Watched it yesterday. I enjoyed it. I'd consider myself a sci-fi fan though not nearly as big into the culture as a lot of others...working at a comic book store ruined me for climbing too deep into geekdom for pretty much anything.
It's a good movie, and it's fun to watch as it's been a long time since we watched a Star Wars storyline we didn't already know the ending to (which is, I think, a big part of what damaged the prequel trilogy...knowing the ending already makes it much easier to study the nuances and ultimately find the flaws in a film rather than get caught up in the story.) Yes, there are a ton of winks, nods, allusions, comparable lampshades, intentional inversions of plot points, and other fan-service moments in episode VII. I think JJ Abrams is occasionally too much a fanboy of the source material, but I also understand that if he doesn't do enough to pay homage to the original trilogy, people would say he's hijacking the franchise. It's a tough edge to dance on, but I think he's pretty successful at it. He does a pretty clever dance through the first half of the film or so making you guess at who the new force-wielding protagonist is going to be, though it seemed odd that he does nothing to disguise the identity of Kylo Ren. I do wonder how much they're going to tear into Ren's descent into the dark side of the force...we went all three movies of the original trilogy simply accepting Kenobi's explanation that Anakin was seduced by the dark side of the force, but we eventually got three movies explaining his transformation in (laborious) detail.
Kylo and Rae are the only major characters with notable British accents. I'm not sure that means anything (IIRC, Kylo is played by an American and Rae by a Brit), but it was something I noticed. Finn is played by a British actor, but did not have an accent to speak of. Hmm.
I did see it in 3D, which by and large enriched the experience, I think. Probably the first film I've seen in 3D I can say that about. There are times I find it distracting, like when a foreground object is blurred so as to focus on something in the center of the frame...to me the amount they blur a foreground object and the backdrop never lines up with my eye. But for the most part, I think it was very well-executed.
So does Episode VII belong as part of the vast story arc? I think so. Does it have me excited for Episode VIII? A bit. I can't say it has me over the moon. I worry attempting to make a film with a comparable about of homages as this one had to episode IV will be too much. The amount of winking and nodding reached the point of pulling me out of the moment during this film (X-Wings racing down a trench?! Really!?,) and I can only hope they don't do the same with the sequels. I think that's my biggest concern. Also, my worry is that Daisy Ridley will have to find a more emotionally engaging performance than she delivered in this one. The wave of nostalgia helped cover her very understated acting...about the only time you get a sense of strong emotion out of her was when she was fighting Ren, and those are the expressions she's going to have to cut down on during her Jedi training. She needs to find a way to engage the audience while still making us believe she's a Jedi in training, and that's going to be a tough sell based on what I saw in Episode VII.
It's a good movie, and it's fun to watch as it's been a long time since we watched a Star Wars storyline we didn't already know the ending to (which is, I think, a big part of what damaged the prequel trilogy...knowing the ending already makes it much easier to study the nuances and ultimately find the flaws in a film rather than get caught up in the story.) Yes, there are a ton of winks, nods, allusions, comparable lampshades, intentional inversions of plot points, and other fan-service moments in episode VII. I think JJ Abrams is occasionally too much a fanboy of the source material, but I also understand that if he doesn't do enough to pay homage to the original trilogy, people would say he's hijacking the franchise. It's a tough edge to dance on, but I think he's pretty successful at it. He does a pretty clever dance through the first half of the film or so making you guess at who the new force-wielding protagonist is going to be, though it seemed odd that he does nothing to disguise the identity of Kylo Ren. I do wonder how much they're going to tear into Ren's descent into the dark side of the force...we went all three movies of the original trilogy simply accepting Kenobi's explanation that Anakin was seduced by the dark side of the force, but we eventually got three movies explaining his transformation in (laborious) detail.
Kylo and Rae are the only major characters with notable British accents. I'm not sure that means anything (IIRC, Kylo is played by an American and Rae by a Brit), but it was something I noticed. Finn is played by a British actor, but did not have an accent to speak of. Hmm.
I did see it in 3D, which by and large enriched the experience, I think. Probably the first film I've seen in 3D I can say that about. There are times I find it distracting, like when a foreground object is blurred so as to focus on something in the center of the frame...to me the amount they blur a foreground object and the backdrop never lines up with my eye. But for the most part, I think it was very well-executed.
So does Episode VII belong as part of the vast story arc? I think so. Does it have me excited for Episode VIII? A bit. I can't say it has me over the moon. I worry attempting to make a film with a comparable about of homages as this one had to episode IV will be too much. The amount of winking and nodding reached the point of pulling me out of the moment during this film (X-Wings racing down a trench?! Really!?,) and I can only hope they don't do the same with the sequels. I think that's my biggest concern. Also, my worry is that Daisy Ridley will have to find a more emotionally engaging performance than she delivered in this one. The wave of nostalgia helped cover her very understated acting...about the only time you get a sense of strong emotion out of her was when she was fighting Ren, and those are the expressions she's going to have to cut down on during her Jedi training. She needs to find a way to engage the audience while still making us believe she's a Jedi in training, and that's going to be a tough sell based on what I saw in Episode VII.
