ST Finn/John Boyega Discussion Thread

@Pro Scoundrel Are all of the character threads being started fresh?

 

Let's start with something positive. Our boy Finn is Force Sensitive.

"What’s undeniable is that in the middle of the battle, when the source of the navigation signal is changed, Finn has a very strong sense of where it is, and that’s knowledge he couldn’t really have unless he was using the Force. So, the story is certainly pointing that way, and then, in the moment of Rey’s death… I shouldn’t use the word death because death is a complicated word there… But in the moment — it’s not a death per se — when the life is going out of Rey, Finn can feel her and her last breaths. He stops and feels Rey. Chewie and Jannah don’t understand it as they’re in the frame behind him. When Rey is breathing what seemed to be her last breaths and almost all of the life is drained out of her, Finn can feel it." - Chris Terrio

 

I think Finn, as a character, didn't really get "off the ground". There were some really cool "buddy cop" vibe moments with Poe (or however you want to read into their relationship) in TFA and ROS, but they kept setting him up romantically or setting up a bigger arc for him and it just could never land.

 

He was relegated to a Tier 2 character, along with the rest of the ensemble. He was okay in all of three installments, but for me, not interesting enough to be a lead character. Boyega did a good job though.

 

Probably trilogy order.

right? TFA

wrong? TLJ

debatable? TROS

 

If people really want Finn to be more prominent in future stories, we should really try to make a push for LFL to make him a Jedi. It's the only way they'll make him part of the main story line. As long as he's just someone with slight Force powers they'll continue to sideline him.

 

It didn't help that each successive movie since TFA added more and more characters.
TFA was Finn/Rey reacting to the plot. They were the focus.
TLJ was Finn/Rey/Poe/Rian's Waifu/Holdo/DJ/Kylo
RotS was Finn/Rey/Poe/Lando/Lando's daughter/Kylo/a variety of other characters
By mutating what was essentially dual protagonists in TFA into a Frankenstein's monster by Episode 9, the focus shifted farther and farther away from two well written characters

 

I used to be able to say that this was the best non-Force using melee side scrolling fight we’ve had in the saga between two non-force users and how it was shot almost how some of the Jedi fights have been. Can’t say that any more and couldn’t be happier. Plays even better now that I know he has the some force sensitivity.

 

There were millions of Force sensitives in the PT era but only a few thousand got taken on as prospective Jedi. Apart from 'feelings' Finn never exhibited any other Force powers. First thing Rey needs to do is find one of those Jedi midichlorian testers to sort the wheat from the chaff.

 

@Ender_and_Bean

why do you post walls of gifs? is it really necessary, why not just post one at a time?

 

He's shown as much as Leia did in the OT, and she's a Skywalker. He just needs training like she did.

 

TFA is Finn's best movie for obvious reasons.

Before TROS I absolutely thought TLJ was gonna be the unequivocal low-point for Finn. It still kinda is, but TROS was very far from the return to form I thought JJ would give us. Finn's TLJ stuff is a pretty bad followup to his TFA arc and mostly bad storytelling overall, but RJ still at least seemed to recognize Finn as deserving of his own plotline and heavy moments. His time in Canto Bight was relevant in the way it expanded on the political/economical, class-nature of the galaxy and informed the whole "democratization of the force" theme. This could have led to interesting stuff for IX, but JJ just ignored all that. And he got the fight with Phasma that was too short, but IMO still pretty underrated. The choreography and cinematography of that fight are exciting and Boyega does a great job....his sacrifice scene was also a big moment for the character.

TROS....it was an improvement in some ways, mainly in that Finn is part of the team again. The FS stuff was a nice thought. But his story didn't really matter, and his actions felt even less consequential than they did in TLJ. Plus he and Rey's relationship had pretty much zero payoff despite the past two films' buildup. JJ ultimately did nothing meaningful with Finn's stormtrooper background or the experiences he had meeting slaves on Canto Bight or his relationship with Rey OR his force sensitivity. TLJ at least has the excuse of being the middle chapter and despite how badly its executed, does develop him as a character and give him new insight and experiences. But when it really mattered and it was time for some payoff, JJ did nothing.

TL;DR - TFA was the best for Finn. TLJ was a pretty bad detour for the character but IMO the fundamental pieces of his character were still intact and there was enough buildup to a hopefully satisfying end in IX. But it was ultimately JJ who dropped the ball by refusing to give Finn any kind of significant arc or ending point for IX.

 

TFA by default was the "best" for Finn. At least his character seemed to matter. We had good character interactions with Han, Poe and Rey. I really enjoyed those dynamic. I enjoyed the hints to his force sensitivity. I loved that he fight with Kylo. I liked how they were foil for each other. There were promising things that were set up which got wasted.

I think both TLJ/TROS did him wrong in different ways.

 

Same. I need this. What color lightsaber do you think Finn would have?

 

I feel both TFA and TLJ did Finn right. I’m TFA he was there to help Rey and get to resistance to SKB. In TLJ he developed as a character to be selfless and care more about the galaxy at large.

While I loved Finn in TROS with the material given he was utterly wasted. JJ made the decision to cement it that he’s force sensitive but then really didn’t explore it at all other than having him have a feeling about things. His presence didn’t add anything and not much would’ve actually changed if he hadn’t been in the movie.

 

A nice cyan would be groovy. Otherwise purple - not because mace but it just looks fantastic as a lightsaber colour. In all honesty though I’m not entirely convinced Finn will go the Jedi route.

 

I'd love that just so we can have more than just blue. I love that Rey had gold. John Boyega said he'd love to see Finn with a white lightsaber. Here's some fanart with various colors.

Spoiler

 

Rey and Finn fighting as jedi with yellow and green lightsabers would be awesome, I want these stories but also don't because it'll make me so frustrated with what we got in the actual films. :/

 

If they're given a good story like The Clone Wars or Rebels, I would be pretty happy. I'd have preferred it in the actual live action films, yes, but TCW and Rebels are both such good shows.