJ Abrams-

The notion that one had to do a remake movie and copy the plot, character types, and sets of that first Star Wars film in order to establish new characters and tell his story is ludicrous and unforgivably unimaginative. Star Wars soared because of its innovative moviemaking and fresh, new trajectories. It was always showing us something wild and fresh, something we’d never seen before! For one to say he had to go backwards to go forwards with a movie is in fact not only incredibly unoriginal, but a complete and utter betrayal of what made the original Star Wars movies so great in the first place. To not go in a new, uncharted direction with this film was spitting on the spirit of Star Wars.
But where was I? Rey being fluent in over six million forms of communication, one of which is undoubtedly bocce, that’s right. For the record, NOBODY in the Star Wars universe SPEAKS DROID except other droids. Now one might argue back: “No, Luke could!” Wrong. He got translated dialogue on his X-wing’s navicomputer screen when R2 wanted to tell him something. Other than that only Threepio knew what the heck good old R2 was babbling and beeping about(you know, cuz’ Threepio is a droid…). The idea that someone can interpret beeps and boops is utterly ridiculous, even when suspending one’s disbelief watching a fiction film. Again, REY IS THE ONLY CHARACTER in SEVEN STAR WARS MOVIES to inexplicably be able TO UNDERSTAND and interpret droid BEEP NOISES.
Rey has zero training yet, a) MAGICALLY knows what a mind trick is, and uses it successfully on her first try(don’t worry the script has her add a not funny one-liner about James Bond(Daniel Craig was the stormtrooper in this scene) dropping his blaster too, so you won’t mind how dumb and implausible what just happened was). b) resists a sith’s mind probing(Kylo was trained by Luke freakin’ Skywalker since his birth people.) c) is an expert pilot of The Falcon despite apparently never really having driven any ships before d) MAGICALLY is awesome with a lightsaber and can defeat the sith knight trained by who again? Luke Skywalker. Rey has zero training/combat experience. Kylo has lots of training/jedi skills/years of development/training under Luke Skywalker and Snoke since his childhood. What happens? Kylo Ren, the trained sith knight, pretty much gets his butt kicked by a couple of completely untrained rookies. WOW. Why? Because laziness, thats why.
And don’t retort with “He was injured!” No. Not good enough. The guy can foresee and hold blaster bolts mid air, mind rape people, and petrify opponent’s entire bodies with the force(powers the Emperor could only dream of). PLAY WITHIN THE RULES and boundaries of the world YOU WROTE.
So if you’re buying that explanation you’re desperate for anything Star Wars and deserve the mediocrity wewere all served. As long as the movie shows a young woman kicking ass, it won’t matter how, or why, or if it makes the least bit of sense because someone is banking that nobody in our PC headhunting culture would dare question any representation of a female protagonist. Much like Finn keeps holding Rey’s hand, The SCRIPT keeps holding ours as it TELLS US HOW TO FEEL about Rey as a strong woman INSTEAD OF SIMPLY SHOWING US what a powerful individual she is(in my humble opinion that is sexist writing). The movie shows Rey proclaiming “I don’t need you to hold my hand!” to Finn at least twice, maybe even three times. My lord, how dumb do you think we all are? Rey is MAGICALLY incredible at everything(mechanic/pilot/fighter) and has zero flaws(this is a perfect recipe for writing boring characters, male or female). This is the “strong, deep, “flawed”, “relatable” female Star Wars protagonist we got. She was written like Superman back in the 40’s, invincible. Sad. Luke’s character was given loads more respect from a writing perspective. I know as a dude, if Luke was written to constantly babble about how awesome he was as a man, I’d be thinking “WTF? Can we stop wasting story time and just focus on him growing into a cool human being/jedi knight??”. Feminists(myself included)? WE DESERVED BETTER.
I’ll also remind you that Luke, after two films and four years of in-story development, struggles to force pull lightsabers out of the snow and gets wrecked by Vader at the end of the second film. ONE NEEDS STRUGGLES and failures TO HAVE GROWTH, that’s storytelling 101! Rey is an unstoppable swiss army knife where the plot is concerned and there’s no arguing it, and that is a damn shame. DAISY Ridley the actor WAS AMAZING. Rey the character was equally amazing, for all the wrong reasons.
Finn: John Boyega comes across as a strong actor in the new Star Wars. The idea of exploring the human behind the helmet of a stormtrooper is awesome, and exploring his previous life in a brutal, military regime was a genius idea! Sadly Finn shakes his PTSD just as fast as he shakes the cobwebs from that Tie Fighter crash landing and immediately transforms into the lovable boy next door upon defecting…
His “character” is like the seat of a ride we buckle into before we take off on some movie-roller coaster, a chair we sit in and go from one CGI action sequence to the next and the next. It’s why Boyega always seems to be huffing, puffing and yelling. He’s just reacting to action the whole time, that’s it. No wonder his “character” seems so forced despite such a rad young actor at the helm of it all. Sadly, all that talent gets buried under a LACK OF any real dialogue/SCRIPT.
Finn has inexplicable 180 degree turns in CHARACTER WITH ZERO JUSTIFICATION or motivation. We’re supposed to buy that Finn, kidnapped as a young child and then brainwashed and trained for over a decade to be a ruthless, apathetic killing machine, is incredibly charming, funny and full of personality??
Forced moments of excitement by Finn like “Did you see that!? Did you see that?!” or “Thats one hell of a pilot!!!” fall incredibly flat because you could care less about the shiny-but-oh-so-clearly-fake marvel movie CGI the “character” is commenting on(& as an audience member we have no idea what the heck is going on in the story thanks to the script opting for one-liners instead of practical, character driven dialogue). Again, not Boyega’s fault, he’s clearly a funny and engaging actor, he did an amazing job with the little he was given. But just imagine what John would have done if he was provided with a character instead of just a “character”.
Captain Phasma: This character was on the poster of the film! Yet… isn’t… in… the movie… We don’t even actually see her get dumped in the garbage chute. And for the record I’ve never seen a Star Wars character “wink to the fourth wall” and reference the fact that they are existing in the Star Wars Universe in any of the other six films. Never, ever. THIS FILM’S CHARACTERS DO IT ENDLESSLY(a complete betrayal of the stakes of the film).
Phasma was another massive pandering exercise in “feminism”. Look, this stormtrooper has boob plate armor, its cool!!! And its chrome!! And the leader of the stormtroopers is a woman!! YEA!! WOMEN!! “Feminism”!! STAR WARS!! THIS CHARACTER HAS TWO LINES IN THE FILM BUT IGNORE THAT MINOR DETAIL!!!!!!!!
She is the ultimate “badass” but instantly sells out the Emp- er, the “1st” Order when asked to by a couple of resistance scum? Just like that?? Wow, some character. I feel for any woman or man that watched this movie and bought the mouse excrement that was Captain Phasma. Gwendoline, I’m sorry this film didn’t see fit to give you dialogue or let you take your helmet off in this first movie, it’s too bad because you’re a lovely and talented actor. YOU DESERVED way MORE screen time, Ms. Christie.
You COULD HAVE CAST anyone in this role(including ANY MALE ACTOR) and it WOULDN’NT HAVE BEEN NOTICED or mattered. Think about that ladies and gents…If she wasn’t chrome and caped and didn’t have breast plate armor, you literally would not remember Captain Phasma’s character…
Poe Dameron: Oscar is super talented and does a great job, props to him. His character is incredibly forced in the script, like everyone else’s, and he has to say some incredibly painful exposition to Finn on Yavin 4-er, sorry, D’Qar. He disappears for over an hour before randomly reappearing but nobody seemed to mind. His friendship with Finn is also incredibly forced, just like Finn and Rey’s absurdly forced romance. “You got a cute boyfriend?” -Finn-
No! She doesn’t!! She’s been starving to death her whole life on a desert planet barely getting by!!!
*head reforms and then explodes again*
I’d like to note that the term “boyfriend” was never used in the previous six Star Wars films, now it has been. I wonder why. Cue another Goofy guffaw.
R2: R2 got depressed so he turned off for thirty years? Really?? Cool. Real cool. No really, that’s super duper cool yo, a droid with depression. Sweet.
Threepio: Exchanged his silver leg for a red arm. I bet his next big character development in the eighth movie will be he gets a purple heart after sacrificing himself in some way for the team. This movie loves it some “subtle” writing and “clever” metaphors. Remember the rage-y and chaotic Kylo saber reflecting his inner conflict? Or THE SUN BEING BLOTTED OUT RIGHT AS KYLO IS ABOUT TO KILL HAN(that’s the kind of imagery a twelve year old would write into a spec script by the way)?
General Hux: A whiny, spoiled, ginger-brat flavored Hitler with over the top nazi references. Watching Bill Weasley(a role Dohmnall was perfectly cast in) from Harry Potter shriek in a prepubescent third-reich-rage on a green screen yelling at a bunch of CGI stormtroopers who clearly weren’t really there, who then all sieg heiled, was hysterical. This is the new Empire? These are the new villains of the “First” Order? Casting young for the sake of casting young badly HURT THIS CHARACTER in particular. A much older officer would have been far more credible here. The writing and casting that gave us next to no reason to give even one f$$$, let alone multiple f$$$, about General Fux.
Maz Kanata: Lupita Nyong’o is extremely talented and does a wonderful job in the movie, I have no issue with the actor or performance given. Here’s what I do have an issue with: needless CGI. If it is necessary, say like when Andy Serkis played King Kong(hard to film a twenty story gorilla on set right?), then I’m all for it. However, if all the character does is crawl up on a table and take her goggles off?? Then I’d have much rather have seen Lupita in awesome make-up and costume so I could actually believe the character was in front of me, on set, on camera. Remember those practical effects we were promised?
One doesn’t have to add a token miniature cgi character just because. Justify the decisions made.
Supreme Leader Snoke: Let me guess, he’s Darth Plagueis back from the dead? And projects himself to be enormous because in reality he’s even smaller than Yoda? I hope for $tar Wars’s sake neither of those things turn out to be true. And why does he look like some weird, scarred Lord Voldemort from Harry Potter? I thought this movie was set in the Star Wars universe, but the film keeps referencing that wonderful world of wizards. Anyway, if there’s no point to the character being CG, why do it? Mr. Serkis is incredible and always will be, but there was no need to make him CGI in this movie. And if one gives me that wait and see B.S.? NO. I don’t give a gundark if it ends up getting justified in a later movie, I paid for this one, $23 to be exact. Just put Andy in makeup ok? He’s phenomenal with or without CGI.
Kylo Ren: Adam, I want to say something to you right off the bat here. If this had been a good film? The acting performance you gave on Starkiller-Base with Han would have gone down as one of the greatest moments in a Star Wars movie, IF NOT THE GREATEST. In a complete void with no stakes and no atmosphere and incredibly predictable beats, you brought such soul to set that day. As an actor, I COMMEND YOU. Now onto Ren.
I’ve never seen a Star Wars “antagonist” soon to be “fellow protagonist” whine about feeling light side-y before. That’s a new low of lameness. I see what they were going for, to be perfectly fair! One shouldn’t have gone for that though. The Emo Kylo Ren Twitter account that actually exists and the SNL skit about Kylo that Adam Driver himself performed is proof of this. So no…just, just no. Vader can’t stop slapping his knee laughing at this light side-y concept of yours, I promise you.
Vader to Maul&Emperor @ a bar: “And then he said he was feeling light side!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHA!!!! And he needed me to help show him the dark side again! AHAHAHAHAHA!!! I can’t believe that sissy is my grandson!!!! HAHAHAHA- URK!
*begins hyperventilating from laughing too hard into breathing apparatus*
Ren starts off incredibly cool! He stops blaster bolts, and while this was new, I was buying it at that point because IT WAS AWESOME. He read minds too, ALSO COOL. Then he takes his mask off and the rest is history. His helmet was only cosmetic, HE’S LITERALLY COSPLAYING AS VADER.
Why did Kylo scream “Traitor!” at Finn in an emotionally compromised fashion? Why would a “badass” of Ren’s status give a damn about a random stormtrooper’s defection and be emotionally hung up about it? Did Kylo have a thing for Finn? Given how politically correct and pandering this $tar Wars movie constantly tries to be, I ask that question with zero sarcasm. There were multiple laugh out loud moments of Kylo behaving comedically. Like Ren petulantly stomping about the bridge of a ship in his purely aesthetic mask for instance, or him having not one, but two separate lightsaber tantrums and destroying his own equipment in the process(what a horse’s ass). They even showed a couple of stormtroopers being embarrassed for him and walking the other direction. I’m aware they were supposed to appear intimidated. It DID NOT COME ACROSS that way, this part got loads of laughs in the theatre. Would anyone ever laugh watching Vader force choke an inferior to death(outside of the sadistic Salacious Crumb)?
Why does Kylo walk out onto that that rampart on the deaths- sorry, StarKiller-Base in the first place(other than to CLEARLY COPY EMPIRE STRIKES BACK daddy/son moments)? I’ll tell you why. No reason at all other than to have a pretty picture to stage the LIFELESS SCRIPT in. Luckily, this movie doesn’t ever worry about anything making sense.
And just how incompetent is the “1st” Order by the way? First BB escapes, then Poe escapes, then Rey escapes, each followed by a more hilarious than the last one lightsaber-temper-tantrum by the moody Emo-Boy-Band-Ren. I’ve never seen a thirty year old man play a fifteen year old boy so convincingly. That alone should get Adam an oscar nod. And I’m not bashing Driver’s acting. He’s a great actor, and does the most with what he was given and what was WRITTEN. He’s just horrifically miscast in a film with a BAD SCRIPT. Just like I would be a pretty poor cast as Princess Leia(I’m a dude), Adam is a bad cast for an intimidating Vader-type. And before anyone responds with “This was a different approach to a new character!”
Then why was he written, directed, and dressed like Vader?!?!
*head explodes*
Keep the mask on Kylo, please, for everyone’s sake. And when your mask is off? You look nothing like Han or Leia. Again, a huge miscast. He looks like Snape’s son from a Harry Potter movie(I’m almost positive now this movie thinks the characters wield wands, not lightsabers). Also, didn’t Luke already train Ren for quite some time? Shouldn’t he be somewhat competent at fighting and using the force? One minute he can predict and stop incoming blaster fire mid air and mind probe people and freeze their entire body in some sort of Petrificus-totalis(again the Emperor never exhibited this kind of incredible control of the force), and then the next minute he’s literally being physically overpowered by a ninety pound white chick. And FORGETS HE HAS godly force POWERS(remember how we talked about playing within the rules of the world written?).
Also on a side note, watching Kylo whack at his injured side with his fist to show how “hard” and “tough” he was? That was absolutely adorable. And if that wasn’t enough already, he does it a second time, I almost peed my pants laughing. And how about Rey and Ren having angry staring contests with SFX showing how they were “force mind-battling”? How lame can it get? Keep reading.
And why is Kylo originally named Ben? Han and Leia both have little connection to Obi-Wan(Leia has a small connection but never really knew him that well) Luke was the character with a strong bond with Kenobi(its why in the books Luke names his kid Ben…). Even when Obi-Wan and Co. go into the deathstar in ANH, it’s Luke that saves Leia, not Obi-Wan… Did you guys even watch the old films? Oh wait, of course you did, you COPIED THEM PLOT POINT FOR PLOT POINT, that’s right. I guess you just didn’t listen to them or pay attention as you lifted the visuals and general concepts. If anything Kylo should have been named Luke since Han has a strong connection/friendship with him(remember they save each other’s lives in the old films{“That’s two you owe me junior”} and {“Now I owe you one”}). I wouldn’t have named Kylo Luke, but it makes more sense than naming him Ben!
Ren is a cheap, knock off of Jacen Solo from Star Wars the expanded universe books as well as Darth Revan from knights of the old republic the video game. Apparently copying from the original trilogy wasn’t enough, one had to steal from old Star Wars expanded universe cannon books and video games too, which by the way have now been declared non-cannon. How very “1st” Order. COPY AND TAKE CREDIT, do it lazily and with poor execution at best. Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher’s pictures should have been on hand at all times during the casting sessions of Ben Solo’s character, and it really seems like they weren’t even on the table.
One last thing on Kylo and then I promise I’m done with this part. He gets stabbed in the shoulder by Finn, right? Kylo finally gets the better of him and instead of chopping him in half like anyone in a fight to the death would do the second they got the opportunity(Obi-Wan in Phantom Menace anyone?), HE grazes Finn’s back to leave him alive and then DOESN’T TAKE THE ONE SECOND IT TAKES TO LOP HIS HEAD OFF. Where are the stakes??? And we are supposed to think this Kylo fellow is a believable/competent character?

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This.

 

I respectfully disagree that sales(action figure sales included) have nothing to do with character creation/representation. Star Wars has a rich history of mastering that very art, and if anyone is better at it than George Lucas was, it is Disney. I say that with no disrespect, Disney's marketing team is indeed BRILLIANT. I respect how impressive their skills are at it, they spend a lot of time and effort researching what will be most productive from a business standpoint and want to reach as many demographics as they can. Again I say this honestly and without attitude, Disney is the best in the business at marketing and use the same principles Lucas did for all his six films, except they are better at it than he was.

May the force be with us all, fellow Star wars fans(everyone here).

 

Read this.

 

I did already. In my opinion Ben Solo more closely resembles Severus Snape than Han Solo. I am not the only one who holds this opinion(if you go read user reviews on meta critic sorted by most helpful, you will find plenty of similar views in there on his appearance. Other people are of the opinion he looks just like Han. That's fine, we can agree to disagree. I think he looks like Snape from Harry Potter. May the force be with you, and have a wonderful night fellow Star Wars fan

 

A lot of impossible things happened:

• Finn was marketed with the Iconic Jedi's Lightsaber solely to misdirect and turned out that he was just a Janitor.
• Phasma disappeared after Jakku and became ultra useless.
• Rey inherited the Falcon, Lightsaber, and Chewie.

So now I'm being very careful with character's basher, rumours, assumptions and marketing methods.

 

Same with me.

My parents are Star Wars's fan and they found Kylo interesting , "better than Anakin" (lol sorry Hayden ) and after I showed them the Saturday Night Live skit, they immediately loved Adam Driver and his acting talent.

 

People I have spoken to about the movie and new characters irl have been mostly positive. However, I've noticed a lot of the criticism of characters came mostly from the guys I know. The people I spoke with (approximately 10 -15 people) are at least casual Star Wars fans and are familiar with the the characters and have seen at least some of the movies; one person I would consider a more major fan as he's also read many of the EU novels and knows a lot about the SW universe.

Rey: most loved her and are convinced she's Luke Skywalker's daughter. One thinks she's a Kenobi. The complaints I heard were from the guys: that she was too strong in her skills and it seemed unrealistic/contrived for her to beat Kylo if he's supposedly so powerful in the force and has had prior training. The women loved her. One woman did say she thought Rey's character needed more emotional development, but she hoped to see that in the next movies.

Kylo: I've heard mostly positive things, especially about Adam Driver's fantastic acting skills. The criticisms I've heard were from guys who were expecting a badass one-dimensional villian. They didn't like his 'pull to the light' and how Rey beat him in the lightsaber duel. The women liked him. I was speaking with one of my female friends about the movie and we ended up confessing to each other how much we loved Kylo and how interested we are in his story and what happens to him. He is my favorite character.

Finn: again, mostly positive, many thought he was really funny. The criticisms were mostly from guys (again!). One guy compared Finn to Sam from LOTR and said Finn is the Sam to Rey's Frodo while another said Finn was weak. The women were alright with him.

Poe: both men and women were cool with him and liked him. They want to see more of him. I swear Poe is too charming...

BB-8: everyone loved him. Absolutely no one had anything bad to say about this adorable little droid.

Phasma: everyone agreed she was under utilized and the whole garbage compactor scene didn't help. One of my friends is a GOT fan and he was especially disappointed with how Phasma's character was portrayed.

Hux: most were indifferent to him. One person liked him and another thought he came off as ridiculous and funny at times, but most just saw him as a one dimensional space Nazi of sorts.

 

i was very worried before i saw this movie, considering the future of Star wars. I did not fathom how it could continue without its most important heroes. But Rey was.... amazing. She gives me hope for the future. my only sticking point is that Luke needs to live and have a strong role in this trilogy, and survive it.