ST Which character most pleasantly surprised you?

Finn was the biggest surprise. I was expecting Rey to be good and while I might not have had much expectations for Poe because his part wasn't as big, I still expected his character to be good. Finn however seemed a bit forced from what I had seem in the trailers and what I had read. I was worried he was going to be to serious and trained as a stormtrooper. I liked the insecurities and lack of understanding he had for things. Finn is a great character and I look forward to watching him develop over the course of this saga.

 

But you just said it: Padme's death didn't resonate with you. They had all this sad and wailing and great music but her death meant less because we didn't care. What matters more in a reaction to a death, your response or a characters? It matters more that I care about those characters. Leia's bit when she senses it through the Force and her recognition of it to Rey when she steps off the Falcon was enough for me.

 

BB-8. This is what a comedic sidekick is supposed to be like. Unlike Jar Jar, BB was genuinely funny.

 

Padme's death did resonate with me. I liked her as a character and found her demise quite tragic, and a representation of the overall demise of the ideology of the lost Republic. I'm talking literally about the way they killed her, the absurd "lost the will to die because my man turned bad" nonsense.

Leia's Yoda moment was great, as was the embrace between Leia and Rey. But I think something more was needed, especially, especially a moment between Chewie and Leia, the two people Han loved the most.

 

That I can agree on.

 

Man do I ever disagree. Padme's death…I didn't care about her character at all. Portman was barely watchable and she had zero chemistry with Hayden.

But hey, different tastes I guess. I cared about Han and Leia and Chewie so I felt for all of them. I could have barely cared less about Padme.

 

BB-8 surprised me simply by being really like that. Maybe if the movie had come out sooner, the remote control BB-8s I've seen would be a more popular Christmas item than those stupid "hoverboards."

 

Kylo for me. I've stated why a few times on these boards.

 

Padme was a very mixed bag, in writing and performance. But there was just enough there for me to care about her dying. I was also swept up in the overal somber tone of the ending of ROTS; so much tragedy.

But no, her death wasn't even on the same plane of effective as Han's. Which is why it's unfortunate that she was given a stronger, more resonate aftermath. I just think a little more could have been done following the tragic death of one of the most popular film characters in history. Some sort of goodbye moment, a funeral, a few words from Leia, a heartbreaking Leia/Chewie embrace, something.

But it's just one of a small handful of issues I had with the film. Overall it was phenomenal.

 

But see, his death was more resonating to me, an audience member. I can understand wanting a little short clip of Chewie and Leia hugging or something. That would have been perfect. But, movies are never perfect. And remember Chewie's little solitary sobbing. I loved that little bit. So a huge CG funeral and great music isn't necessarily going to make me like and feel for her death more if I don't care for the character much to begin with. Han I did and so those gaps in scenes showing somber reflection was bridged over by my own reaction.

 

Rey. They took a gamble on a complete unknown in Daisy Ridley, but the bet paid off handsomely.

I was worried about Kylo Ren as a character, but I love that he's absolutely psycho. That was what I wanted in the new baddie!

 

Rey totally! Bout time star wars wasn't just seen as a guy thing. Maybe now the ladies can get in on the fun and see that it's not just some boring thing that nerdy dorks are into. Did i mention Rey is awesome! She's a very enjoyable character who's also pretty and smiles nice too! I honestly think i might even like her better than luke! At least she fought with a lightsaber in her first star wars. Luke just whined about power converters and moped around alot.

 

Maz Kanata. Don't get me wrong she wasn't even in my top 5 favorite new characters, but I was really worried sick that this character was going to screw up the movie some how or just not work all (not just Jar Jar, but that Dexster character from Clones or even Boss Nass ... awful IMO). .

I was even bracing for it when they go to Maz' planet, like "here we go ... here comes the CGI buffonery with the weird accent ..." .... but surprisingly she worked alright. She looked like she was IN the scenes with the actors too, not that annoying thing that sometimes happens with CG characters where it just looks too obvious they are not in the scene and just an effect added in post production.

The immediate joke about the "boyfriend" (Chewbacca) kinda put my fears to ease, that she was a real character.

She wasn't anything great, she was basically sort of like a Diet version of the Oracle character from the Matrix movies, but she didn't like kill the movie or drag it down.