ST Which character most pleasantly surprised you?

Oscar Issac had proven to be a phenomenal actor long before Star Wars, so he was the only one of the new younger cast I had zero doubt about. It's because he's so good that I was disappointed at how marginalized he was, and very shocked to find out Poe was initially intended to die.

I really thought he'd be positioned in this film as one of the new "Big 3", but that was not the case.

I agree, Carrie was wonderful. I'm glad she surprised some folks, but I've watched her work for years so I know she's a good actor. Just a subtle, nuanced, but powerful performance. However she was only 57 when she shot this, and is younger than many of the "older" actors who've done SW. Her age wouldn't be a hindrance at this point in her career.

Harrison is the one who is KILLING it in his 70s. Looks amazing and in is obviously in incredible shape.

 

Performance wise Daisy/Rey. She completely owned the role and instantly made herself known as a star, in a Star Wars movie no less. Her character however, is about what I expected. Kylo and Finn on the other hand are very different characters than I was lead to believe from the marketing. Turns out, this was a good thing because they're both better than I imagined.

In the end I simply connected with Finn more; a purely good, brave, reckless and understandably scared soldier. It couldn't have been easy to balance these traits but John Boyega and the writers had me completely convinced he's a guy that will ALWAYS come back for a friend (not just Rey, but any of his new friends) no matter the risk.

 

Ren for me.

I'd seen enough from Boyega to know what his personality and charisma is like, which carried through to Finn wonderfully. I've seen Oscar Isaac in movies, so I knew what his chops were like. I didn't know much about Daisy, but I feel like I had a pretty good idea what Rey would be like based on what I'd already seen.

But I had no idea what Driver was going to bring to Ren. I liked his portrayal a lot.

 

Oh geez. I thought you two were talking about Rey not Leia. I guess paying attention would help. I think Carrie did good overall. But, she was her best when she was with Harrison. Their chemistry made their scenes work.

 

Finn and Poe. Lots of chemistry between them (actually Jon Boyega had great chemistry with everyone).

I really want to see Poe and Finn going head to head in Episode VIII.

 

Carrie and Harrison were magic. The energy in the theater, and the reactions, during all their scenes was amazing to be a part of.

But Harrison elevated everyone in this film. Seriously, all his scenes with every single cast member were golden.

 

I agree. Harrison's best role since at least Air Force One 18 years(!) ago.

 

Well I'm very partial to Harrison's performance in What Lies Beneath.

 

I think they did a decent job considering what they had to work with. Still she wasn't quite as commanding as I was hoping for and I wanted a bit more emotion in her scenes with Han. Maybe after all the tragedy and the time that had passed she gave a more realistic approach to their situation but I didn't want her to refer to Kylo as "our son" over and over and I wanted some more feeling when she was with Han and especially when he died. Overall her performance was just a bit lackluster for me but at least she showed up and did her part.

 

Dang I forgot about that one! That was a very good one. Okay, 15 years.

 

Do tell, what did they have to "work with"?

 

Well I'm not sure how much they were told but we don't seem to know if they were married. We don't entirely know why Kylo thought Han was a disappointing father or what Leia's relationship with him was like. Nor were we shown how Han left to go back to smuggling, did they argue? Did he leave without saying goodbye? Does she blame him for not fighting the FO and returning to his old ways of running away? It felt like there was a lot of very important background information that we weren't shown. Maybe they were given all of the details though.

 

While I think that's great stuff to have, I don't think Carrie nor Harrison needed all that to pull off what they did, very successfully. Neither has played Han or Leia with over the top reactions, so I think the more subtle, muted reunion was so them. But there was so much history, so much chemistry, so much depth in between the words. And hasn't that always been the case with Han and Leia?

Even without all the backstory, they had enough; Han and Leia are exes estranged by tragedy, who still obviously have a strong connection and a lot of love. They already bring the history and chemistry naturally, and all they have more than enough information to play the longing, sadness, and even the bite.

 

+1

Everyone was great but Ford carried this picture. To me it's his best work in over 30 years. The new cast was great but they also wobbled a few times (totally okay btw and expected) but Ford was there to right it every time.

Stallone is getting a huge push to get a Academy Award nomination for best supporting actor in Creed which is totally warranted. Sly was a fabulous as a older, grizzly Rocky. But Ford IMO should get serious consideration for playing a older, grizzly Han Solo as well. It is warranted for both parts. I cannot think a movie this year outside of those two that a Academy Award nomination for best supporting actor is warranted.

I know this is "Rey's journey" (and surprise to see it's also Kylo's journey as well, they are mirroring each other) but really this is Han's movie.

 

Kylo Ren because I just expected a Vader-like character, which would have actually been good, but his character has more depth to it than I first thought.

I can't miss out BB-8 though... just adorable. The part where he saw Poe and rushed to him was heart-warming to say the least.

 

Kylo real did surprise me too. I thought he'd really be portrayed as this already put villainous character ala Maul or Vader in ANH.

But, when he did the mind probe on Rey and he acted scared for the first time I was like oh yeah. Now that's something we haven't seen before: fear from the bad guy.

 

Rey was stellar, no doubt about it. The more I think about her, the more of an impact she made. Her character is a lot more complex than I expected her to be and Daisy Ridley did an excellent job, very impressed. Rey has definitely charmed me.

The writing really has to be applauded, the characters in TFA were all top drawer. I love the bromance between Finn and Poe. I think Finn is going to be a real star in the next movie (John Boyega is Mr. Personality) - the bit where he was goading Phasma was lovely, then his reaction to Han suggesting they chuck her down the waste compactor was hilarious.

I really like Maz as well - another example of top notch character design. Even down to the numerous bracelets she wears on her tiny arms.

Kylo - I was sold on him the moment he got his lightsabre out and started manically slashing at the wall on the star destroyer. It wasn't what I expected, and suddenly gave his character so much more depth. He's an interesting one, no doubt. Clearly very capable but also mentally unstable, deluded, insecure...I can't see a redemption storyline for him, because a lot of fans will never forgive him for killing Han.

It's like I'm writing that I loved everything about TFA, but I was just so happy with the way the movie turned out. It was exactly how I wanted it to be and better.

 

Poe was awesome! He was the most "nice guy" dude on all things star wars and God, how this suits him well!

Finn was awesome too. Funny as hell. Rey was very good, but all the mystery around her character kinda turns me off right now.

 

Finn, definitely. Wasn't sure what to expect out of him besides John Boyega's charming real life personality, since all they showed in the previews was him breathing hard and sweating (in almost every trailer - LOL). Finally, upon seeing the film, you could see he's going to be the personality of the series going forward and the one the average viewer can relate to the most. Even in the OT, you could argue it was hard to relate to some of the characters (a problem thoroughly amplified in the PT). However, with this film, it seems we finally have a character that is arguably a surrogate for the audience, something Star Wars has never had, and it's fascinating as we basically see everything through his eyes (mostly).

 

You're right, they're both very reserved characters emotionally and they did a good job considering the circumstances. I think I was just hoping for more when we finally saw them together again but that's my own problem rather than a fault of the film. I'm still adamant that Hans death should have gotten a bit more of a response out of Leia though.

 

What surprised me the most was I expected BB8 to be the likely comic relief. I thought OK he's going to be the comic relief while the rest of the cast is not. I didn't expect the funniest moments to come from the human characters but I'm glad they did. It really enhanced the characters, especially Finn.

 

I always thought Dooku had fear in his eyes when Yoda showed up, but tried to hide behind a thick layer of bravado that not even he fully believed. Hell Palpatine looked downright terrified of Yoda toward the end of their duel when Yoda managed to push back his full on lighting attack.

 

Daisy, John and Oscar were all brilliant. They were believable, fun, and they brought a lot to their characters. Also it was nice seeing Harrison Ford play Solo again.

Domhnall Gleeson did a fine job too, he was thoroughly dislikable. Adam Driver though, he was amazing.

So I think Adam surprised me the most, I was impressed by the complexity he portrayed.

 

I thought Leia's Yoda-like response to Han's death at the hand of her son was perfect; we needed that Force moment to remind the audience of her own potential.

But they totally dropped the ball with the reactions to Han's death. Leia should have had another scene displaying her grief, and there absolutely needed to be a moment of mutual mourning between her and Chewie. Han's death was extraordinarily well handled, but the fall out not so much.

Even Padme, who had a weak, sucky ass death had a resonate reaction, complete with a gorgeous funeral.

 

To hard to narrow down to one character :

Rey , Finn , Kylo Ren & Han Solo were all awesome & did a great job.....