Star Wars review with NO SPOILERS!!

[JasonEvans]

So -- is this gonna be a spoiler-free thread or not? Probably won't see it until Saturday or later.

I will keep all comments spoiler-free. I hope others do as well. We can start a different thread for spoiler-comments but let me just say that you want to know AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE about the plot of this film before seeing it. I had read some stuff (much of which was just blind speculation) but was largely spoiler free for this film and I really, really, really enjoyed it as a result. I would hope all of you will be able to see it without spoilers.

Before I get to anything else, a story is really, really necessary to understand what my experience was like today. I think this story speaks a bit to the quality of the film.

So, the screening for the media in Atlanta was at 11am. The film didn't start until about 11:10, which is not all that unusual. They were waiting for a few stragglers to arrive. At about 11:55, the screen suddenly went black. The sound continued, but there was no image. After about 10 or 15 seconds, they turned off the sound too and the lights came back on. There had been a power surge in the area and it had blown out the digital projector. There was much unrest in the screening...

...The film did not come back on until almost 1pm. We had waited a full hour and many of us were talking about how much the delay had impacted our ability to enjoy and immerse ourselves in the film. We were frustrated, that's for sure, but when the picture started again, we were thrilled. Then, about 20 minutes later, another power surge knocked it out again. This time, they managed to crank the projectors back up in only about 15 or 20 minutes. Still, the film had almost been ruined.

Things went fine until we were only 5 minutes from the end of the movie and a third power surge (we later found out that Ga Power was working in the area today) again knocked out the projectors. As you can imagine, the press core was incensed. By now it was 230pm. Disney had (quite prudently) attached a privacy code to the digital copy we were watching. That is a very common thing in Hollywood as it prevents the advanced screening version of the film from being stolen and mass marketed in China (or elsewhere). But, the code expired at 2pm. Again, this was a normal thing and would ordinarily have zero impact on us (11am screen with a code that does not allow it to be shown past 2pm is meaningless... ordinarily). But, the impact at this point was that they could not re-start the movie to show us the ending. I was fairly sure a riot was about to break out. We all left, having no idea how the movie ended.

A few hours later we got an email from Disney. They had invited all of us back to see the movie again tonight at 730pm. They told us they would but the popcorn and coke to make up for it. Still, they were essentially saying, "want to watch it twice in less than 10 hours just so you can see the 5 minutes you missed?"

When I got to the 730pm screening, the theater was full of all the critics who had been there earlier in the day. We all came back. Many agreed with me that even if we had seen the ending, we would gladly see it again only a few hours later. I think that really speaks to the quality of what JJ Abrams created.

And it was EVEN BETTER without power outage interruptions

So, the bottom line is, I loved it! It had almost as much emotion and character development as the original. My 16 year old son says it is his favorite movie in the entire franchise because it captured the fun story of the first and yet has updated special effects. I'm not sure I would go that far, but it is right up there alongside IV and V as the best in the series, of that I am sure.



Daisy Ridley's Rey is an amazing character and I cannot wait to see her grow even more on screen. Ridley is going to be a huge star as a result of this. She shows a lot of emotion but is also incredibly tough. There is never a single hint of damsel in distress from her, which is a really nice change from what we usually see from female characters in sci-fi films. Finn's (John Boyega) story is among the most compelling of any in the Star Wars universe. His character arc is fabulous and he has some memorable one-liners that are truly funny (while not being slapstick or cheap laughs). The humor in this film rivals Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers, which is a really good thing and helps propel the story along. I was certain I would find BB-8 annoying and an obvious child-focused marketing ploy but he has all the emotion of the original R2D2 and is truly a central character to the story. Adam Driver makes a fine bad guy... his use of the force is impressive and fun. I can't say much more than that at this time.

Oh, and a word about Domhall Gleason. His bad guy general is sooooo over the top it is almost funny. There is a scene where I am convinced JJ said to him, "I need you to play Hitler in this scene. Just do a Hitler impression... as aggressive and angry as you can. Don't pull it back one bit. Trust me, it will work." It comes off more than a little silly. Still, I love Gleason and am glad he was in this flick.

As for the classic characters/actors -- well -- they look a LOT OLDER. Carrier Fisher has not aged well. It isn't just her look, her acting was pretty wooden even though her character demands a lot of emotion. Harrison Ford was pretty good, but you can sorta tell in some scenes that he doesn't really want to be there. It is sorta like watching him in Indy 4... he was collecting a huuuuge paycheck but his heart wasn't in it the way it was in the 1980s. Still, without wisecracking Han this movie could have fallen flat and I really enjoyed having Harrison in the film.

Without getting into the plot, let me just say that JJ has set up some really interesting stuff for Rian Johnson to explore further. There is a tremendous amount unexplained and unanswered at the end of this film. I don't think JJ made a perfect film or told a perfect story, but he did a good enough job (and there is almost no LENS FLARE AT ALL!!!!). I have heard that Rian is course correcting some of the stuff JJ did that wasn't quite going to work, which is good. Rian will supposedly have final say over the script for Colin Treverow's Ep Ix too, so (in some ways) the series now belongs to him more than it does to JJ. I'm fine with that as I adore Looper.

Now, to some specific questions.

The thing I'm most worried about with JJ and this movie is him trying too hard to just do a remake of Episode 4. I mean, does the main character really have to grow up alone on, specifically, a desert planet? But I'm still excited.

This is a great question. Obviously, it is one that can be better answered with spoilers but I won't go there. Let me merely say that there are many, many moments where you can tell JJ is mimicking the original film and story. But, he does not try to hide that fact and really embraces it. It is intentional. The first movie was great, one of the greatest of all time. JJ puts his own spin on the story and the characters. If some moments feel like a callback to A New Hope, it never bothered me at all and was, instead, somewhat enjoyable and made me smile.

Maybe JE could start with a simple answer to the following question, before he goes on to a longer, spoilery review that we can all read later:

"I'm a child of the '70's and/or '80's, concerned about the possibility this could turn out as disturbingly bad as Episodes 1-3...but excited that George Lucas was not involved in writing this one...but also understanding of the fact that if you go back with an adult critical eye to watch Episodes 4-6 there's a lot of pretty hokey stuff there so I'm not setting the bar too high...but kind of maybe a little concerned that JJ Abrams will do something really dumb here...but mostly trusting that he's in a good spot on the studio/auteur spectrum for making this kind of thing. Should I see it?

Definitely/yes/maybe/no/definitely no.

As you can tell by now, my answer is DEFINITELY! I have already seen it twice and may see it a third time. Children of the 70s/80s will be elated with this film, I think.

Jason, have you heard anything about whether IMAX and/or 3D will be worth it for this movie?

I did not get to see it in IMAX or 3D. Disney did not screen it that way, which is a huge surprise because we critics almost always get to see it in 3D and IMAX. So, I cannot really comment. I suspect it will be good in those formats because the images on screen are very crisp and beautifully rendered. But, I saw it in 2D and adored it.

-Jason "you are all going to love it... maybe a few folks will find some faults with it... it is not perfect... but it is a solid 8.5 or 9 on a 1-10 scale and that's good enough for me!" Evans

[JasonEvans]

Someone mentioned to me that it might be useful for there to be a separate thread that is clearly just the review and not all the other side discussions that have been going on for a long, long time. So, I am moving my post to this new thread. This can also be a home for other folks to post their SPOILER FREE thoughts once they see the film.

-Jason "are ya'll psyched for this film yet?!?!" Evans

[DUKIECB]

Someone mentioned to me that it might be useful for there to be a separate thread that is clearly just the review and not all the other side discussions that have been going on for a long, long time. So, I am moving my post to this new thread. This can also be a home for other folks to post their SPOILER FREE thoughts once they see the film.

-Jason "are ya'll psyched for this film yet?!?!" Evans

Yes, I am psyched! Admittedly, I am not a Star Wars geek but do love the original trilogy. My excitement has been growing but now with the overwhelmingly positive response of those who have seen it, I am really getting pumped. I have tickets for a 7:00pm show tomorrow night.

Just checked rotten tomatoes and it's at 97% with 114 out of 117 positive reviews! Wow

[AIRFORCEDUKIE]

Im always curious when a film gets above 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, who are the small percentage of people who didn't like it? Are they giving it a negative review because they know that everyone else likes it and they want to stand out? Perhaps looking for more traffic on their page from people who want to see why they thought it was a bad film? Maybe I'm overthinking it.

[Dev11]

Im always curious when a film gets above 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, who are the small percentage of people who didn't like it? Are they giving it a negative review because they know that everyone else likes it and they want to stand out? Perhaps looking for more traffic on their page from people who want to see why they thought it was a bad film? Maybe I'm overthinking it.

They're the same people who thought that Cal Ripken, Jr. and Greg Maddux were not worthy of Hall of Fame induction.

[Tom B.]

This film is going to obliterate and re-write box office records for a long time to come. I heard on the radio this morning that it's already done over $100 million in advance ticket sales -- if I understood the report correctly, the previous record was around $25 million for The Dark Knight Rises. The anticipated total box office take for the opening weekend is $180-$220 million. It wouldn't shock me if it beats that projection.

[YmoBeThere]

Good thing we all selected it in the Winter movie poll.

Now, everyone will have to go see Joy just for the diversity.

I hear it is the best movie this winter without Star Wars in its title. But then as the lone voter for it in the contest, I could be making that part up.

[BLPOG]

Im always curious when a film gets above 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, who are the small percentage of people who didn't like it? Are they giving it a negative review because they know that everyone else likes it and they want to stand out? Perhaps looking for more traffic on their page from people who want to see why they thought it was a bad film? Maybe I'm overthinking it.

In the case of a movie like Star Wars, it could very well be people who aren't fans of the genre but who are convinced by others to go see the film.

It might happen that one day you find yourself in the position of being a member of the <5% opinion on a movie or something more important, and then you might wonder what is going on in everyone else's brain.

One example in which I disagree with overwhelming popular opinion of a movie is It's A Wonderful Life, rated 94%/95% on Rotten Tomatoes. Generally speaking, when people discover that I don't like the film they react with rather forceful negative emotions and occasionally accuse me of being a contrarian. I am somewhat of a contrarian, but that doesn't inform my opinion of that film. I think it's Pollyanna garbage, as many of the original viewers and critics did.

People have different opinions. I think the optimistic outlook is to see a fringe opinion-holder as an example of someone who forms an independent opinion and remains firm in it rather than as an attention-seeker or crazy, although those types of folks certainly exist as well.

[YmoBeThere]

...and then you might wonder what is going on in everyone else's brain.

Joy will be massive at the box office. I can just feel it!

[Tommac]

One example in which I disagree with overwhelming popular opinion of a movie is It's A Wonderful Life, rated 94%/95% on Rotten Tomatoes. Generally speaking, when people discover that I don't like the film they react with rather forceful negative emotions and occasionally accuse me of being a contrarian.

I know what you mean. I despise Finding Nemo!!!!