ST Post your own personal REVIEW of The Force Awakens here!

Loved it? Liked it? Hated it? Thought it was okay? Mixed feelings?

Post your review of TFA here. Share your reactions after seeing the film. What did you think of the story, the performances, the action, the effects, the performances, the music? Do you think it will hold up to multiple viewings?

Please, no one sentence responses: It was awesome! It sucked! Tell us what worked for you and what didn't, if anything.

Most of all, please respect the reviews of others! No bashing of other posters' reviews or opinions will be tolerated!

Also, while comparisons to other Star Wars films are fine, BASHING them in your reviews will also NOT be tolerated!

(If you can't tell the difference, then avoid doing so altogether.)

 

If you're expecting a great/positive review, don't bother reading this. I'm not a hater either though. Let me start by saying that i wasn't a fan of TPM or AotC save for a few moments in those films, but i'm not a PT hater either per se, nor am i an OT zealot. I'm not pushing PT or OT or any sort of thing like that. Comparisons will be made and that's normal. Overall i think the OT was better but ironically enough RotS is my second favourite of the saga after ESB. If you'd like to hear an honest review by someone who grew up on/and loved the OT and also thought RotS was great too, then this review is probably for you lol. TFA was ok but nothing great. I'd give it maybe 2.5 stars out of 5, and hey, that's half a star better than TPM when i first saw it back in '99 lol! My review will not be in-depth, just a quick overview of my feelings about the movie, and i'll keep spoilers to a minimum. I went in open-minded, hopeful and with a positive attitude thinking i'd like it...but....after all was said and done....NOT! It felt more like a SW themed action flick with some Star Wars characters added on. It moved way too fast, it makes ANH look chronically geriatric by comparison lol. Lots of rehash with minimal character development. It almost reminded me of a flipside version of ANH with some dark elements tossed in for flavour, if that makes sense. It's the Star Wars version of ST:ID, i think that's literally a perfect analogy for how i feel about it (i'm surprised at JJ too, because i liked his 2009 Trek reboot, i hated ID though). I feel the same way i did after seeing TPM and AotC - let down, didn't really like it; but at least TPM and AotC had the Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan/Maul duel and the Yoda/Dooku showdown. It had huge holes, and unnecessarily too. It raises more questions than it answers, and there was no real connection story-wise, it seemed shallow to me, like it lacked depth and character. It felt needlessly open-ended in many ways, and i didn't think it was as stand-alone as TPM and ANH were. JJ left a little room for 8 & 9 to go in a few different directions, which is a good thing i guess. It didn't feel like a sequel to RotJ, and they didn't really need to call it Episode 7. It feels disconnected from the other 6 films. You'll see what i mean when you see it, if you haven't already. It's just a sense i got when watching it. It has it's own thing about it, like it could've just been it's own starting SW movie to a new saga, or maybe like a spin-off or something. It felt kinda Han-centric too, which i could take or leave, but since Kylo is apparently his son i guess that made some sense. Rey is "weird" with the Force, like she has dormant powers that she's just discovering or something. I didn't like that about it, it felt off to me, didn't make sense in relation to the story. TFA needed just a little bit more Luke time too lol. There is a ton of wasted opportunity in this movie. ESB and RotS are still the best of the saga imo. Sadly, i'd rank TFA down the list with TPM and AotC (5, 3, 6, 4, and then 2, 1, 7 in no particular order). I just didn't feel it with this one. Oh well, i'm not super shocked to be honest, part of me kinda thought this would happen to SW eventually. On the plus side, there's still a small chance that snoke could be Plagueis, but i don't really care anymore lol. Although if that turned out to be, it might actually be a saving grace since it would add some seriously needed connective tissue that seems to be lacking on the side of the bad guys. I'm not sure i like where they're taking the saga, something about it didn't feel right. Kylo Ren is a whiny weaselly chump just like i thought he'd be lol. His identity should've been kept a secret from the audience, they should've left the reveal for his confrontation with Han. The musical score could've been better too. I'm kinda hoping that Rian Johnson/Ep 8 can rekindle my faith, but i'm not holding my breath lol. I won't bother seeing this movie a second time at the theater, and frankly i'll probably wait for all future SW movies to come out on DVD before i bother seeing them. I've learned my lesson this time lol. I'll probably watch TFA again on DVD too just to see if my opinion changes, but i doubt it will. 16 years later and i still don't really like TPM lol. TFA didn't really feel like SW to me, that's my problem i guess. Anyway, i won't begrudge those who enjoyed it, to each their own. Like i've said, i wasn't a fan of TPM and AotC but some people luv those films. Like Obi-Wan said, maybe i'm getting too old for this sort of thing lol.

 

^posted by a Plagueis fan.... No credibility in my opinion

 

LOL you'll see for yourself. I'm outta here. It's been fun. See you guys in 2 years.

 

Looking forward to arguing with you about Plagueis in 2 years.
May the force be with you.

 

The Force Awakens is the best motion capture I have seen in my entire life, went to the cinema this morning and ended up watching the movie 3 times. It is all that the old trilogy was, it has a lot of humor and yet at the same time it is very dark and serious. Mind blown.

 

The movie suffers from several flaws in logic.

 

Sure it does, it is a fantasy. Care to elaborate what you mean, just curious. If you're a Star Wars fan and didn't like TFA then I have no words.

 

Just got home from the screening and it's 3am here. Enjoyed the film. Han Solo is a character I grew up wanting to be as a kid and it might sound strange but to see him die on screen wasn't enjoyable viewing, but I thought they handled it really well. One of the most powerful scenes of the entire saga. Great acting I thought to make it a very memorable scene.

Han chewie Kylo rey hux were big plus points for me, I really enjoyed their characters and performances.

Sure the overall story is simple and like the original, but it definitely has the feel of the OT in its looks and sets etc so it felt like the same universe and almost a natural continuation.

Big plot points like how did they get the map for Luke and how did they get his/anakins lightsabre went really touched on. They were just there or said they're a story for another time.

 

Alright, let's do this. Just got back from a midnight showing in the UK. I know this is a spoilers forum, but HUGE SPOILERS ARE BELOW.

What Made Me Happy

All of the first hour. I was giddy. Ecstatic. In fanboy heaven. It was furiously fast paced and it was so funny. That was the biggest surprise, actually. It's the funniest Star Wars movie. I laughed out loud multiple times.

The casting. Completely perfect.

The visuals. This is where the love shows the most. Almost every shot is beautiful.

The saber choreography. Better than both the OT and the PT.

The new characters. A few are instantly iconic, and that's very hard to pull off when you have the old cast sharing the film.

Kylo Ren. My favourite of the new characters. The best villain since Vader. Tremendous screen presence. Here's a funny thing, though - for all Kasdan's talk that "we've never seen a character like this before in a Star Wars movie" - Kylo is very reminiscent of Anakin. The writing and the acting are far superior, which makes all the difference.

Finn. The unexpected comic relief. Heroic yet a bit cowardly, and endearingly adolescent with his obvious crush on Rey.

The big death. Well, it didn't make me happy. But I liked how it was done, and how the backstory was delivered throughout the film. I read some critics call it contrived, but on the contrary, it felt pleasantly unforced to me.

The writing in general. Witty, economical and happy to poke fun. There are a few narrative leaps - like how Finn and Rey become so close, so quickly - that are no different from the OT, when you think about it.

What Made Me Nervous

Rey. Ridley was outstandingly good. And I really cared about her. But we are going to hear a lot of debates about whether she's a Mary Sue, and then we're going to hear a lot of debates about what Mary Sue even means, and it's going to last until Episode VIII and be very tiresome. She really has to be Luke's daughter with repressed memories (and frankly I don't know how else they'll resolve the mystery of her past).

Snoke. Not sure about his "giant Smeagol" look. I hope there's a lot more to him and he's not Palpatine 2.0.

Luke. For all the "ANH ripoff" talk, Kasdan and Abrams took some massive gambles, and this was one of them. I liked it. I think. This is one that needs time to reflect on.

What Made Me Sad

Phasma. She was basically product placement for her own toy. The "new Boba Fett" tag is laughable. Fett did much more with less.

The climactic X-Wing attack. Not very memorable compared to the starfighter action at the end of ANH or ROTJ (or even TPM). When Starkiller blew up I didn't get the fist-pumping thrill I expected. Unfortunately, I think that may be down to...

The score. Which I absolutely hate to say, because I was looking forward to it more than anything and I utterly adore JW's past work. I'll let the musical experts dissect what worked and didn't. I don't want to dwell on it too much.

 

Um, when the book comes out can I post a link to my book review?

 

6/10

Positives-

Kylo is good.
Finn is funny.
The Lightsaber fights are cool.

Negatives-

Music is bad.
Nothing is explained, LOST style.
Rerun of ANH's story.

 

Loved it. Having grown up with the prequels myself, and seeing the Phantom Menace first, I did not have the nostalgia factor when I went to this film. On a rank of all 7 movies, I would put it in second place, behind the Empire Strikes Back.
I loved the new characters, and was sad to see some go.
The film looked beautiful (especially on an IMAX screen) and had an overall good pace.
Were there some flaws, probably but I didn't notice or think about them when I was watching the movie. As a fan who loves ALL 7 movies myself, even I can say that this film was better then the PT.
overall it's a great experience at the cinema and I highly recommend it.

Overall rating: 9,5 out of 10

Pros:
- Great acting
- Lovable Heroes
- Kylo Ren is awesome
- Special effect were amazing
- Story, while similar, still great (it is like poetry and it does rhyme )
- It delivers on my personal expectations

Cons:
- Just a cameo by one single bearded individual
- Weird scene in the middle of the movie which felt out of place for me (one with our favourite smuggler, a Wookie and our heroes)
- Some characters felt a bit sidelined

BTW: one thing that I noticed was that R2 looked weired in this film. I can't really put my finger on it but his appearance seems to (in my opinion) not be the same as the one in the OT and the PT.

 

Will wait till I've seen it again before more detailed thoughts but I loved it. It's got a few issues (mostly to do with pacing for me) but holy **** is it SW.

Thrilling, witty, heartbreaking and full of heart and hope. Having read a lot of the reviews I can see all the positives and pretty much all the negatives too, but for me, it mostly worked like absolute gangbusters.

I'd rate it at number 3, behind ESB and ANH. It has none of the problems of the PT or Jedi (and perhaps even Empire at the time of release in that it leaves you with as many questions as answers)though it has its own flaws and I wouldn't strongly disagree with anyone who felt them more keenly than I do.

But the many strengths are right up there with the best of the saga for me and what I love most is the characters. I love the old and I adore the new.

Cannot wait to see where Rian takes them. They are well written (on the whole) and very well cast and performed.

SW is back.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Satipo I was just about to message you to ask if you'd seen the film yet, as I've really valued your opinions over the past year. Really glad to hear you liked it.

 

So many issues with the film. I will make a detailed review later. But CGI dumb Snoke, predictable Han death, Rey OBVIOUS Luke daughter storyline without confirming to the audience, Finn and Rey being able to hold their own against Ben Solo who was trained by LUKE SKYWALKER makes no sense, Rey becoming a Jedi Master in 10 seconds, Luke 20 second non-dialogue cameo, a scene which literally shows Starkiller base is bigger than death star just to try to prove to the audience that THIS IS BIGGER AND BETTERER, the horrible timing of revealing moments, rehash & safe reboot plot, Finn's dumb character that seemed out of place (the movie would worked just as well if it was just Rey & BB-8), no explaination of anything the fans were wondering like what was the Knights of the Ren ? Who is Snoke ? Is he a Sith ? Is he Plagiues ? If so, how did he survive ? Why did Han and Leia's kid go bad ? Why is he so angry and suffering ? Why does Kylo wear the helmet ? Why is his lightsaber different - did he build it himself ? Was an ancient Sith artifact ?

And lets not forget , or in fact lets DO forget the crappy score that I can't remember a piece of any of it afterwards. Thats how bland it was.

What about Phantasm ? I read so much stuff here where fans are SOOOOO looking forward to her character and speculating all kinds of non-sense. She has three scenes at most, a few lines of dialogue and is implied she is thrown in a garbage compactor as a wink to the camera from ANH. LAME - Abrams...Very very lame. Poe Dameron - what a goofball character. Just reminds me of an 'all american hero' captain america wannabe. Then some weird love hug with Finn toward the end that was kinda out of nowhere.

And how about making up a clear cut objective in the film. Does Leia want Han to blow up Starkiller base or save their son - because both is a cop out.

I did enjoy Hux, believe it or not. Great actor man, he really got into that role. That speech to the stormtroopers was very hitler-esque. I am happy that there is Vader grandchildren running around. Star Wars has always been a generational type of thing. Father and Son story built the foundation. Really really smiled when Han yelled his real son's name - BEN! Ben Solo, that is incredible. Kylo Ren was a deep interesting character - but I do have my complaints about the delivery. Adam Driver was the best part of the film. Really liked Han and Chewie too. The lightsaber fight colors cinematopgraphy in the woods was pretty spectacular to watch.

Grade: D+
(To be fair I gave the same thing to Phantom Menace)

 

Was going to say something similar!

 

I agree with all of this but I think D- is too harsh.

I think it's gonna take a month or so for most of the fanboys to take off the blinders and agree with us though, lol.

 

Personally, I loved it. I spent the whole film with either a big grin on my face or welling up because of the emotion on screen. And that is what I missed with the prequels. I was posting here back in the day and really looked forward to TPM, AoTC and RoTS but none of them really captured the emotion that I expected to feel with a Star Wars film (apart from the end of RoTS with it's obvious torch handing to the Original Trilogy).

Rey is great - she's the one on the Hero's journey and carries it off perfectly.
Finn - cool guy and you really feel for him when you see he doesn't want to be a Stormtrooper.
Kylo Ren - interesting character - the conflict in him is much more obvious than it was with Anakin.

I saw the death of Solo coming but even in the last few seconds I thought "Is he really going to do it?" and when he does and we see the look on Solo's face. Awesome, sad and a fitting end to the character.

Loved Chewie as always.

As another poster here has said, I wasn't that impressed with the score. It re-uses classic music here and there to great effect (Rey force grabbing the saber, lighting it up and striking a battle pose with the music welling up was great).

The scene with the monsters on Solo's new freighter and the opposing pirate gangs seemed a bit out of place but nonetheless was fun.

I had hope for more Luke but based on comments from JJ Abrams was prepared for him being just a cameo.

I can't wait to see it again - if anything just to see Rey's Force vision about the past again. That went by so quick!

 

Nostalgia will blind them or they have to leave their brain at the door.

I honestly, have no clue what others think. But for me personally, it was a disappointment.

The Prequels have an excuse.... Lucas had to match them up with the original trilogy. Prequels had to create a story from literally being painted into a corner. The sequel trilogy has absolutely no excuse. They have all the money in the world, they can take the characters in any direction. They can do whatever they want - and THIS is the BEST they can do , are you freaking kidding me ?!??!?! It just seems they wanted to do a safe reboot - so in order to do that, they just had to copy off of the original trilogy. It felt like they ripped off elements from each different OT movie rolled into one movie.

 

Loved it! Solid 8.5

 

Repost from the PT forum after request from OP:

 

Yeah - I would go 8.5. There are some issues for sure, but for me, the very many positives far outweigh the bad. And this is no PT film again. This is SW. For me anyway. What I'm most excited about is having characters I love again to root for and against. Snoke is pretty much original Emperor in ESB level, so I get nothing hugely strong one way or the other from him in this one. Hux was the only one I felt was a little weak in parts, but that rest were great. I think Bryan Young is close in his review - there are parts where JJ doesn't let the action breathe or build-up quite enough, and I would agree that Rey's tapping into the Force could be better set up, but to suggest she is a Jedi Master is crazy. She is very strong in the Force (an instinctive match for Kylo) and that aspect is well set up - and Kylo is wounded for the entirety of the fights with Finn and Rey, plus the staging of the fight was excellent.

I dunno, if people were disappointed, I can see that, especially if one is invested in certain outcomes - it really is Skellig Luke (but it totally worked for me), Han does die, Finn doesn't appear (at least I don't think so?) to be FS, and we still don't know who Rey is related to (although we know for sure she's not a Solo) and it does leave you with more questions than answers - but my God do I love these characters and I want to know more about the conflict they are currently engaged in, and with JJ successfully introducing these characters and making SW feel fun and full of heart again, I cannot wait to see what RJ does next. I don't think there was too much fan service, and what there was was handled well, but I can see why the STarkiller stuff won't work for some.

For me the main issue was pacing and wanting to know more. I feel with another 10/15 minutes put back in (assuming it was written and shot) it would be even better. What I think is interesting is that its flaws are very much unique to this one. Any issues people may have had with the PT are imo obliterated (though I appreciate many don't have issues with those films) and it has strengths that Jedi lacks but Jedi is also perhaps stronger in certain areas. I'd place it at number 3 for sure. And while the nostalgia factor is obviously a huge factor, and a strength, I don't think it was used as a crutch and I believe there is plenty that is fresh (mostly in the way these characters live and breathe - and I love the dialogue for the most part - some rather unearned exposition aside). The old characters feel like an extension of the former selves to me, and each of the new characters brings something new to the saga as opposed to being a Han 2.0 or Yoda 2.0.

What I won't do though is get into rows about people's opinions. Now we've seen the film, if someone hates it or loves it or whatever, they're now doing so in full context and everyone is going to react strongly to it.

I actually think non-obsessives will love it. It's really, really entertaining and very heart-filled.

I can't wait to see episode 8.

 

Loved it. It has some flaws so I rated it a 9.

First of all, this is a Star Wars movie. Some may think nostalgia was used too much, but it was OK for me. Even some of the audience won't see/remember the references. Rey, Finn, Poe and Kylo all are "new" characters.
Cinematography is great and feels fresh. JJ is a very good craftsman. If you haven't seen it yet, even the shots from the trailers fell very different on big screen.
Script is good, mostly "delightful" as Kasdan intended. This is the funniest episode of all. There was an exposition scene where Leia and Han explains what had happened to the audience, the only bad writing was that. Also, I wished they had come with something else than another super weapon.
Acting is very good. I loved Daisy and Boyega. And BB-8! Driver is very weird (as intended.)
Production design is better than today's action movies. I'm not sure about Snoke. That was the only design that didn't feel Star Warsy for me.

JJ did his best to be a bridge between OT and new episodes. I left the theatre feeling next episodes will be better and really wondering what will happen to our heroes.

 

I liked the film pretty much but honestly it could've been much better. I think the greatest issue was unoriginality - it was a lot like episode IV remake with some changes to make it worth watching anyways and left a good impression for someone who likes SW like me.

Knowing how cruel SW-fans can be they must have had quite a fear that fans will hate the film if they use new original ideas. That much they did that main character is now female (like Lucas once thought he would do with ANH) another main character is a stormtrooper (whose skin color caused surprisingly lot of fuss- in sw-context he could've been blue-skinned for all I care) This radical decision that neither main character is a white human male (while there is plenty of those as supporting characters) was the most courageous decision really and they must have feared that some fans will be alienated if they change Star Wars too much.So they didn't use any radical new ideas but went with familiar "evil dudes search for droids with secret data (on desert worlds) and destroy planets with superweapons and kill a lot of innocents while good guys manage to save the secret data and then destroy superweapon(striking from hidden base in the jungle)" and the plot was pretty predictable at certain times but overall enjoyable. But it cannot be called original on any level except that it had original characters.

Characters are what I most enjoyed- acting was way better than in PT and even OT (I will be hated for saying this, but some acting in ANH is quite bad) I think it is simply because the director is better(I respect his ideas but George never was a good director- he should've left that to others. Kershner was the best in ESB), while of course actors do their job well also. Characters are likable (even though Rey is Mary Sue on many levels- but not irritating IMO) and funny without being only comic reliefs.
Comedy is another thing I liked. Movie has much more humor than any of the six movies before. And it works. It doesn't cheapen emotional moments or seriousness but adds it more entertainment value making this a lot better film for those who are not so interested in SW-world but just want to see a
nice movie. I chuckled many times during the film

One thing I didn't like was the bad guy Snoke. His design was not original or even very suitable to Star Wars. While Serkis acted nicely though. If they







are not going to explain where this guy comes from and what is his relationship to Palpatine- how he can exist after the sith are destroyed and what



are his motivations? if these questions remain unanswered in future episodes I'm gonna be very unhappy.
















So overall pros and cons:
+ Likable characters and good acting (at least compared to Sw in general- I have nothing to complain about actors)
+ Feels a lot like Star Wars - especially originals but there were a few nods to prequel trilogy as well
+ Nice humor as well as touching emotional scenes
+ No overuse of CGI and amount of props and masks is impressive

-I think that CGI was actually underused which was seen as a lack of aliens that cannot be done easily with masks/puppets and rather "earthly" environments (deserts, mountains and green forestry). Hopefully future movies will use the CGI bit more to allow more exotic places and creatures to appear in larger role. There were some CGI-stuff too but it is clearly seen how much they tried to avoid it as much as possible which bothers me a bit. They shouldn't fear techniques because some old-school fans may not like it.
- Bad guy Snoke had design that looks like a rip-off from LOTR/Harry Potter more than an original character- also he just appeared out of nowhere and is suddenly the main bad guy...
- overall lack of originality what comes to story. Not really unexpected plot twists or anything especially fresh- too much like rehash of ANH with original characters. But I still liked it. ANH can be rehashed many times and I still will watch it and maybe even like it